Hunt Financing?

[mgompf]

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?

[Golden Hawk]

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

[Talondale]

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.

[southernarcher]

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....

[Danny Rowan]

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

Danny

[varmint]

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.....................

[Izzy]

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.

[adeeden]

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

[gobbler10ga]

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

[mgompf]

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.

[Txjourneyman]

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.

[Brian Halbleib]

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

[Walt Francis]

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.

[Steve H.]

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.

[TexMex]

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

[Arwin]

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

[Chuck Mullaley]

A wife with a good paying job!  

[Kevin Bahr]

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...

[Onestringer]

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

[Steve H.]

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.