I believe that aside for access and knowledge, the most common fear for hunters that want to hunt out west is their budget. I will be the first one to say that I value high level service, the best gear out there, a great guide or outfitter, and I enjoy detailed hunting information which is why I offer the services that I offer to clients. Hunting is a sport that can be as expensive or as budget constrained as you make it. However, the one great thing about your hunts and hunting styles are that you have full control of your decisions and how you want to operate. Today, I will outline some things that I do to keep costs down on a hunt while outlining my Kansas hunting trip this year and the costs associated as real examples. I will not include gear in this accounting as I am going to assume you already have the gear to go hunt. I also am assuming you are a non-resident hunting out of state.
Tags and Licenses
Your #1 cost most of the time will be your tags, tag applications and any hunt planning services that you may use. Let’s use just for the sake of things, your tag and application fees as they are unavoidable in any regard. Depending on the state you want to hunt and the species of animal, you will be spending anywhere between $400-$1000 for your entry ticket to go hunting. This is broken down into a few items.
You will have to purchase a hunting license. In my example for Kansas, my Non-Resident Hunting license just to apply for the opportunity to hunt was $97.50
All states are different here but you will have to pay some sort of application fee or processing fee or both which for Kansas was $27.50
Finally, the tag itself if drawn is the bulk of your cost and for the Kansas example, it was $442.50.
Travel
Another large expense you will likely have will be your travel. If you are hunting out west, you will either be flying to your chosen state of hunting or you will be driving. If I am driving, I will try to purchase gas where I can see that I can get kickback from a company called GetUpside. This app will show you where you currently are on the highway and then it will show you how much cash back you can get for each gallon you purchase at whatever specific locations of gas stations you might stop by. I usually look for $.10-$.15 cents back per gallon which will add up on your mileage. Another trick I use is to sign up for an app called Raise. Raise gives you the opportunity to purchase discounted gift cards online. I can open the app, find a Shell or Mobil gift card that might be 3-5% off and then purchase that immediately through the app. This app will then immediately load my gift card (if it's a virtual card) in my wallet on my phone through their app. I can then take that inside the gas station and use it. Oh, by the way, I will always use my credit card that gives me cash back on all my purchases so I get cash back when I use it to buy gas and those gift cards and then I also save on those purchases so it is a double dip!
If I was flying, I would recommend using Delta, Southwest or other flight credit cards to get yourself some free flights. If you don't have one, you can get one and usually you will get 1-2 flights included with your sign up rewards. You also can get flight credits annually not just from points that you accumulate but also from offers that pop up such as Delta giving you $100 voucher towards a flight when you hit 10k spent on your card throughout the year. It's just free money at that point and on top of it you get at least 1 or 2 bags free depending on your credit card so huge perks here!
I ended up driving this year so my drive there and back cost me a total of $324 in fuel.
Tent/Hotel or Both
Accommodations will be another large expense that you might have if you sleep in hotels. I prefer to sleep in a hotel at least 1 night there and 1 night back if I am driving to ensure rest and being able to get a shower. However, if I am flying into an area, I will get my rental car or get picked up by a buddy and go! If that is the case, I will be hunting and sleeping out of my tent the entire time so that helps with that expense. In this example, I personally had nowhere to go and no other place to sleep so I found a hole in the wall hotel and spent a total of $250 for 5 nights in a small Kansas town. I would advise that if you have the opportunity to share the room, that would be a great option to cut the costs in half!
Food/Drink
Finally, food and water are big ones that you have a ton of control of. I see the convenience and fun in stopping out to dinner and lunch as you go about but that sure does add up. Instead, I tend to pack snacks and meals for my road trip in a cooler and I eat the entire way out of my cooler. My sandwiches and string cheese cost me $1-2 a meal while stopping at Arby's or the local joint in town can easily be $10-$30. I allow myself to have 1 meal out per day if I feel like it and maybe an energy drink of some sort so I don't feel fully deprived. In my example this year, I had a total of 8 days including my drive and I spend $115 in food and drink.
Extra Info
I do want to add that I have a goal each year to fully pay for 1 tag from my cash back from my credit card and then get a free flight from another credit card. This is vital to know. As I sit here right now, I have accumulated about $400 in cash back on a credit card since last season that I will be using to transfer to my checking account when the time comes to pay for my tag this year. By the time that tag will be due to pay off on my credit card, I might have $700 or so in cash. My plan is that I will be hunting in Nevada for Mule deer and that tag costs $240 which isn't much compared to other states and then there is my license which is $155. I also have 2 free flights waiting for me so I will be flying out for a free scouting trip and then also flying back out for my hunt without having a penny spent out of my checking account. To add to this, I will be splitting gas costs and my buddy will be driving so the only other costs I will have will be my backpacking food. As you can see, this hunt coming up will be less than $750 all in if all goes according to plan and in my opinion it is FREE!
Kansa Hunt Total Costs ⬇️
Now, let's backtrack and add up Kansas to see how we finished off with this round.
Kansas License $97.50
Kansas App Fee $27.50
Kansas Tag $442.50
Hotel $250
Fuel $324
Food and Drink $115
Total $1,256.50
As you can see, the total hunt was less than $1,300 or $157 a day which I do not think costs very much. It certainly isn't what you may think when you are envisioning a hunting trip out west and the cost you might have imagined. I want to note that you can certainly spend more and if you can, feel free to do so. I am not by any means stating this has to be your only option but simply, I wanted to give you an idea of what you could do to get out there if you have concerns and enjoy the trip of your life on a budget.
If you have any questions, please let me know and Happy Hunting!
Scout, Hunt, Repeat
Alex~
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