I'm 39 years old and love to hunt. I get on this site regularly and live vicariously through some of you. I really enjoy reading the hunting reports and seeing all the photos. I guess that a mid-life crisis is coming on because I spend more and more time thinking about what I want to do in life that I haven't done. I've decided to plan a hunting trip for next season and I would like some suggestions from you. If you were to spend no more than $3000 on a hunt what would it be? It will be hard enough to come up with that much money so I really can't consider anything that costs more. I am perfectly comfortable staying in a tent eating bologna sandwiches. I don't have to kill a trophy animal to enjoy a hunt. I love new places and new experiences. What do you suggest for a memory making hunt?

DIY in Wy. for antelope will come in
less then 3K

Too young for a mid life crisis.

I agree antelope would be a great hunt.

Being from Arkansans that would be a unique experience.

You could kill more than one for that price.

Just did a great aoudad hunt with mulie mike who posts here just below that price range

I agree with slim - much too young for mid life crisis. Wait til you hit 49 for that. Hunting is not the most common response for it either.

Anyway - I'd start with a black bear hunt in your own home state. You'd have $$ left over for the taxidermy and a nice rug for the den floor to show for it. I think you're even in the right part of the state for it.

Or go big with a Kodiak hunt in Alaska. Though I doubt 3K would cover it.

For "other" just pick the kind of horned or antlered you most can see on the wall at home. That's antelope in WY, elk in Montana or Colorado, whitetail in Texas, moose or mulie in wherever.

Go over your list of friends and contacts in those places and get some ideas for exact spots, prices and opportunities. Also, do it with others to split costs and research both public land and do it yourself "self guided" opportunities. And of course factor in how much time you can spend away. The less time you've got and the less you know, the greater the need for a guide (for the first hunt - then you'll probably get the routine down).

I hope this helps.

I'll second the DIY Wyoming antelope hunt; lots of inexpensive campgrounds and BLM land to pitch a tent. The tags aren't budget-busters and that just leaves gas and food.

You can stash the unspent money for the next time you have a mid-life crisis...

Another vote for antelope. It’s a fun hunt, you’ll usually see lots of animals and the success rate is very high. Antelope hunting is not physically demanding (no 20 mile hikes in the mountains) and the weather is usually mild. Last month I went on a fully guided, 3 day antelope hunt near Medicine Bow, Wyoming and came back with a decent buck. Stayed at a comfortable little house literally in the middle of nowhere and all meals were included. The total cost of the hunt, from the time I left home until I returned, was $2788. That’s the hunt, license, meat processing, travel expenses – everything.

Another option would be a cow elk hunt. I’ve gone on 10 guided cow elk hunts in New Mexico. That hunt costs about $1200 and the license is about $350. (Lodging and meals aren’t included.) Add those in, along with travel expenses and meat processing and the all-in cost usually ends up at around $2500. As is the case with antelope, cow elk is a fun, “low pressure” hunt. If you score (and the odds are you will) you’ll have a couple hundred pound of delicious meat.

In any case I strongly recommend a guided hunt. A “do-it-yourself” hunt is fine for someone who’s experienced and / or has connections in the area. There’s a lot of public land out West but you’re setting yourself up for an expensive disappointment (at the very least) if you simply pick out a spot on a map and head out “cold.” A lot of other people, from all over the country, might be looking at that same spot! The weather is another issue. It might be 80 degrees and sunny today but 2 days later there could be 10 inches of snow on the ground. Do you have the gear to cope with a with this? Now consider what you are going to do if you are successful. Will you be able to take proper care of the carcass on a warm day out in the middle of nowhere? You could earn a big fine if the meat spoils. A guided hunt takes care of all of these details.

If nothing else, you'll 'learn the ropes' from somebody who's "been there and done that."

Thanks for the suggestions ya'll keep them coming. I will have 2-3 weeks to spend if necessary. I don't have to have an easy hunt. I don't mind walking long distances, enduring bad weather, packing out meat, or a lot of things considered "work". I'm really looking for a cheap, memorable adventure.

If you don't hire a guide elk, deer, bear and antelope are all doable. You could even hunt black bear, deer or caribou in Alaska for under $3000.

Arkie: I can appreciate your enthusiasm but it's important to be realistic. Be realistic about your capabilities: "Walking long distances, enduring bad weather, packing out meat, or a lot of things considered "work"" means one thing at home and something entirely different out West. A lot of guys who are in good shape are not prepared for the effects of high altitude. Dragging something the size of an antelope a half mile at 7200' elevation is hard enough, to say nothing of packing out elk quarters at 10,000'.

The weather is a big factor. During hunting season it can change from comfortable to life-threatening in a matter of hours. I'm from Wisconsin and used to heavy snow and double digit subzero temperatures but a 1991 DIY mule deer hunt I did in Montana still sends chills up my spine. You've got to be ready for anything, especially if you want to go it alone.

Be realistic about the cost. Setting up a hunting trip is a lot like buying a vehicle. The advertised price is one thing, the total cost "out the door, title tax and insurance" is something else.

"You could even hunt black bear, deer or caribou in Alaska for under $3000.

With all due respect, I can't see how someone could expect to travel from Arkansas to Alaska and hunt big game for under $3000 all-in in this day and age. At least not alone, not with any chance of success and not with a reasonable degree of safety.

There is a deal on puma in argentina for $2000 on the Outfitters' Offered Hunts forum! That and airfare is probably not more than $3000.

quote:

Originally posted by Bigasanelk:
Arkie: I can appreciate your enthusiasm but it's important to be realistic. Be realistic about your capabilities: "Walking long distances, enduring bad weather, packing out meat, or a lot of things considered "work"" means one thing at home and something entirely different out West. A lot of guys who are in good shape are not prepared for the effects of high altitude. Dragging something the size of an antelope a half mile at 7200' elevation is hard enough, to say nothing of packing out elk quarters at 10,000'.

The weather is a big factor. During hunting season it can change from comfortable to life-threatening in a matter of hours. I'm from Wisconsin and used to heavy snow and double digit subzero temperatures but a 1991 DIY mule deer hunt I did in Montana still sends chills up my spine. You've got to be ready for anything, especially if you want to go it alone.

Be realistic about the cost. Setting up a hunting trip is a lot like buying a vehicle. The advertised price is one thing, the total cost "out the door, title tax and insurance" is something else.

"You could even hunt black bear, deer or caribou in Alaska for under $3000.

With all due respect, I can't see how someone could expect to travel from Arkansas to Alaska and hunt big game for under $3000 all-in in this day and age. At least not alone, not with any chance of success and not with a reasonable degree of safety.

I appreciate the input. I vacation "out west" about every year and have backpacked Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado so I'm a little familiar with that country and altitude. I am inexperienced with winter weather out there since I usually go between June and September. I don't plan on being foolhardy and reckless about things but I'm not the type of hunter that needs to be pampered. I plan on doing a lot of homework on whatever decisions I make.

My best friend will be going with me but he's letting me take the lead on the planning process. I don't want to just show up somewhere, hunt 3-4 days, kill something and hightail it home. I would like it to be a process, a learning experience, something I can savor.

Thank you all for the dialogue.

quote:

Originally posted by Arkie:
I don't want to just show up somewhere, hunt 3-4 days, kill something and hightail it home. I would like it to be a process, a learning experience, something I can savor.

Great attitude!
Hope you have a great adventure

Arkie, now that I see where you're coming from, I know that staying home in Arkansas and bagging that local black bear isn't going to satisfy the wanderlust. Really, I think Alaska is the place for you (I assume you've never been there - we owe it to ourselves to do that at least once, I believe).

A little story. Some of it anyway. A close friend did that years ago. Drove all the way up there. That was an adventure in itself. Stayed with some old buddy who worked there. They caught salmon by the light of the midnight sun. They flew up to the tundra and shot caribou (he used a borrowed 30-06). They camped out on the permafrost with the northern lights dancing overhead. They hunted ducks some place with what I thought was an incredible limit. And they even panned for gold, and found some (I'm told you can make a serious living doing that in Alaska).

And then drove all the way home. And the whole thing cost little beyond driving expense.

Does this sound like it's down your "power alley"?

If you bowhunt, I'd look to spending 2-3 weeks in the high country of CO. Get yourself an elk and mule deer tag along with your buddy and just enjoy good weather, beautiful country, and take your time glassing and figuring out the patterns. Find some wallows back in the dark timber, spend a leisurely time sitting on them in the hot weather and if you get something be prepared to bust your ass packing it out. Also don't forget to buy a fishing license and take a fly rod and some bushy dry flies and catch your dinner a few times. Sometimes my buddy and I would take an entire afternoon off just fishing the stream that ran through camp and had a blast catching brook trout, cut throats, and browns that always seem ravenous in those small streams....some of the most enjoyable hunts I've been on.

I recommend you take a look at a caribou hunt in Alaska.

You will be hunting in the same area as you would be in for a moose, or brown bear or Grizzly bear hunt. You might want to get 2 caribou tags, and if I remember correctly you can shoot a black bear with a caribou tag...

Or if you do not see a good black bear, just shoot 2 caribou.

I would talk to the outfitter, and try do do the hunt before the rut, and bring the meat back home. I have been told that cariblou meat is not good to eat durring the rut. The two I shot, with my 450/400 3 1/4" Nitro Express double rifle, was before the run and the meat was EXCELLENT.

Also a Black bear hunt, either spot and stalk, in Montana, or over bait in Idaho would be a good hunt as well.

I have killed several Black Bears, and their meat has always been good eating...

Just do some very good research, and book your hunt with a reliable outfitter...

You could do a guided Maine black bear hunt on that budget. I think the Alaska hunts suggested above would provide a great life experience for modest amount of money.

I'm not you. But here is my thinking. I would not spend it on a hunt primarily because I've done all the listed ideas. They were fine, but not in the upper half of my memories.
I would recognize that you have a lot of hunting ahead of you. Decades worth. With that in mind I would look at what I want to hunt and experience in the next 30 years, and spend all of the 3k on a extremely well made rifle that you will use on most of those future hunts. I would then start saving for a scope to make the rifle proud. I'm a bit of a gun nut so hunting with a high quality rifle means something to me. For friends of mine this is a total waste and for them guns are like screwdrivers. The cheapest tool that gets them by is the best decision. Only you know which category you fall into.

I'm a year older than you and have been thinking about the same kind of adventure for the same budget. I've done DIY antelope in Wyoming and heartily recommend it. In fact, if you are a real penny pincher, I bet you could two years of antelope for three grand. I went with two buddies in 2012. We came from different locations and couldn't split fuel. However, we split the hotel, food, and local hunting expenses. I shot a couple does and a decent public land buck. Total cost? About $1,200. Of course, we did everything ourselves, including processing the meat.

Now, my $3,000 hunt wish is a free-range aoudad in Texas or even New Mexico. A close second is one of the various bird/predator hunts advertised here by Juan Pozzi. Those might come in at a bit more than the price if you burn through a lot of shells, but I bet it'd be pretty close, and a great experience!

What folks are NOT listing with some of their recommendations are such things as being able to draw a tag.

The last time I hunted speed goats was 1997. Over many areas, Pronghorn populations are declining and fewer tags are being issued. Going with a guide is in my opinion your best option as they will have land owner tags. Somewhat the same can be said for Cow Elk Tags. My Late season cow elk tag in Colorado in 2013 was $364.00, from what I read those tags went up $100.00 this year.

Black bear hunts in many places are still pretty reasonable and are fun. The next two "Big" hunts I want to do as a "Bucket List" type deal are Black Bear and Moose. I have hunted both, found it enjoyable and the meat from both was excellent.

I have to go along with the statement that 39 is a bit young to be having an MLC, but one thing is a fact, none of these hunts will get cheaper as you age, and with some species tags are going to continue to become more difficult to obtain.

Best Of Luck with your search, putting hunts like your wanting together is half the adventure.

quote:

Originally posted by Navaluk:
I'm not you. But here is my thinking. I would not spend it on a hunt primarily because I've done all the listed ideas. They were fine, but not in the upper half of my memories.
I would recognize that you have a lot of hunting ahead of you. Decades worth. With that in mind I would look at what I want to hunt and experience in the next 30 years, and spend all of the 3k on a extremely well made rifle that you will use on most of those future hunts. I would then start saving for a scope to make the rifle proud. I'm a bit of a gun nut so hunting with a high quality rifle means something to me. For friends of mine this is a total waste and for them guns are like screwdrivers. The cheapest tool that gets them by is the best decision. Only you know which category you fall into.

I've had an obsession with guns since I was 8 years old but have never been able to afford anything special. What little extra money I've had has always been spent vacationing with my family. I've always made that my #1 priority. We travel a lot but we are always budget-minded. 90% of the time we stay in a tent somewhere but we've been able to see every state in the lower 48.

A couple months ago I sold 2 of my most expensive rifles to build something special. It's a 1952 model Winchester model 70 that I'm having chambered in 6.5-06 with a Benchmark barrel. The stock will be English walnut fashioned after an Al Biesen/ Jack O'connor rifle. My dream is that I can start going on more extravagant hunts than I normally do and use this rifle for most of them. I do hunt a lot with a bow and muzzleloader so those will always be an option also.

My thoughts for that kind of money/less expensive would be (not in any order)

WY Pronghorn- I think there are some guided ones in your price range, barely. Doing a DIY or access fee hunt might be more useful with the time you have available. (most guided antelope I have seen are pretty short hunts)

TX Aoudad/hog hunt- This is something that you would need to see what the landowner is willing to do. My experience talking with folks is that public land in TX can be very frustrating.

Canada or Dakota Duck hunt- As a DIY this will be a bit of work to get everything to come together, and I am assuming you have the gear for duck, otherwise that can run your budget in a hurry. (and if you go to the right place/time in Dakotas, you can combine some world class duck hunting with world class pheasant hunting, but its not big game.)

If you are willing to wait a bit, applying for draw tags for Deer or Elk out west can be a doable choice, but with deer numbers doing odd things what is good now may not be later. Since you are talking a few weeks, get out there a week or so before the season and scout the heck out of the area then hunt at the end of your time.

I have spent the bigger dough to hunt AK and the specialized gear can really eat your money up, and to get anywhere reasonable you will probably need to hire a transport service of some sort, which will likely eat up a lot of your money. Save your first AK hunt to go on a guided hunt so you can see what you need then try the DIY later. (I thought I knew how to handle cold weather with my MN upbringing- its a "bit" different up there- unless you have a friend who already has the stuff and done it before, then if they will go with you, its not exactly rocket science.)

My experience with bear is unless you live there, you won't have much chance to figure it out on one hunt; you are better off with a guided hunt on bear (black) - If anyone can find you a DIY/cheaper option on Brown or Griz (especially in your price range), RUN AWAY from it. The license for an out of stater is over 2/3 of your budget in AK, and by law you have to have some sort of guide/responsible person with you on that.

If you want to keep going back to the same area as far as big game goes, you can go to many spots that you would need to consider the first couple trips as building relationships with landowners/get access/ figure out the area. I haven't figured out MN myself as far as deer go (and I own my land...) so IMO, it doesn't matter how much sweat you are willing to put in short term, to get a "big animal" requires time and experience, to just go and get something requires some effort to find a good spot and a bit of luck. I am not discouraging you on trying to follow your heart here, but just trying to state that unless you have local knowledge, your success rate will be low, so trying to collect a variety of animals is likely to be very frustrating, unless you chose a place that has a variety of game available and you keep going back to the same spot, building your knowledge base.

To get a different experience than you are accustomed to, starts by changing terrain and species. I would start with the Rocky Mt. states. Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming are closest to you and will save you driving time and especially gas $. Put in for them in early spring. Where you get drawn is where you will hunt.
If not put a list of priorities for over the counter tags guaranteeing you a hunt.
An important item, is many states have left over tags after the draw, basically when not enough hunters put in for what is available. The excess will be offered to all on first come need bases. Find out those dates for each state including species and be ready. Sometimes the tags get taken within a few minutes of opening.

Personally I prefer the challenge of Mule deer hunting in mountains with breath taking scenery. Having a primitive tent camp next to a water source with relaxing bonfires is what it's all about. Start with early seasons when available, due to weather tolerability. You will get addicted and will start to make an annual trip or every other year.
Tell us where you get your tags in the spring and if I have hunted the area I will give you some insights.
Alaska is the top of the list but very expensive. Airfare will be $1,200 etc.. just to get there. A bush plane is $550 an hour on up and you have to pay both ways. If you decide to hunt the road system areas expect to rent a vehicle which is not cheap and lots of hunters. Expect $5,000 for a caribou hunt not including taxidermy and shipping meat home.
Prices seem to be constantly going up for tags. Nonresidents get gouged even though we hunt BLM and National forest land "Federal" and we all pay federal taxes! Best of luck to you.

Tooo easy...POW DIY Blackie hunt in the fall and then you can hunt Blacktail as well. You do have to apply but the draw is about 40% success. If you decide to go that route let me know as we will be up in Sept on POW hunting. Best of luck with whatever hunt you come up with. I think I'm on my 11th mid life crisis hunt...

I'm very grateful for all of these suggestions. Ya'll have given me a lot to think about. It seems like I daydream about this stuff all the time.

I will throw out a suggestion.

Look at a self guided cow elk hunt. I really like antelope hunting and they are everywhere, in the area I live. However, you can shoot one with relative ease and for me, the best "bang" for the buck so to speak, would be the cow elk hunt.

My friends from Texas came up to Utah for a cow hunt a few weeks back. Great weather, the bulls were bugling and we saw a lot of elk.

I like the scenery, meat, and overall experience of the elk hunt better.

With an out of state license, and tag, you will be in for around $400 (can't remember the out of state fees). You could probably do the WHOLE trip for less than $1,000.

quote:

Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
I recommend you take a look at a caribou hunt in Alaska.

You will be hunting in the same area as you would be in for a moose, or brown bear or Grizzly bear hunt. You might want to get 2 caribou tags, and if I remember correctly you can shoot a black bear with a caribou tag...

Or if you do not see a good black bear, just shoot 2 caribou.

I would talk to the outfitter, and try do do the hunt before the rut, and bring the meat back home. I have been told that cariblou meat is not good to eat durring the rut. The two I shot, with my 450/400 3 1/4" Nitro Express double rifle, was before the run and the meat was EXCELLENT.

Also a Black bear hunt, either spot and stalk, in Montana, or over bait in Idaho would be a good hunt as well.

I have killed several Black Bears, and their meat has always been good eating...

Just do some very good research, and book your hunt with a reliable outfitter...

Absolutely my first thought as well. You can simply hire a flying service, bring your own gear, and do it pretty cheaply.

I have killed 13 caribou, all on DIY hunts.

Many western states have DIY hunts that you can do way cheeper than $3k. Some guided hunts as well. But these are a lot less.

Lots are draw tags but surely not all.

There is an $2 app that reminds you of the application periods and looks up your points and tells you when you drew.

PointHunter

Watch how it works on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwWaV0trHrw

or get it on your phone right now.
Download now at
https://www.gotmytag.com/download/BAMUZZ

find out if there is a local SCI chapter and when their banquet/auction is. go there and see what kind of guided hunts you can get. some great deals to be had. idk how you travel, but if you dont mind using credit cards for your daily purchases you can really rack up miles on airlines and get free flights, that will go a long way in freeing up that $3k to use on the hunting portion of your trip.

i have done 3 antelope hunts in WY and a mule deer hunt in CO, each of them under 3k. now, the CO hunt i was staying with a friend, that cut way down on the hotel/food expenses.

all public land, all fun, with the mule deer being the most rewarding, as it took me 8 days of the 9 day season to bag my buck from 1/4 mile away. i worked my arse off for that deer, did it with a great friend, and am very proud to look at him on my wall. i'm prouder of that 155" mule deer than i am my 320" archery elk, as it was an "easy" guided hunt.