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Which Would You Choose?

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Which Would You Choose?

Postby Swede » 01 25, 2018 •  [Post 1]

A young wantabe Nimrod wants to start bow hunting, but has a limited budget. This newbie has saved up $2,000 mostly from his tax return. Nimrod has a decent pack and enough camping gear to get by, but has no bow, rangefinder or other items specific to bow hunting. Our hunter wants to hunt Idaho or Montana, but they are both out of State. Can you get this hunter out on a 10 day elk hunt with just the money saved? For the sake of discussion, Nimrod lives in Iowa and has an adequate truck for the trip. If you believe he can do this, lets see your budget.
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Re: Which Would You Choose?

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 01 25, 2018 •  [Post 2]

Nimrod? Had to look that up: "Nimrod is described in Genesis as "the first on earth to be a mighty man" and "a mighty hunter before the Lord." It's easy to see how people made the leap from one mighty hunter in the Bible to calling any hunter a nimrod. A lesser-known fact is that nimrod has seen some use in English as a noun meaning "tyrant" (apparently, the mighty Nimrod was not reputed to be an especially benevolent king), although that sense is now essentially obsolete. The legendary Nimrod is also sometimes associated with the attempt to build the Tower of Babel. Because the tower resulted in the wrath of the Lord and proved a disastrous idea, nimrod is sometimes used with yet another meaning: "a stupid person."

OK, back on topic. The young OOS hunter has a decent pack and enough camping gear to get by... Check! Doesn't have a bow, rangefinder, or other items specific to bow hunting? First of all, rangefinders are cool to have but not really necessary for ground bow hunting as the goal is to get within 30ish yards or so (my opinion) before launching a projectile and most modern bows shoot pretty flat out to that range. At any rate, they're relatively inexpensive and a hunter should probably have one to range distances when setting up to call. The Iowa hunter probably has hunting clothing so no additional cost there. Hunt ID or MT, hmmm? Tags in MT are several hundred bones more than ID and although the OOS/OTC tags normally don't sell out in MT, the ID tags almost always don't. Yes, I believe the hunter travelling to the W side of the big river can pull this hunt off if he/she budgets appropriately. Back to the lack of a bow. Well, in this day and age of bows, like most hunting gear, being way, way overpriced, the aspiring elk hunter will not be able to grab a new bow and all the needed accessories at much less than 1K. Perhaps he/she can borrow one or grab something used for a good deal that will do the work. Heck, I'd lend somebody one of mine if they would pay the shipping back and forth ;). Gas to and from, cost of hunting camp chow, and the extras along the way and back are probably 1K (just guessing). So yes, it is doable! I'd recommend linking up with a like minded adventurer and sharing costs ;)
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Re: Which Would You Choose?

Postby Swede » 01 25, 2018 •  [Post 3]

I sat down and priced out a hunt as described. What is easy to see is that a new hunter has a lot of expense ahead to be an elk hunter. It is difficult to say the least, and their chance of successively killing a bull is less than 10%. I did not add on things like books, dvds, calls, tree stands, etc. when I blew through $2,000. I figured on two hunters going together, $750 for an equipped bow, and $640 for a license and tag.
As I was meditating on the situation, it was obvious not many people from back east are gong to venture out this way, unless they have family or friends to support them and take them out. The poor and young people, will have to be super careful to be able to afford a hunt. It is a haunting challenge to say the least for so many.
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Re: Which Would You Choose?

Postby Lefty » 01 25, 2018 •  [Post 4]

dress nice with a tie, back pack and bow case with a small sighn IDAHO ELK HUNTING (Bus routes from Des Moines, IA to Idaho Falls, ID from $166.50 then ask guys heading north for a ride at Flying J.)
40 soft flour tortilla shells $6.00
4 jars peanut butter $9.00
10 packets of Tuna from Walmart $8.80 plus sales tax
8 Boxes of walmart granola bars $21 92
24 pack Mt Dew $6.29
Cracked plastic bat with the end cut off
***** Calls Elk Diaphragm Call Brand New ebay $4.92 Free Shipping
Craigslist bow set up with range finder from some newlywed $250, includes arrows and release. also comes with 1 Hoochie momma.

A friend of mine heard of an outfitter needed help in Saskatchewan. A 71 highboy F-250 all his clothes , his bow a few hundred dollars (1983) he got the job and guided and killed big whitetails and bears for a few seasons. so going cheap can be done
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Re: Which Would You Choose?

Postby Swede » 01 26, 2018 •  [Post 5]

Lefty, I think you forgot the garage sale shovel for $4.00 so you can dig wild onions and camas to eat. :lol:
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Re: Which Would You Choose?

Postby six » 01 27, 2018 •  [Post 6]

I DIY it every year and I just bought a bow for my grandson.

Mission Bow Craigslist came with Bow, Rest, Sight, Quiver, 6 Arrows, 3 Broadheads, 3 field points and a trigger $300. Picked it up while I was working at zero delivery cost to me. A range finder is not a necessity. Just shoot 1 pin out to 30 yards sight in at 25. Last year fuel from Michigan to Elk camp (Colorado) $185 a piece for 3 guys for a total of $550. Your going to have to buy food whether your hunting or not. You can make up lots of different things at home and really offset the cost of food. Lets just say $20 dollars a day for a Mountain House, a couple Cliff Bars, some Jerky, Peanuts and 2 Oatmeal Packets. Camp near a stream and drink water.


Bow/Accessories $300
Fuel $550 possibly split fuel with another hunter on Wapiti Talk
Food $200
Montana Elk License $868
total $1918

Leave $ 82 for a camo t-shirt, pants and light jacket at Walmart.
Elk are where you find em...
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