Reading all the posts about gear, rifles, ammo, what you must have and the way some folks snub others, I'm surprised the average Joe even thinks of taking up hunting. What we tend to forget is that anyone who starts in the shooting sports and hunting helps not only our community but also our environment and wildlife conservation in general. Most hunters accumulate gear over the years but reading some posts you would get the impression that the new hunter must go out and get a second mortgage to be able to buy everything that people tell them is a must have.
Therefore I thought I would give a few details on how to hunt on a budget and how accessible our sport can be. Being a husband and father of three (2 of the kids are teens, man, can they eat!) with a mortgage and debts like most others, I cannot justify buying most of what I want. Yet the difference between what I want and what I need are two different things. Let’s start with the basic need, a firearm. You can purchase a good second hand rifle on the EE for around 500$. The rifle I used this year for moose and deer is a Remington 700 ADL in .270win. I bought it on the EE, was hardly used, and the furniture was beautiful. Cost me 530$ with shipping. I was looking for a good reliable rifle for hunting. Not a safe queen and not a target rifle. Just a good rifle that can consistently shoot around MOA and take the beating that hunting can inflict on a rifle. It came with open sites and would shoot 5 shot groups at 100 yards with cheap ammo around 1 ½ “. Better than I expected. If I was to use this rifle exclusively for deer, in the conditions I hunt, I would not have needed to mount a scope on it. Yet since my hunting needs dictate that I would need a scope I decided that I would wait and a deal would come around. A few months after buying the rifle a friend of mine tells me of a store about an hour from where I live that was going out of business. By the time I made it there to see what they had, most of the scopes were sold. They did have some scopes from a company called Hawk. I had never heard of them, but 90 bucks for a new 3x10x44 with an illuminated 30/30 reticule, I figured that if I didn’t like it I could find a buyer for it and get my money back. I’m surprised (and happy) to say that the scope works well, captures plenty of light in the early morning and late evening. It has taken a beating through the moose and deer season and kept it’s zero. Unless it just dies on me or the gas leaks out, I will keep it. If it does crap out, I have nothing to cry about. You can also purchase a Bushnell 3x9x40 at Wal-Mart for around 120$ and it will do the job just fine for the average hunter.
If you are new to shooting, there is one thing that, in my opinion, you must invest in. A membership at a local range where you can get acquainted with your rifle. Other members can help you with the finer points of shooting. Let’s face it, if you cannot shoot, you cannot take game ethically, and with confidence. Practice makes perfect! A 150$ surplus Enfield in .303 will kill a deer just as dead as an 8000$ custom Heym. Yet, if you can’t hit the proverbial side of the barn neither will do you any good.
I found a small hunting shop in my area that had some cheap BELL ammo. The local farmers buy it to shoot pests and yotes. I bought a box of 20 rounds, 130gr PSP’s for 11.95$. Went to the range and was shooting 1” groups consistently. I went back to the store and bought 2 more boxes. There is some fantastic ammo out there that performs very well, and costs accordingly, but bullet placement is the key to hunting. Those cheap Bell rounds killed a deer this year with one shot to the heart. It covered 20 yards after the shot, and expired within seconds.
Now that you have a rifle and ammo let’s look at some other needs.
A good knife is a must. There are many different models out there that cover a huge price range. First of all bigger is not necessarily better. If you plan to hunt mid-sized game a good folder with a 3-4” blade is fine for gutting a deer. I use a Buck #105 Pathfinder that I have owned for over 20 years, and it has met all my hunting needs. It has a 5” blade comes with a sturdy leather sheath and costs around 60$. Again if it breaks or I lose it....nothing to blow a fuse over.
Get the best boots you can afford. Sore or frozen feet really put a damper on a hunt. The same goes for hunting clothes. Places like Crappy Tire and Wal-Mart sell hunting outfits at a reasonable price. The trick is to shop after the season. I have a ton of cammo t-shirts that I bought at Wal-Mart for less than 5$ a piece. My favourite, and warmest, hunting jacket was bought in the States for 20$. It’s quiet, warm, has good sized pockets and a hood. Honestly, I know some very successful hunters that wear jeans and a work jacket when they hunt. I envy the amount of game some of these guys have harvested over the years. The clothes don’t make the hunter......
The rest of your needs will be dictated by the game you choose to hunt and the terrain you will be hunting.
Some folks have the budget and lifestyle that permits them to buy top of the line everything, and good for them. Yet, I believe that most of us have to make do with what we can afford. Does it make one hunter better than the other? Not really. Will the hunter with a larger budget have an advantage over the other? In some cases, yes. In the end the only thing that concerns most of us is that we get to spend some quality time in the bush, living a lifestyle that we love. I just wish that some people would realise that we share a passion for the outdoors and give respect to each other no matter what we can afford.
I haven’t covered everything and others will surely have something to add to this post but I felt a need to express my thoughts on a matter that I take to heart.
Happy Hunting Everyone!
Therefore I thought I would give a few details on how to hunt on a budget and how accessible our sport can be. Being a husband and father of three (2 of the kids are teens, man, can they eat!) with a mortgage and debts like most others, I cannot justify buying most of what I want. Yet the difference between what I want and what I need are two different things. Let’s start with the basic need, a firearm. You can purchase a good second hand rifle on the EE for around 500$. The rifle I used this year for moose and deer is a Remington 700 ADL in .270win. I bought it on the EE, was hardly used, and the furniture was beautiful. Cost me 530$ with shipping. I was looking for a good reliable rifle for hunting. Not a safe queen and not a target rifle. Just a good rifle that can consistently shoot around MOA and take the beating that hunting can inflict on a rifle. It came with open sites and would shoot 5 shot groups at 100 yards with cheap ammo around 1 ½ “. Better than I expected. If I was to use this rifle exclusively for deer, in the conditions I hunt, I would not have needed to mount a scope on it. Yet since my hunting needs dictate that I would need a scope I decided that I would wait and a deal would come around. A few months after buying the rifle a friend of mine tells me of a store about an hour from where I live that was going out of business. By the time I made it there to see what they had, most of the scopes were sold. They did have some scopes from a company called Hawk. I had never heard of them, but 90 bucks for a new 3x10x44 with an illuminated 30/30 reticule, I figured that if I didn’t like it I could find a buyer for it and get my money back. I’m surprised (and happy) to say that the scope works well, captures plenty of light in the early morning and late evening. It has taken a beating through the moose and deer season and kept it’s zero. Unless it just dies on me or the gas leaks out, I will keep it. If it does crap out, I have nothing to cry about. You can also purchase a Bushnell 3x9x40 at Wal-Mart for around 120$ and it will do the job just fine for the average hunter.
If you are new to shooting, there is one thing that, in my opinion, you must invest in. A membership at a local range where you can get acquainted with your rifle. Other members can help you with the finer points of shooting. Let’s face it, if you cannot shoot, you cannot take game ethically, and with confidence. Practice makes perfect! A 150$ surplus Enfield in .303 will kill a deer just as dead as an 8000$ custom Heym. Yet, if you can’t hit the proverbial side of the barn neither will do you any good.
I found a small hunting shop in my area that had some cheap BELL ammo. The local farmers buy it to shoot pests and yotes. I bought a box of 20 rounds, 130gr PSP’s for 11.95$. Went to the range and was shooting 1” groups consistently. I went back to the store and bought 2 more boxes. There is some fantastic ammo out there that performs very well, and costs accordingly, but bullet placement is the key to hunting. Those cheap Bell rounds killed a deer this year with one shot to the heart. It covered 20 yards after the shot, and expired within seconds.
Now that you have a rifle and ammo let’s look at some other needs.
A good knife is a must. There are many different models out there that cover a huge price range. First of all bigger is not necessarily better. If you plan to hunt mid-sized game a good folder with a 3-4” blade is fine for gutting a deer. I use a Buck #105 Pathfinder that I have owned for over 20 years, and it has met all my hunting needs. It has a 5” blade comes with a sturdy leather sheath and costs around 60$. Again if it breaks or I lose it....nothing to blow a fuse over.
Get the best boots you can afford. Sore or frozen feet really put a damper on a hunt. The same goes for hunting clothes. Places like Crappy Tire and Wal-Mart sell hunting outfits at a reasonable price. The trick is to shop after the season. I have a ton of cammo t-shirts that I bought at Wal-Mart for less than 5$ a piece. My favourite, and warmest, hunting jacket was bought in the States for 20$. It’s quiet, warm, has good sized pockets and a hood. Honestly, I know some very successful hunters that wear jeans and a work jacket when they hunt. I envy the amount of game some of these guys have harvested over the years. The clothes don’t make the hunter......
The rest of your needs will be dictated by the game you choose to hunt and the terrain you will be hunting.
Some folks have the budget and lifestyle that permits them to buy top of the line everything, and good for them. Yet, I believe that most of us have to make do with what we can afford. Does it make one hunter better than the other? Not really. Will the hunter with a larger budget have an advantage over the other? In some cases, yes. In the end the only thing that concerns most of us is that we get to spend some quality time in the bush, living a lifestyle that we love. I just wish that some people would realise that we share a passion for the outdoors and give respect to each other no matter what we can afford.
I haven’t covered everything and others will surely have something to add to this post but I felt a need to express my thoughts on a matter that I take to heart.
Happy Hunting Everyone!
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