What do you guys think hunts will cost 20 years from now?

Here are my estimates.

Desert Bighorn $100,000
BC or Alberta Bighorn $65,000
Bighorn guided draw area lower-48 $25,000 (most are now $8,500 to 12,000)
Stone Sheep $65,000
Dall $25,000

Mountain Goat $18,000
Alaska-Yukon MOose $30,0000
Brown Bear on Kodiak $50,000
Brown Bear on the penninsular or in SE $30,000
Grizzly $24,000

Elk guided horseback public land $10,500
Elk Private land or AZ Indian Res quality hunt $30,000

Mule deer guided private land quality like Jicarilla or Utah $30,000
Mule deer guided public draw or OTC $5000

MT Lion $8,500

Plains game hunt Namibia or South Africa for 5 animals including: kudu, gemsbok, warthog, zebra, springbok $10,500.

At the current rate of inflation on places like New Zealand, the Yukon and BC, I think Argentina will begin to see a lot more hunters and so will Europe. As more people figure out that Red Stags didn't start in New Zealand and how inexpensive hunting is in Europe.

I think Eastern Canada caribou areas like Quebec will increase to be $10,000 if not $15,000 within 10 years.

Those are just my sad guesses.

I think with the huge expansion of exotics and wildhogs in the United States that the prices on a lot of things will come down, and that trend has followed reality in Texas so far.

Big whitetail bucks will always be worth too much, sheep will become astronomical and I have a feeling that pronghorns will eventually be $8500 hunts.

I'm guessing you're talking about guided costs? I know mine won't be near that high. I hunt on my own with resident tags in Colorado. I also hunt public land. So mine will cost whatever the tag fees are.

So, I expect to hunt elk for $150 or less. Mule/Whiletail Deer for $100 or less. Bear/Lion for $150 or less, Pronghorn for $100 or less. Moose/Sheep and Goat for $500 or less if I can draw the tag.

Depends on a number of factors. 10 years ago I was guiding desert sheep hunts for $60,000 and the same hunt today sells for $47,000.

15 years ago I was guiding deer hunts on the plains for $5500+ trophy fees and today I'm essentially guiding the same hunt for $5500 and no trophy fees. My price on hunts in Sonora have basically stayed the same over the last decade

Point being, had you asked this question 10-15 years ago I would have thought the prices would have gone up more and they haven't

Just an off the wall here, but if there is still any place outside a high fenced privately owned area to hunt, prices will be about the same as they are today if not lower.

20 years from now a whole bunch of folks are going to be dead or no longer physically able to hunt, and the recruitment rate of new hunters is not all that great.

World population and the overall economy 20 years from now are going to also influence things.

From what I am seeing, I think many areas of the hunting marked have peaked and either stabilized at a certain level or have began somewhat of a downhill movement price wise.

There will always be top of the line, premium hunts that will be available, but there will also be more reasonably priced opportunities around, especially for hunters that understand it is not the size of the trophy, but the effort required just to kill an animal, and start valuing the whole experience, not just one aspect of it.

In 1983, just 29 years ago, ten days of hunting in Zimbabwe with trophy fees for buffalo, kudu and sable cost only about $5,000. A Dall sheep hunt or Colorado guided elk hunt cost about $2,500. Mountain lion hunts were $1,000 or less.

I think the answer to your question will depend upon inflation rates and whether the dollar continues to decline over the next two decades. If bread reaches $10 loaf, gasoline hits $15 per gallon, Chevrolets and Fords cost $125,000, and the minimum wage is $50 hour, then your estimates are way too conservative.

Wish I could be around in 20 years to see how your estimates turn out, but the odds are against it.

Bill Qu;imby

Another factor will be availability of tags.
Was in Canada this past Nov. and outfitter said most of the Stone sheep operators had half of their tags taken b/c of decline in their numbers.
Expect Stone sheep to rise exponentially!

Conversely, desert sheep numbers continue to climb...

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In 1983, just 29 years ago, ten days of hunting in Zimbabwe with trophy fees for buffalo, kudu and sable cost only about $5,000. A Dall sheep hunt or Colorado guided elk hunt cost about $2,500. Mountain lion hunts were $1,000 or less.

I did my first guided elk/mule deer combination hunt in western Colorado in 1992. The cost of the 5 day hunt, meals and lodging and 2x1 guide service was $2000.00. All I had to do was show up with gun/ammo/sleeping bag and clothes. Elk and Mule Deer tags bout 1996 or so, I actually looked into doing a bighorn hunt in western Wyoming with Levi Lozier, and the price of the hunt was 5K, but the problem was getting drawn.

I even looked into a horseback Dall sheep hunt in Alaska about that time and it was only about 5K., wished I would have done that one.

With the way the game is being decimated by purposeful stocking of Canadian Wolves, there is going to be dam little elk or deer just look at let alone hunt in the Western United States. Elk and deer are in a nose dive and its on purpose.

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Originally posted by Chief Sigs:
I'm guessing you're talking about guided costs? I know mine won't be near that high. I hunt on my own with resident tags in Colorado. I also hunt public land. So mine will cost whatever the tag fees are.

So, I expect to hunt elk for $150 or less. Mule/Whiletail Deer for $100 or less. Bear/Lion for $150 or less, Pronghorn for $100 or less. Moose/Sheep and Goat for $500 or less if I can draw the tag.

Today, a resident elk tag, if you can draw one, cost over $400 in California.

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Originally posted by JBoutfishn:

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Originally posted by Chief Sigs:
I'm guessing you're talking about guided costs? I know mine won't be near that high. I hunt on my own with resident tags in Colorado. I also hunt public land. So mine will cost whatever the tag fees are.

So, I expect to hunt elk for $150 or less. Mule/Whiletail Deer for $100 or less. Bear/Lion for $150 or less, Pronghorn for $100 or less. Moose/Sheep and Goat for $500 or less if I can draw the tag.

Today, a resident elk tag, if you can draw one, cost over $400 in California.

Yeah, But I don't hunt CA. I hunt CO and a resident elk tag is less than $50. So I'm guessing in the next 20 years like the post states, it will still be less than $150.

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Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:
I actually looked into doing a bighorn hunt in western Wyoming with Levi Lozier, and the price of the hunt was 5K, but the problem was getting drawn.

You should have talked to his old man Irv, from what I understand nobody needed a tag if you were hunting with Irv

Desert Bighorn are dropping in price, mainly due to crime in Mexico. I can get a hunt there now for $20K less then I paid 6 years ago. Also Deserts are one of the few North American sheep that is making a comeback in numbers. So I think we might not be looking at big increases in cost.
Stone sheep are on the decline and the price has steadily gone up. I expect this trend to continue and 20 years from now they will be the most expensive sheep to hunt, certainly $80,000 to $100,000.
Bighorns are also getting tougher to find, especially across the border and they pretty much set the price. If you're a focused sheep hunter you will have to "buy tags" to enjoy your sport and the only place to do that is outside the US (other than Dall's).
As for Dall sheep, they are getting hit hard in Alaska and Canada seems to be producing better quality. Depending on where you hunt the price can be fairly reasonable, however I would expect this reasonable rate to certainly double, if not triple in the next 20 years and still be considered reasonable.

The other North American game you've outlined, well I just can't disagree with you on pricing. I think you've pretty much inflated those prices on a reasonable average. I will say the Rocky Mountain Goats are one of the best deals around. A hunt for Goat is just a sheep hunt without the big curls. Goat are not decreasing in numbers but the BC tags just took a serious cut. I expect Goat to take a sharper increase due to this.
I will say that if you can draw for any of these mountain animals in the US, you will be getting a great bargain, but again, if you are a mountain hunting freak (sorry to say I am) then you will have to pay the high price for a guaranteed tag.

I also agree with you on New Zealand, I've hunted there quite a bit and it's been a great bargin, in my mine, but it's getting very popular and pricing is going up.

Europe, I'll be doing Ibex in Spain this Nov. and it's not cheap, but I don't disagree with you in regards to normal European hunting being a good value in the future.

As for Africa, Middle East, Asia, I lump these together because I consider these areas to be a bit unstable, depending on country, and 20 years in the future who know where or how much the cost of hunting will be in these locations. My guess is there will be some areas and animals that are great bargins (like present day Zim.) and some that just go through the roof.

These are all just my thoughts.

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Originally posted by billrquimby:
In 1983, just 29 years ago, ten days of hunting in Zimbabwe with trophy fees for buffalo, kudu and sable cost only about $5,000. A Dall sheep hunt or Colorado guided elk hunt cost about $2,500. Mountain lion hunts were $1,000 or less.

I think that this is kind of interesting. Adjusted for inflation $5K in 1983 dollars would be about about $12K today. I wonder what a 10 day buff/sable/kudu would cost today. Sure it would be more than $12k, but I don't believe it would be all that much more.

And that Elk hunt... $2500 would be about $6k today. I would think that would just about do it for many Colorado elk hunts(but I am not really up on this stuff).

BTW, great thread MOA!

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Originally posted by JBrown:

I think that this is kind of interesting. Adjusted for inflation $5K in 1983 dollars would be about about $12K today. I wonder what a 10 day buff/sable/kudu would cost today. Sure it would be more than $12k, but I don't believe it would be all that much more.

Looking at the CMS website, a Buff/Sable/Kudu hunt today in Zim is a 14 day affair and the total cost including drive in and dip and pack is $24,450. Significantly more than the $12K. They will take you on a 10 day but you'll pay a higher daily rate that will pretty much equal the 14 day total. I know this because I've done a 10 day and a 14 day hunt with them and have two 10 day hunts booked now.

I think we just have to decide what animals are worth it to us as individuals.

For me, if I had $100,000 to blow on hunting, I'd be hunting as many kinds of sheep and ibex as that would allow in Asia.

Ken Wilson told me that for $55,000 I could shoot almost all the sheep in Iran and an Ibex. The rest I would spend on Blue sheep and Tahr or Blue sheep and Hymalayan Ibex, and as much as was left for Mongolia or Kazkhstan Ibex.

But I don't have a $100,000 to spend on hunting, so I'll just watch DVDs about it in hopes that we figure out the right numbers on Powerball.

I believe the demand is going to begin to shrink in about 10 years and get progressively worse. We all know demand is what makes for pricing. High demand= high cost and vise-versa. We also know Americans are by far the majority of the medium to high dollar hunters...but the amount of these hunters is going to fall quickly as the baby boomers beging to age and die off. We are just entering that phase now and over the next 20 years will be into it fully. I see prices beginning to decline right now, and everyone thinks it is all related to the economy...I think not. I think it is 65-70% the economy and the rest the beginning stages of the aging American population. Now, not only do we have this going on, you also have the same thing happening througout all of europe, where you have the next largest population of wealthy people that enjoy hunting abroad. Not only are they aging...they have had low reproduction rates for several decades now and it is already impacting these countries....thats part of why they are going broke...less tax payers and workers. The people that represent the growing populations are not really the hunting type and 99%+ of them are poor to begin with and have little to look forward to (India/China). I see major price declines riding shotgun with major hunter declines.

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Originally posted by huntincats:
Guess that buck for powerball will give you all that knowlege about your worldwide hunting.Hunting costs money sorry.

Huh? Angry outfitter huntincats?

Edit: Now I understand after checking your other 25 posts.....the outfitting business not treating you so well, eh?

Anyone know this guy so I can check him off my list of potential outfitters? That, or defend him and give an explanation of why he is stalking moa.

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Originally posted by huntincats:
Guess that buck for powerball will give you all that knowlege about your worldwide hunting.Hunting costs money sorry.

Do you have a problem? You seem to be stalking someone for some reason.

Either let us all in on the secret or behave please.

Don

Truce!

Where are the hunter numbers declining? I've heard this for the last 20 years and have seen no evidence of it.

Who has seen it and in what part of the country?

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Originally posted by Ralphie:
Where are the hunter numbers declining? I've heard this for the last 20 years and have seen no evidence of it.

Who has seen it and in what part of the country?

These reports of declining hunter numbers are taken from the official numbers of hunting licenses sold each year as reported by the individual states.

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These reports of declining hunter numbers are taken from the official numbers of hunting licenses sold each year as reported by the individual states.

Those figures are no lie, hunter numbers are declining world wide. The average age of hunters is increasing and the number of new hunter being recruited into the sport is declining. The costs related to hunting are increasing, the economic concerns of hunters are also increasing. It is simply a matter of time before hunting as we have known it, is dying.