Trad Gang

Does anyone have any creative ways that they save money for thier hunts and general hunting gear?

It has been a few years since I was on my last "Trip" (Fall Bear in Ontario, Canada) and I have really been itching to hunt something out of my norm again. However with 4 kids under eight years old and a new house, financing is a big hurdle to say the least!

Just looking to spark some thought on creative ways to do hunts on a shoestring budget.

I know there is a lot of public land out west but how does one even go about finding a starting place?

Seems silly but I have recycled aluminum cans and copper wire to pay for hunts in the past.

One way I heard of a guy financing his ski trips was that he would only spend bills that were $5 or larger.  If he had any $1 bills he put those in the jar for his trip.  So if he wanted lunch and it was $6 and he had a $10 and $5 he'd have to break the $10 and put the remainder 4 - $1 bills in the jar.  It helped him spend less and save more.  (I guess change would go in the jar as well).  Supposedly he always had the money for his trip that year.  Of course this won't work if you use a debit card or checks.  

You could also look at the "trade-a-hunt" thread on this forum.

I do most of mine through a health care spending account at work.The majority of my wife and my selves medical costs are ongoing,such as medication,or scheduled ahead of time like dental visits,etc. so they are figured into our budget.

The rest I just squirrel away,and do odd jobs on my days off when they arrive.

This money funds most of my hunting.Be it equipment,lodging,camping gear,etc....

I just put a little back each payday and if I sell something that all goes in.

Danny

I get paid every 2 weeks,or 26 times a year.I end up with 2 "free" paychecks a year.2 months I get 3 paychecks instead of 2,March,and September or Oct.These are stuck in a savings account and used for hunting trips,or bows,or knives,or bamboo flyrods,or.....................

Try giving something up, like beer or some other luxury, at least drink cheaper beer.Saving those singles like Talondale mentioned works very well, Ive done it myself for years.Also do an inventory of your hunting and sporting gear and sell what you can live without.Little things add up.

Inhunt,

      Like yourself I have a house full of youngins myself (5 Boys) and the never ending mortgage but here is how I save for my hunts.

I set up a "hunt fund" at a bank. I have $25.00 deposited into each week from my paycheck (direct deposit). This gives me $1300 in it in a years time. This normaly won't cover a hunt completly for me but it sure helps. The account itself is a savings acount without a ATM card and I purposely choose a bank about a 45 minute drive away so that it wouldn't be convenient to go there to make a withdrawl. I also save all my loose change It goes into a 5 gallon bucket in the closet (I never count it or roll it up until I need to send a doposit). It builds up suprisingly over a years time! Between the 2 and with what I manage to set back from overtime, odd jobs etc, It normaly completly covers at least 1 out of state hunt a year.
         
       Adeeden

Give up beer?????????????????????????????   :eek:    :scared:

Adeeden,
I like your idea of starting a hunt fund.
I have tried this in the past but I used my local bank so anytime things got tight it was just to easy to remove the money.

I guess the key is to make it hard to remove the money.

I'm an electrician and any side work I do goes directly into the hunting account. This account is for all hunting related expenses. I.E. bows, arrows, quivers etc, as well as trips. I also just got permission from my lovely wife to put any overtime in the fund. I'll be volunteering for more OT now! BTW I have two out of state trips lined up by swapping hunts.

Adeeden has some good advice there. Also, most bigger hunts are planned a year or more in advance. If you are using the services of a guide, most of them will let you make monthly payments up until your hunt. I've done that with a few that were planned over a year in advance.

I've also been booking hunts through Cabela's. I try to use cash as much as possible but for all of my business expenses for the magazine, I have a Cabela's card. They give you points which turn into cash that can be used at Cabela's, even on their hunts. Mine build up fast becuase of the sheer volume of business transactions each year.  

-Brian
www.bowyersjournal.com (http://www.bowyersjournal.com)

Get a debit card (not credit card) with a good air mile program and use it whenever possible instead of writing checks.  I manage to cover the flying expenses for at least one trip each year.  Saving five hundred to a thousand dollars helps defray the cost of an out of state, western, Alaskan, or Texas hunt.

Lots of great advise.

Was it Benajamin Franklin that said "A penny saved is a Penny earned"?

Well the reality is "A penny saved is MORE than a penny earned" as you have already paid taxes on that penny saved!

Plan early and pick away at the cost is one of my methods.  A deposit a year in avance, balance a couple months in advance, airfare immediately after the closing day on the bill to help spread it out.

Determining what is the most cost effective number of partners, can vary depending on transportation.  With Beaver flights for AK caribou the number is generally three.

I charge EVERYTHING to a CC to get airmiles.

I tried the seperate account thing once and it didn't work too well.  Try an account in a different area, one out of the way so you have to really be set on getting that money out!  One with no checking account and no ATM card and do deposits by mail.  Maybe in a town you only occassionaly drive thru.  It will stop the temptation of "borrowing" from the account to pay the bills.

I do a little handyman stuff I call it Rent-A-Hubby   :goldtooth:

My financing starts off with, "Honey, can I........?"

A wife with a good paying job!  :knothead:

All of the above.  If you REALLY want to go, you'll find a way.
Special accounts, direct deposit so you never see the $$.
Credit cards with air miles.
Work overtime and set EVERYTHING extra aside for bows and hunts.
Make your wife work more...mine's retired so it isn't quite as easy as it used to be to save, but it still gets done.
Hunt with friends.  I'd rather hunt with good friends and come home empty handed than pay a guide/outfitter and come home with antlers, but that's just me...
Quit drinking beer...well, you do have to draw the line somewhere.  This would be a last resort for some...
Buy a hunt at a PBS Banquet auction, or one of your state bowhunting banquets.  They almost always go for less than face value, although I did see a guy pay double for a Hawaii hunt last March...

I second the PBS auction, I bought a fall New Brunswick bear hunt for $400.  Hunting fund is always last on our budget.  I gave up ESPN and the movie channels. I started a small side business, just for hunting money.  Last year I hunted IL, and only purchased doe tags.

Scott

I saw a guy pay QUADRUPLE on a bowhunt at PBS too! LMAO.

Jeff Holchin is one dude that is pretty good at creative hunt logistics (where has he been lately anyways).  He wrote about it in the PBS magazine I believe.

For me getting out of Juneau is expensive.  I took advantage of Hawaiian airlines one way flights out of Portland (or many west caost cities) of as cheap as $150 last November and tacked that on to the back of another trip down south.  I rented a car one day, stayed with friends the rest so probably only spend $600 for a over a week.

I'm saving up for a Widow.  I quit drinking completely, and all the money that would go to the sauce now gets dumped into that, along with scrounging pennies off the ground, friends and families car floorboards, recycling, selling crap you don't use, ect.  I'm the only working parent in a young family with two young children so splurging on a new bow isn't in the cards.  Pennies make dollars!  You want something bad enough, you'll make it happen!  JW

Congrats Project Mayhem on the quiting! I was wrapped up in all sorts of bad stuff before God, my family and traditional bowhunting stepped in. You will be surprised on how many WAY COOLER things you can do with the money you would have normally used for the other. When I write the State Representatives and Senators every time a hunting issue comes up, I always tell them that hunting saved my life.  :thumbsup:    :clapper:

An old grocery store here in town used to have printed on their bags "Watch your pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves"

The owner of these stores followed his own advise and had a ton of money and land when he died, his family is still living off what he did 3 generations later.

One year I cut split and sold 15 cords of red oak to local restaurants for their live oak cookin'.

At $175 a cord there was plenty of money for my Montana trip and some cool gear.  The side benefit was that the work was great conditioning too.

- Vic

My lifestyle is probably different from most of you in that I'm young (26) and single, but this is what I do. I'm a fishing guide all summer, and all my tip money is for my "toy fund". This pays for gear, hunting trips, etc. The paychecks are for living expenses only. Last year this made me $2500 for that fund. This summer I'm at a different lodge and expect to make closer to $6000 in tips, enough to pay for my caribou hunt, and hopefully do the Wensel's Cabin Fever hunt next winter.

I'll second the idea of credit card miles.  I use a card in my business that racks up at least 150,000 miles a year, and that equates to about 6 tickets around the 48 states, two overseas tickets, or three to Alaska.  I find that getting the airline tickets for free makes taking two or three extra hunting trips a year a no brainer.

You do need to pay the card off fully every month, otherwise the value is diminished.

Like Mark said,
if you have a business, run all possible business costs through the card.  I do not care for credit cards but my debit card works same as a visa.

I've always had a second job or worked overtime to go on trips.  Anything I make on the side goes to hunting

1.  No cable TV--most of the hunting shows are crap peddling products anyway--$100/month to the hunting account.

2.  Quit drinking coffee at work--$10/week or $500 for the year to the hunting account.  As a side note, hot water gives you the same benefits as the coffee in the a.m. without the caffiene drug...

3.  Brown bag it for lunch at work--AT LEAST $25/week or over $1200 per year to the hunting fund.

So that is at least $2900 per year to the hunting fund...add in anything else you cut out or work extra and you are in pretty good shape.

Then I put all the household expenses on the Cabela's card for points towards equipment and all business expenses on the Northwest card for airline miles.

You just have to be disciplined to actually put the money you are saving on the stuff IN the hunting account  :thumbsup:  

Since I got married and started that system, I have hunted stone sheep, moose, grizzly, black bear, caribou, elk, antelope, mule deer, sitka blacktails, and whitetails all over.  Goats are coming soon...it works!

This is why this site is so good, everyone gives great, well thoughtout advice!

Another thing you can do is learn to use online auctions.  Not only for buying stuff but for selling!  Figure out one area you know something about and start researching how much it sells for online.  I once sold a chess set I paid $5 at a yard sale in AK for $175 online!  A game of LIFE for $100!  Just start looking at stuff you have in your attic and do a search for how much it may have sold for online.  Great way to make big bucks for junk you have to keep dealing with everytime you move.  Once you know what sells you can start hitting thrift stores and flea markets for deals you can post online.

Tax refunds!

My overtime.  Got fed up with it years ago going for house stuff.  Told the wife the house had to live on the 40 hr week budget, I've been taking all my overtime for what I want since.

QuoteOriginally posted by gobbler10ga:
Give up beer?????????????????????????????    :eek:      :scared:  

My thoughts exactly!  

One thing I will do is the air mile card as stated above. Free flights. Mines with ameriacan because they give the best international for the lowest miles. Also I started not getting trophys mounted and put the money toward a new tag somewhere. Sometimes I will sell a gun or bow. But the biggest thing I did was under buy a house instead of going for what I could afford.
You could stand at the end of an off ramp with a sign saying "need to hunt please donate". I couldn't stand that, I would have to donate.

Side jobs are a good way to put away some cash. I have a part time job brings in about $60 a week i use that for toy and such.

One thing I learned was to use Cabela points for hunting licenses rather than gear.  I found I can generally purchase the gear elsewhere cheaper.  If you think about it, you are getting more for your money trading points for licenses.

My hunting budget is basically why I remain in the Navy Reserve.That is my hunt money.We don't figure it into the household budget, and the money earned from weekend drills,annual training,and this past year I got to use my re-enlistment bonus as well. KA-CHING !!

i put in a saving acount $200 a pay. it started with only $5 and evenr year i raised it $5. i also do side work from working on cars and other thing. i put half in my hunt acount. i also save cans and save my coins. i have a water bottle that i put in, you will not beleave how much coins i save in a year. the only problem is my wife find out how much is in my hunting fund it gone

I had my wife take a job..........

Am I the only one who feels bad about taking the money from my main job for hunting?  I guess I feel like that money is better saved for retirement.  I also never have second thoughts about where I spend the extra cash from the side jobs.  Just wondering if im alone on this lol.

Not any more...I have had a couple of weird near death experiences.  If you wait till you retire, you aren't going to be doing much hunting  ;)    When I am old and gray, I may be broke, but I'll have some good memories   :D  

Please don't take this to mean I don't take care of my family...it is just the corners I cut to pay for the things I want to do.

I have biggie's wife put money in "my" account but...sshh!!.....don't tell my wife  :eek:

I have a buddy that says, "it takes a big man to get his wife a second job"

I fired my wife; and now I am single. I moved to where I hunt. I get extra gas money by every other year letting my german wirehairs produce a litter of pups. I have six in the other room right now- which seems like a better deal than the stock market today   :scared:  


 :campfire:    :archer:

In order for me to go on all the hunts I want my wife had to go to work and when that still wasn't enough I had to get a job! LOL

I have a golfing buddy who buys a new driver and irons almost every year and finances his "habit" by donating plasma (similar, I am told to donating blood), $30.00 a pop twice a week during his lunch hour all winter, gets him set up every year.  He feels he is contributing something and getting something in return for his efforts.

I do what adeeden does, we have a credit union at work, I opened a account without a debit card, I have $100 a month direct deposited in it and and when (if)I get a raise, that money goes in there as well. And any extra I may get from selling stuff goes in there. it is my hunt fund account and with the approval of my wife. But as others I am a warehouse worker and a poor cracker, and I have had to rob my account for family crisis but only as a last resort. You dont miss the money if you never have it in your hands. works great for me.

ttt this is a good thread

Credit Union if you have one thru work.  Put some money in each payday and eventually you won't miss it.  Also flex bank HSA or HRA work good. I cash in the cost of my prescriptions and meds once or twice a year. Also sell a little firewood.  I get a longevity check at work twice a year and $800 uniform allowance that I rathole as much as I can.  Put all my quarters in a large jar.  Adds up to a few hundred per year.

Woody

I opened a Karate school and it has its own checking account.  I pay for all hobbies thru the school.  I try not to dip into the day job funds for hunting, bows, guns or karate tournys etc.

Carl

Just borrow it! It's much easier to pay it back than save it. Banks just love giving you money!!
Life's to short to wait for hunting trips you always wanted to do. Get insurance on the loan and fly away, he who dies with the biggest debt wins!!! You will only get one chance in life to take the bank for a ride!!!!!! This of course requires the ability to make the payments. Life really is short so make the best of it. I've lost way to many friends that have died saving for these things.

remember the past, plan for the future, live for the now. Find the extra $$$ however you can. You never know when your card will be pulled. i pay the bills and supply the needed goods, the rest has hagle room.

I have enjoyed reading this thread almost more than any other that has been posted on here!!

About six or sevens years back Monty Browning was the speaker for the Montana Bowhunters Association banquet in Bozeman and mentioned how he financed his hunting trips; Trimming trees and "Home Improvement Loans".  Luckily, my wife was in attendance and gained a new understanding/perspective of my obsession to hunt.  Now when I tell her that I am going on a hunting trip she only asks, with a either smile or sneer (depending on her mood and the cost), if we need a "Home Improvement Loan".  I have found that my hunts never get planned until a date/season and species is set.  The dates/season is usually set according to how long I estimate it will take to put the money together, and then NEVER CHANGES regardless of problems encountered.  Problems always arise and will give everybody legitimate excuses for not going, but if you want it enough you will find a way.  It has been my experience that when the dates/season start changing the hunt never happens.  Do your homework, plan the hunt, the make it happen, it's easier then you think.

Twenty years ago I worked two jobs that afforded me one DIY out of state hunt each year along with my deer hunts in my home state without taking anything away from my family. After about ten years of this I landed a full time job working twelve hours a day seven days a week which I worked at until I retired last year. Even at that, I really didn't think I could afford to start taking guided hunts until my two daughters were older. I didn't go on any really expensive trips until after they were through with college and I figured I could afford it a little better. Looking back, maybe I should have borrowed the money and taken these hard expensive trips when I was younger.

I've realized that I am probably never going to retire...........just won't be able to.I figure my retirement will come the morning I don't wake up.......

After knowing/seeing my fair share of people pass on very close to or right after retirement,I decided I wasn't going to wait to do the things the wife and I have always wanted to do until we are supposedly retired.If it means being in debt from now till..............that's what's gonna happen.I'm gonna enjoy the things in life I want to before I'm too old,or worse yet,dead.

Saving never works for me. I borrow, either from the credit union or my 401k well in advance of the trip. By the time the trip rolls around most is paid back. Plus I can usually save a little and put something like licenses or airfare on the cc.