Article I wrote for Pope and Young in 2010

[ildrhntr]

Hunting on a Shoe String Budget

By John Clough

In today’s tough economic times it is not easy for most of the “common” archery hunters to hunt, other than in one’s own state. So, I thought I would see just how cheap I could put a hunt together in a western state for a big game species.

This idea first came to me while attending the Associate Membership Meeting at the 2005 Pope and Young Convention in Springfield, Missouri. I was listening to another member who thought the animal requirements should be changed. He said that he had been an Associate member for over 20 years, because he could not afford to travel to other areas to take other species. Because of his circumstances he could not advance to Regular or Senior member because he could not meet the animal requirements. My thoughts that day at the meeting were: “you knew the requirements when you joined, and now that you can’t meet them, you want them changed’. Then I thought, ‘How could I help solve this problem?’. At that point, the wheels started turning. I knew I would have to set a budget, do a lot of research, and lastly spend a lot of time on the phone or computer.

The first questions I aimed to answer were: how much is too much money and what would be a reasonable amount? I decided my budget would be $1,000.00 which is equal to less than $20.00 a week saved over a year. Most of us spend more than that in a week on junk food, eating out or some type of tobacco product that is bad for us.

The next decision to be made was: what would I hunt? The two main factors I used to make my decision were: which western big game tag was reasonably priced, and which would have a high probability of success. I admit that filling a tag is not necessary to have a successful trip, but if you’re trying to meet the species requirements to advance in membership, and spending several hundred hard earned dollars, it would be nice to increase your odds as much as possible. As far as I was concerned, the answer was obvious. I would be going to Wyoming to hunt Antelope. The tag is one of the more reasonably priced in the western states, at $286.00, and Wyoming has a lot of antelope.

When that decision was made, I could start narrowing down our destination. I went to the Wyoming Game and Fish website and navigated my way through the antelope section. First, I needed to find a unit that would be easy to get a tag in. As I looked through the units, Unit 23 stood out above the others. The reason for this was there were 1054 tags left in that unit to be sold over the counter after the draw. I wondered why. After a few emails and telephone calls, I found out that the majority of Unit 23 is privately owned and the “public” ground was not always easily accessible (Wyoming is not like it is where I live in Illinois). Just because it is public ground does not guarantee access. I decided to seek advice from someone who could point me in the right direction.

I sent an email to a fellow Pope and Young Club member in Wyoming. He suggested that I contact the biologist in that region and ask for a list of landowners who allow antelope hunting on their property. I contacted the biologist and, within an hour, I had a list of landowners in that region who allow Antelope hunting. I started with only the landowners in Unit 23. After the first few calls, I got a little discouraged. The reason for my discouragement was that not everyone likes or allows archery hunting. Also, the cost of the trespass fees being charged were going to send my costs over my budgeted amount. I ended up calling every landowner on the list for Unit 23. I spoke with some really nice people, and only one rude one, not too bad I thought. Most of the landowners did allow archery hunting. They all charged a trespass fee. The trespass fees mostly ranged from $100.00 to $500.00, except for one, who charges $1,100.00.

Since I was looking for an affordable hunt, the ranch with the $100.00 trespass fee looked pretty good. Then, common sense had me second guessing the decision. Just because they owned a considerable amount of land didn’t mean that they had antelope. I decided to call the land owner back and ask some more questions. At this point, if you’re feeling inspired to start your own search in a similar manner, I must stress that you should ALWAYS remember to use good manners and be polite. You are asking for the privilege to hunt on their ground. I asked if they had a fair amount of antelope on their property and some good places to set up a ground blind. The answer I got seemed a little far fetched. However, I thanked them for their time and said I would get back in touch with them. I then called the regional biologist back. I figured if anyone would know the size and health of the herd it should be the biologist. I told the biologist about the ranch I was considering hunting on and the numbers given of antelope that they believed were on the property. To my delight, the biologist confirmed the herd size in that area as one of the largest in the region. At that point, I made a decision to hunt on that ranch. Now, with tag and trespass fee, my cost was up to $386.00.

The next thing to figure was transportation costs. I gave it some thought and figured the most affordable route would be to drive. If I flew, I would still have to consider fuel, plus a rental car, and plane ticket, all in addition to the cost of transporting my meat and head back if I took an antelope. Another benefit to driving was the option to see if I could find someone to go with me and split the fuel costs. The search for a passenger only took about a day. My friend, and taxidermist, Rick Campbell said he would go. Rick had never been out west, though he had always wanted to go, and he welcomed the invitation. Now, to figure fuel costs. Of course, this variable has gone up a considerable amount in the last few years. We decided to take my truck since it had a topper on it which would serve several purposes. It would protect the gear, clothes and us, if necessary. My truck gets about 14 miles per gallon highway mileage. The mileage to the ranch would be around 1300 miles. So 1300 miles, divided by 14 miles per gallon, is 92.86 gallons. Basically, it would be 100 gallons each way. The national average for a gallon of gas at that time was $2.49 per gallon. It was going to be right at $300.00 per person for the trip. So now my total individual costs were up to $686.00.

All that was left to plan was food and lodging. Food would be the easier of the two. We decided to take enough food from home to last us for the trip. Rick and I talked about lodging and both agreed that if we could find some place to camp, near the area we would be hunting, we would just tent camp for the week. I called the landowner to get some dates set and asked if there was a campground or any place nearby where we could camp. After setting the dates for the trip, the landowner said we could camp on the ranch if we wanted. He informed me there was a water hydrant near their shed and they even had an outhouse we were welcome to use. I replied, what more could one ask for than a water source and an outhouse. After a good laugh, we discussed some places for our blind. The cost to ship my double bull blind was $30.00. So after all was said and done, my total cost was going to be $716.00. I also found out there would be some additional license fees which would be around $45.00. I decided to be on the safe side and take $850.00 total.

We hunted a total of 6 days and Rick took a nice 60 inch antelope for his first ever western big game hunt. I spent most of the week trying to spot-n-stalk two particular bucks I had located on the ranch that would have been in the 80 inch range. I had several opportunities on 60 to 65 inch bucks out of our ground blind but for some reason I had my heart set on taking on of those 80 inch bucks by spot-n-stalk. Still, the trip was a success. And better yet, upon returning home, I noticed I still had $30.00 in my wallet.

[ildrhntr]

I didn't mention Steve Beilgard in the article because I didn't ask his permission to use his name but THANK YOU again Steve for driving down to the ranch and putting that blind up for me.

[Bryan]

How many landowners did you contact and most people I know wouldn't go through that much hassle, good for you tho'!!

[ildrhntr]

How many landowners did you contact and most people I know wouldn't go through that much hassle, good for you tho'!!

I contacted 44 landowners in Unit 23. I am a determined person when I set my mind to it.

[Tim Andrus]

DIY is definetly the way to go good article!.

[fly]

I do the same type of trip to Idaho for Black bear in the spring. I pull my own camper and get a couple other guys to split the cost of gas. We contacted a local that we pay 100 each to set up bait stations for us 2 weeks before we get there. 90% of the unit is public ground. Costs me about 1000.00 for a 10 day hunt (longer if we choose).

[stevebeilgard]

good article, john, and you are welcome. it was a nice ranch for sure.