Hunting, A Rich Mans Sport............pic

[rocky]

1 hour ago, Ringtail said:

 I figure do it while I’m young and can afford it within reason before real life starts (mortgage, taxes, family, etc). 

 I am 55 now and I never thought that health issues would ever slow me down chasing big bugling bulls but, this is the first year that it ever crossed my mind. My one hip and both knees are giving me issues. I do a lot of back country hunting alone so if something happens it can be a life or death matter. I remember when getting bit by a rattle snake was my only concern but now it is my body holding up.

Here is a little advice for you younger guys out there.......Take care of your body because it will come back to haunt you if you don't. Plus don't put your dream hunts off. I have several friends that said "I will do it in a few years." 25 plus years ago and, they never will now.

 

[Greybeard]

2 hours ago, Buck154 said:

Guess i will be hunting just New Jersey the rest of my life 

I go out of state for deer and turkey, and it costs about half of what I pay in NJ.  5 weeks of spring turkey and fall turkey, 5-6 weeks of fall bow plus a late season, and 2 weeks of rifle.  Within driving distance too, but the bucks and tracks of land get bigger if you go farther west in PA.

Edited March 19, 2019 by Greybeard

[Lunatic]

4 minutes ago, Greybeard said:

I go out of state for deer and turkey, and it costs about half of what I pay in NJ.  5 weeks of spring turkey and fall turkey, 5-6 weeks of fall bow plus a late season, and 2 weeks of rifle.  Within driving distance too, but the bucks and tracks of land get bigger if you go farther west in PA.

If you don’t mind, where do you go for spring Turkey? Is it diy or outfitter? 

[Greybeard]

2 hours ago, Lunatic said:

If you don’t mind, where do you go for spring Turkey? Is it diy or outfitter? 

I go on my wife's cousin's farm.  State land that surrounds it isn't bad either, but it gets hunted by a lot of other hunters.

[Live to Hunt]

We can all do it. It’s just the choices we make. What’s most important to you?

[hammer4reel]

3 hours ago, Greybeard said:

I go out of state for deer and turkey, and it costs about half of what I pay in NJ.  5 weeks of spring turkey and fall turkey, 5-6 weeks of fall bow plus a late season, and 2 weeks of rifle.  Within driving distance too, but the bucks and tracks of land get bigger if you go farther west in PA.

You keep saying that but it’s not correct.

permit to archery hunt and license in pa is 125 bucks , extra turkey tag to shoot an extra bird NR is 42 bucks . 125 bucks you get to shoot one buck , and if put in for a doe can shoot that second deer .  And 1 turkey.

shorter seasons etc

bow license here is 32 bucks , turkey permit is 21 .

so for 53 bucks you can shoot a turkey , three bucks and unlimited does . And hunt for over 6 months

 

[B B]

4 hours ago, rocky said:

Take care of your body because it will come back to haunt you if you don't.

Great advise, but too late for me!  If not for my woods Jeep, four wheeler, jet sled and good friends and land owners that are always willing to help, I'd probably still be dragging the deer I killed in September.  Fortunately in my head I can still walk through brick walls 

Just keep on keeping on and don't let the old man in.    

Edited March 20, 2019 by B B

[LPJR]

8 hours ago, Buck154 said:

Guess i will be hunting just New Jersey the rest of my life 

Agreed....Young man? How bout guys with 3 kids, 1 in college now, 1 in college next year, and 1 who aspires to be the next motocross Evil Knievel?  Not complaining and would not change a thing, or ever wish to for that matter...... But, it just looks like I will scout closer to home and harder now more than ever before.......

Those prices are absolutely insane. If someone can afford to go, God Bless them. But to spend it on one person when supporting a family is just not in the cards for some.....

Edited March 20, 2019 by LPJR

[tcook8296]

Sheep hunting is def a rich mans sport. You could hunt the Big horn and Stone in Bc, fly to Alaska or NWT for the Dall and fly down to Mexico and do the Desert Big Horn. 

I dont see the dilemma lol

 

[Coyoteslayer]

14 hours ago, rocky said:

 I am 55 now and I never thought that health issues would ever slow me down chasing big bugling bulls but, this is the first year that it ever crossed my mind. My one hip and both knees are giving me issues. I do a lot of back country hunting alone so if something happens it can be a life or death matter. I remember when getting bit by a rattle snake was my only concern but now it is my body holding up.

Here is a little advice for you younger guys out there.......Take care of your body because it will come back to haunt you if you don't. Plus don't put your dream hunts off. I have several friends that said "I will do it in a few years." 25 plus years ago and, they never will now.

 

When I started in my trade guys like u told me every day wear your knee pads young man. Yeah right what do these old dudes know lol. Umm 25 years later dammit those old dudes were right!! Hey wait a minute I'm an old dude now saying it to the younger guys that work for me!!

[Rjtfd]

19 hours ago, Haskell_Hunter said:

Progressive playbook states that in order to eliminate the rights of other people, you create “haves” and “have nots”, so only rich people can afford to exercise their rights.  Once you have that established, you create class warfare to claim that the rich are taking advantage of the poor, so we should eliminate the rights of the rich.  That ultimately eliminates the rights of everyone.

Hunting is getting more expensive because anits want to make sure poor people can’t participate in it.  They are doing the same thing with firearms and ammo.  You’re already seeing Murphy do it here with other permits.

This is 100% true statement. This has nothing at all to do with rich or poor it’s all about the end goal to eliminate hunting and the one of the reasons to own guns. 

[LifeOutside773]

19 hours ago, Buck154 said:

Guess i will be hunting just New Jersey the rest of my life 

I'm lucky my dad lives in northern Wisconsin. All i need to pay for when i go out there is license and tags. I would never pay an outfitter, I'm not a trophy hunter. When i read these magazines and they have lengthy articles about how anyone can afford to purchase land and manage it to increase habitat and appeal to trophy bucks, i just don't get it. Guys have been killing deer for thousands of years. Now people act like you need to spend thousands upon thousands of dollars and dedicate the entirety of your waking hours to preparation for your next hunt or you won't be successful. I can kill a deer with cheap gear and a bit of scent control. A guy i work with goes to all of these paid hunted. Usually spends like $10,000+.  I just can't imagine why anyone would pay that.

[Greybeard]

14 hours ago, hammer4reel said:

You keep saying that but it’s not correct.

permit to archery hunt and license in pa is 125 bucks , extra turkey tag to shoot an extra bird NR is 42 bucks . 125 bucks you get to shoot one buck , and if put in for a doe can shoot that second deer .  And 1 turkey.

shorter seasons etc

bow license here is 32 bucks , turkey permit is 21 .

so for 53 bucks you can shoot a turkey , three bucks and unlimited does . And hunt for over 6 months

 

You're comparing the price of 6 weeks of fall bow(mid sept to the start of the rut, which sucks), and 5 days of turkey hunting to what I can do in PA for the entire seasons.  It would cost nearly $280 in NJ to buy all the deer permits and licenses to hunt the deer seasons, gun and bow, not including over $100 more to buy all the turkey permits in NJ to hunt turkey as long as I can in PA for nothing more than my initial $101.90 hunting license for small game and deer.  Added 26.90 for archery. 

For another $21.90 I can also hunt with muzzleloader in PA for all the mzlr seasons(I don't).  Costs 28 + 28 for buck stub here, $56. Doesn't matter if you didn't shoot a buck yet in NJ, you still have to pay $28 more for another buck stub to shoot one in each permit season, plus 28 for the permit and 10 for the rifle permit.

$128.80 total in PA gets me 12 days of rifle season(there are extended seasons), plus 17 days for 1 fall turkey, either sex, 10/27-11/10 and 11/22-24, and 5 weeks of spring turkey for another bird(toms only).  2 birds with hunting license.  Jersey costs $21 per 5 day segment (10 days if you take the last 2 week days) and you'll pay again for fall turkey. 

In NJ I hunt 14 days with the gun for 93.50.  Could hunt longer with the gun but it would cost me another $56. Gun seasons alone would put me at 149.50 in NJ.  PA's 128.80  also gets me an archery permit to hunt from Sept 29 to nov 12(thru the rut), and dec 26- jan 12.  In NJ, that would add 31.50 + 56 for extended permit.

 PA NR bear is 36.90, while NJ is talking about a $100 tag.

Don't forget I am comparing NR costs to Resident.  PA resident cost are so low compared to NJ it would make you cry out"RAPE"

Yes it's only one buck, but most are happy to get one buck in NJ.  I don't get the PA doe permit because I am forced to shoot 2 here in NJ under EAB.

That 32 bucks  for NJ archery license gets you a winter buck, and a early season buck.  If you want to hunt the rut for the 3rd one you mentioned it will cost you another 56.

Edited March 20, 2019 by Greybeard

[mazzgolf]

6 minutes ago, Greybeard said:

You're comparing the price of 6 weeks of fall bow(mid sept to the start of the rut, which sucks), and 5 days of turkey hunting to what I can do in PA for the entire seasons.  It would cost nearly $280 in NJ to buy all the deer permits and licenses to hunt the deer seasons, gun and bow, not including over $100 more to buy all the turkey permits in NJ to hunt turkey as long as I can in PA for nothing more than my initial $101.90 hunting license for small game and deer.  Added 26.90 for archery.  For another $21.90 I can also hunt with muzzleloader in PA for all the mzlr seasons(I don't).  Costs 28 + 28 for buck stub here, $56. Doesn't matter if you didn't shoot a buck yet in NJ, you still have to pay $28 more for another buck stub to shoot one in each permit season, plus 28 for the permit and 10 for the rifle permit.

$128.80 total in PA gets me 12 days of rifle season(there are extended seasons), plus 17 days for 1 fall turkey, either sex, 10/27-11/10 and 11/22-24, and 5 weeks of spring turkey for another bird(toms only).  Jersey costs $21 per 5 day segment (10 days if you take the last 2 week days) and you'll pay again for fall turkey. 

In NJ I hunt 14 days with the gun for 93.50.  Could hunt longer with the gun but it would cost me another $56. Gun seasons alone would put me at 149.50 in NJ.  PA's 128.80  also gets me an archery permit to hunt from Sept 29 to nov 12(thru the rut), and dec 26- jan 12.  In NJ, that would add 31.50 + 56 for extended permit.

 PA NR bear is 36.90, while NJ is talking about a $100 tag.

Don't forget I am comparing NR costs to Resident.  PA resident cost are so low compared to NJ it would make you cry out"RAPE"

Yes it's only one buck, but most are happy to get one buck in NJ.  I don't get the PA doe permit because I am forced to shoot 2 here in NJ under EAB.

Reading this depresses me  

FWIW: I attended a NJ Div. Fish and Wildlife sponsored focus group last night in Millville. They are looking for ways to help increase participation mainly for bow hunting, but one of the things we stressed to the woman running the focus group was that the crazy regulations and the cost for all the different permits for zones/seasons was a detriment to increased participation. Hopefully, they take that into consideration when they analyze the results of that focus group.

[Woodsman416]

You can sit in a deer stand just off your back patio and hunt whitetail deer.

 

You can sit on a ridge top in the Brooks range and glass for grizzlies.

 

Trust me. It's not the same. It's more about adventure and seeing things few people see than it is about bringing home meat. Adventure is expensive. If that's not what your into, that's cool. I spent my teenage years reading Petersens Hunting dreaming about hunting all over North america. I'm  55 now, my kids are out of college and out on their own and I'm in a position both physically and financially to live out my dreams. And I can still sit in a New Jersey deer stand, listen to barking dogs, screeching school bus brakes and maybe, just maybe, kill a P&Y buck. I'd say I'm livin' the dream!

 

Another thought on this. If it weren't for men like me and LivetoHunt, Rocky, TJFslaughter and others on here they'd probably be speaking Russian west of the Mississippi!