Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting cost prohibitive?

just wondering how many guys do the guided out of state hunts or just hunt public/family land? seen a growing trend in the hunt clubs and leases since i moved to ga. hard to find a place to go trompsin through the woods.

Never gone the guided route, not saying I never will. I've just been fortunate enough to be able to locate public land by researching ahead of time and then also fortunate enough to have that blind planning work out ok.

I try pretty hard to put myself far off from the beaten path.

I've never hunted in the south though, it's probably way different.



Good luck, semper fi.

I spend many more days afield on state land here in NY than any other. We also have some land in the southern tier that I hunt. I also hunt some public/private land in VT and or MA if I tag out early in NY. In NY and VT there is much easy access land to hunt. Its not always the easiest hunting, but if you work at it you should tag out most every year.

But I have been doing one paid for/out of state hunt a year for deer for a number of years. I wouldn't exactly call it guided the the way an elk,moose or Grizzly hunt is guided, but they do put you on stand. Its fun because I get an extra week of hunting every year and I have been going down to NC for the last few and the style of hunting is a little different and you get to see many more deer than I do here in NY.

I also try to go on one big game (moose/elk) every other year or every third year as well. I guess that my current budget for tags/hunts not counting taxidermy and equipment is about 6K/year

I have been fortunate enough to find hunting ground close to home without haveing to pay, but it is getting harder. As for elk our hunting group always hunts public land.

Have been on one out of state hunt, with family on public ground. When I hunt here in Nebraska it is done on family owned ground or friends ground. Have been fortunate in that regard.

Edited to add: We are seeing more and more leased ground here in eastern Nebraska and north central Nebraska where we hunt as well.

Depends on how important hunting is to a person. I moved to Colorado to have plenty of land to hunt.

I'd never pay anybody to hunt for me.

I hunt out-of-state every year, but it's on family farmground in Missouri. I'm really lucky that most of my family farms, as a lot of ground is being leased out that way. (Yes, I buy non-res tags).
I haven't totalled it up, but altogether, it's over 1000 acres I have access to, between cousins, uncles, and nephew's properties, and I can hunt on some of their neighbor's farms, too, if I ask.
As far as "guides" go, I just ask my uncle where he's been seeing deer, and hunt accordingly.

we have about 14k acres to hunt in eastern Iowa when i go back home that is family owned or friends of family. plus pry another 800 of public land. see more and more leased/posted no trespassing. but i guess thats the price we pay. cant imagine paying for oportunity to go hunt small game.

just public land and private

i have done some out of state private land non guided

Get used to leased land in the future just about everything in Arkansas is leased... I havent hunted public land (except duck hunting) in 20 years and God forbid, I hope I never have to again. Hunting leases in Arkansas arent bad...I have over 3500 acres accessible to me for less than $1000 per year. Its nice...you know who is hunting next to you and who is on the property.

I have been able to hunt on private land, I have also hunted public land. My problem is getting away as October and November are busy time at work.

Also I have never hunted in the state I am currently residing in.

Around home I hunt private ranches for columbian blactail bucks and count my blessings that I have connections.

I play the draws throughout the west and when I luck out & draw a tago go DIY.
Mostly out of the fact that I can't afford the prices of guided hunts anymore.

Used guides to gain fishing access, but never for hunting.