dwendt wrote:
The error in this logic is just that, it is logic. The same applied to hunting so you can eat: you would not hunt because it is far cheaper to purchase processed meat at a store. Therefore, the value in hunting is NOT in the meat you gain, but in personal satisfaction.[/quote]
When did hunting become more expensive than buying from the grocery store? As I've been hunting for years and my equipment has paid for itself with money saved in it hunting food, how is it the single slug I used to kill my deer will cost more than the equivalent weight of the deer in beef? Plus my tag cost.
Please enlighten me
W[/quote]
Okay, so, we'll give you really nice deer, field dressed at 200lbs.
You farm, so you get this is hoof weight. What is depreciation on hide and bones? For arguments sake, let's say it is 25%.
So now you have 150 lbs of meat hanging in your garage. You've got tools and talent, so you butcher it yourself.... you're ahead of the game $100 easy, more if you do your own sausage, etc.... but even those cost you because you need casings, etc.
And on your farm, you walk out 100 yds, and don't need to actually drive anywhere. And you only need to go out one day because the place is loaded with deer. And because of that, that 5 round pack of slugs get all used up efficiently killing deer with one shot because you're in a management zone. And your 4-wheeler is a farm tool, so it's just over by the shed. you also use the same 870 for ducks, so no special slugs/barrels/scopes/etc. required. Heck, your walk is so short you don't even need a sling. With the great access, you don't need to take any days off of work that would otherwise have been paid.
Yes, you have done well. Your meat cost you a license, a box of shells, a little ingredients for processing and some gas in the four-wheeler. and at 5 deer x 150 lbs you are in meat heaven with a freezer full of $.15 per lb corn fed venison.
Now, if you are the guy that works at the elevator that processes your corn.... You spend a lot of gas and time lining up lots to hunt, which you never get first crack at, and are likely to open your first day on the WMA. After the folks you know have gone through the private spots, and their family, and the banker/chiropractor/implement dealer/etc, you get a crack at 3 or 4 woodlots Sunday afternoon through Tuesday. It's a pain to get Monday/Tuesday off... there's still corn coming in, dryers are running, and you don't get paid time off. So figure already you got $200 in gas and lost wages. Add in $50 for shells/food/etc. Maybe some sort of gift for the one landowner, bottle of crown, $20. The mobile home has a shed, but it's too small, so you haul the deer down to the locker. $80 off the top, and you know the other farmer likes the sausage, one likes sticks, and your dad who doesn't hunt anymore thinks Vension Bacon is just the neatest thing. So processing is now $200 total. You've got clothes you can wear, the same Carharrt's you wear at the elevator, so a blaze vest is cheap, and your good. $450 later and 4+ days you got yourself a deer at $3.00 a lb. Not bad, good meat, at about the same price as a decent cut of beef, that would have taken 10 minutes to walk across the street from the elevator to get.... unless of course you didn't get a deer.... that kind of impacts the price per lb,
Let's do the same formula on hunting ducks/geese.... but add in decoys.....
Thinking about an elk trip? A run to NoDak or Canada? How much did you and the boys spend on shells opening day for 4 ducks (teal?) and a goose? Were you excited that you lost money that day and that now that you've got it figured out you will capitalize on the cost of that learning? Or were you hooked, wanting to spend more money, like on a boat? If meat was your only interest in hunting you would either not do it, or not be successful as you would only hunt if it meant you had greater odds of gaining meat than spending money.
Your particular situation might well be economically successful in saving money. Give me 99% of the population that hunts and it's break even at best.
