It always seems that with gas prices, tags, etc. that money is tight this time of year and Christmas is getting closer.
I always pick my hunts to get the mosts woods time and do without some weekday evening hunts. I clean my bloddy arrows and reuse. I process all my deer myself and the early ones I cut or grind into the most useful pieces for the family.
I buy used or trade equipment on Tradgang when I can and I tell myself a new bow isn't something I need very often. Even though I usually just play the wind I buy scent free luandry detergent/soap after season on clearance and throw one of those wafers that can be reused in the dryer instead of expensive dryer sheets.
I also wear whatever warm and dry clothing that I have instead of worrying about expensive hunting apparel.
What do you guys do to cut costs?
I use walnuts and rotten osage fruit as cover scents. My property has a lot of both trees so I figure its a natural smell they are used to. I have deer walk the same trail as I did coming to the stand.
I also make my own bows, arrows, quiver, and metal trade points.
For detergent I use backing soda. Then i hang clothes outside to dry, after that I pit them in a black trash bag and sprinkle backing soda on it. I'm still whereing most of my hunting clothes from years back. I buy my thermal under wear when it goes on sale at the end of the year.
When hunting other states or areas camp rather than stay in hotel rooms.
when booking deer hunts out of state choosing the late winter season will often save you a lot of money as many outfitters usually don't get many hunters end of the late archery season. not always the case but always worth asking.
buy clothing, soaps, handwarmers, and anything else you can at the end of the season when its on clearance.
Like Rob said, process you own deer. But also offer to process your friends deer for 50 bucks each can be worth it for both of you. most processors change 100 plus. do it for your friends for half that price helps them and puts money in your pocket.
instead of buying scent killer sprays I buy scent killer laundry detergent and make my own sprays. a bottle of scent killer laundry detergent will make a whole bunch of gallons of scent killer spray.
shoot mutiple critters with the one arrow. :archer2:
i do little cash jobs and sell things i don't need to help fund the hobby.
i butcher all my own meat.
i hardly ever drink and i don't smoke. hobby is paid for already.....
LB, great idea about the detergent! How do you mix/dilute to get that yield?
I'm interested as well in the formula
I buy the new free and clear tide and my wife washes all our clothes in it during hunting season it's the same price as regular tide and is scent free.
I have made scent killer spray from peroxide and distiller water but you need to let it sit open for awhile or it's two fizzy. You can buy it for about five dollars more if purchased on sale. Seams I never make time to make it before season.
Hunting out of state on public land like IA & IL tags are $$$ but still allot cheaper then a guided hunt and both states have great public land.
Put white vinegar in your rinse water when doing laundry. Wife does it for every load. It removes any access soap left in the clothes.
I buy all the old, straight wood arrows I find at yard sales, strip them down, put a clear finish on them and hunt with them. Under that ugly green and grey paint on Bear arrows is some really nice Port Orford cedar.
I knap my own hunting heads but that's not always cheap unless you live in Texas where rock is almost everywhere. lol
I repair a lot of my leather goods. Just the other day I back a back quiver with some Bear arrows in it. The quiver had a broken strap so made a new strap and sewed it on. Now one of the grandkids has a back quiver to use.
Refletch your arrows.
Use head like Black Diamonds to hunt with. You can just re sharpen them after shooting them unlike most razor type broad heads.
Learn to make your own bow strings.
When I go to shoots I pick up the point end of broken arrows left at some targets. There is nothing wrong with them.
Just a few tips for thought.
Buy good gear the first time so it lasts. Save up money and pay for the gear. Do not impulse buy with credit cards.
Bought 2 heavy wool blankets for 60 bucks. Had my mother-in-law sew them into a pair of heavy bibs and a heavy vest. If I compare them to internet prices, what cost me $60 would have been $600.
I shop at Goodwill for hunting clothes. They seem to have a lot of wool clothing.
QuoteOriginally posted by Fattony77:
LB, great idea about the detergent! How do you mix/dilute to get that yield?
I don't have a specific mixture. I just pour about a cap full into the bottle and add water then shake it up.
I got this idea from my hunting buddy many years ago. been using it ever since and saved tons of money as I probably go thru a 2 gallons of scent killer spray a year. I only wash my wool once a season but constantly spray it will scent killer and let the rainy days wash it lol.
Buying used stuff has worked well for me. Black tail recurve, Pronghorn longbow, Thunderhorn quiver, binoculars, all bought from tradgangers. Treebark camo set from a second hand store, used arrows from Snag :)
My biggest expense is gas, and have not figured a way to beat that one. Except hunting with a friend of course.
Saving my broken woodies with the plan to foot them and have to buy fewer arrows. Just haven't gotten to the actual task, yet.
Using 3/8" dowels from the local hardware store to save on cost of shafts and shipping.
Buying up stock from people getting out of archery because it's cheap, even though I've already got enough to last several lifetimes.
Army-Navy Surplus stores carry wool pants. Hole in the wall secondhand stores have some good stuff occasionally.
Also, a lot of gear really isn't needed (elk hunting is a different story...something about 200+ lbs of meat to move that ups the ante considerably). If you hunt deer sized game or smaller, within a couple miles of your vehicle, you really only need a few items.
You need the clothes to stay warm, three or so broadhead tipped arrows, a selfbow, a knife, and wood smarts (although I would never leave the house without a liter or two of water).
It may not be the easiest hunt in the world, but it will be memorable.
Make arrow shafts
Make arrows
Use full length feathers and make kid arrows out of the extra pieces
Make bows
Practice in yard to save fuel to range and range fees (have not shot an indoor range for twenty five years!)
Fewer day trips and more long trips to save fuel
Try to butcher my own but hot weather can make it impossible
Don't buy gadgets or unneccesary gear. If it's really desireable then try to make it
Buy inexpensive clothing, etc. It only needs to be good enough for your typical conditions
If you have excellent rain gear it makes the things worn beneath less critical
I make all of my hunting doo dads or use old stuff I had lying around like haul rope, accessory pouch, bow hanging hooks. Also make my own arrows, spine tester, broadhead alignment jig, arrow straightener, alcohol lamp, arrow painting rack, string jig. Make my own strings. Every single bow, riser, limbs, has been purchased used or acquired in a trade. Do my own butchering and meat preparation. I wear BDUs I got for free for camo and buy used wool from Goodwill.
I recycle my old bowhunting, state archery organizations, and archery magazines by giving them to my young friend Sam who gives me firewood.
I feel I'm as economical as they come.
If you don't mind dull-coloured feathers, go to a field where Canada Geese have been hanging around and pick up all the feathers you find. You can then strip them off and use them as naturally waterproof feathers. Not as durable as turkey and you can't dye them very well but they work.
Drive a more fuel efficient vehicle if you can. If you have two vehicles, see about borrowing the spouse's car and take some tarps to wrap around anything you kill. Or work out a 'truck pool' if you hunt with other people, where only one guy drives a truck each day. Then when you need to retrieve a deer, you have one truck. Everybody saves on gas.
Little cars like mine suck for carting stuff around, but it makes you downsize to only what you need. And with some creativity I bet I could get a deer into my Focus easily enough. And I get pretty good gas mileage.
I have to say that making your own gear only saves money if you have the tools already for another purpose. If you have to go out and buy a bunch of tools it can get expensive very quickly. I've gotten into leather working and the only way it will 'save' me money is if I sell stuff. It's a lot of fun though, so it's just another (expensive) hobby until I get good enough to sell the things I make.
I forgot to add that I dry all my trimmings from processing and save them for dog treats.
Get yourself a good ozone generator, put all the stinky cloths in a plastic bag, attached to the OZ generator and turn it on for about an hour or so, turn it off and let it sit in the bag for another 1/2 hour, That's it, it's done, no smells at all, no bacteria at all, totally clean.
Use Dove soap for sensitive skin, unscented.
Use Arm and Hammer unscented deodorant.
X2 on the Dove soap and A&H deodorant. For the price of Scent Killer deodorant ($4.97) you can buy a bottle of A&H unscented detergent that will do 60 loads! And if you buy unscented deodorant you can find the cheap stuff for about a $1.
I'm a surplus and goodwill junky. I think everything I wear (except an Asbell pullover and a Cabela vest) come from these two places. Two dollar wool sweater's are hard to beat!
Stop buying bows. Seriously. You only need one. Holding off on one or two bows will save enough for a sweet hunting trip.
Yes, this includes used bows. They are a bargain, but $500 for a sweet bow is still $500 that won't be spent getting you to a good hunting spot.
Carry less into the woods! I've hunted a few times this year with just my bow, quiver, tags and a knife . I did sneak a juice box and an eatmore bar into the quiver in case of a zombie apocalypse.
I like the concept of going on the cheap.
Used gear,re purposed equipment and making your own stuff is far more satisfying than buying new.
I just went on a 2-week back-country hunt in Alaska, and almost all of my field clothes were wool that I bought at local good-will stores. I collected it through the summer, and didn't spend more than about $50 for all of it. Merino wool, unused pants and shirts and sweaters, and a Woolrich coat.
When the trip was over, I had a lot of dirty, stained, and ember-burned stuff. At $3-4 per item, it didn't hurt much to throw things away! We also came across some people that had dumped their raft under a sweeper and lost most of their gear. It wasn't hard to give away some of my wool to them.
Go all year without stuff that you would be better off not spending money on in the first place. Tobacco, booze, soda pop, Mc Donalds, lottery tickets, Disneyland, prostitutes, new bows, Taco Johns, cotton socks, weed killer for the yard, sell the Harley or don't buy one, get a car that is cheap to buy and to drive, and going on unneeded shopping trips just to get out of the house.
make my own bow.
make my own arrows.
auction sites and goodwill for layers
Good advice on a fuel efficient ride. Probably the one area where savings can be the greatest.
Processing your own meat not only saves money but is a key part of the hunting experience.
If you travel a lot a good tent and stove may seem expensive at first. But it will quickly pay for itself.
SELL THE HARLEY????? Are you mad! It's the only thing that keeps me sane during the off season.
Shoot $100 bows from the 60's.
Make your own wood arrows.
Walk to your hunting destination (cheap if you live sensibly near the woods).
Avoid camo fads.
Butcher your own game.
Use no cover scents, baits, lures. Shower regularly and don't use perfumes/colognes the rest of the year so you don't have much to cover. Keep your nose to the wind and assume a deer can smell you regardless.
Do not subscribe to bowhunting magazines. They convince you to buy all kinds of unnecessary stuff. ;-)
I make my own tube quivers out of carpet tubes. Free from carpet stores. Wrap them with burlap, camo, plaids or what ever. Used belts for strap. Also I make my own ground blinds out burlap and re-bar.
I make my own soap. I buy a brick of unscented soap for about $6.00 and a bottle of scent. This year I used apple scent with deer musk. Add the scent to the soap after it is melted in a pan. Pour it into a cupcake pan and it gives me 12 soap bars for a little over $1.00 each. I know the deer musk part sounds grose but you can't notice it but I think the deer can. I also use "Arm and Hammer" deoderant. It's cheap and it works as good as the name brand hunting stuff. Does it work? I think so. And attitude is everything.
QuoteOriginally posted by Knotter:
Carry less into the woods! I've hunted a few times this year with just my bow, quiver, tags and a knife .
Gee I find that my secret to killing stuff... less to stink up, less fiddling around in the stand... I will also walk farther and deeper into the woods and double my success right there!!!
QuoteOriginally posted by pavan:
get a car that is cheap to buy and to drive, and going on unneeded shopping trips just to get out of the house.
Yep Got Yaris with 1.5 liter engine and manual.. Pump tires up to 42# and drive slow 42-46 mpg
QuoteOriginally posted by Jock Whisky:
SELL THE HARLEY????? Are you mad! It's the only thing that keeps me sane during the off season.
I hear you, but mine may be about gone... But with 3 kids and all their doings... Mine collects more dust and costs me about $25 a mile that I ride it... 2008 with less than 6000miles...
One that has not been mentioned but I think is worth it. Hunt with like minded guys that will split the gas.
Another cost saver is that I am always downsizing my gear. I imagine I will become something of a minimalist over time. I unltralight backpack and there is something about heading out with 25# of stuff in a small rucksack vs 50lbs of mostly single purpose gear.
there's another cost saver. Only buy stuff that serves more than one use. Its not just a hunting expense.
I make my own arrows with Blems from Big Jim, Cut up my own game, hunt close to home. I own some woods close to the house that supplies me with food and firewood to heat my house. I also reuse arrows and broadheads that I sharpen myself with a file.
I try to only more my truck when I'm hauling stuff or going on a long trip. Combine trips where possible.
Started riding a bicycle to work and for local errands.
Stuffed my bag target w/ grocery bags.
Make as much of my own gear as possible. Hauled out and organized all my Dad's leatherworking tools and supplies.