I just have to say the cost of American hunting is becoming unaffordable! At a recent show I saw some eye watering prices:

Mule deer UT $40,000 private ranch. And he told me that he had a list of people wanting to buy these hunts. Forget the special tags etc that sold for 310 and 400,000. Yes that's not a typo
Tule elk $38,000
Moose hunts $30,000 - on which you would be lucky to shoot a 60 inch moose.


Arjun Reddy
Hunters Networks LLC
30 Ivy Hill Road
Brewster, NY 10509
Tel: +1 845 259 3628

SCI Booth 1751 (Las Vegas 19th to 22nd January, 2022)
Western Hunting and Conservation Expo Booth 444 (Utah 10th to 13th February)

Yeah - I've seen the same thing! Crazy how much moose hunts have jumped...

Talking with friends, we have come to the determination that at the moment, Argentina appears to be the best value for our hunting dollars if you do not want to ship home trophies..

Airfare to South America right now is surprisingly low..

Lot's of people with lots of money willing to spend it.

Limited recourses.

All hunting has gotten expensive. And historically always has been an expensive sport for very rich people.

All in cost of a Cape buffalo hunt in Zim is close to $20-$25k.

I figured I can get 6-7 GT fishing trips for that price. I even find Brazilian peacock bass trips relatively expensive.

There is some excellent affordable hunting in Romania and the Kansas whitetail trip advertised on AR is an amazing deal.

If you leave the trophies behind there is some amazing value on hunting plains game.

I will go chase GT till I physically can’t do it (5-10 years) and then hope there are some affordable elands to shoot.

To those with the $$$ and the desire enjoy the hunting - you can’t take the money with you when the game is over.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by reddy375:
I just have to say the cost of American hunting is becoming unaffordable! At a recent show I saw some eye watering prices:

Mule deer UT $40,000 private ranch. And he told me that he had a list of people wanting to buy these hunts. Forget the special tags etc that sold for 310 and 400,000. Yes that's not a typo
Tule elk $38,000
Moose hunts $30,000 - on which you would be lucky to shoot a 60 inch moose.


Arjun Reddy
Hunters Networks LLC
30 Ivy Hill Road
Brewster, NY 10509
Tel: +1 845 259 3628

SCI Booth 1751 (Las Vegas 19th to 22nd January, 2022)
Western Hunting and Conservation Expo Booth 444 (Utah 10th to 13th February)

That's what you get for attending the Hunt Expo Arjun ha ha.....

Mule Deer, Elk, and sheep are big money and it seems that the economy, inflation, or any recession have little impact the cost or demand for these tags.

As I mentioned to you at the show, I have a very good chance at drawing a Desert Sheep tag this year. If I was to buy this tag, I would have to buy it in Mexico or Texas. The cost would likely be in the $60,000-$70,000.

Of course, you are cherry picking very expensive hunts as examples. There are also inexpensive hunts that can be had or done in North America. Plenty of cheap deer hunts out there. There are still OTC tags and public land. Success rates are generally low as is trophy quality unless a premium tag is drawn. Quality is expensive most every where. I would also add that for a long time, an African safari could be had for less than a good elk hunt...and on the elk hunt you may not kill a bull, let alone a good one. On the safari you will see a lot of game and shoot many species.

quote:

I would also add that for a long time, an African safari could be had for less than a good elk hunt...and on the elk hunt you may not kill a bull, let alone a good one. On the safari you will see a lot of game and shoot many species.

That's why I've only hunted Elk once but have been to Africa 14 times. I'll be going again if the Covid stuff ever goes away.

Just received an e-mail advertising a boat based brown bear hunt. 1x1 10 days $45,000 observer $7,500 and that's not a typo either. WOW!!!!!

There certainly are very pricey hunts out there and seemingly more every year BUT there are some sleepers and keepers to be had.
If your sights are set on, say, a Stone sheep hunt, don't cut corners or you'll get to pay twice since that's the success odds right now.

Zeke

Well, inflation hit even our industry and lots of disposable income to be had and spent
Africa and Eastern Europe is lot better bang for the buck nowadays…

The people who can afford those high dollar hunts are not effected by the high dollars it costs to hunt. It cost a great deal to just go hunting. For example it cost $660 to just buy an elk tag in Colorado. That might not seem like a lot, but it is. And the odds say you are not going to get one. I have been buying Wyo cow elk tags because I they are $280ish, a bargain, only they are getting harder to draw and then one finally draws a tag that is hard to get on to public land because there is private land in the way.

And I just checked the Colorado Big Game guide I just received in the mail to make sure my $660 amount was correct, I was wrong $700.98 that's OTC. If you want a draw, it will cost you the price of an out of state hunting license also.

That is just the tag. Now you have to get there and feed and lodge yourself.

I'm not complaining, I just can't elk hunt in Colorado, and it looks like Wyo is next. My son can get a youth license for $100 so I have one more year of that.

I used to tell the lady at Wal Mart buying those out of state tags, "It's cheaper than Disney Land." Well I hope to never go to Disney Land to find out, but it's crazy the cost of hunting.

For most states it has become about money enhancement.

Not game mangement.

I no longer travel to hunt. Decided I would be better off just buying my own land to enjoy. So I did. I don't even need to pay for a license/tags here. Free for landowners to hunt your own land. Essentially covered by our property taxes (funds our conservation agency).

I do have options to go to other states to hunt with friends on their land. License and tag fees are too expensive and most of them are draw only.

the residents of this state have been pushing to get out of state licenses jacked up to where everyone else is.
they don't want to do it because they'd rather oversell certain units with no elk or deer in them during the hunt, and let the hunters go home empty handed.

I don't agree that a US Citizen has to buy a non resident tag to hunt on out of state FEDERAL land.

quote:

Originally posted by carpetman1:
I don't agree that a US Citizen has to buy a non resident tag to hunt on out of state FEDERAL land.

Wildlife belongs to the people of that state. This has been hashed out countless times. But you are entitled to you opinion.

.

Not being able to travel so freely the last couple of years due to Covid, I turned my focus inwards towards Europe and have had super bang for my buck (pun or no pun intended)....

Four day roe deer hunts with 6 outings and deer and pig under 50 kgs inclusive for USD 800,- plus minus

Five days mouflon in Hungary inc a solid mouflon for under USD 1.750,-

Weekend driven boar hunts in State Forestry blocks at USD 500,- pp

UK five days pigeon shooting over spring drilling at USD 900,- pp

and so on and so on.

Europe offers some great fun hunting at very reasonable prices if you shop around. Single days on roe buck inc a buck can be had for as little as USD 400,- pp.

Of course there are also big dollar hunts for stag, fallow, roe and pigs for those that want the ultimate European trophies, but even so nowhere near the cost of a US elk hunt!

That being said and all, we are still heading to Africa in May for 3 weeks !!

.

Most of out of state deer and antelope licenses are still a bargain for the fact, it’s not arduous hunt in comparison with elk hunts
When I was young and dollar short, I recycled just about anything and always made enough money for few,out of state licenses
Wife thought I should hand it over but she thought wrong Ha Ha Ha

Colorado Bob --Not to flame. Yes Colorado owns the game--that is until one causes you to wreck your vehicle, but that's another story. But that Colorado game is feeding on FEDERAL property and Colorado not paying grazing fees.

quote:

Originally posted by carpetman1:
Colorado Bob --Not to flame. Yes Colorado owns the game--that is until one causes you to wreck your vehicle, but that's another story. But that Colorado game is feeding on FEDERAL property and Colorado not paying grazing fees.

Now you reaching carpetman
Game laws in each state is the best there is, anything else would be clusterfuck
You start with federal bullshit and you got clusterfuck of cosmic proportions
Look what Feds do now, fuck everything they touch
Second, we would all be better off if there were no livestock on federal,lands including all the game, birds and plants.
Anyone ever asked what we could do for our wild game? Instead of take take and take?
What happened to us, hunters conservationists?

What happened is, hunter capitalist. Conservationists? Sounds like communist. The rancher who owns every other section knows how to take care of the land they don’t own better than those who actually own it. Sounds about right.

I wonder who pays for half of the fencing?

Which side of the aisle, (R) or (D), tries to make it difficult for “hunters” to utilize Federally owned land? Both? Neither? Not divided along party lines?

Not taking a side here…just curious as to how y’all see the politics?

what pisses me off the most is gas prices they always say is one of the reason. You never see prices come down when gas goes down and this is the 3rd time most are using 4.00 a gallon or there about gas as a reason for higher prices.

But us hunters let them get away with it because as long as we can affrod it we keep paying and going because we all love to hunt.

It's absolutely true.

As an American in a State with virtually no public land hunting, cost of access is exceedingly high. My young kids are fanatical hunters and after hundreds of hours of phone calls, they've been granted permission to hunt perhaps 1-2 days a season at each location if they promise not to shoot any bucks, does only.

To go out of State, non-resident, in a decent shot opportunity area for something like elk, mule deer, or even pronghorn, the costs are really, really high.

How high? We can go to VERY high quality, WILD, no fence, unmolested, natural African safari for far less than a father/son or father/sons trip out of State or out west.

I sort of chuckle as I hear friends spending $12,000-$45,000 on elk hunts claiming we must be rich because we go on safaris. Little do they know.

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
Which side of the aisle, (R) or (D), tries to make it difficult for “hunters” to utilize Federally owned land? Both? Neither? Not divided along party lines?

Not taking a side here…just curious as to how y’all see the politics?

I don't think it's a D/R thing. There are Republicans who want to privatize public lands, thereby eliminating most public hunting opportunities. There are many Democrats against this very thing, advocating for public lands to remain public. On the other side, you know that many Democrats are anti-gun, anti-hunting and would love to shut us down, whether we hunt public or private. Meanwhile, in general, Republicans are more likely to be pro-gun and pro-hunting.

The public lands issues is one where we, as voters, really need to know where our specific elected representatives stand. As I see it, there really isn't a way to generalize. Although, if I had to, I would say that, just due to political stances, Rs and Is are more likely to be on our side. Just watch for those Rs who want to sell your public land to the highest bidder.

quote:

Originally posted by DesertRam:

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
Which side of the aisle, (R) or (D), tries to make it difficult for “hunters” to utilize Federally owned land? Both? Neither? Not divided along party lines?

Not taking a side here…just curious as to how y’all see the politics?

I don't think it's a D/R thing. There are Republicans who want to privatize public lands, thereby eliminating most public hunting opportunities. There are many Democrats against this very thing, advocating for public lands to remain public. On the other side, you know that many Democrats are anti-gun, anti-hunting and would love to shut us down, whether we hunt public or private. Meanwhile, in general, Republicans are more likely to be pro-gun and pro-hunting.

The public lands issues is one where we, as voters, really need to know where our specific elected representatives stand. As I see it, there really isn't a way to generalize. Although, if I had to, I would say that, just due to political stances, Rs and Is are more likely to be on our side. Just watch for those Rs who want to sell your public land to the highest bidder.

I do think that we've sort of lost the plot on this, and I do think that many folks I respect (e.g. Randy Newberg) have taken a left-leaning position instead of a more nuanced one related to public lands.

Many would say, "Do not let the Federal Public lands fall to the States, they'll pawn them off". To which I would reply "It really is dubious that the Federal government has control over such large swaths of lands, return them to the States with encumberances that do what is right without fear of the consequence of doing that which is right".

Barring all of that happening and the status quo remaining the same, I have an axe to grind with our citizens of Western States. They have preferential rights to drawing tags on MY LAND, not THEIR LAND. I pay the taxes just as much as anyone else does to the Federal Government, yet a Montana Citizen gets favored access to the Federal resources within the borders of his State. That's not particularly just but the Replublican leaning hunting establishment of those States isn't about to do what is right when it means that the quality of their hunting access will decline by providing equal-access to all US citizens when it comes to Federal lands.

Price of the Tag, fuel, food, and few other minor costs is what I am willing to pay. Plus the price of the taxidermist if I shoot something worth putting on the wall.

I prefer to hunt rather than to be led to where people have placed a 100 game cameras and then lead you to a spot where they have found the deer/elk to frequent the most.

No offense to those who prefer to pay someone to find their animal for them.

boarkiller--Me reaching? What I said was nothing like your response. I didn't say federally ran. I said on federal property the cost should be the same for all.

Sport hunting is a privilege, get used to that

Privilege for the individual but a right for the outfitter? I don't think so.

quote:

Originally posted by eny:
Sport hunting is a privilege, get used to that

quote:

Originally posted by RAR60:
Privilege for the individual but a right for the outfitter? I don't think so.

quote:

Originally posted by eny:
Sport hunting is a privilege, get used to that

+2
Privilege and not a right. Access to good areas is always expensive.
Africa is a better value than the Americas.
Europe is reasonable, but pricy.
Go to Africa.... more fun, better food and lots of choices...

quote:

Originally posted by eny:
Sport hunting is a privilege, get used to that

And operating a Sport hunting business/lodge, especially in any of the remote areas of the globe where big game is still prevalent, has always been expensive and is affected by all the same factors that drive up all prices.

quote:

Originally posted by carpetman1:
boarkiller--Me reaching? What I said was nothing like your response. I didn't say federally ran. I said on federal property the cost should be the same for all.

With your logic, I should get to buy a resident CO tag to hunt on my land in CO. THE LAND OWNER DOESN'T OWN THE GAME IN THIS COUNTRY.

I pay the taxes just as much as anyone else does to the Federal Government, yet a Montana Citizen gets favored access to the Federal resources within the borders of his State.[/QUOTE]

If paying taxes is the justification to use Federal lands, then those who pay the most taxes should get the most access. My guess is that those who bitch the most about having to pay out of state fees don't pay much in federal taxes to start.

Biggest issue I have with state tags is needing to draw to hunt on private property. I hunt Kansas on private property. I still need to draw to hunt a parcel of land that is not open to Kansas residents or other out of state hunters. Denying me a license does not provide an opportunity to another person.

Just have a tiered system where private property hunters can buy a higher priced tag for that particular property.

Mike

WOW!! I'll second that!! CRAZY....

I am wondering if this isn't just testing the market after COVID for pent-up demand, as well as a Smoking Hot Stock Market that allows some folks to do some "profit taking" at a market that is DOUBLE normal levels of the past.... AND IT WILL COME DOWN... and maybe not in the too distant future??... there is NO JUSTIFICATION ie Price-Earnings, it is all pumped up based on EXPECTATION of profit... so there are going to be some sad folks that don't peel off some profits... and what better way to spend it??... That said, I WON'T, I simply won't VALIDATE these CRAZY prices by jumping in!!
To Mark's comment, I think this is the same outfitter whose donated hunt with Donald Trump Jr. and son, sold at SCI for $190,000 in January!! I asked him later what he sells his yacht based Goat hunts for... $43,000!! CRAZY... highest I had seen previously was $28,000... and I also know of a good outfitter now at $11,000 who was $9000 at 2020 SCI!!
These 70-90ft yachts charter for $4-5000/day, but usually that is split up with 4-6 hunters, and outfitters use the yachts as transport and lodging and don't generally charge "Charter Rates on hunts...
Time Will Tell...

It used to be the Airline Pilots, Physicians/Dentists and Lawyers, and a few CEO's and Executives that were leading the pack on expensive hunts... now there are some very high paid Techy gurus out there, but I am not aware of many of them hunting??!!

I am glad I am old and have been there and done that... I still love to do it... but I don't have to!!... go luxury cruising instead...

CheerZ,

Agree, 100%.

I hunt more in Canada and overseas than I do in the US.

The costs and red tape here are truly ridiculous.

Its not new, its been happening every year, just like everything else, not just hunting..of this Im sure as I was in the business too long not to know this..Buffao were two and PG on a 7 or 10 day hunt for $4000. to $4500 in the early 1980s Same folks today go for up to $40.000. and that was the cost of a 21 day safari 5 years ago..

Regardless of what it seems, not much has changed and dollar value moved with it..The safari companies are damn sure not getting rich..breaking even is considered a success, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence..How Id love to go shoot one more buffalo but its not in the cards and Im good withthat.

I read 470Eddy's post above an as I am included in he group of what he terms "high rollers" I'll post this: I pretty much quit taking hunts to Africa due to travel and CV and to states selling tags at scalpers rates. I live in the whitetail rich state of Pa. also we kill as many bear..big bears here than most anywhere else. Instead I now concentrate on the game that made me a hunter to begin with,whitetail deer. I can kill just one buck a year so I hunt for a nice one not just happy to kill any buck. Anterless tags are easy to get an if I need sausage meat I kill a few of them with the bow.
I saw the changes coming 40 years ago to sport hunting in the USA a sad fact of life times change.

Question for the more experienced than I: since outfitters have jacked their prices through the roof are we still giving 20% of that already outrageous fee? I’m gonna have a hard time coughing up 4K for a tip on a hunt that was under 10k less than 10 years ago.