I know most all of us here are habitat junkies and whatnot but I still think it is great that we can spend as much or as little as we would like on a pound of venison. If I had to sit down and put pen to paper on what we spend in our HH to be able to hunt the way we want to hunt I think the figure would be astounding.
We had property before we bought Whitetail Hollow that was loaded with deer. Killing a deer there would be as easy as buying a $6 bag of corn and spreading it around on the ground about 75 yards off our front deck and sitting there with a $150-$200 gun with a $15 box of shells unless you can find somewhere that still sells singles like we used to be able to do when I was a kid. No camo, no boots, no calls, etc...wouldn't have to buy a hunting license for our own property so the only paperwork would be the tag at about $20... ( I have a lifetime license that includes tags I purchased as a young man). The gun can kill many more than 1 deer and in my instance I could actually just borrow the gun so without the cost of the gun and most of the ammo I could still kill a deer for about $27 and if I kill a deer that dresses 100 lbs I can get about 40 lbs of meat making my per pound cost about $.68 cents a lb. if I process my own deer.
I realize these numbers can be skewed around with stuff like "you awn your land but have to pay property taxes and do you have a house payment there" and such but I can also counter by saying I can walk from that house to a neighbors and have the same exact hunt not on my own property with the same result.
If I did not live in a rural area it would get trickier if I did not own land and did not know anyone so I ended up hunting "public land". The result would actually be the same with a bit more expenditure such as fuel to get there, the actual Hunting License cost (if I didn't already have my lifetime license), the boots to keep my feet warm and a good jacket but I am pretty sure I could still keep cost to around $1 a lb.
Now - what we do is far different as far as cost. I am not going to break every bit of it down but throwing out the cost of our land, taxes, house, and tractor because we can use all of that for a lot more than just hunting. I figured this year I am set to pay about $182.50 a lb for that same 100 lb dressed deer which is about 40 lbs of venison. Cost of venison go's down the bigger or more deer that you take pending processing and tag fees...
I know some pay more per pound and some less...just something to ponder
We had property before we bought Whitetail Hollow that was loaded with deer. Killing a deer there would be as easy as buying a $6 bag of corn and spreading it around on the ground about 75 yards off our front deck and sitting there with a $150-$200 gun with a $15 box of shells unless you can find somewhere that still sells singles like we used to be able to do when I was a kid. No camo, no boots, no calls, etc...wouldn't have to buy a hunting license for our own property so the only paperwork would be the tag at about $20... ( I have a lifetime license that includes tags I purchased as a young man). The gun can kill many more than 1 deer and in my instance I could actually just borrow the gun so without the cost of the gun and most of the ammo I could still kill a deer for about $27 and if I kill a deer that dresses 100 lbs I can get about 40 lbs of meat making my per pound cost about $.68 cents a lb. if I process my own deer.
I realize these numbers can be skewed around with stuff like "you awn your land but have to pay property taxes and do you have a house payment there" and such but I can also counter by saying I can walk from that house to a neighbors and have the same exact hunt not on my own property with the same result.
If I did not live in a rural area it would get trickier if I did not own land and did not know anyone so I ended up hunting "public land". The result would actually be the same with a bit more expenditure such as fuel to get there, the actual Hunting License cost (if I didn't already have my lifetime license), the boots to keep my feet warm and a good jacket but I am pretty sure I could still keep cost to around $1 a lb.
Now - what we do is far different as far as cost. I am not going to break every bit of it down but throwing out the cost of our land, taxes, house, and tractor because we can use all of that for a lot more than just hunting. I figured this year I am set to pay about $182.50 a lb for that same 100 lb dressed deer which is about 40 lbs of venison. Cost of venison go's down the bigger or more deer that you take pending processing and tag fees...
I know some pay more per pound and some less...just something to ponder
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