So Bye-Bye Miss American Pie

[CZDiesel]

So bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ol boys were drinking whiskey 'n rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

The last 15 years or so were spent on my career and then on my health. Somewhere in that span everything changed! No more wood stocked rifles, no more scopes with normal turret caps as they all have adjustable turrets now, and most of all the hunting prospects are upside down!
Fifteen years ago an Elephant hunt was way out of reach but a Brown Bear hunt was attainable. A Buffalo hunt was a serious endeavor but a trophy Elk hunt was an easy get. Plains game was still an expensive deal and maybe a once in a lifetime hunt for someone where as a Mule Deer in a trophy unit could be had!
Now Elephant hunts are less expensive than Brown Bear hunts are! Elk hunts are as expensive as Elephant hunts in trophy units! Mule deer tags in trophy units are so scarce one can go a lifetime and not draw!
Brown Bear up to $50k! New Mexico Elk hunts up to $35k! Lottery Mule Deer $500,000+!!! And I won’t even go into what a Sheep hunt can cost SMH
One can hunt trophy Elephant, Buff, and most plains game for less?!?! Sometimes much much less

When was it the music died for North American hunts and firearms and accessories? It all happened so fast and not only did I see it pass me but I never thought it would happen!
I have to wonder what caused it all? Did the wars push all the black rifle craziness and silly turrets? Did the anti-hunters push the prices on trophy hunts to the point of being unattainable for most?
It’s now less expensive to hunt Africa than it is for trophy hunts in North America…

And them good ol boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye
Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die…

 

[coreydb]

Yep......how things changed

 

[CZDiesel]

Yep......how things changed

Sadly and ironically when I posted this thread a Trophy Kudu AND Gemsbock hunt comes up for $1800! SMH

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

I think modern war movies made the black plastic gun craze
And once they became feesible and attainable the craze took off

Its a sad state of affairs

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

I’d say the change happened along about the same time as a mink coat went from ladies garment to political statement.

The prime suspect seems to be that everything hunting and firearm related got harder to do once the millennials started to vote. An entire generation of children raised indoors by technology and with a want to protest any and everything. The easy road seems to be to blame them and the generation that followed for there uneducated stance against all things outdoorsman love but to my mind a large portion of the blame should be laid at the feet of the generations who abandoned there children to raise themselves in front of television screens videogames and on social media.

 

[wildwilderness]

I see it as simple supply and demand. Many North American Baby Boomers are spending their money. The Demand for trophy hunts is high and supply low.

The populations of Western States have increased double the rate. Increasing Demand and sucking up all the general tags. Increased human populations take more habitat and especially critical winter range for western herds that are way more dependent on weather.

Sheep numbers have dropped (except Mexico) especially the thin horns where weather once again has a huge deleterious effect (AK has half the sheep they did 20 yrs ago) Mule deer have been in decades long decline. Elk herds peaked in the 2000s but game departments have brought numbers down to maybe help mule deer. Wolves have taken a toll as well.

Social media and Internet (this forum is an example!) has made hunting accessible to the masses! How to and where to used to be almost impossible with just a phone book and paper maps! It also drives the FOMO way higher than ever.

More effective weapons with instructions as well as tv shows makes shooting 1000 yards run of the mill coupled with ballistic calculators and wind meters nothing is safe anymore.

At the same time Africa figured out game ranching and increased the supply of many animals. Hard to get to countries are more accessible with internet, what’s app and websites creating more areas to hunt than before. It helps that very few African nations have a big local population that hunts and own guns.

Definitely see value in international hunts as long as the USD is strong

 

[Altitude sickness]

Covid really drove US continental hunts up. And I think many are still intimidated to travel internationally. Or just don’t want the hassle. Unless an experienced traveler takes them along. Simple Supply and demand.

This site has a lot of people. But not relatively to the whole

 

[Elkeater]

I’m 35. I grew up thinking elk and mule deer were unobtainable. Then I moved to Colorado when I was 21. Killed a pile of elk, and deer and bears, and pronghorn since then. Then in 2020 COVID happened. “Telework” started and people moved to the western states in droves. Social media made it look easy. The newer residents drove up demand for tags. At the same time the new demand for housing led to new subdivisions in key winter range and non hunting recreation impacted winter and calving ranges. Toss on some general habitat degradation from a myriad of uses from fire suppression (not enough fire in the landscape for a healthy ecosystem), over grazing, oil and gas production, either a lack of logging or too much depending on ecological factors. On top of that baby boomers retired and have a nice nest egg and time on their hands to that millennials don’t have yet. That drives the cost up as well just because it’s a large generation that has a fair bit of wealth.

So ya basically supply went down and demand went up. I know a “rancher” who gets $20k for a landowner elk tag in a desirable unit. That’s not guided. Just a piece of paper. People want big bulls and some are willing to pay for it.

 

[Hunt anything]

I think modern war movies made the black plastic gun craze
And once they became feesible and attainable the craze took off

Its a sad state of affairs

Also the constant threat of a ban on these rifles as fueled the sales of them.
As for the rise in hunt prices, not a clue. I do know I couldn’t afford the same hunt I took in 2014 today even though I make substantially more money.

 

[RR 314]

Don't even get me started on aoudad inflation. .

 

[hwr239]

Brown Rifles are Greater than Black Rifles!
Brown Rifles > Black Rifles!

 

[Red Leg]

I think modern war movies made the black plastic gun craze
And once they became feesible and attainable the craze took off

Its a sad state of affairs

Not just movies. Over 2 million American servicemen served in the Middle East during the Global War on terror. They did not return home with memories of handling walnut stocked M1's.

 

[Wade J VanGinkel]

I used to hunt Texas yearly for deer, aoudad, axis and things like that. Usually about 2500 plus travel. Even Alaska 3 times.
Those hunts have all doubled but I can still go hunt for muntjac, roe deer and other low budget hunts around the world for what I used to pay here.
I always go with the greater adventure and seeing new places every time now.

 

[buck wild]

You can blame hunting shows and internet for this! Being touted as a poor man’s free range sheep hunt as the NA sheep hunts went insanely expensive.

 

[towserthemouser]

Since the year 2000, the purchasing power of the US dollar has declined by 83% (!!). This is the unseen tax...... It is very unlikely that your salary/income has kept up, most have not. If you own hard assets, they have probably inflated in value and you're probably keeping up ok. If you're a W2 wage earner, probably not so much.

Ask your kids or any millennial about how easy it is to buy a first house. They will fill your ears full.

According to ChatGPT (that's a new thing, huh?), $1 in the year 2000 is equivalent to $1.85 in today's dollars. So the $10,000 hunt now costs $18,500 without any actual change in cost; it's just the devaluation of the dollar.

Hunt while you can.

 

[Doubleplay]

It's not only hunting.
We became one of the most expensive countries in the World because of supply and demand but mostly because of clueless consumers who have no idea about the rest of the World.

 

[wesheltonj]

Don't even get me started on aoudad inflation. .

In 1999 I had the chance to shoot some at my bosses friends ranch as they were a pest, but I did not go. My boss shot 20 at a total cost of two tanks of gasoline. Now, a single one can start at $6500.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Yep. Exponential growth of influencers + exponential loss of habitat (due mostly to carving up accessible land and making it into private game preserves) = extremely expensive hunting. The bone collector phenomenon boosted by influencers and their sponsors has turned North American hunting into a Frankenstein monster that is no longer what hunting was supposed to be. Every year I return home to Montana and see more and more non-residents floating the highway in giant trucks dragging skyscraper camper trailers and luxury SxSs, together worth three times what my home would sell for. Or more and more "ranchette" McMansions perched on remote hills surrounded by fancy fences and "No Hunting" signs that lie abandoned for all but two months every year. Increased demand + increased supply of influenced bone collectors with more money than they can spend = more $$$ required to hunt.

Hunting should be 90% experiencing the outdoors and 10% putting stuff in the freezer. Today it's 50% putting stuff on the wall and 50% buying crap. All about showing off how much money can be spent. Consumerism. It's a disease. I have the dollars to spend but I won't get caught up in that crap and become part of the problem.

 

[Doug3006]

The cost of hunting in North America has blown up in the last 30 years. But so has everything else. In 1973, an entry-level F150 pickup was less than $3,000. Adjusting that for inflation, today that would be around $20,000. Having just bought a new truck, I can tell you that $20K doesn’t buy a new pickup. The price of a basic no-frill truck is closer to $30K. I think that same math would describe the inflation of an average elk hunt….under 3K then and about $20K now.

Africa prices have increased only slightly over the same period, primarily due to the rapid growth in the number of providers and locations offering hunts. Supply and demand are a bit more balanced in Africa safaris.

 

[RR 314]

In 1999 I had the chance to shoot some at my bosses friends ranch as they were a pest, but I did not go. My boss shot 20 at a total cost of two tanks of gasoline. Now, a single one can start at $6500.

Absolutely. Most hated the dang things. Growing up they were either free or a case of beer/botthe of whiskey to the landowner. Especially when protein feeding became more prevalent. Those days are over for sure.