old vs new, boy has hunting got expensive

[steep slope]

I remmember going hunting with my grandfather. He had an old 45-70 gov. single shot open sites. I was very young then. When a deer or elk was spotted he would hold up his finger(still dont know why he did that). he would sit down and load it,raise and adjust the manual range finder on the front site. and shoot, sometimes missed but mostly he would hit it. now that Im older I wish I would have asked him how he knew how to range the animal.

 

[bruce_ventura]

Thanks for sharing that memory. That's a cool story for several reasons. Your grandfather was probably smart enough to realize that the width of ones index finger outstretched at arms length is about one degree, or 60 MOA. I'm guessing he estimated the range by comparing the length of the animal's torso to the width of his finger. Then he set his "bullet drop compensated" iron sights to the range. The deer or elk were probably not as wary of humans back then. I imagine they just stood there while he got ready for the shot. Most of his shots were probably under 100 yds.

 

[westcliffe01]

I appreciate the story, but disagree with the cost sentiment. I think it is more affordable than ever to get decent equipment and we have more choices than at any time in the past.

The only thing that is worse is that there are a lot more people on the planet and therefore a lot more hunters in the field, going after a fixed (or shrinking) group of game. Certainly our access to land does not get better, more and more of it is transferred to private hands and permanently removed from public access. Firearm regulations and game laws also seem to get more complicated all the time, to where we would need a lawyers opinion soon on how to stay legal in this years hunt.

 

[Sully2]

I appreciate the story, but disagree with the cost sentiment. I think it is more affordable than ever to get decent equipment and we have more choices than at any time in the past.

The only thing that is worse is that there are a lot more people on the planet and therefore a lot more hunters in the field, going after a fixed (or shrinking) group of game. Certainly our access to land does not get better, more and more of it is transferred to private hands and permanently removed from public access. Firearm regulations and game laws also seem to get more complicated all the time, to where we would need a lawyers opinion soon on how to stay legal in this years hunt.

WHAT COST SENTIMENT????? And good equipment is still high priced and going higher every week. Sure a person can buy lower level equipment cheap enough but even moderate quality equipment is HIGH $$

 

[westcliffe01]

Don't agree. Provided one is willing to use some elbow grease, one can build a really great 1/4-1/2 MOA 308 rifle for about $700 invested and put an excellent scope on it for $550. With a 20MOA rail that comes to about $1400.

Inflation Calculator | Find US Dollar's Value from 1913-2013 shows that from 1970 to today inflation was about 500%. So do you suppose your relative spent less than $280 for a rifle + scope + mounting back then ? And did that combo shoot 1/4 to 1/2 MOA ? I rather doubt it... Did the scope at that price have a range finding reticle and target turrets that worked ?

 

[Losthwy]

Don't know for sure. One would have calculate given inflation for an equivalent item. There's just so much more to choose from in the mid to high end today. Wool shirts, like grandpa wore, are $4.00 down at the local thrift store. Sitka gear a bit more at Cabela's.

 

[Reformed Yankee]

I think a lot of the production out of the box rifles have gotten much better in consistent accuracy the past decade or so. Much of the low cost equipment you can buy today is far better than some of the high price gear from years ago.

That being said people used to hunt with just about anything that went bang and iron sights. Heck my dad qualified in the Marines at 500 yards with iron sights and to this day will hunt with irons, no scope if he uses a gun at all. It's pretty much like anything else. There is a low cost way to do it and there is a pricy way.

For instance you can take a lever action 30-30 for $300 with iron sights a decent pair of boots and proper colored vest and a piece of rope and stalk some land, maybe climb a tree and tie yourself in while watching an area with deer sign. .30 caliber round will drop just about 90% of anything you are going to come across in north america if you hit vitals and you can be very accurate with irons inside 100-200 yards with a little practice.

Or you can buy a tree stand, take a $2000 plus rifle that's been given the works so you theoretically can shoot a deer at 700 yards and hit targets out beyond a 1000, and climb into that tree stand covered in all sorts of sent blockers, aim at the corn pile that you put out with the expensive timed feed dispenser, that you ranged with a laser ranging device so you know exactly how far it is and you peak at the corn pile with an expensive pair of binoculars to make sure you can count exactly how many points are on that buck and you have that scope on your gun so you can shoot until the last shreds of light are gone etc.

Neither one of those is "Bad", but for option 1 your cost is minimal but your work is high. Option 2 your work is lower but your cost is very high.. There is also every option in between!

 

[westcliffe01]

I flat out refuse to buy the ridiculous priced clothing... Not to mention thousand $ land owner tags...