Sacrifices

[Mikeha33]

With Lefty's post asking why people don't hunt more, it got me thinking. What are some of the things you have sacrificed in order to hunt elk? For me, as an out of stater, that has to drive quite a ways once a year, to be gone from the wife, kids, chores, etc, for 7-10 days, I am willing to compromise with my wife and work in order to head west. This might not apply to you guys who can hunt within a reasonable distance from your elk hunting grounds, or just step out of your back door and hear a bugle, but for some of you guys that only have 1 (expensive) shot at it per year, do you give anything up?

Right now the wife and I are focusing on getting our house and property in immaculate shape, so we can be ready to put it on the market if a certain house, or piece of property, that a little bird has told us might be getting listed "for sale" and make a move on it ASAP. I am putting forth extra effort on our home and land, to make it more buyer appealing. With that being said, and needing to utilize nearly all of my free time towards our home, and knowing I'll be gone 10 days in September, I willingly offered up to not turkey hunt or snow goose hunt this spring. She was pleased with that trade. I usually spend a fair amount of time and money chasing thunder chickens and tundra trashers around the countryside, so her and I both will reap the rewards of me being home more this Spring. (I don't get nearly as worked up for turkeys or snow's as I do for whitetail, so that wasn't even an option, but she doesn't need to know that )

What wouldn't you give up? I probably wouldn't give up whitetail archery if I had to choose between it and elk.

[ishy]

I am one of the lucky ones having shot elk within 15 miles of home. But I have a young family and run a pretty tight budget. We have "dumb" phones, cars atleast 15 yrs old (may not really save any $ when you look at repairs), no cable, limited internet, I cut my own hair, and we don't have single new piece of furniture in the house. So I have been working on an le hunt out of state, but haven't had any extra in the bank to make it feesible. So I have started donating plasma after my wife questioned my thinking and our available funds. It's actually pretty easy, a couple hours a week reading hunting magazines for $200 a month. Problem is the old cars keep breaking down, so most of it goes to bills. We also paid for a family vacation to the coast all with blood money last summer. Hopefully in the next couple years I can draw my dream tag.

[Swede]

Interesting question Mikeha33. To be fair, I don't think I am giving up anything. I am no different than others here. I just don't think that way about hunting. Chasing elk is a part of me and what I am. I love my wife of over 46 years dearly, but I am not giving her up. She may not join me I the hunt is fairly short. She will come to camp if the hunt is long.
I love my Lord and my church, but I am not giving either up. I am in close contact with Jesus and talk with church people when I am gone. I keep up to date on what is happening there.
Hunting costs. Oh well, so does all of life. Elk hunting takes time. Oh well, so does all of life. Hunting owes me nothing as it has given me back more than I can express.
Please don't take this post as condescending or even naive on my part. This is just my perspective.

[Indian Summer]

There's not much I wouldn't give up. I've missed weddings. Walked away when the grass was high and leaves on the ground. My friends know me well and a buddies fiancé about died when he wanted me to be best man and they were picking the wedding date and he told her "I gotta call Joe to see what dates ore ok"

Don't listen to me because I fit the definition of a hopelessly addicted elknut. It is my number one priority as long as the wife is safe and sound. Don't get me wrong I feel guilty when I pull out... sometimes to be gone for a month or more. I used to go for 4 1/2 months!!!!! After that my couple week excursions don't seem so bad... to either of us. I'd probably sell a kidney if it was necessary to pay for my annual elk hunt. Never put off to tomorrow what you might not be able to do when and if tomorrow ever comes. Elk hunting is truly my life. I think, talk, and write about it every day. Sometimes I dream about it meaning it really is a 24/7/365 thing. Do I need counseling

Oh I forgot... I read about it too: Swede's book just showed up in the mailbox: My fix for the week! Thanks Swede... I already glanced at the inside/outside front & back covers and the contents. Looks good already. I liked the part on the back cover where it said "graduated from Glide High School in 1965" That's the year I was born. Made me feel young!

[Trophyhill]

I sacrificed my ex wife and now my time. What I mean by time is every chance I get to go to the elkwoods, learn what I can when I can, and work every chance I get for extra money for my passion not to mention not taking glamorous vacations in the summertime or traveling to see my family during the holidays. I may regret some of it later but for now I wouldn't have it any other way!

[cnelk]

I have worked since I was 10 and own everything I have
I dont buy over-priced corporate coffee
I make meals that have leftovers
I dont eat out much
Im my own mechanic most of the time
I own 4 vehicles that average 175,000 miles
I have also donated plasma when I had to
I hunt when its season, I fish when they're biting.

I dont consider anything I do as a sacrifice.

Im like NIKE, I just do it

[Indian Summer]

I have worked since I was 10 and own everything I have
I dont buy over-priced corporate coffee
I make meals that have leftovers
I dont eat out much
Im my own mechanic most of the time
I own 4 vehicles that average 175,000 miles
I have also donated plasma when I had to
I hunt when its season, I fish when they're biting.

I dont consider anything I do as a sacrifice.

Im like NIKE, I just do it

Good answer! I'm the same way... except the plasma part. lol And I don't look at anything I do to enable me to hunt elk as a sacrifice per say. It's just my way of life. I have a buddy who shells out money for everything. If someone ran over his mailbox he'd call a contractor to put a new post in. I do everything I'm capable of myself which is most everything. I guess a sacrifice might be when I do things myself that I'm not capable of. But I call that learning and the next time I do it I'm "qualified". I never said over-qualified.

[pointysticks]

i love running my car at the race track. i sacrificed THAT!!

i couldnt in good conscience support both habits..not fair to my family (wife). saving money for retirement is a big deal for us. i dont go insane hunting, she doesnt get mad. balance.

the car thing..was hard.

[stringunner]

As others have said, I don't "sacrifice" to hunt elk. I make choices all throughout the year based on my elk hunting pursuits in the fall. Meaning I don't do a ton of other "stuff" throughout the year that may impact my elk hunting habits, days away from home, finances, other hobbies, etc. My top three priorities in life are my 1)faith 2)family 3) elk hunting and yes in that order. Like Indian Summer wrote, I try and do something every single day of the year to make me a better elk hunter. Its definitely an obsession. And being an obsession, I choose to pursue elk hunting above all other potential interests or hobbies.

[Jaquomo]

I sacrificed a career path where I would have made a LOT (bold caps) of money and retired at least five years ago, very wealthy. I'd have had to move to New York and then Chicago to do it. But since there are no guarantees in life, I chose to stay CO and not even move down to south Denver near the dreaded Tech Center, and crafted my job so I could live wherever I want and hunt/fish more than most people.

No regrets at all.

[Triplebhunters]

Good thread and good post. I work many OT hours so I may accumulate what I feel makes me comfortable when I travel west to hunt. I'm down to two pair of work pants and furniture is looking like it needs replaced, but I'm buying a truck to hunt elk. My wife travels with me and my youngest child is 21, hense my responsibilities are work to elk hunt.

[FemoralArchery]

I've quit more than one job and turned down a few because of what it would do to my ability to hunt.

[Lefty]

As others have said, I don't "sacrifice" to hunt elk. I make choices all throughout the year based on my elk hunting pursuits in the fall. Meaning I don't do a ton of other "stuff" throughout the year that may impact my elk hunting habits, days away from home, finances, other hobbies, etc. My top three priorities in life are my 1)faith 2)family 3) elk hunting and yes in that order. ,....., I choose to pursue elk hunting above all other potential interests or hobbies.

I was 30 and my wife a couple years older. We have three daughters while it may seem obsessive to many, hunting was part of my lifestyle,.. My wife married a full time fur trapper ( well 3-6 months anyway).
I wouldn't say I sacrificed much,.. again the outdoors was a big part of me. My wife has a pile of horns, she was her dads hunting partner,. and well she has more deer over 27" than many guys dream of
While my daughters were younger they often hunted with me. Or I was up early, hunted and back home before breakfast.
Hunting was part of our budget, some people its a newer car, nicer furnishings, fancy clothes, vacations, travel, sporting event, dining out. ETC,..
Archery really doesn't provide an opportunity for my daughters like water-fowling and big game hunting. But they are in and out of the house one just finished school,l another married, the other away at school, So I have the time that I wasn't spending with my kids.
Im also a do-it -your-self er, and I have a running honey-do list that I keep current. My place looks nice , I take care of things because I know I shouldn't or wont be getting another.
Maybe summertime fishing,.. But Idaho fishing never compared to Minnesota fishing

I have traded my gas money from further away goose hunts for literally the field beside my house. For the gas money to elk hunt
No I didn't sacrifice anything, well maybe: there are not any Boyscout Camp outs in September

[Lefty]

I sacrificed a career path where I would have made a LOT (bold caps) of money and retired at least five years ago, very wealthy. I'd have had to move to New York and then Chicago to do it. But since there are no guarantees in life, I chose to stay CO and not even move down to south Denver near the dreaded Tech Center, and crafted my job so I could live wherever I want and hunt/fish more than most people.
No regrets at all.

I did the same for a good wife
Three of my best friends retired this last year, 55, 50, and 49
One I was in business with, Sold him my 1/2 knowing where it was headed. Five years ago he said I could "have" it back because he had more money than he could ever spend( his wife also had cancer). He rethought about what was really important( not the $$$$$)
Another quit "Everything is paid for, and plenty in the bank. I just want to trap with my grandikids" And he does
Another started a part time business 10 years ago for his boys to work. The busisness grew He has a great staff. Quit his govement job.
He said its time to spend my money hunting and fishing with his soon grandkids
I do whine a bit about that, they all got well to do, and all regret the lack of time with thier kids
They didnt raise their own kids in the field or in the boat and are trying to make it up with their grandkids

[flystrait]

I sacrificed a career path where I would have made a LOT (bold caps) of money and retired at least five years ago, very wealthy. I'd have had to move to New York and then Chicago to do it. But since there are no guarantees in life, I chose to stay CO and not even move down to south Denver near the dreaded Tech Center, and crafted my job so I could live wherever I want and hunt/fish more than most people.
No regrets at all.

I did the same for a good wife
Three of my best friends retired this last year, 55, 50, and 49
One I was in business with, Sold him my 1/2 knowing where it was headed. Five years ago he said I could "have" it back because he had more money than he could ever spend( his wife also had cancer). He rethought about what was really important( not the $$$$$)
Another quit "Everything is paid for, and plenty in the bank. I just want to trap with my grandikids" And he does
Another started a part time business 10 years ago for his boys to work. The busisness grew He has a great staff. Quit his govement job.
He said its time to spend my money hunting and fishing with his soon grandkids
I do whine a bit about that, they all got well to do, and all regret the lack of time with thier kids
They didnt raise their own kids in the field or in the boat and are trying to make it up with their grandkids

One of the best posts I have read..

[dreamhunter]

I don't really feel that I sacrifice to much. I am self employed,not wealthy or rich even as far as dollars go.I have to plan well ahead to make any trip that I want to take,whether it's the East coast to see my family or Colorado to go play in the elk woods. I just celebrated 33 yrs with my wife and she always wants me to go and have fun and a good time.She knows what it does for me.We have one child still at home and she opens the door so I can hurry up and leave,lol.We are all very close and You never know when your last day will be so if you wanna do something then you just have to find a way to make it happen.This fall will be my 6th or 7th year elk hunting.I really have lost track and even though I haven't shot an elk yet, I don't have all of my old tags to count and see.I'm not worried about it.The one that matters most is the one I'm on or the next one coming up. I am so fortunate to be able to do what I do.Hope this makes sense.

[easeup]

why don't you hunt more?
not always but most of the time it is called, "chasing the green". Every spring the grass greens up in the barditch first and all the cattle are tired of eating hay all winter and will nearly push the fence over leaning out to get the green........it almost looks like they have an obsession sometimes; to get that lush green grass of spring - like they don't realize there is more green to come and they will be satisfied with what grows on their side of the fence. Many good posts above, the guys talk about choosing not to chase the green but to live life as God has put it out for us. they are wise choices too. Since that is a preferred choice, they don't see it as a sacrifice at all.

with that in mind, we don't have the dish or cable or iphones or new vehicles and the latest whatever. I guess we realized that if you can decide you don't have to have everything you don't have to chase the green. We didn't give them up, just chose not go after the things of the world - that's all.

[Lark Bunting]

As a new hunter in general I am spending more money on hunting related items, multiplied by two since I am outfitting my son as well. We are focusing on archery since we can shoot in the yard (crossing my fingers my neighbors don't call the police since we are in suburbia hell). My son probably will not play a fall sport so we can focus weekends on downing our first big game. It will be hard for him since he is very athletic. But, I hope the trade off is worth it when we have a freezer full of venison and/or elk for the winter.

My wife is already sick of hearing about hunting, just earlier I was watching that self filmed hunt movie posted here and she came down, asked what I was watching and when I told her it was an elk hunting video she huffed and rolled her eyes. She'd probably rather have heard I was watching pole dancers...yeah, she's THAT sick of hearing about it.

I don't know that I'm sacrificing much other than time and money, but my priorities are still in check. I am not hunting September 6, 7 or 8th as it's my daughter's birthday weekend. I'd never miss one of their birthdays for hunting. Plus, I am buying as much stuff used as I can, so it's not like I'm paying full retail for much of it.

[ishy]

Lark just make sure when you draw you do it from ground up, and keep your finger behind the trigger. When I first started bowhunting we were shooting in suberbia and friends drew from up at about 75-80 degrees up. You guessed it he sent an arrow over the fence. No one got hurt, but scared us pretty bad, and thought was going to be the end of all practicing. The ballon launcher we use to play with that used send things out of the backyard at a similar tragectory did get taken away by law enforcement.

[Mofarmboy]

This will be my first year DIY elk hunting but I've been slowly accumulating gear the last couple years. All that's left is a tent sleep system,pack and maybe a GPS upgrade.
I've got a 20acre cedar ridge behind my house that needs thinned out so the plan is to fire up the stihl and make some Elkin money cuttin cord wood. Should be a good workout and take the sting off of the cost of gear. Me and the wife have separate checking accounts so she could care less what I spend. We haven't bought meat in 10yrs except the occasional pork steak. Nothing but venison(8-10 a year) turkey and wild pig for this family it saves a ton on groceries.

[Jaquomo]

mofarmboy, watch the classifieds on the hunting sites and on Rokslide. Lots of great bargains there on pack, tent, sleep systems by "gearheads" who need the newest, lightest every year. Especially Rokslide. their classifieds have everything you can imagine. Also check Camofire every day. I got my primary pack on Camofire new for about 50% of the new price, because the camo color changed.

[Mofarmboy]

mofarmboy, watch the classifieds on the hunting sites and on Rokslide. Lots of great bargains there on pack, tent, sleep systems by "gearheads" who need the newest, lightest every year. Especially Rokslide. their classifieds have everything you can imagine. Also check Camofire every day. I got my primary pack on Camofire new for about 50% of the new price, because the camo color changed.

I'll definitly keep those places in mind. I've bought some of my camo from camofire the place is addicting!!!!!

[tdirks]

Easeup, I totally understand your cattle going for the green! The last two weeks before I turned em out it got real hard to keep em in! Couldn't blame them though, and since we AI'd every thing it sure was easier to watch for heat when they were all in the corral!

I haven't sacrificed anything except maybe some sleep. I work extra jobs to try to pay for the elk trip. I am in constr. so I do things like picking up the wire scraps for the copper and selling it. It all adds up and without doing those things there would be no trip. Somehow when I am out there it seems just a little more satisfying.

And easup my family has also not chased some of the "desirable" things of others. Don't misunderstand, nothing wrong with "things"; my bow is pretty nice!

[zpd307]

just digging up an old thread.... I sure do like hearing these stories. the two reasons why I hear people say that wont/cant go elk hunting is; too much work or too much money.... this got me to reflect on what I do to make sure I am able to head west each year for elk hunting. first off, is the big plus that my wife is now an r/n and makes more money than I do, finally that was a tough road for all of us.... but is definitely more to it than that. I, like many here, also do my own maintenance and repairs to save money. we live in a small 1550 sq ft 3 bedroom house in which our mortgage is cheaper than what people pay for a two bedroom apartment. for the record I have 3 small boys, 8, almost 7, and soon to be 6. I keep it so that I have only 1 car payment and even then the new car is usually a couple years old when I get it. we get most our stuff off of craigslist and used clothes stores. I am not picky and the boys will trash their clothes before they even wear them out. we don't go out a lot, free time is spent with each other. I also collect aluminum cans, I have a number of people who keep them for me. plus I work as much ot as I can throughout the year. all the little things add up in the end.

[razorback]

I am just in the planning stages of my first elk hunt so I don't know what kind of sacrifices I'll be making. Probably health. I had a total knee replacement on 3 January and have already started hiking with a 30lb pack. My knee is supposed to last 10 years, if this elk hunting takes hold it may not hold up 10 years. As for finances, money is tight as I have always dedicated my extra money to chasing whitetails and turkeys here in southeast Missouri. I usually upgrade bows every other year. Won't be doing that now, probably use my army gear instead of buying packs and sleeping bags unless I find really good deals. So I guess I'll just try to scrape up extra money and sacrifce my whitetail vacation for an elk vacation and I'm sure it will be much more of a sacrifice on my body but I'm willing to pay that price for the experience.

[zpd307]

I forgot to mention that I am the truck maintenance guy for our fire dept, it is one of the few payed positionswithin the dept. not much but everything helps. steve, are you planning on going this fall?

[razorback]

I'm not sure. Money will likely dictate that. Depends on how taxes shake out, I'll find out on the 28th. If I don't have to pay in a ton and can put back enough I just might make it this fall. I have cousin that would like to go and he's been out west several times but he's building a house and doesn't know if he will have it done in time. A lot of variables. I know I'll for sure be going in 2015 if the good Lord gives me that long.

[zpd307]

gotcha. our first trip to Colorado cost us just over $800 per person. that was with 3 guys splitting the fuel, bull tags instead of cows. we spike camped it two miles from the truck, because we didn't know better and thought we had get away from everybody, so we ate minimally with rehydrated foods. that's not counting all the new gear I felt compelled to get... did I see that you were from Missouri? the drive from se mn was about 17 hours, so the fuel cost was higher.

[Fridaythe13th]

Other hunting and fishing. My wife is very understanding but I don't want to push it. I used to fishing 10-15 time a year last year I went out once. I also sat in a tree stand for whitetails 2-3 times a week, last year I made it out 6 times in 2 months. Its all good I added 10 day for timberghost

[zpd307]

Other hunting and fishing. My wife is very understanding but I don't want to push it. I used to fishing 10-15 time a year last year I went out once. I also sat in a tree stand for whitetails 2-3 times a week, last year I made it out 6 times in 2 months. Its all good I added 10 day for timberghost

same here. we used to make a long weekend out of duck opener. I also used to hunt up north for deer.

[Fridaythe13th]

Camp Ripley and the walleye opener are the one I really enjoyed.

[Deafirishman]

I used to hunt and fish whenever it got the chance to. Since having 3 kids in the house, my fishing and hunting outings really decreased. My wife is very understanding in letting me go when I get the chance. Even though she gets a little frustrated from time to time, she understands that I grew up hunting/fishing so she allows me to pursue my outdoor passions because it's something that I have been around with my whole life . She did not grow up in a household where hunting /fishing was a part of family tradition so sometimes it can be hard for her to understand WHY we hunt as much as we do. I have never really has to 'sacrifice' anything to go on these hunting/fishing trips, I just had to do more around the house and with the kids to 'earn' my opportunity to go on these expensive trips Now that my oldest daughter is old enough to hunt, I am hoping to get out more often then I have in the past few years !! Any way you can keep the wife happy, earns you brownie points for your next adventure