HuntingNet.com Forums - cost of guided hunting

Quote:

Originally Posted by dog1 (Post 3671073)

Being from Ga., and hunting only whitetails and wild boar, and one hunt to Craig, Co in 2003 for muleys, the prices y'all are quoting seems far out of the range of the average person (me) could afford.

I'm not knocking you that can afford these hunts, but aren't these prices ruining what we as Americans grew up doing for free. Seems like something like this went on in England years ago. Only the stately and rich could hunt.

I doubt that I could hold out (physically) to actually go on most of the Elk hunts I read about, but that is still my dream, elk, mule deer, or antelope. My health has been failing me since 2003, but do hope to make a trip out west for antelope one day.

I'm glad for you that can afford to make these hunts, wish I could, but will be happy with my whitetail and wild boar hunting here in GA. Good luck to all of you.

dog1

Well, I go DIY and all together I probably spend about a grand a year on the trip (half of that being a vehicle rental). We go in on foot, into the backcountry, the locals think we are NUTS for what we do without horses. But I will keep doing it while I am young enough to, because eventually I'll have to hire a horse to pack my butt in.

We don't shoot trophies, but I got a 243in 6X6 on my first elk hunt ever. It was an experience I wouldn't trade for an outfitted hunt.

A lot of it depends on if you are willing to pay for horns. I'm not, so I go for the experience and shoot what is legal. This obsession with trophy hunting is what is driving the costs up. When I was a kid, I could get permission to deer hunt almost anywhere. Now, leases are a big deal and no one will give permission because most land is leased out by people who want to shoot bucks only. So now the populations are exploding because no one willing to shoot does can get access to them!