Curious, how you do it?

[cbryant11]

I cut out eating fast food for lunch everyday and started saving my pennies up , i have since lost weight and have a sweet mark4 scope on my coues rifle, and now iam saving up for 15 swaros:)

[sherman]

I do 1 scouting trip a year, I ask for items I need for my birthday, Christmas. Ect. I do have more riffels then I need but have only got one of them new. I don't use a rangefinder just good ol guess hold over and adjust as needed. I do only use leupold scopes but that is because I was tired of buying crap and spending the same for a few crap scopes as I did 1 vx 3. I do work where I live so getting to and from work costs me nothing. I where the same boots I got in 99 and I don't ware full cammo and what I do ware is something I picked up at Walmart on clearance rack. Or at a second hand store. My binos where bought at tax time and I think if you can buy good stuff it will last. And I reload all of my own bullets. It is the only vacation me and my wife take without our kids until they start to hunt so we get stuff all year long when it is a close out or marked down for the season.

[trphyhntr]

i dont have time, money, and i only have the bare minimum of gear. that being said what i do have is quality. i put in for trophy hunts in units that im familiar with so i dont need to scout much if at all. if i get drawn i use that as my vacation. other than that i just do half butt archery hunts on my day off and call coyotes.

[Gr8 White Jr]

I do agree with others that it is a lifestyle. For me, hunting is all I think and dream about. I base every aspect of my life around hunting. We don't ever go on a vacation to places that your average family might go. Our vacation time is spent hunting. Every extra penny that we have goes towards hunting/scouting/gear/taxidermy. Anytime it is suggested that we do something that will cost money the first thing that pops into my head is the thought of all the things hunting related I could do with that money instead. This is just the way I am wired. I guess you could say I am obsessed. I call it passionate! Some people go out and spend money to get all the latest and greatest electronic gadgets, we spend our money on hunting, scouting and gear.

 

The gear I have I acquired over several years. Although I have many different rifles my "go to" rifle was bought for me when I was 12 years old. It was a Xmas gift from my father. I have since put a little money into it and made it the awesome gun that it is today but that was done a little at a time too. The Vortex scope I have on it I bought from Cameraland when they were having their really good deals and the stock on my rifle was an Xmas gift. I just paid for the gunsmith to free float the barrel, bed the action and install a Timney trigger.

 

I saved my money for quite some time to by my Swaro 15's and just waited for the right deal. I bought them used from a guy that was out of work and needed to make a quick sale so I got a pretty good deal on them.

 

My Swaro 10's I bought from a lady who's husband ran out on her several years ago and left them behind. They had been in her closet for about 3 years and she just wanted them gone. I paid about half what I would have if I had bought them brand new.

 

I got the deal of a lifetime on my Swaro rangefinder. There was a mistake at the Outdoorsmans and they thought that the rangefinder they had behind the counter belonged to me. The gentleman there slid it across the counter to me and told me to have a nice day. I could have simply walked out but my parents raised me to be an honest person. I explained to them that the rangefinder was not mine and they were so blown away by my honesty that they sold it to me for half price. It definitely pays to be honest!

 

A lot of the gear I a have all had to do with saving money, right timing and a little bit of luck too. If I had to buy all my gear brand new today there is no way I could ever afford to have the things I do. That is why I would NEVER sell any of it, because I know if I did the odds of me ever owning these items again would be slim to none!

 

-Tracy

[DUG]

I have hunted since I was 12. Now 36 years later, I have some OK rifles and glass. I mainly just enjoy getting out and teaching my kids the experience. Like Pine Donkey said, it was lots of Christmas, Birthday and Anniversary presents. The wife used to get a decent year end bonus and I would get a profit sharing check occasionally. Before I had kids I would get a sick pay check every year equal to a weeks pay. In the last 5 years we have put way more time and money into my girls softball careers than hunting. I'm glad Swarovski doesn't make softball gloves or bats……

[Ernesto C]

My Situation is worst than yours buddy besides not owning all those high tech high end optics and rifle scopes, not owning a trailer or toy hauler....heck I use a $20.00 back pack from walmart!! that said it all!! I don't have a sugar mama either To make matters worst, my employer doesn't give me vacation in December and several times close to loose my job cause I take a vacation in January.. well like you see...that's one side of the coin on the other side or in the other hand....

 

I'm blessed with having the most amazing friends here in COUESWHITETAIL.COM cause they help me, teach me and share a lots of their knowledge and take me hunting with them

 

Ernesto C

[Scooter]

To save money I usually settle for value-priced gear and make it work. I do admit to having what I consider a normal and manageable amount of debt according to my family budget. Hey, as long as you pay bills on-time and don't exceed your debt/income ratio- it's actually good for your score to exercise the cards a little bit and carry some debt. Here's a list so you don't really have to feel bad about your gear.

 

I shoot an older 2010 Browning (PSE) Verado MT bow. It's slower than the new PSE's but much faster than what the native americans had and they killed bison.

 

My Muzzleloader is an older model CVA Wolf (the one with the non-quick breech plug) my wife bought me one Christmas for $99 at wal mart and topped it with a Cabela's powderhorn scope that was in the bargain cave online for $40. I also bought a .50cal T/C Tree Hawk off of a kid for $75 not too long ago and that has become one of my favorites for open sighted shooting.

 

I shop around online for clearance camo clothes and I'm equipped pretty well with Cabela's Silent Weave and Russell APX gear found in the bargain cave "rock bottom deals" online.

 

My pack is a large green LL Bean internal frame pack I got at a Yard Sale for $6 (yes, six bucks) and cleaned it up. It was already in good shape but I washed it out anyway. Not a single rip or broken buckle at all. You'd be amazed what pops out at you when you're out "yard sailing". My wife and I go once a month and sometimes we see stuff- and sometimes it's just a gas burn.

 

Optics... well, I REALLY wish I could upgrade!!! My cheap old Tasco spotter and my brand new $150 Nikon Trailblazer Bino's are doing just fine for glassing up deer so far. I'm sure I miss animals that a Swaro user could easily see, but if it's THAT hard for me to spot deer that I absolutely need $3000 optics- I'm probably in the wrong spot, and there's something I can do to improve my situation.

 

So, I'll let people call my gear cheapo crap... it's what I have and I'm okay with what it enables me to do outdoors. Do what you can do with what you have. That's life.

[muledeerarea33?]

I wouldn't call it cheapo crap, you worked and paid for it. When I started this I had the mindset that everyone had 2 quads, a side by side, a nice camp trailer, hunt three states a year, etc. but it turns out most everyone who posted here is regular. Haha unless the intended crowd just hasn't commented yet! J/k

[Scooter]

I bought a used 2007 H3 with great rubber, and if I camp out I sleep in a 8x10 dome tent or a Gore Tex Bivy sack under the stars. I do however hunt three states every year... My family is in western NY and I hunt and fish whenever I go back, and my best huntin' buddies are still in Central Texas for ducks and pheasant, and of course I hunt here in AZ so I guess you can put me in that crowd...

[ajohunter]

When I was single I would be out all the time scouting if taking time off to help friends out in hunts all over the state! I went to critter feed banquets and would buy items in auctions and win gear and guns in the raffles. Usually because I spent way too much for raffle tickets! Now that I'm married it come to a stop. I don't get to hunt as much as I used to and my family is my number one priority. Now when I want a new piece of equipment I clear out the gun safe or get rid of equipment i don't use since we all know how expensive it can be. We all make due with what we have. The important thing is we still love to hunt and be in the outdoors regardless of how much our toys cost.

[SunDevil]

my dad was a high school economics teacher. one of the things he tried to impress upon his students was the following:

 

"no one can afford everything they want. everyone can afford anything they want."

[Scooter]

my dad was a high school economics teacher. one of the things he tried to impress upon his students was the following:

 

"no one can afford everything they want. everyone can afford anything they want."

 

quite profound... I have never heard it put like that.

[Workman]

For me it's a lifestyle, it's just what I do. I was blessed to be raised in a family that lives for the outdoors. My grandpa was a lion/bear guide out of Tonto basin and my dad, well he was grandpas right hand man untill he started his own construction company. That being said pretty much everything I know about the outdoors has been passed down from generation to generation which Im very greatful for! I take nothing for granted, I'm 27 and have seen and been through way to much to take anything for granted.

I've been working for my dad since i was 14 during my summers off from school, ive been full time now for 10 years and finally made it to a supervisor. When it comes to time off for hunting... Well that's not a problem, my dads/boss response is usually "where are we going, when do you want to leave, sounds good I'll get my trailer ready". As far as my equipment goes I've had some hand downs from gpa and dad both, and spent a lot of my hard earned money on quality gear as well. I'm blessed to have a great job, be financially stable, and have a boss who loves the outdoors more than I. If it weren't for my family and how I was raised I would not be able to do half the hunting, scouting, fishing, and other hobbies I do.

[prowlerMan]

my dad was a high school economics teacher. one of the things he tried to impress upon his students was the following:

 

"no one can afford everything they want. everyone can afford anything they want."

 

I don't get it? Maybe that's why I was never very fond of economics

[Old Buck]

I started hunting in 1963 with a model 94 Winchester that I borrowed from my granddad. I laugh when I think of my first antelope hunt in 1966 in northern Arizona. My dad and I both had tags. We had one set of cheap 7x50 binoculars that we took turns with. We were both successful. After the hunt we decided that next time we went, it would really be great if we both could have a set of binoculars!

 

Over the years I have slowly purchased or gotten as gifts, bows, rifles, muzzleloaders, rangefinders, big binoculars, smaller binoculars, spotting scopes, tripods, big backpacks, smaller day packs and 101 really cool hunting accessories. It has been a slow process that has taken a long time without going into debt.

 

Sometimes I feel a little guilty when I look at all the hunting equipment that I have. Then I think of other family members that spend more that I do on their recreation, hitting a little white ball with a stick on a grassy field and I don't feel so bad. I know that they can't be have as much fun as me and they don't end up with a freezer full of "free" game meat!