How much does it cost to get into deer hunting? It’s not exactly cheap, but after experiencing my first season and shooting my first buck (pictured above), I’ve absolutely fallen in love with deer hunting and consider the amount of money I’ve spent on it so far well worth it.
This post is for those of you out there who don’t come from hunting families, or who don’t know the first thing about being in the outdoors. As a guy who doesn’t come from a hunting family either, allow me to show you the general process from clueless noob to bow hunter ready to harvest your first buck, along with all the associated costs that I paid in order to get started.
How much it costs to get into deer hunting?
Step 1: Get a hunting license (Cost = $31.50)
Before you can pay your resident license fees for fall bow season (September 9th to October 27th), which in my state was $31.50, you need to first get your conservation ID by registering on the state’s fish and game website, passing the Hunter Education online course and showing up in-person to pass the Hunter Education ‘final exam,’ where you have to shoot three arrows into a 3″ target from 10 yards away. Once you pass that test, you earn your bow permit, which allows you to purchase a bow hunting license that lasts for one season. Hunting licenses must be purchased annually. If you plan on hunting other game animals and doing some fishing, I recommend purchasing the ‘all-around sportsman’ for $70 some odd dollars.
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Step 2: Get a crossbow, arrows and broadheads (Cost = $255.55)
Assuming it’s legal in your state, I recommend hunting with a crossbow if you’re just starting out. Fall bow season is generally a better time to hunt deer because it’s early on in the season, the deer aren’t as wary, it’s warmer out and the woods are more alive. It’s also safer for the inexperienced hunter to be in the woods during bow season than say shotgun, or rifle season because the bullets aren’t flying and hunters generally aren’t shooting from a ground blind, or spot stalking deer. In the words of an experienced hunter I know, “All the yahoos are down there (on the ground or in a blind somewhere).”
You don’t have to break the bank to get a good crossbow. Mine is a Barnett Black Cat Recurve Crossbow that comes with a red dot sight. I prefer the red dot as opposed to a scope for one very important reason. When seconds count, the red dot helps you to acquire the target very quickly because you’re not looking at a magnified image. This makes harvesting a deer much easier.
You don’t really need a mil dot scope since you’re only going to be shooting between 10 and 20 yards most of the time anyway. Yes, in bow hunting, a 30 yard shot is considered a long shot. And you wouldn’t want to take that far of a shot anyways because the further away the deer is from your crossbow, the harder it is to see where the deer went after you shoot it, or to find a blood trail when it’s time to track it down, field dress it, and drag it out of the woods.
And, yes, I specifically recommend getting a recurve crossbow, as opposed to a compound crossbow, compound bow, long bow, or traditional bow because they’re cheaper, have more than enough draw weight, thus very deadly, and are just as deadly accurate as a compound crossbow, whereas other types of bows are usually more expensive, more unwieldy, harder to learn to shoot well, require lots of costly maintenance (you’ll have to bring them in to an archery shop), and frankly aren’t as sexy IMO.
With my Black Cat, I don’t have to pay for any maintenance because there aren’t any cams on the crossbow to worry about. The limb is made out of metal, so no maintenance required there and I can even change out the string myself in two seconds if it gets snagged in the field, breaks, or what have you. So far, it’s been a phenomenal purchase and I highly recommend it.
You have to get the arrows separately, though. Don’t ask me why, but they ship it with the 18″ aluminum arrows instead of the 20″ carbon headhunters it was meant for. Just get the headhunters because they’re the correct arrow for this setup. Also, they come with field tips, so no need to buy those separately.
And then, of course, you’re going to need some broadheads. Broadheads can be as cheap or expensive as you want, but in my experience, the Muzzy 100 grain broadheads with the changeable blades are the best value and perfectly fit my arrows.
Step 3: Get the tools you need to safely cock and uncock your crossbow (Cost = $77.52)
Cocking your crossbow by hand is definitely doable. I’ve done it. The only problem is, it’s really hard on your hands and you won’t want to do it more than a few times before you start thinking you’d rather use a proper cocking device. Here’s the one I got.
You can’t leave your crossbow cocked indefinitely because it’s bad for your string, not to mention dangerous, so after you’re done hunting for the day, you’re going to need an archery target to shoot your crossbow into in order to uncock it. Here’s the one I got.
I’m sure you can find a cheaper archery target and save some money on this (because all you really need is a small one), but I thought it might be fun to practice archery in a field somewhere, as long as I was the required 150 yards away from the nearest residence, so that’s why I got the bigger one to serve as double duty.
Step 4: Get some camo, rubber boots, a harness, a daypack and a rope (Cost = $250)
You don’t have to get camo, but hunting clothes should probably be separate from your regular clothes, so if you’re going to buy separate hunting clothes anyway, you might as well go ahead and get some camo.
I went for Realtree Edge because it’s a pattern that seemed like it could help obscure my outline in the deer woods during fall bow, when the leaves are still on the trees and there’s still flashes of vibrant green everywhere you look. I don’t have anything to compare it to, but so far it’s worked pretty well for me.
I also got a pair of rubber boots on clearance at Tractor Supply that were also in Realtree Edge, so I lucked out, but if I hadn’t found those, here are the ones I would’ve probably bought.
Rubber boots will also stop you from getting wet if you were to walk through a stream, they mask your scent from deer, and they look pretty cool if you ask me.
The harness is important if you’re going to be hunting out of a tree stand as opposed to a ground blind. From everything I’ve seen and experienced so far out hunting deer, being in a tree stand has made things easier. I notice the deer have a hard time scenting you if you’re elevated and a deer’s nose is your biggest enemy when you’re out trying to be stealthy in the field. Here’s the one I got, which is extremely sturdy, lightweight and durable.
I got my daypack from Walmart for a very reasonable price and I use it to carry my harness, tree strap (which came with the harness), rope, field dressing knife, flashlight and anything I want to bring with me.
Again, if you’re going to be hunting out of a tree stand, which is probably the easiest way to hunt deer, then you’re going to need a rope to attach to your tree stand, or tree. The purpose of this rope is to be able to tie it around the butt of your crossbow and safely pull up, or lower your crossbow from your elevated position in the tree. What I got isn’t technically for that purpose, but I use it that way and it works well because it has a carabiner on one end making it easy to attach it to your tree stand.
Step 5: Get access to private land that already has tree stands on it, or hunt public land and get a hang-on tree stand with climbing sticks (Cost = $275 – $295)
I started asking the instructor at Hunter Education a bunch of questions about hunting and he eventually put me in touch with a guy who’s very involved with an organization called Hunters Helping the Hungry in my area. We met a few times, talked, and he advised me as to how and when I should go about deer hunting and pretty much taught me everything I know about hunting deer.
If you can find a guy like that, consider yourself blessed. I know for a fact my learning curve would’ve been a lot steeper had I gone about it without his help. That’s why it pays to ask a bunch of questions and see if there’s a hunter with experience near you willing to show you the ropes.
As it turns out, he eventually gave me access to hunt some private land that he and a group of hunters he knows have leased for decades and it only cost me $275 including the initiation fee.
If I had tried to hunt public land, I still might’ve been successful, but having to learn how to set up a hang-on tree stand and safely use climbing sticks to get up the tree completely on my own would’ve been a lot more daunting. With public land, you’re usually not allowed to leave stands up overnight, so you’d need something like a hang-on stand that you can quickly set up and take down easily (although I suppose you could hunt out of a ground blind, but I haven’t tried that yet).
I was considering it, but after the opportunity to hunt private land became available to me, I went in that direction. The tree stands were already there and they were all ladder stands, which are typically a lot safer anyhow, so that was a big factor in my decision-making process.
However, I was super close to pulling the trigger on this hang-on stand setup because it’s lightweight and has very decent reviews.
Step 6: Get the tools you need to field dress and transport your deer to the butcher (Cost = $145 – $590)
You really only need a short knife and to watch some YouTube videos to see where to cut, but if you want to go into it with more confidence, I would recommend getting this Pocket Guide To Field Dressing Game. It’ll give you more guidance as to how to do it properly. You’re going to also need gloves to keep deer blood off your nice camo.
You’re going to also want to have a system for how you’re going to physically transport your deer, whether you’re going to throw it on the bed of your pickup truck, or if you’re going to get some type of cargo carrier attached to a trailer hitch to move the deer. That’s how I have mine set up. Just make sure the receiver end is the same size as the carrier e.g. 2″, 3″ etc. and that it’s a custom fit for your make and model vehicle.
I had to get a trailer hitch installed by a mechanic and buy a carrier, along with a sled and drag to transport my deer (that’s why the cost is within a range of $445 because that’s how much the hitch, carrier, and installation costed me).
I dragged my deer by the horn through the woods with my hands, but if you can avoid it, I would definitely spring for the sled, or a deer drag, something to make that process easier, especially if you’re going to be hunting alone, like I am.
Step 7: Pay the butcher! (Cost = $80 – $100)
If you’re not going to butcher your own deer, which, let’s be honest, you’re not going to, especially if this is your first time deer hunting, you’re going to have to pay roughly between $80 – $100 to have a butcher do it for you.
The best part about this is you can ask for jerky, ground meat, steaks, roasts etc. whatever you want and the butcher, a professional, will do it for you.
The other thing that makes this great is that you’ll get around 50-60 pounds of meat back, depending on the size of the deer, which would ordinarily would cost you $400 – $480 if you were to buy that amount of ground meat at the supermarket for $8 per pound. So, this is the part where you can start to recoup some of your money, especially if you have cold storage for all the meat.
Step 8: Optional accessories that make your experience even better (Cost = $210)
These are just a few optional accessories that will make your experience even better, but I’m including them here because you don’t technically need them.
A crossbow bag makes it a lot easier to keep all your crossbow stuff in one place and not lose anything. This one fits my Black Cat perfectly.
Bear spray is good to have because it puts your mind at ease in the event you’re in the woods and you spot a bear trying to stalk you. If you do see one and it’s a black bear, what I hear is that they’ll usually bolt, but if they don’t, you should spray in its direction to get it to run off, which hopefully teaches it to avoid humans. This is better than having to shoot it, which is only legal if it’s charging you. Having both your crossbow and bear spray is probably a better idea than having just your crossbow, but it’s not really a requirement.
A range finder is also a good tool to have because it helps you to measure the distance between you and the point of impact of your arrow. If you misjudge the distance, you may not get a precise hit on a deer, making tracking it harder, possibly creating a situation where, at the end of a long night, you may not even find the stinkin’ deer.
A high lumen flashlight or two is also a good bet. Walking to your stand in darkness is going to require you to carry a light. Same if you’re dragging out your deer at night in pitch black darkness. You don’t want to trip over something and land on the something sharp.
Permethrin and picaridin insect/tick repellent help put your mind at ease that you could somehow contract Lyme’s disease from a random tick bite you get while out in the woods, so for that reason, it’s going to make your hunting experience better. Permethrin is a lab-made version of a natural insecticide that comes from the chrysanthemum flower. It’s very effective at killing deer ticks and other types of ticks that harbor dangerous diseases. What you do is douse your hunting clothes with it and let it sit overnight outside so that it completely soaks into the fabric and dries. After that, your hunting clothes are basically tick-proof. It’s amazing stuff, but you can’t put it directly on your skin, or it could make you ill. Also, don’t spray the stuff around your cat because it could be deadly to felines before it completely dries. Picaridin, made by the same company, is a lotion that you can put directly on your skin that’s also highly effective at repelling tick bites.
The realistic cost of getting into deer hunting . . . (Total cost = $1,100 – $1,800)
I’m sure these numbers could get even higher if you’re buying name brand stuff and what not, but you’re looking at least $1,100 to $1,800 to get into deer hunting.
It sounds like a lot of money, and maybe it is, but let me tell you, being in the woods hunting deer is truly the most natural thing in the world. We as men were meant to do it. It also brings us closer to our ancient hunter-gatherer ancestors who had to hunt for their daily survival. And being in nature, out in the wild, and coming back with meat to feed yourself and your family is just a great feeling. It makes you feel more self-sufficient and less of a pussy.
Honestly, I don’t know how you can put a price tag on that. In my humble opinion, it’s worth the roughly 1-2 grand start-up costs and more.
And the beauty is, once you invest the initial money into it, you get to reap the rewards from thereon in. The only real ongoing costs you’ve got are to pay the butcher, your resident hunting license fee and maybe pay a small land lease fee if you’re hunting private land, which for me is minimal. And as we mentioned earlier, money to the butcher is not really a sunken cost because you get back quadruple in healthy, organic meat, the protein your body needs to help build strong muscles, even during a depression!
When the inevitable chaos and turmoil hit, you’ve got a valuable life skill and viable way to feed yourself and your family that is disconnected from the corrupt monetary system. You can still be in a position to thrive no matter what’s going on in the world. When you look at it from that perspective, that big scary 1-2 grand might as well be next to nothing.
Try it out. There’s a very good chance you will love deer hunting once you get started.
Happy hunting,
P.S. Check out my spot.
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