Value of the game you hunt?

About how much did your moose hunting rig(gun/rings/scope/sling) cost?

  • Under $500

    Votes: 23 14.6%

  • $500-$1000

    Votes: 33 20.9%

  • $1000-$1500

    Votes: 40 25.3%

  • $1500-$2000

    Votes: 26 16.5%

  • $2000-$2500

    Votes: 12 7.6%

  • $2500-$3000

    Votes: 7 4.4%

  • $3000 and up

    Votes: 17 10.8%
  • Total voters
    158
IAMAWILDPARTY

IAMAWILDPARTY

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I was having a conversation today with someone about why I had any desire to hunt/fish, when I could cheaply and with less effort buy meat. I explained that aside from aside from loving being in the outdoors, I liked the direct, tangible connection between my actions and dinner, having a part and appreciation of every part of the process.

Later I was considering how much of a disparity there was between the money put into fishing or hunting and the material goods harvested. I started by thinking about fishing, and certainly by the way my family and myself fish, more money is put into fishing gear(boats, rods, tackle, nets), licenses, and gas than the market value of the fish we retrieve, sometimes even when we limit out, depending on what the fish were, and what the limits were. I always assumed this was the case and so I wasn't terribly surprised.

I then considered hunting, and considered what will be my first proper hunting trip in a few weeks with a moose hunting party. Let's say it cost 200$ for the course and hunting license, 50$ or so for the moose tag, $30 for some blaze orange gear. For guns, I could theoretically use a .303 that cost less than $150, but I've got a .30-06 rig that(I won't admit to my girlfriend) cost over $1000 and realistically, it's what I'm going to choose(I think a lot of folks probably use a rifle/scope/rings/sling rig that cost about that much). I know the costs of these things might be spread out over years, but I'm using my case as a new hunter as an example. So let's say that so far, being able to go on this hunting trip with the equipment I have(again, I know the guns and such will last years, but just for the sake of discussion) cost almost $1500.

Could the (theoretical) monetary value of the meat a successful moose hunt produces(let's pretend I had help butchering but kept all the meat) come close to or exceed the monetary investment after one hunt? Would it take two? More?

I know there are a lot of theoreticals here, but anyone willing to give their guess as to the theoretical value of the meat from one moose? Would the value of cattle be a good guideline?

The poll on the top is for my own curiosity, I'm a bit curious, and I know some people will have more than one, I didn't feel it warranted another thread.

Edit: I am not suggesting you need to justify your hunt in economic terms, I know I don't, and it doesn't bother me in the slightest.
 
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The value?? Priceless....

In my opinion you can't put a value on wild meat that is harvested by you, through your time effort and skills and then prepared and served to your family.


DL
 
doublelung said:
The value?? Priceless....

In my opinion you can't put a value on wild meat that is harvested by you, through your time effort and skills and then prepared and served to your family.


DL
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Oh, I agree, but maybe I didn't make it clear, I was just curious about simple general theoretical market value of the meat harvested.

I'm sure for a lot/most of us, hunting/fishing is about much more than simply the meat.
 
doublelung said:
The value?? Priceless....

In my opinion you can't put a value on wild meat that is harvested by you, through your time effort and skills and then prepared and served to your family.


DL
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Do you hunt with a Stevens with open sights? If you don't then it isn't priceless. Guns are tools, tools have economic value.
 
sjemac said:
I've calculated that my moose meat has cost me about 25 cents a pound. Do with that what you will.
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Mine(my moose) maybe cost a little more (50 cents a pound) but it isn't full of antibiotics and steroids!!(like the crap you buy in the supermarket)
The latest thing now is giving some drug made in mexico to milk cows so they produce 15 liters of milk instead of 10. Its banned in Canada but its smuggled up in grain cars, or so I've been told.
 
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Our wives aren't going to read this right? Mine is about $2200 bucks or so, not including all the reloading crap I have associated to the rifle.
 
tigrr said:
Mine maybe cost a little more but it isn't full of antibiotics and steroids!!
The latest thing now is giving some drug made in mexico to milk cows so they produce 15 liters of milk instead of 10. Its banned in Canada but its smuggled up in grain cars, or so I've been told.
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Since when have moose been fed antibiotics and steroids? Why the cow info? I never mentioned beef. Just the cost of my MOOSE meat.

Now my DUCK meat costs about $60 a pound. But that's a different story.
 
I don't hunt moose but I am also interested in what one would be worth. I will be checking back to this thread in the future.
 
doublelung said:
The value?? Priceless....

In my opinion you can't put a value on wild meat that is harvested by you, through your time effort and skills and then prepared and served to your family.


DL
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The same goes for bagging a fish on a fly that you tied, a deer by an arrow you fletched/ bullet you cast & reloaded/ a muzzle loader you built.
I think that it is a skill that should not be forgotten, lest the food making machines run out of oil and the grocery store is no longer viable.
And this is all beside the fact that store meat is full of disease,drugs, hormones, contaminants you don't really want to eat. Ever see the grid like holes in a roast beef? That's from the chlorine/water injection that A)kills bacteria on contaminated meat and B) ups the weight because its sold by the lb.
We still haven't learned; feeding chicken guts to hogs and sheep as a protein supplement gives them hoof & mouth disease. Feeding chicken and hog guts to cows as a protein supplement gives them Mad cow disease. So what does feeding fish guts to chickens to give us OMEGA 3 enriched chicken & eggs give the chickens for a disease? We are still waiting for that eruption eh?!

I once met a person who thought pork came from a factory!
 
Longwalker said:
What a stupid question! I refuse to answer.
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Why? Because the answer is obvious?

It's obvious that some people must get enough meat out of a harvest to justify the investment(So rough value of meat minus the cost of the hunt), but I'm not sure everyone does.

Again, I'm talking about whether the hunt can be justified in purely measurable(even theoretically measurable) economic terms.
 
It is the wrong question! Reducing hunting to a purely economic equation is kinda like reducing marriage to prostitution. That much should be obvious!
 
sjemac said:
Since when have moose been fed antibiotics and steroids? Why the cow info? I never mentioned beef. Just the cost of my MOOSE meat.

Now my DUCK meat costs about $60 a pound. But that's a different story.
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Easy there mac. I should have explained it better.
Don't mention geese cause the better half figured out one time that 24 geese cost me $1000.
 
Ask the same person if they'd rather buy vegtables, or grow their own (which are far more expensive if you count your time to maintain a garden).

It's not much different. My good gun/scope costs what a good roto-tiller costs.

Not many people can hunt or do hunt to save money, people hunt because it's a normal, natural thing to do and it is enjoyable. Spending time in the outdoors is Priceless, as said earlier.
 
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