Welcome to the Wired to Hunt Foundations podcast, your guide to the fundamentals of better deer hunting, presented by first Light, creating proven versatile hunting apparel for the stand, saddle or blind. First Light, Go Farther, Stay Longer, and now your host Tony Peterson.
Hey, everyone, welcome to the Wired to Hunt Foundation's podcast, which has brought to you by first Light. I'm your host, Tony Peterson, and today's episode is all about how expensive deer hunting can be and some of the things you can do to keep it cheap. And in case you haven't heard, stuff is getting pretty expensive out there. Sure, if you're a high roller like Steve Vanella and you have a whole collection of rare ivory backscratchers or whatever,
you're probably not feeling it the same way. But if you're like most of us, you probably feel a little in anxiety or a lot of anxiety. Just go into the grocery store later, or worse, if you have to rent a new apartment or you want to buy a starter home. Stuff is expensive, and so is hunting, or
at least it can be. There doesn't have to be, though, and that's what this episode is really all about I was born in nineteen eighty, which, according to Mark Kenyon because he's jealous of how many public land bucks I've killed, is equal to like fourteen seventy three. Well, listen, I'll take old and wise any day over young and obsessed
with butterflies and Taylor Swift. In that year, the one that I appeared on the scene, the US hockey team kicked the Soviets right in their kamiasses to win the gold in the Olympics in what would forever be referred to as a miracle on ice. Mount Saint Helen's also erupted, which is kind of hard to fath them today, but at the time it was a big enough disaster to kill fifty seven people. John Lennon, one of the founding members of the Beatles, was shot to death by a
lunatic fan. CNN began broadcasting John Wayne Gacy, a serial killer known as the Killer Clown, was caught after murdering at least thirty three boys and men. There were only two hundred and twenty six and a half million people here in the US. Kim Kardashian was born as well.
Star Wars was real popular, so was the show Facts of life, which has a theme song that my tournament fishing partner sings a lot, even when you've heard it so many times that you really want to throw him out of the boat or at least hit him with a fake frog on the end of a seven and a half foot flipping stick going about seven thousand miles an hour. Now that you have a lot of useless facts about the year of my birth, let's try a little thought exercise. Let's say you had a dollar, then
you earned one dollar. Now you fast forward to today. What do you think that dollar would be worth about twenty five cents? The medium home sale price then was about fifty eight thousand dollars. Today that price is right around four hundred and twenty thousand dollars. We all know
the story of college tuition, a rent of everything. The whole system tends to shoot for inflation at like two to three percent, which is actually a good thing if they thread the needle, because keeps things growing at a steady pace. Now, inflation is a supply and demand consequence, and you know there are a few factors that cause it to suddenly go bonkers, like we've seen the last few years, when the supply of something gets limited, the
demand goes up, which raises prices. Think housing here and how many family homes either turned into short term rentals like airbnbs or bought up by corporations as long term rentals. Fewer houses for people to live in means buyers better up their offers. Across the aisle is the demand side of the whole thing, which involves just how much money is out there. Print more money. You devalue every dollar out there. Essentially, now, I know it's not quite that simple,
but it kind of is. This is especially true if there is an unanticipated increase in the available dollars, because supply hasn't had a chance to build up and meet the new increase. We saw that during COVID and we are now reaping what was sewn. Then. So the Feds come along, and you know, they say the interest rates are going to go up until the buying slows down. And while that usually works, it's not a quick process, and a lot of people will struggle when that happens.
It's ugly and it affects almost everyone. Some of the first things you see happen are the buying of expensive toy slows down. I mean, you know, when your grocery bill is three times what it was a couple of years ago, you're not as likely to buy a couple new snowmobiles. Theoretically, it should keep people from traveling to
hunt as much, but I think that's unlikely to materialize. Again, the whole demand thing is so far outstripping the supply that it's easy to raise those non resident prices and keep selling tags, at least for a while. So what is a hunter to do when everything costs a lot more than it used to and wages just haven't caught up with the whole thing. I guess there's only one answer, which is to start golfing. Just kidding, that might be
the only thing that's more expensive than obsessing over hunting. Well. Fishing is right up there, as my wife often reminds me of, since I bought a new boat last year without, as she puts it, even asking her if she thought it was a good idea is if we don't have a new boat's worth of random junk entering our house every year via Amazon deliveries in a death by a thousand paper cut scenarios. Anyway, there are ways to have
good hunts without going broke. I feel like I'm prop probably somewhat of an expert on this because I started my freelance journey as a public land whitetail guy in two thousand and nine, which, as some of you folks know, wasn't a great time for the average person money wise. As a struggling freelance magazine writer who needed to stack up lots of experience and lots of dead deer and other critters, I had to figure out how to do
that on a very limited budget. What I found was that some of our money issues are purely in our heads, and they hold us back in a lot of ways. For starters, there's the price of the license in your home state. This isn't going to amount to a whole lot, maybe twenty to forty bucks something like that. Tack on a couple of dough tags, and you're still not even at the cost of taking the family out to eat
at Applebee's. Out Of state tags are definitely another story, and they've outpaced inflation in many states the way college tuition has. There's no way around this if you want to travel to hunt, and I often look at it like it's just my main expense, and I gotta suck it up because this is mostly true. Other than possibly the fuel cost to get there and back. The way to look at this is that you're buying a ticket to a great experience. It's expensive, especially if you had
Iowa or a few other premier states. There's no way around this one. Maybe you can go a much cheaper road in a less desirable state, but you still got to expect to pay. And one of the things I do when I'm buying tags is just look for combo offers or look for states that will sell me something
extra that is cheap. For example, in Wisconsin, I can spend like two hundred bucks for a buck tag, which isn't bad, but then I can tack on some twenty dollars dotags, so instead of hunting for one deer on two hundred dollars, I can hunt for two on two hundred and twenty dollars. In my home state of Minnesota, I have a few different options for combo licenses that cover things i'll hunt and fish for while reducing the
cost of buying them individually. You might be able to find something like that as well, or if you decide to travel to hunt, keep an eye out for them. In your chosen state. Now, staying home or heading out on the road could involve another big cost that is becoming more and more common in the white tail world. Leasing now. This is a good option for people with money who want to control a deer situation, but who also don't or can't buy some land. It's also generally
not very cheap. Most leases will involve at least a couple of people to split the cost, which can be a great idea. Just make sure that if you're going to do that, your goals and desires match up with whoever you lease with. If they don't, there will be trouble because there's money involved. You don't want to split the cost of a lease only to realize your buddy has no intention of ever buying a tree stand or a trail camera or anything that might actually help you
guys hunt. In this case, what seems like a responsible thing money wise might actually turn out to be a bad thing for you You because you're gonna have to buy everything. The same goes for you know, the general willingness to scout and set up stuff, which might not affect your
pocketbook but can definitely be a mental expense. Splitting costs is a no brainer with a lot of whittail stuff well beyond leasing, Maybe you have a neighbor who loves to shoot and target practice too, and you guys can go have these on a good three D target that will last you both for years, instead of individually buying cheapy targets that can't handle broadheads or too much exposure to the weather. The same can be said for some
equipment like fletching jigs, aarosauce, boat presses, whatever. Learning to build your own arrows comes with more cost up front, but levels out and lets you get money ahead by the dozen. This is even better if you have someone to share those costs with. It's also a good idea to audit yourself a little bit on hunting gear. There are some categories of gear that I just won't go cheap on because they might cost me a deer or my enjoyment of deer hunting. There are other categories I
almost never spend a dime on. An example of those would be cheap broadheads, bottles of dope, and cent wix. I used to have to test a lot of broadheads a lot of broadheads when I worked at Bowhunter magazine and let me tell you that there are some great a pieces of shit out there that, while they might cost you know, five or ten bucks ahead, will perform like junk and will bite you in the ass eventually
they are not worth the cost savings. On the other hand, you know you have sense and lures and send eliminating sprays and stuff that people think, well, this is cheap and I definitely need this, But I don't buy them hardly ever, why because I don't have any faith in
them generally. Now, listen, you do you, But over the years come to the realization that if I put out dope, it's almost entirely to make myself feel a little better, even though I know it's probably never going to draw on a buck for me, Spending money on that stuff is like setting fire to your dollars a little by little, at least in my experience. I'd rather spend up for good broadheads and save money on things that I just don't think will benefit me much. Now. Another category is
food around hunting. This is a big one. While groceries have gotten expensive, they are still generally a much better deal than going out to eat. Even if your favorite place to eat is McDonald's. If you're traveling to hunt or planning to stay home and do an all days sit make your own food. This is a big one for me, and it's honestly one of the best ways to rain in the cost of a hunt or a
scouting trip. The more you can reach into a cooler and grab a pre made sandwich, the less likely you are to drive somewhere to spend more money at restaurants are on fast food and on the note of food, if you don't know how to butcher your own deer, think about learning. I think this is one of the best parts of being a deer hunter, and it's also a hell of a lot cheaper than paying someone to
do it. While you can start to spend some money if you want, you know, to grind your own burger, or make your own jerky, or get a little fancier with the processing, you don't have to Cutting deer into steaks is easy, and if you need burger a one off purchase of a grinder and the essentials to bag and seal everything, it's pretty cheap in the long run.
I think I bought my meat grinder like eight or nine years ago and I use it once a year to make all the burgers you know that I don't even remember one hundred and fifty dollars purchase or whatever it was, has probably paid for itself multiple times by now. Another way this saves money is that once you're totally comfortable butchering your own deer, you start to look forward
to it. One of the reasons I shoot a lot of deer every year if I can, is because I know that once I get home, it'll be about a four hour process start to finish, and I'll have a whole nother deer packaged up and in the freezer. I don't have to think about taking it somewhere and what
that will cost. That's a big deal, and it's honestly a great way to become a better deer hunter, because the more comfortable you are with meat processing, the more dear you're likely to shoot, The more deer you try to shoot, the better you become as an overall hunter and especially as a closer. That's not nothing, my friends, And while it might seem like a stretch, it's not. Plus in the long run, it'll save you a lot
of money. Another way to save some dough on hunting is to just try to stay organized this is, shall we say, not, my strong suit. Every single season, I end up buying stuff I already own because I can't find it. Toe ropes, bow hangers, SD cards for cameras, just camo gloves of some sort you trail tax flagging, tape, handsaws, limb bruners, and knives are all big ones for me. Here. I've started to use tots to keep my gear somewhat organized at the insistence of my bride, and I'll begrudgingly
admit it has helped some. But I also keep a blood trailing kid in my truck every year so I don't have to try to find a place to buy a new headlamp or flashlight when I'm on the road, keep an extra release aid and a few other things in there all season long. Two. While this is not only just a good move to make sure I have some backups, it keeps me from having to buy something somewhere because I really needed in the moment, even though I might have seven of them at home in the mudroom.
Being intentional about your purchases can save you big in the long run.
Two.
There's a strong argument to be made both for and against expensive hunting clothing. For example. What I'll say about this is that building a system of clothes that works for you and your conditions is is way better than buying random stuff on sale throughout the years just because it's on sale. Now wait for the sales if you need to in order to get the pieces you want at a discount, but make sure you're working towards a system that will have you covered. This goes for stand
setups too. I'm at the point where I'd rather have one good mobile setup that might cost a little more at the onset than to go to wally World in August and buy a bunch of inexpensive steel stands that weigh a ton and look like they were designed by someone who couldn't tell a white tail from a moose. A good mobile setup allows you to hunt all over, obviously,
and alleviates the need for multiple setups. In fact, I think at this point in my life, other than maybe taking the girls, I could probably get away with a couple of sets of sticks, a stand, a saddle, and a small ground blind every year and kill a bunch of deer, even though I own a hell of a lot more than that. The key to all this stuff is to the money on the things you need, and understand why you might want to prioritize certain products or
hunting license or whatever. The more you think about this stuff and plan ahead, the less of a shock it'll be to your bank account throughout the year. This is maybe the most important part of it all. You know that hunting isn't going to get cheaper. You know that waiting to buy a piece of deer ground for you and the kids isn't suddenly just gonna be super affordable someday. The price of land, the price of deer leases, the price of licenses, hunting gear, the price of everything is
pointed north, and that's it. How fast it climbs will change by the year, But rest assured it's gonna keep climbing because you know you're not going to stop hunting. You need to figure out a way to make this stuff as affordable as possible. Figure out how that works in your situation, Play the long game with it. Understand that some stuff might seem expensive now, but it'll end ups saving you money enhancing your experience in the long run.
And understand that a lot of the stuff that seems cheap and inconsequential is actually like the daily Starbucks trips, and the avocado toast of the hunting world. It's not much on any given day, but like the interest on your credit card, it adds up quicker than it should and culminates in a bigger expense than seems possible from just the smaller daily impulse spending. I guess I want to sign off by saying one more thing. Everyone's finances
are different. Forget about the dudes chasing their third super Slam or leasing another two thousand acres in the county where you're forced to hunt public land. Don't keep up with the Joneses because you can't, and it's just poison to focus on others and what they are doing, and how much money they make and how much money they spend. Try to keep your eyes on your own bobber and figure out how to make your situation work. Try to
keep the right attitude about it. One of the worst things about how expensive some stuff is is that it reminds us of what we'll never do. But that shouldn't keep us from working toward things that are in our grasp. You know that dreamy el hunt or drawing a Iowa tag. Once in a while or just a week of living in camp up north where the wolves number the deer, and it's anything but a certainty that you'll even see
a white tail in that time. But man, is there's something special about being there for days on end, keep making things happen, my friends at home, away from home, whatever, however, you have to stay in this white tail game and enjoy it and come back next week because I'm going to talk about something I've been thinking about a lot, which is off season trail camera at work and just changing my trail camera strategy to take in just a bigger picture. That's it for this week, my friends. I'm
Tony Peterson. It's been the Wire to Hunt Foundations podcast, which is brought to you by First Light. As always, I just want to say thank you to each and every one of you. You supported us during our Turkey week. You're here listening. We love it, we need you. We appreciate your support in ways that you can't even understand,
So thank you for that. If you want some more white tail content, or you want some more phishing content, some turkey hunting stuff, maybe a different podcast, maybe a video series, just head on over to the meeteater dot com and you're gonna find so much stuff that'll lot keep you entertained, maybe educate you a little bit, and get you through this off season as we move closer and closer and closer to whitetail hunting