Farming vs Hunting cost

wrestled with this same question.

I am an avid bow hunter. I guess I have taken over 100 deer with my bow.

When we purchased our homestead we were pretty adamant about raising a few Boer goats for meat. That all changed when I seen 12 deer standing in my yard. I told her that goat and deer meat are pretty close to each other (lean) so maybe I'd just break some ground (rip with box blade and ripping teeth) and throw in some wheat, turnips, radishes, and clover to attract a few deer...man have I ever!

Since we have so many deer (we can take 3 per day) I figured the goats were "out" and we'd instead raise a few pigs. The reasoning behind the pigs is to add a lot of it into the deer meat and make sausage/add in some fat content.

I have 3 kids and a wife, 5 of us. I live in Tn (South of Nashville) and we do not have to have a license or deer permit when we are on our own property.

Needless to say, I can walk out on my front porch look through the wood line running down the creek and see if any deer are in the plot across the creek and walk over and shoot one....easy, really really easy....and cheap.

I'd say with my tractor and box blade (with rippers installed) + $60-$75 worth of seed I put in 3 small plots (maybe 75ftx150ft each) in about 4 hours of work.

We do buy a beef half every spring for meat, that lasts us until about deer season in the fall.

Oh, and the wife and I love "greens" so most of those come from our 3 food plots and we try to grow stuff in the plots that we can use if need be (kids love digging up radishes and eating them.

I am so "anal" about keeping my deer on my property (to have that meat resource) that when I recently planted 8 apple and 2 pear trees near my home that I also purchased 6 extra apple and pear trees and planted "back in the woods" for the deer. It was a bit more work as I did clear out some trees to give the fruit trees plenty of sun....but at $10 a tree it was $60.00 for a food source for my deer (and my family if need be) for pretty much the rest of our lives.

just went and bought my son his first hunting license , he is 11 and has taken hunters education but until he turns 12 he is a mentored hunter a 7 dollar tag but we only get 1 gun between us , we are using his Mossberg 500 20ga with one of my Nikon 2-7x32 scopes mounted on it because his scope had an issue when we went to sight it was a free scope so I am only out a box and a half of shells trying to get it sighted in to find it wouldn't hold zero. my scope has enough eye relief that I was able to position it so that we could both shoot it well , I do have to not lean in as far as I normally would but if he tags out then I will pull out my gun

deer here are not a sure thing but I don't go to many years without I have a buck and doe tag and for 7 dollars for his mentored license he gets a buck and a doe tag his are good in any zone my doe tag is only for farm land zone but thats what we hunt so it's ok

my dad was up to visit my aunt and went for a drive in a 6 mile drive to town in the dark he spotted 30 deer , rut was still very much on for opening day of last years season a lot of buks were shot and it was miserable cold so i think the doe dropped a nice crop of youngins , as dad said they all looked small but there sure was a lot of them , I will pass on anything looking small they taste good but they are as much work to put up as a big one with not much meat, but maybe the boy will shot one we will see


by the way the Nikon Pro staff 2-7x32 is my favorite scope fir under 150 yard hunting and it is definitely a best value at 149 dollars for glass that rivals 300 dollar scopes

that mounted properly on any youth rifle would be a fine gun , if your comfortable with 7mm-08 it is a very capable cartridge and could take a moose with good shot placement inside 100 yards easily enough because of the higher balistic coeficient of the 140 gr 7mm bullet it brings the same energy at 200 yards that the 308 does actually it starts making gains on it above 200 because it retains more energy longer and is only 10 gr lighter anything a 309 with a 150 gr bullet will do, the animal won't be able to tell the difference with a 140gr 7mm-08 they are the same case same case volume just one is 7.62mm and the other 7mm

What about a .30-30? How far are you shooting?

I had a gun that needed help with the stock anyway so I raised the comb so I could get a good cheek weld and not a "chin weld " as you called it because that is about exactly what this was

this is a old pre ranch rifle mini 14

I had a lot to build up make sure you wrap the tape tight, it worked best to cut strips and pull down both sides at the same time with it centered over the card board then it compressed and held nicely not I get a good sight picture as soon as i bring it to my shoulder , up to the cheek into the shoulder

repeat after me up to the cheek into the shoulder , this works for mounting a shotgun or a rifle to hit the right spot every time , if you say it as you do it in practice , you do it instinctively in the field when a bird flushes or a rabbit makes it's break , or a deer flushed by a driver comes crashing out of the pines making a run just 15 yards from you for the woods and swamp

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Yeah, the Maine record is 355 lb. dressed. Up here 250-280 is not uncommon.

Pete, you are exactly right - it is a Browning BLR lever action with a Bausch & Lomb scope. Thanks for the great pics on how to raise the comb. I don't want to mess with the scope too much since it isn't my rifle, so will try that option instead.

I'm definitely right eye dominant - have done the triangle trick many times and it's always clear.

To Zimo, shots here are typically 50 - 100 yards. Any farther is rare.

Thanks again for all the suggestions - I'm thinking once the season is over I should head to the shop and try a bunch of the options suggested and see what fits.

I envy you folks back east where all that meat is running around everywhere. We have some deer here, but they are pretty few and far between. There are a lot of elk and lots of public land to hunt. But getting drawn for a tag isn't a sure thing. And the elk get very spooky by the time the muzzle loader and rifle seasons come around. The bow hunters see a lot more game, early in the season during the rut. But after that the elk have moved into much rougher, more remote country. I love hunting elk, and the meat is much better than deer (in my opinion), but this year we will go in with some friends and buy a beef from a local rancher.

30-30 would be a fine caliber for your distance but options are very limited in non lever guns , and if it gives you the cringe to lower the hammer it is best to stay away from exposed hammers , bolt guns also break down for cleaning easier than levers

WELL! That certainly explains my weight problem.

__________________
-Northern NYS

Rime,

Like was said- check your eyes out. I'd just hold my right thumb up like the hammer of a gun while looking past it at a fixed object about twenty feet away and wink the left eye. If it looks like the object jumps out from behind you thumb when you wink, then you just closed you dominant eye.

Cheek weld might be your problem, like was said. They do make pads for this. Scopes add another factor. Maybe your rings aren't high enough. It doesn't matter how low/high/right/left your scope is so long as the point of aim is correct. If you decided on a scope, it's do-able no matter what's up with your eye. It may just be technique issues.

If you are nervous about dropping a hammer on a live round I gotta say this- never, never, never chamber a round before you confirm your shot and intend to fire! Never carry a chambered round while hunting. There are no "safeties" only "safers". Even on bolt guns.

At least on lever guns, modern rifles have both a bar safety and a hammer so if you chamber and change your mind, you can lower the hammer onto the bar safety.

.30-30 is all you'll ever need in Maine. My pa grew up there in Monmouth and still lives there. It will take everything in the woods- blackies, moose, and deer. Just use the proper grain round.

If hammers make you nervous, I'd stay away from semi autos. A mini14 like that one Pete showed us has got a safety inside the trigger guard: the last place you want to stick your finger with a live round in the chamber.

Anyhow, keep it up, you'll figure it out just be safe out there and get some range time in- it will increase you comfort and skill and a lot of these issues might work themselves out.

We have debated this for a while in our household.

There is a learning curve to whatever you try to do. We have gone through goats and sheep. We are currently doing poultry and pigs, along with a fruit orchard and raised beds gardening.

A lot of people around here hunt and trap. I let neighbors hunt / trap on our land. Most years; a moose, a bear, a few deer, and a few beaver, are taken from our land. Some years the trappers may also get a bobcat and a few coyotes.

We had decided that with the next big problem in breeding pigs, we would butcher them and stop raising livestock.

But then a contract landing in my lap, where I now get all cafeteria food waste from 5 public-funded schools. That works out to fifteen 5-gallon buckets every school day.

We went from wintering-over a boar and 3 breeding sows, and selling two batches of weaned piglets every year.

To now, we must keep one batch of piglets through the winter, simply to consume this much free food.

We were only butchering 1 or 2 pigs every fall, just for ourselves.

Now it looks like we may end up butchering 6 to 8 pigs every spring [just as the school-year ends], which is far too much pork for us. So it needs to be inspected, USDA stamped for market, and we will be selling pork.

It was not our plan to scale-up our pork operation. But I guess we just got drug into it.

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http://www.mofga.org/Programs/FarmAp...2/Default.aspx

Oh my, you gave me a good old belly laugh this morning. Enough that I think I burned 500 calories or so. Thanks!

I think the cost to raise beef vs the cost of hunting Deer comes down to what area you live in and your personal situation.
A steer would cost me $6.80 / lb
A deer would cost me $4.79 / lb
An Elk would cost me $1.87 / lb
(explanation below)

A barely weaned steer will run you $375 - I only have 1 acre to put animals on, so have to feed a cow 100% and can't count on any grazing. (the pasture would be dirt in a matter of days)
That's 300 lbs grain and 10 ton of hay over 2 years to get it big enough for butcher. That's right at $3000 before butchering IF you don't have to supplement, medicate, or pay any vet bills. Butchering is going to cost at least $400 if you get a 1200lb steer - so already I am looking at $3400 for aprox 500lbs of meat = $6.80 / lb on a good day!

Deer tag: $19.75, Draw fee: $6.00, Licence: $33.50, Budgeted for fuel: $75.00, ammo: $3.00, 1 day off work to hunt: $150. Total cost: $287.25 divided by 60lbs of meat yield $4.79 / lb

Elk tag: $30.75, Draw fee: $6.00, Licence: $33.50, Budgeted for fuel: $75.00, ammo: $3.00, 1 day off work to hunt: $150. Total cost: $298.25 divided by 160lbs of meat yield $1.87 / lb

Last deer I bagged was pushing 220 gutted....

Why not a Bolt Action 30-30?

big rockpile

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I love being married.Its so great to find that one person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.



If I need a Shelter
If I need a Friend
I go to the Rock!

Here I killed a Big 10 Point Buck, field dress 165 Pounds.

Does field dress about 60 pounds.

big rockpile

__________________
I love being married.Its so great to find that one person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.



If I need a Shelter
If I need a Friend
I go to the Rock!

My meat estimations were how much meat actually goes in the freezer not including the weight of the wrap.

Elk on average that I choose to shoot
Live weight 340lbs
Field dressed 238lbs (no skin/head)
Meat in Freezer 160lbs (boneless and no fat)

Deer on average that I choose to shoot
Live weight 130lbs
Field dressed 85lbs (no skin/head)
Meat in Freezer 60lbs (boneless and no fat)

I love the idea of a bolt action 30-30 it would be a great gun , but
savage was about the only one ever made in in any kind of numbers , the savage or stevens 325 or 340 , they can be found used but haven't been made in a bunch of years , parts are getting more limited and the ones around they want the same money as a new youth 308 ,243 or 7mm-08

if you find a 30-30 rem 788 the other factory bolt action 30-30 in good shape under 350 snatch it up they sell for much more now

and the new youth bolt actions will typically out shoot the 1970s or 1980s 325 or 340 and definitely will be a flatter shooting gun if she decides for a longer shot later

Deer hunting is def cheaper but not much. Once past the initial cost of the cattle is all profit of you have the ability to just graze it unless it's sick. Our cattle or graze only. We make the hay we use in winter on our land. After fuel cost is a few hundred dollars year. But I love to eat both so week do what I cab to get both. Lol

A .35 Rem is also an excellent choice for the Great North Woods. You can get a little more range out of it and should you go for moose it will work a bit better than the .30-30, which is probably the #1 deer harvesting round ever. I own both.

I don't hunt sport anymore. With a commercial farm it is just part of the job. When I do go out I find that I'm looking more at woodland improvement, etc. I've been out a little this year but generally leave it to hunters.

I've harvested most deer with a .308 out to nearly 400 yards. Now I use a 6.8 SPC more.

My son uses a Mauser action rifle chambered in 35 Remington. It's got 26 inch barrel and will cut built holes at 100 yards. Great gun.