Need input: what would you pay to hunt?

[hat creek]

I have been presented with a rather interesting proposition. I was asked if I would like to run a hunting operation on some land in Missouri. Here's the deal: 10,000 acres of bean fields adjacent to river bottom land. There are a lot (depredation amounts) of whitetails available to hunt. The owner would like to know if archery only hunts would be a profitable venture for him to pursue.

So, my question is. Would the general archery population be interested in guided, ground blind 3 day hunts with the costs running anywhere from $300 to $400. You would be picked up at your motel, run out to the blinds, lunch provided. You would see lots of deer, and probably get a shot or two (or three or four, who knows?). I have no idea if this would even fly and this site is the only place with folks on it that might be able to give me any kind of feedback.

I really appreciate you time and input.

[Bjorn]

I would be willing to pay, but don't want to spend three days sitting in a ground blind-you gonna' have spot and stalk too?
Motels are fine, any camping in the area too?
What about meat processing etc?
What about tags and season?

[Benha]

Yes I would be interested.

[Panzer II]

Personally If I were going to pay the money I would want to hunt from a treestand or maybe both, but not exclusively on the ground. I guess my concern would be the scent factor and the eventual avoidance of the blinds by the deer. JMO

[Rufus 25]

If there are no trees available for stands, you might consider tri-pod stands.  This would help with clients seeing more deer.

[trapperDave]

that would be a reasonable price and is something I would consider.

[hat creek]

Thank you for the input. Since this is at the starting point, meat processing, etc would be something that gets researched. There are trees in the area (along the river bottom) so tree stands would be something that could be factored in. Rufus... I like the idea of the tripods. Bjorn...excellent ideas, all to be researched before.

Thanks guys.

[lpcjon2]

What would be for lunch?

[Matty]

Ya sign me up..if there are deer and the opportunity is there I think the price is fair..

[hat creek]

lpcjon...well, if you kill one...venison of course!!!!

[Whip]

Seems like that could be appealing to some.  You might consider longer hunts as well though.  If someone wanted to drive or fly any distance they likely would want more than a three day hunt.  

Also, before going too far, make sure to look into liability insurance and outfitter/guide licencing requirements in your State.  The legal stuff isn't as much fun as setting stands, but if you are going to be paid for services they are things you will need to deal with.

[Al Natural]

$100.00 dollars a day is not an unreasonable price for a fully guided hunt.
Al

[hunterace]

Originally posted by Whip:
Seems like that could be appealing to some.  You might consider longer hunts as well though.  If someone wanted to drive or fly any distance they likely would want more than a three day hunt.  

Also, before going too far, make sure to look into liability insurance and outfitter/guide licencing requirements in your State.  The legal stuff isn't as much fun as setting stands, but if you are going to be paid for services they are things you will need to deal with.

this is one of the best answers i've seen . i do think that your prices are fair, but you need to protect yourself, your guests and your land. not knowing all the legal aspects of a business can be a huge mistake. i hope you take this advice and good luck with your endeavors

[rickshot]

Well, the price doesn’t seem out of line with others I’ve seen. You say there are a lot of whitetails and 10,000 acres of bean fields which are adjacent to river bottom land. Whether or not the river bottom is huntable or not, is unclear but it would surely have some impact on the equation. Personally, from a business plan point of view, I’d divide the property up into theoretical ½ day sections, and figure how to best utilize them. If you are to sustain reasonably huntable scenarios and have plans for the future, than starting with minimum exploitation would probably best serve as a test scenario, on many counts.

I’m sure the interest would be there from the hunter side of the equation…but profit and loss statements and being future-oriented often rule.  You asked…something...and I’m tired. Good Luck, Rick.

[Ragnarok Forge]

The price is a bit to fair.  You are going to have a tough time making any money at $100 a day.  The cost of fuel to pick up and drop off hunters, lunch costs, and insurance are going to eat you alive.  If your looking to get rid of a bunch of deer and get a bit of cash, the cost will work.  If your looking to make a profit and pay your salary as well you will find your price is going to go up quite a bit.  

I strongly reccomend you do a lot of research and talk to some experienced outfitters who run their own land before jumping in with both feet.

By the way if you end up at $100 a day, I will be happy to load up my family and come on down from Washington to shoot some deer with you.   $200 a day wouldn't be to much in my book.   That is fairly cheap private land hunting.  If you can arrange with a local hotel or two that are close you can get bulk discounts for your hunters to help offset a bit higher per day hunting costs.

I run a fishing guide business on the side and overhead makes it so I have to charge $200 a day per person to make it profitable to be a guide.  Your insurance for hunters with weapons is going to be a lot higher than mine.  There are some trad gang members that run this type of business hopefully they will weigh in here.

[hat creek]

To all who responded...thank you. I know it will be lots of work and research and I feel the work will be well worth it for quality hunts. The whole concept is in the beginning stages and I'll let you all know what the end result will be.

[L82HUNT]

Where in Missouri?

[Shedrock]

That sounds like a good price. I personaly would never pay to hunt whitetails.

[smokin joe]

Sounds like you have a great idea there at a very good price. If you decide to go forward with the plan let me know. It sounds like a good way to spend some hunting time.
Joe

[John3]

I have only paid to hunt deer twice in my life. Yes this was SE Kansas where you could realistically see 200" deer everyday. I did see that size or close bucks everyday which I'm still amazed about. What a place to bowhunt whitetails.  Food, controlled hunting pressure and TIME must be present to grow big bucks.

The guys from the east coast will pay big money to come hunt big whitetails.  Every year in Kansas they fill the place I used to hunt.