Turkeyslayer 1300
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Russell, Ontario
I agree 100%
Value of the game you hunt?
- Thread starter IAMAWILDPARTY
- Start date
I agree 100%
This.
We all consider hunting to be worth the investment or we wouldn't be doing it.
I was just curious about who among us figures they can justify it in terms of just the meat it brings.
We all know that it's about much more than that, usually.
I never suggested economics had to justify the hunt. The hunt, like a lot of nature, is more important than the economics for us.
I study things that are related to this and I was asking out of curiosity, I didn't mean to have an argument over whether the question could be asked.
bearkilr
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Nowhere, ......just past the middle
You need to find yourself a new farmer, that's a lot of coin for a small cow...
The value is not so much in the end result, be it meat or trophy, as in the act of hunting. As Jose Ortega y Gasset points out in Meditations on Hunting, "...one does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted."
Any meat harvested may or may not be cost-effective compared to the supermarket, but this is beside the point. Anyone who has chosen to hunt subjectively values it enough to incur the costs of the hunt. Any human action can be studied in terms of economics; once you realize that value is subjective, this makes things much clearer.
Any meat harvested may or may not be cost-effective compared to the supermarket, but this is beside the point. Anyone who has chosen to hunt subjectively values it enough to incur the costs of the hunt. Any human action can be studied in terms of economics; once you realize that value is subjective, this makes things much clearer.
Nov 2009 a buddy and I got a large cow moose. I carried away almost 300lbs of meat. That's meat, no bone, no fat. At almost 5 bucks a lb for lean ground round, if I were to (GASP!!) Grind up 300 lbs of moose, then I would have a minimum of $1500 worth of meat. If I take that and choose better cuts for steaks, chops, roasts, stewing, sausage, etc., then I could push that same 300lbs into the $2000 range easily.
Granted, I put in a lot of work to make that happen, but it cuts my costs down incredibly. The moose was taken within 3 hours the first day we tried. It took another 3 hours to get her gutted and out of the woods and on the truck. It took me another 3 hours to get her hung and skinned. It took me, my wife, and my buddy almost 5 hours to bone her out. It took another 4 hours for my wife and me to clean the meat up, cut and wrap it. Stew meat and burger took maybe another 3 hours to prepare and the added cost of pork trimmings for some fat content for the burger about $10 for 10lbs, enough to make 80 lbs of burger.
So, cost wise, economically, 300 lbs of moose meat:
Gas that day $10.00
Arrow (we'll consider it ruined) $18 (1/2 that since it was his arrow and I had nothing just the call for his hunt)
Bow $329 (we'll pretend it was new that day, and then 1/2 that since it was his bow)
Pork Trimmings $10.00
wrapping paper $6
Moose call (used coffee can and wet shoelace. we'll pretend that I bought it all new and dumped it out on the way to hunting) $11.
Clothes (just regular stuff, no hi-tech crap here, I am not going to include that)
So cost of my meat strictly economically: $200 or $1.50 a lb. Value of the meat - priceless as was stated before.
Granted, I put in a lot of work to make that happen, but it cuts my costs down incredibly. The moose was taken within 3 hours the first day we tried. It took another 3 hours to get her gutted and out of the woods and on the truck. It took me another 3 hours to get her hung and skinned. It took me, my wife, and my buddy almost 5 hours to bone her out. It took another 4 hours for my wife and me to clean the meat up, cut and wrap it. Stew meat and burger took maybe another 3 hours to prepare and the added cost of pork trimmings for some fat content for the burger about $10 for 10lbs, enough to make 80 lbs of burger.
So, cost wise, economically, 300 lbs of moose meat:
Gas that day $10.00
Arrow (we'll consider it ruined) $18 (1/2 that since it was his arrow and I had nothing just the call for his hunt)
Bow $329 (we'll pretend it was new that day, and then 1/2 that since it was his bow)
Pork Trimmings $10.00
wrapping paper $6
Moose call (used coffee can and wet shoelace. we'll pretend that I bought it all new and dumped it out on the way to hunting) $11.
Clothes (just regular stuff, no hi-tech crap here, I am not going to include that)
So cost of my meat strictly economically: $200 or $1.50 a lb. Value of the meat - priceless as was stated before.
bearkilr
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Nowhere, ......just past the middle
Many people can't come up with a reason or are reluctant to give the real reason when asked why they hunt, so most will give the standard answer "for the meat". This is especially true when confronted by a non hunter.
I enjoy most of the wild meat I've tried and primarily eat wild meat, but that's not the reason I hunt and I'm not afraid to say otherwise. I enjoy the outdoors and trying to learn about the wildlife and their habits, and eventually trying to outsmart my quarry. This is also why I enjoy trophy hunting since these are generally much tougher to obtain and one has to be selective. I've also come home emptyhanded numerous times and still had as good of a time as when I got lucky.
In short, I'm not sure why everything has to have a price tag on it these days. If you think hunting costs too much, you're doing it for the wrong reasons. My $.02 anyway.
My most serious post yet....
My opinion states that the price of a firearm is like any tool: it has a purchase price and a depriciation loss or a gain, it has repair costs and maintenence costs... the same as the tools I use to hunt like clothing, boots, knife(s) and so on. I "expense" it like anything else purchased and used as a depriciable asset for my primary hobby.
The time off I take to actually participate in this hobby is vacation and self-therapy both: it is when I have time to think, be with or without family/friends, leave my job behind and gain relaxation better than any professional therapy available. The cool winds through darkened leaves, squirrels chattering in trees, sights of deer in the meadows... lowers my blood pressure better than any meds available. The time to harvest a moose is vacation, plain and simple. I never "charge my time" for my vacations.
I feel that the price of the meat harvested is equal to the cost of a tag, fuel for vehicle to get there and the cost of consumeables. In this opinion a Moose (I know where to get'em, just need that tag) likely would cost be $150 - $200 for an animal. That makes average under a dollar a pound on a moose. I could get two if I had the tags for just over the same price.
So, if you ask "How much does harvesting a Moose cost you?" it would be $175.00 for each year. The relaxation and lowered blood pressure of a week off enjoying an awesome hobby lasts another 51 weeks... with intermitant trips to the range, of course.
My opinion states that the price of a firearm is like any tool: it has a purchase price and a depriciation loss or a gain, it has repair costs and maintenence costs... the same as the tools I use to hunt like clothing, boots, knife(s) and so on. I "expense" it like anything else purchased and used as a depriciable asset for my primary hobby.
The time off I take to actually participate in this hobby is vacation and self-therapy both: it is when I have time to think, be with or without family/friends, leave my job behind and gain relaxation better than any professional therapy available. The cool winds through darkened leaves, squirrels chattering in trees, sights of deer in the meadows... lowers my blood pressure better than any meds available. The time to harvest a moose is vacation, plain and simple. I never "charge my time" for my vacations.
I feel that the price of the meat harvested is equal to the cost of a tag, fuel for vehicle to get there and the cost of consumeables. In this opinion a Moose (I know where to get'em, just need that tag) likely would cost be $150 - $200 for an animal. That makes average under a dollar a pound on a moose. I could get two if I had the tags for just over the same price.
So, if you ask "How much does harvesting a Moose cost you?" it would be $175.00 for each year. The relaxation and lowered blood pressure of a week off enjoying an awesome hobby lasts another 51 weeks... with intermitant trips to the range, of course.
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I figured last season cost me about 8 dollars a duck and about 22 a goose.
This year, if I factor in the new jon boat and the same amount of birds, the cost will jump to 14 and 34 per.
Didn't get too many geese last year.
This includes the cost of hunting license, stamp, gas, new hunting jacket, gloves, waders, decoys and ammo.
This year there is a new boat, shotgun and another dozen decoys. It all adds up over time but, as others have said, time out in the wild doing what I love... Priceless
This year, if I factor in the new jon boat and the same amount of birds, the cost will jump to 14 and 34 per.
Didn't get too many geese last year.
This includes the cost of hunting license, stamp, gas, new hunting jacket, gloves, waders, decoys and ammo.
This year there is a new boat, shotgun and another dozen decoys. It all adds up over time but, as others have said, time out in the wild doing what I love... Priceless
Long ago, my mother and father took the truck camper on Friday night to a favourite waterfowl hunting spot, but it was very late in the season, and little was still around. Dad only shot one duck before they came home Sunday morning. Dad took quite a ribbing about how much that duck cost him from the guys at the refinery where he worked.
His response was, "I think that duck cost about 50 cents. I was already out there standing in that slough when he flew by."
I think that sums up my attitude to the cost of the meat I get from hunting. I was already out there walking around with my rifle, so all it really cost was one bullet. Hunting is about a lot more than just meat.
His response was, "I think that duck cost about 50 cents. I was already out there standing in that slough when he flew by."
I think that sums up my attitude to the cost of the meat I get from hunting. I was already out there walking around with my rifle, so all it really cost was one bullet. Hunting is about a lot more than just meat.
good post Longwalker
personally I agree with the price of my game meat being priceless
how much I spend on my hunting rig? prolly around $500, but that doesnt acount in the gas prices I have to cover
all in all, my time, in solitude in bush, is priceless, after nine months of city dwelling my soul needs healing and there aint nothing else there, alcohol and drugs included, that does it better, if someone needs to calculate the $ value of their hunt, perhaps they shouldnt be a part of comunity, it will always cost more to materialistic people
personally I agree with the price of my game meat being priceless
how much I spend on my hunting rig? prolly around $500, but that doesnt acount in the gas prices I have to cover
all in all, my time, in solitude in bush, is priceless, after nine months of city dwelling my soul needs healing and there aint nothing else there, alcohol and drugs included, that does it better, if someone needs to calculate the $ value of their hunt, perhaps they shouldnt be a part of comunity, it will always cost more to materialistic people
This thread was about the question of whether some of us could justify a hunt on the basis of the meat harvested, to the point where it is less expensive than store-bought. Some people could, which was interesting to find.
Some people read it and interpreted(incorrectly) "don't hunt if you can buy meat at the store".
Some consider it a thought crime to have musings on such things as the theoretical value of game, and those people probably take themselves too seriously.
Some people read it and interpreted(incorrectly) "don't hunt if you can buy meat at the store".
Some consider it a thought crime to have musings on such things as the theoretical value of game, and those people probably take themselves too seriously.
FishDoc
CGN frequent flyer
No no no no.... you dont pay a hooker for ### - you pay her TO LEAVE YOU ALONE AFTERWARDS!
Marriage...well...lots of ### aint one of the usual benefits...but it certainly is QUALITY!
As for hunting - yes the value is priceless... the cost is anywhere from 30 bucks a lbs for deer (I have not harvested many deer obviously) up to $1000 for the last lb of wild atlantic salmon ($2500 trip for a 2.5 lbs grilse that I caught on a blue charm I tied - priceless in my opinion!). So far my turkey cost has come down to about $5 a pound, but what makes it priceless is hearing my 6 year old daughter pipe up "daddy, this turkey is awesome... when can you take me to shoot one myself?"
Nuff said
