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Message: <blockquote data-quote="luvcatchingbass" data-source="post: 271883" data-attributes="member: 1979">Had plenty of drive time today after reading the beginning of the conversation so I started thinking. Obviously some of this depends on what one considers a trophy and of what species. If I seclude myself to just one area where I grew up hunting WT and fishing the Sheyenne for Catfish and Walleye with the gear I had the at time growing up, which was really considered budget back then and in some cases probably poverty to some now. Keep in mind that I am very lucky to have a diverse area and both my hunting and fishing grounds were at most 2mi away so this is basically an attempt to take the $$$ out of equation and with good quality of the quarry with the potential of true pat on the back trophies existing so it boils down to time spent after each "trophy"The hunting gear-Cheap work boots (insulated and non) kept well oiled--multi use for hunting and fishing-Jeans and long johns -- also multi uses-Cheapest I could find camo pants-Cheapest I could find camo shirt, jacket (also orange options-Hand me down bow, later upgraded bow that I bought all set up from a buddy with arrows-Arrows that seemed to fly accurately out to 25yds-Fix blades for arrows that where bought on a budget bin-Hand me down rifle and handloads for rifle-Every now and then purchase a box of shells to last me 3yrsFishing Gear-Boots and Jeans reused from hunting, got smart and bought cheap rubber boots one day-Bug spray and mesh face net for bugs-Walmart fishing rods and, or high roller when Fleet Farm had bargain bin rods and reels (Score!!!)-Spiderwire Line-Various Jigs and hooks, saved money by starting to cast my own jigs-Various slip weights for river conditions-Different lures like plastics and crank baits to try-Buy bait on occasion but usually went and caught my own minnows and frogsSo if I total everything up for dollar wise I might be pretty close to $300 on each side over time at late high school and college, work with what I had and built up over time.Now onto the time debate. We raised cattle so many times while out tending to their needs I could do some scouting on the side for deer, flip side while haying I could catch frogs in the low areas and throw them in a bucket---lets call this a wash in these fieldsInitially to find my productive spots on the river it was trial and error with many banks walked and presentations attempted with plenty of tackle to be replaced. Once I new where to look for in river conditions, locations and water movement it was not as hard to catch fish and move if needed. These spots produced a 10 and 12# Catfish for me, there may be bigger just never caught one though had something big once that broke me off and one gave a 9+# walleye to a neighbor. For hunting it took time to learn travel patterns and how conditions can change those, took time learning best big buck potential areas and that not all areas are equal (similar to reading a river). In order to sample these areas I had to physically sit and watch beings I did not have cameras so lots of time glassing and watching till I narrowed down spots and seen the bigger bucks. Now I have to actually find a spot that will be productive for archery or for rifle to get my hopeful target in front of me which takes more time and finding backup spots to make adjustments for the weather on that given day. Trial and error on locations means revamping and learning but the deer don't follow a script very often so it boils down to time in the field in order to even get a chance which leads to many days of many hours sitting, yes you can do drives and knowingly have people influence deer movement but we are talking about full fair chase in my instance. Our area has yielded quite a few deer that many will consider a trophy, I personally have deer form about 130-173 gross (nothing official just what me and a buddy did so take it for what its worth). There has also proven to be some true giants that have slipped past us and others with other hunters connecting on some real brutes that make my big one look OK so the potential is there.Take your opinion on trophy as you will but this was meant to take as many variables out as possible and do my side by side comparison back when life was way way simpler for me and the game and outdoor opportunities were aplenty if you just got out there, I had so many buddies that hated that I shot really nice buck consistently and claimed it all on location till one friend told them this "yes they have great hunting land but what you guys don't see is the work and time of hours and days that LCB puts into getting opportunities at these deer". FYI no bait, no food plots. Just the natural pastures, crops farmers planted, alfalfa fields and wooded areas.So to me big game hunting can take more work and more skill set to accomplish success, at least if you use my younger years scenario which I realize is not the modern day norm anymore.sorry for the long post</blockquote>

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