Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

I was in BassPro the other day and I saw something that made me shake my head. There was a guy in there buying and entire outfit for hunting. I caught some of it and i couldn't believe what i was hearing.

[ul][*]Gore-Tex, Sent-Lock, Mossy Oak jacket, Price $350[*]Gore-Tex, Scent-Lock, Mossy Oak bibs, $250[*]Matching UnderArmour Top, $50[*]Matching UnderArmour Bottoms, $50[*]Gore-tex gloves, $40 a pair[*]Scent-Lock,Gore-tex Boots with thinsilate, $250[*]Brand New T/C icon Rifle with a Leupold VX-7 Scope (probably a nearly $2500 rig, right?)[*]and the list goes on, The lady at the register told a total of something like $4200.[/ul]
The question is, whats the deal with a $4000 dolar bill to go hunt deer. I hunted out of Hand-me down stuff for quite a while. I just got my girlfriend all the gear she is going to need, (except the rifle, i didn't have to buy that, had plenty to choose from.) With just a little of shoping around, we got a jacket and bibs for $60. And her boots were $50.

I might just be carrying on here, but do others see the same thing here. I mean why do you need to pay $100 for a set of fancy 'long-johns' and, why are the camo. Do deer have x-ray vision now a days?

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

I guess if money isnt a problem then why not? i personally use hand - me - downs and lots of layers!!!!

he probably buys all new gear each year!

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

hey, i agree. but if ya have the money, im sure people, maybe even you, would do the same. why do people buy 67000 dollar trucks when they can buy one for 20 thou? i guess if this guy is making 750 grand a year, 4000 bucks comes easily and goes easily. i know i wouldnt lol, becuase i cant. but let me say this, all that stuf isnt necessary to kill deer. might make him feel that it is, or maybe it gives him a slight edge, but alot of layers and an external camo pattern is all you need, IMO. I guess he makes alot of funny, or atleast i hope he does. lol

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

alot of money***

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

I'm in the military, so money is hard to come by. My used issue stuff work pretty well most of the time too. I just cant drop 4K on stuff and not feel bad about it. 4k is 1/2 of what i paid for my jeep!!

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

That is a rip off even if you have the money...All of my hunting gear probably costs maybe 100$ because most of it is hand-me-downs and it works fine for me.

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

Bad information if I had to guess. He/She is probably just starting out and someone convinced them that they HAD to have scent lok clothing and all that other garbage... makes you wonder how our grandfathers ever killed anything huh?

To each his own I guess...

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

No way! on God's green earth would I spend that on hunting gear or anything else for that matter but if he had it to give and felt good afterwards, then so be it.

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

It'll all be on e-Bay or in a garage sale in six months, tops... for a total of about $1100.

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

I would guess it's someone who has more money than he knows what to do with and is going on a ranch hunt somewhere and it's his first time hunting.

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

Probably the same guy that will buy a $1500 worth of golf gear because he wants to learn to play. Realistically I don't know how most of these high dollar gear companies stay in business, I very,very rarely see anyone wearing that kind of gear

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

I'd be willing to bet this is definately the case. If there are any other guides on here, I'll bet they will confirm this too. I guided on a plantation in the Lowcountry of SC fora couple of years andat least70% of the clients there would fit this guys description.

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

Let's not forget that this is America. More money is wasted in this great land than folks in other parts of the world ever even get to see!!

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

I don't know about you guys but if I had $4200 to blow at a sports store, I'd be in hog heaven!!

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

I have 3 bows, 2 guns, tons of camo and calls and etc. etc. Snake boots , rubber boots, yada yada. All of it cost less than 4K. Well maybe not the 4 wheeler.

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

Last year I went on my first duck hunt with my brother and some of his "clients". There were 8 of us going all total. Two weeks before the hunt I asked some relatives and friends if I could borrow some gear. Between all of them I was prety set. Now the clothing didn't match. And most of it was too big or tight for me and all of it was very well used. I noticed everyone else had bought new gear. Dang they looked all decked out. 4 in 1 jackets, new waders, new boots, new under armor, some with new guns. I had even taken a borrowed pump 12 as a back up. The second day there we went to a local shop and they bought more stuff. They "needed" calls, better amo, ect. I bought my wife a camo nightie. Anywho, I had on hand me down stuff and old (at least 10 year) thermals. Out of all that I killed just as many birds as anyone else. I think it's the desire to have stuff. People loose their head over it.

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

Sounds like he might be working his way up the corperate ladder and at the last minute the Boss said "Hey snuffy, I LOVE to deer hunt and just got offered 2 slotsat the High Fence Ranch this weekend.How'd you liketo tag along?" [:o]

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

Well at least he'll look good............I myself have the same jacket I've worn for 10 years, the same Carhart bibs for 15 years, and the same ole underwear and socks..........well we won't go there. Other than my $100 CVA Wolf, some powder and sabots,$125 Nikon Pro Staff scope, a few new shells for my slug gun, and 2 permits I've bought this yearI'm good to go. I consider myself pretty low maintenance. I don't have deep pockets but can buywhatever what I "need".

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

Walmart nuf said. I even do my shopping at the end of season when everything is halfprice. 4k is far to high a percentage of my salary.

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

I haven't spend anywhere near 4K on hunting gear in my life. So, when the time came, i was able to come up with 4K to make the down payment on 19 acres of hunting woods.

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

Yes it has "gotten out of control" to some extent. We as hunters are just preyed upon as any other consumer. Targeted marketing,mass product exposure and endorsements. Then we buy, buy, buy kinda without thinking because the "thinking" has been done for us.

One of the biggest jokes in my opinion are these scent suits. Of course you don't want to hunt with Old Spice on you, but clearly what emits the most odor from a guy is his breath.Another thing I get a kick out of is the rage over expandable broadheads. Your basic Thunderhead will kill a deer just fine - they've been doing it for years and years. One good shot with 3 (or 2) blade and you've got yourself a deer.

Oh and it is common knowledge now that if your bow won't do nearly 300 (or +) fps I think the arrows bounce off the deer.

[:o]

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

Shows you have your priorities in order. For that Imight even consider getting a second job!

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

I'm guilty of buying some stuff that I don't "need" because I can afford it now and couldn't before.

I hadn't hunted in years and didn't even have my own rifle. All the guns I used as a kid actually belonged to my dad. This year I bought a Nikon Monarch 1200yd Rangefinder, Nikon Monarch 10x42 Binoculars, Browning A-Bolt Stainless Stalker in 7mm Rem Mag with a Nikon Monarch 4-12x scope, and several other goodies. I'm sure I could have bought a Remington 710 or whatever that $300 throwaway rifle is labeled now and I already had some $50 Bushnell binoculars and that would have probably done the job, but I sure enjoyed the nicer equipment.

Of course I spent less than $4,000 for all of that even including my non-resident hunting licenses for Montana and the gas for the trip up there and back.

Most of the equipment I bought this year is good enough quality that I will be using it 20 years from now and I think sometimes it is actually cheaper in the long run to buy quality equipment up front than it is to buy cheap and have to replace it several times.

That's my 2 cents. Nathan

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

BKE,

Unfortunately, if it wasn't for Absolut Vodka and women, I could have bought 80 acres of woods. So, i only get partial credit for having priorities in order.[8D]

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

Yep, there's some folks who just have too damn much money, and a whole lot of folks who don't have enough. There's something wrong here, but I don't have any answers.

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

Every man's life is a tale of woe, and there's always more woe than tail.:D

It's all money well spent.

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

Yep, even the child support

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

No we haven't gotten out of control.
All we have here is someone who has plenty of money and wants to invest in high-cost hunting apparrel.
What is wrong with that?

Plus, we should appreciate the fact that he is a fellow hunter.

I'm old school because I'm old...:eek:and have little or no use for a lot of hunting stuff on the market today.
I could care less what other folks want to spend on their hunting gear.
If you want it and can afford it - goforit!

It is their right....Good luck to them!

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

Amajorityof the current boone and crockett and pope and young records were killed before any of that stuff existed. How did they do that? Ummm... probably because if you use you brain a little, you could simply hunt downwind of where the deer come from. I guess that shows some people are willing to just pull out their checkbook rather than use simple strategies to hunt. A sign of laziness and lack of woods knowledge. Im sure that stuff probably does give him an edge, but necessary?...far from it

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

That's America. Other than some people in special circumstances, we can be as sucessful as we want depending up on howhard you want to work for it.

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

Being a sucker is an expensive proposition, the most I've ever spent on a hunting related item was my lifetime license, and that's reuseable until I die.

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

It is guys like him who keep the likes of BassPro and Cabela's in business so I can buy neat hunting equipment from them! Obviously you don't need that stuff to go hunting. If the guy has money to burn to buy all that stuff, more power to him. I think it becomes a question of personal hunting style. I like to go out and hunt without camo -- wearing green wool military surplus trousers and red-checked wool shirt. I like these clothes, they are very comfortable in the woods and adopt very well to outdoors conditions. I own camoflage pants and shirt and jacket that match well to my conditions, but I like this other outfit better. Sometimes I wear the camo and sometimes I wear the wool. I have shot deer both ways.

I'm of the mind that fundamental woodsmanship pays greater dividends than the fancy equipment. If you really know your stuff, I imagine you can get yourself into a ground blind next to a funnel you have located and nab your deer opening morning at 35 yards with an open sighted .30-06 wearing a pimp suit. The game may be different when hunting for trophy bucks and bow hunting, but I hunt with modern rifle for meat and don't care a lick about antler size, and am more happy with a doe than a buck.

When I first started deer hunting I was particularly susceptible to the desire to buy hunting gear. As I have hunted longer, I am less seduced by these fancy devices. A head-lamp is a good tool to have. A good knife is a good tool to have. A backpack to carry stuff -- water bottle, tags, snack food, clothes as you shed them with the warming temperatures throughout the day -- is something I like, but others do without this. Warm clothes. That is about the end of the list. I use a good quality rifle chambered in a powerful deer cartridge with a good scope sight, but I could effectively kill deer with a much lower quality set up. I'm using a .25-06 scoped with a Leopold VariX-III 3.5-10x 40 mm scope. I used to wash my clothes every night in scent free soap and shower every morning in scent free soap and brush my teeth with baking soda. I shot deer then. I also shot deer when I didn't follow that regime and didn't shower. Last year I got skunked. I missed a shot opening morning and didn't get any further opportunities. I am not buying that it was because I didn't wear camo and didn't wash in scent free soap.

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

hahahah.. That cracks me up.

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

I spent 500 this year on some new stuff for myself and my girlfriend and i felt guilty about that[&:]

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

some people are just too proud to shop at wal-mart, ect. Me, im not one of them. $500 for 2 people is do-able. Plus, walmart does carry Remington brand camo and its a whole hell of alot cheaper then BassPro/Cabelas. Thats for sure!

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

To each their own. IMO what a waste. At least he still recognizes the fun/importance of hunting I guess.

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

i can't comment because i spent about $2,500.00 this year. however mine was for a new centerfire rifle and new muzzle loader. i also had to equip both with optics and such. then i bought a new climbing treestand (so i could hunt different locations without pulling my stand each time). last of all i needed new camo, which was under $100. my old camo was so faded it looked white.

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

Welcome to the world of trophy hunters and tv. Some turd on TV told everyone that they absolutely have to have this crap and they buy it... literally.
I don't hunt for the rack. I don't brag about trophies. I don't even keep trophies.
I have alot more respect for the guy who pays 500 bucks for his whole outfit and shoots a doe than some yahoo that pays over a grand in camo, pays a guide 4000 to put him on top of a deer that they put on a message board at cabelas.... and he shoots it with a rifle at 100 yards.

If My truck would burn to the ground (hopefully). with all my stuff in it... I would be out about 2 grand. truck included.

RE: Have we gotten out of control?!?!
 

Does paying $99.95 for a blow-up doll in camo bra and panties to keep me company in the deer stand qualify as extravagant? [8D]