Hunting for food...does it justify the cost?

[moolie]

Hubs doesn't count the hours spent out in the woods with his friend as "work". He doesn't get the opportunity to get out that often either--for him it's a hobby with a nice payback when he gets something.

Like others wrote above, he does the butchering himself, so other than ammo and licenses/tags there's not much cost once you've got the gun/s.

I think it has to be something you enjoy--chatting with the guys down the gun shop, calling up the buddy to spend a day out hunting when the weather's good, the thrill when you see something, the bigger thrill when it's in your sights/you squeeze off the shot that brings it down, the feeling of accomplishment when you bring it home and don't have enough room in the freezer for your portion so you have to think/plan fast how to put it up...

It's probably not for everyone.

 

[Beekissed]

This all sound great. But how much time do you usually spend in the woods before you get one deer?

All I am saying is if you spend 40 hours hunting and catch one deer at 5.00/hour thats 200.00 for one deer.

At this point you'd be better off getting a second job and buying the meat yourself (if this is the case)

other than that it seems like you guys have really figured out to cut corners on butchering and amo. Pretty impressive.

Still wondering about hit/miss ratio

You really can't buy venison, so you really can't compare the pricing. I'd rather have deer over beef any day.

Now, these guys didn't spend 40 hours in the woods to "catch" one deer...try getting kids to sit still that long. And their hit and miss ratio is incredibly good...has to be if you don't want the expense of buying arrows because they are lost in the woods. Also...my kids were taught to make their shots count to avoid wounding animals. My middle son has killed deer for the past three seasons with the same arrow...he chuckles when he recovers the arrow to find it undamaged once again.

Youngest's first gun kill at 7 yrs...we let the little ones hunt with a .410 if they want but they use a bow when they get old enough to get good at it....and he certainly did.

The next year he got his first with a bow:

His older brother's first bow kill at 8 yrs. old:

And his oldest brother with a bow kill:

The time spent in the woods with their grandfather was the best investment ever...time spent learning about deer sign, deer stand placement, hunting safety and ethics. Then the time spent learning from their grandmother and I about the proper way to process....priceless. These kids will carry that knowledge and accomplishment with them all their lives. They have since killed countless~truly..we finally stopped counting~deer and have provided us with a heck of a lot of fresh, lean, organically grown meat that didn't cost us a dime to grow.

Is it worth it? If you want it badly enough to develop it into an art and treat it like a heritage that you pass down instead of a dollars and cents vs. time thing, then it is so very worth it. Boys who can provide food for the family at such a young age develop a sense of purpose and pride that comes along with being able to provide through a skill they have learned.

 

[hwillm1977]

Hubby and his friends don't consider hunting 'work'... it's a fun day out in the woods with your friends. It usually doesn't take them more than 1 or 2 days to get a deer. Here it's $34 for a buck license, and that gets you ONE buck... there is a draw for the anterless deer licenses, but we don't bother trying for it. You also have to have a firearms license, and take a safety course to get one... the course is $95 and good for however long you keep renewing.

We've never won a moose license, but if we did that's harder to hunt than the deer. There's a $12.50 fee to enter the draw and that doesn't guarantee you get a license... we've tried 10 times and have yet to win one. So by the time you actually get a moose here it can end up costing quite a bit. If you do actually win the draw, the license is $72 for ONE moose. Moose hunting season is ONE weekend in september... so at the most you can spend 3 days in the woods trying to get one.

I think it's worth it to hunt, it's fun for the guys and you get a lot of meat for not that much money... they wouldn't count the time as part of the investment, it's just hanging out with buddies.

Is anything SS really 'worth it'?... if I counted all the hours I spend weeding and tending and putting up veggies in my garden, I could get a job and buy veggies that have been trucked 4000 miles to us from California for less money... but that's not really the point.

 

[Beekissed]

Is anything SS really 'worth it'?.

I think so...for many of us, those chores have been fine tuned so that they don't expend so much of our time and we are growing our foods without pesticides, without fertilizer from CAFOs, etc. If you compare the prices of organically grown produce to the amount of time spent and the volume produced, our work and money invested is a great bargain vs. buying the same.

Not only that, but you have to calculate the health benefits of the exercise, sunlight and fresh air exposure, the intake of fresh, untainted foods and the good effect on our mental health from being involved in such activities.

There really is no price comparison at the end of the day. Growing your own, making your own, preserving your own always wins out....which is why poor country folk still do it more than anyone. It's cheap and it's good for you.

 

[hwillm1977]

Is anything SS really 'worth it'?.

I think so...for many of us, those chores have been fine tuned so that they don't expend so much of our time and we are growing our foods without pesticides, without fertilizer from CAFOs, etc. If you compare the prices of organically grown produce to the amount of time spent and the volume produced, our work and money invested is a great bargain vs. buying the same.

Not only that, but you have to calculate the health benefits of the exercise, sunlight and fresh air exposure, the intake of fresh, untainted foods and the good effect on our mental health from being involved in such activities.

There really is no price comparison at the end of the day. Growing your own, making your own, preserving your own always wins out....which is why poor country folk still do it more than anyone. It's cheap and it's good for you.

Oh, I agree... although I'm at the beginning of my self sufficient journey, I love everything I have done for my family so far... my baby ate organic food we picked from the garden together for all her first solid foods. I've been laid off so being self sufficient has become more of a necessity for us, and I'm rapidly working my way up a steep learning curve.

Hubby will actually be hunting for the first time in a few years this year... hopefully he can fill our freezer

 

[Beekissed]

You know that feeling you get when you hit a yard sale and find something that is normally $100 and they have it marked $5? Something you have been looking for but hadn't gotten around to buying because it was a bit too pricey? It works, looks brand new and you can't believe they were selling it...and you buy it with a nonchalant air like it ain't no thang. You know that glow you get all the way home and the smile you can't wipe off your face?

THAT is what a deer hanging in the tree feels like! Like such a bargain that you can't believe you found it....you can already taste the tenderloin and see the freezer filling up with red packages. Then you picture people checking out from the store with their pricey red packages of commercially grown beef and you just glow and smile.

 

[2dream]

Ahhhhh, yes Bee, I know that warm fuzzy feeling. From deer meat to fresh veggies. Its all about that warm glow.

Hunting for me has alway been fun. No different from that person who spends 100 dollars a week going to the movies and eating out. Its what they do for relaxation. I much prefer pulling weeds out of my garden or a walk through the woods. I am not a hunter like most hunters. I take my gun and a book with me as I walk, looking for sign as I go, admiring the beauty. I will stop when I get tired and take a seat at the foot of a tree. I may or may not take a nap, I may or may not read. No tree stands, no green patches. If I see a deer and need the meat I will take the shot. If not, I will just be still and watch. I have gone to the woods with my dad hunting since I was old enough to beg him to take me with him. He never killed anything in those days. I was to noisey. But he taught me how to be still and quite. With that lesson came learing how to be comfortablely quite and comfortable with myself. The lessons I learned in the woods at his side made me a stong, independent woman. Forget putting food on the table. How do you put a price on those memories and the lessons it teaches. Bee as usual hit the nail on the head with sense of pride you get at such a young age from the experiences.

No matter how much it cost to hunt or have meat processed, when you are trying to determine if its just cheaper to buy meat at the store, don't forget to figure in the cost of health care. Eating meat injected with ammonia just ain't good for you.

 

[~gd]

Hit/miss ratio. Back in the dark ages when kids were allowed to hunt the old man used to give us boys 2 shotgun shells for every bird we brought home. only the first year hunting did we ever have to buy our own shells. You soon learn not to be trigger happy and only shoot at good targets. The worst place to learn to shoot is the military where you learn to shoot first and shoot fast. Sniper school is the exception. So the hit miss ratio of a couple 14-17 old kids was greater than 50 %. I would guess somewhere between 60-75% on upland birds.
He shot all the deer, he would take his shotgun loaded with slugs on the tractor and the deer were so used to the tractor that they paid it no mind. under those conditions I think his kill ratio was in the 90-95% range. He never hunted for the Sport of it.

 

[flythebee]

SO RIGHT

It depends on how much you spend, and how quickly you get something. And, most people that I know butcher their own animal, so there's no cost for that. And for many, a bad day hunting is better than a good day at work. Same goes for fishing.

 

[lorihadams]

Okay...we hunt on our own property so I don't have to technically get a license. Here in this county we are allowed to hunt on our own land or family's land and check the deer as "landowner" deer. We usually don't even check them to be honest. I haven't bought red meat in over 4 years. We spent $99 and purchased a grinder and that has paid for itself many times over. We process our own meat so there are no costs there other than plastic freezer bags each year.

The initial costs are for a gun/bow. Ammo. Camo clothes/boots. Tree stand. That being said, you don't need to pay for some of that. I bought one of my guns from a friend that needed money for $200 and then bought a new scope for it. My grandfather gave me one of my other rifles. A box of ammo has lasted us 5 yrs on my gun and would have lasted more had my gun not been off and adjusted which required using ammo to test it. I bought a pair of coveralls for like $60 about 6 yrs ago and that is usually what I wear with jeans and a sweatshirt underneath. If you take care of your clothing then it is worth it and it will last for a long time. I have a pair of my granpa's coveralls from the 70s that we still use. We bought a tree stand and it has been in the same location for the last 7-8 yrs. My husband has a climber that he purchased so that he can move his location whenever he wants. I also know of people that will build a wooden stand in a permanent location and that could easily be done with little money for supplies. If you don't want to hunt in a tree then you can always hunt on the ground. My husband cuts cedar trees to make a blind and then puts folding chairs inside it when I take the kids with me so they can move around a bit and I don't have to worry about them falling. You can buy a pop up blind for less than $100 and if you take care of it then it will last a long time. My husband bought rubber camo boots to hunt with but also uses them around the farm as muck boots so they were double purpose. If you have a pair of hiking boots they can double for hunting boots with a pair of good warm socks. You can make your own cover scent with distilled water and baking soda in a spray bottle. Wash all over with baking soda paste before going out and you will be scent free. Use regular unscented deoderant instead of crazy expensive scent cover deoderant/cover sprays. Wash your clothes with baking soda and vinegar for fabric softener and you will be fine. Hang them outside on the line to let them "air out" for a while before you go.

The cost is gonna be different for what part of the country you are hunting in and what you are hunting for. If you are hunting for squirrel or rabbits then it may be easier to just raise your own rabbits instead. If you want to put a lot of meat in your freezer and it is difficult for you to find land to hunt on or you have draw for tags, pay for expensive licenses, etc. then it may be easier for you to raise a beef cow or buy part of one from someone else. We enjoy hunting and the experience is part of the reward for us but the meat is the number one reason we do it. The cost for us is pennies on the dollar what we would pay in a supermarket for grass fed beef.

Here in VA the deer are plentiful so we are always seeing them and I don't even have to drive to get to my stand. I put my clothes on after my husband gets home from work and walk to my stand in the back field and this year we were able to get 6 deer between me and my hubby and then we had an uncle kill one and he gave us the meat, and then we had a friend that also killed a doe and gave her to us. We were able to fill our freezer and donate 2 of the deer to a friend of ours in need. That is waaaaaay better than buying anything at the supermarket.

Hunting is my break from my children. I am with them 24/7 so it is 3-5 hours of uninterrupted quiet time for me and I usually take a book into the woods with me and read. I like being able to just sit peacefully and not have to deal with distractions. It makes me a better mom and that is priceless.

My children are starting to go with us and that is much needed disciplined quiet time for them. It teaches self control, patience, tracking, observing patterns (animal and weather), all kinds of science lessons (my children know more about anatomy at ages 4 and 6 than most teenagers), plant identification, birdwatching, gun safety, etc. You just can't learn some things from a book, you have to get out there and get your hands dirty.

Fishing is the same way....you don't need much really. You can get by with a rod/reel or two, a small tackle box and some basic lures depending on what kind of fish you are after or live bait that you can get for free (dig your own worms or catch grasshoppers or crickets), a license, and line/hooks. We fish in local ponds/lakes and if you want to get bigger fish then you can go in with a few other people to charter a boat for bigger fish like striped bass here in our neck of the woods. We have a friend that just put a ton of fish in his freezer in one weekend. He split the costs with 4 other guys and they were able to get a years worth of fish each for much less than what it would have cost them to purchase it.

For some people it just isn't an option. If they don't hunt/fish then they don't eat. We couldn't afford to buy the same amount of meat that we put in the freezer every year by hunting. You have to weigh your options and look at your initial costs as long term investments. You may spend $500 on a gun/ammo/clothing to get started but you only have to buy those things once. Once you have a gun you don't have to buy another one. Once you have the clothing you don't need to buy it again if you take care of it. Once you have a tree stand you don't have to buy another one if you take care of it. If you had to have a car to get to your job to provide your family with the money to survive for the year then would you make the initial investment to purchase one? Probably. If you had to plant a garden to have enough food for the year would you pay the initial costs upfront with no guarantee that your garden will produce? Probably. So what is the difference with hunting supplies? If you make the commitment to do it then you have to spend something upfront. That being said, you can find good deals on used supplies in the local paper or CL. If you need it to get by then you'll find a way.

For us, we need deer meat to get by so we spent the initial money upfront. This past year all I personally spent on hunting was $30 for a box of ammo (first one in 5 yrs) and $6 for a new pair of socks.