Thread: $ value of harvested venison?

Originally Posted by craigc

If you add up how much you’ve spent on hunting gear and compare that with how much meat you get from hunting you should be running at around $2,000 per deer.
If it adds up to anything less than that you really should by some new gear, European binoculars certainly help to the the ratio up!!

I don't follow the logic here craigc. I know a lot of guys who'll go bush for an hour or two with a low tech .303 (or sks or bar in previous years) and maybe 5 rounds and come out with a deer. Equipment cost is close to zero for these guys.

I don't buy venison, and looking at online prices I can't see myself starting anytime soon. Thanks for all the answers.

Yep, that's what I was going to say.

Makes every mouthful taste better though

All very well but hey; youall need to take into account the cost of an alternative recreation and exercise and equivalant satisfaction if your not hunting. Then add to that the cost of retail meat and the loss of real good mates. No contest IMO. Hunting for food and recreation has great socio economic benifits. The "woke" fail to appreciate this.

Bit like fishing, price of boat, petrol, gear etc. Shop price is cheap. But no joy in going to the fish shop.

Some people spend $200 a day on pokey machines and more.Makes hunting a cheap sport.

Surely it's clear CraigC's comments were tongue-in-cheek and the "likes" received were an acknowledgement of this?
That said I would put it out there that there will be a wide variation in terms of dollars spent on equipment and then also the resulting number of deer taken. The first few deer that I harvested would have been amongst these $2000 deer, and comparisons to shop prices at the time for pretty much any grade of meat would have been most unfavourable. Nowadays I think (hope) I've turned things around somewhat.

In answer to the original question; my figure is $5-600 — given that South-eastern Ruahine reds all seem to be tiny. The weights that PixieZ mentioned: 13kg+25kg of usable meat — these will be from a stag that comes from places other than where I usually hunt. The question might be; would I actually want to try (or be able) to haul 38kg of venison out of the Kumeti catchment? I suspect attempting that would rapidly bring my hunting days to a close.

Originally Posted by Puffin

Surely it's clear CraigC's comments were tongue-in-cheek and the "likes" received were an acknowledgement of this?
That said I would put it out there that there will be a wide variation in terms of dollars spent on equipment and then also the resulting number of deer taken. The first few deer that I harvested would have been amongst these $2000 deer, and comparisons to shop prices at the time for pretty much any grade of meat would have been most unfavourable. Nowadays I think (hope) I've turned things around somewhat.

In answer to the original question; my figure is $5-600 — given that South-eastern Ruahine reds all seem to be tiny. The weights that PixieZ mentioned: 13kg+25kg of usable meat — these will be from a stag that comes from places other than where I usually hunt. The question might be; would I actually want to try (or be able) to haul 38kg of venison out of the Kumeti catchment? I suspect attempting that would rapidly bring my hunting days to a close.

That puts me in my place posting crap when I'm too tired to notice what's really being said! Sorry craigc, for some reason I took you far too literally.

One good points being made all round. Cost saving certainly isn’t why I hunt. I do remember about the time I bought my first rifle adding up for a few weeks how much money we were spending on meat & using that estimated we were spending about $1500 per year on meat (2 person household). Now we don’t buy meat at all, so the grocery bill isn’t too bad. Now I’ve just gotta get the garden sorted at our new place and get my vege going & will be able to further reduce the grocery bill a bit.
@Woody makes a great point too about flow on effects. I’m definitely stronger and fitter than I’d be if I didn’t hunt, so that’s gotta be good for my health. It also gives me time away from the city and stresses of work & whatnot, so it’s been great for my mental health. Good for a few relationships too- I’m sure my partner appreciates getting me out of the house sometimes. & have also made some great friends and contacts along the way. Plenty of those intangible benefits to it for sure.