Probably a stupid question but when using wood like apple wood on your smoker, do you dry it for a season or do you use it when its green to get more smoke out of it?
There are a fair number of other misc. expenses that need to be factored in. For example, gas in deadhorse right now is 8.01/gallon.
How are you going to keep your meat cold and clean after your kill? How are you going to get the meat and antlers back to the lower 48? One "recovery and dry...
I was in the exact same boat as you and I now have a pair of the granite's. They don't fit my foot quite as well as I feel that the meindl's did, but that is just a personal preference and they are definitely a quality boot.