Does the price of fuel impact your hunting plans?

[geetar]

I can remember a time when right after I bought my first house and had a gas guzzler V8 I didn’t hunt as much public that year because it was a further drive than the private I had access too. I’ve learned a few things since then about being more efficient and planning but it has affected me in the past.

 

[nontyp]

fuel price doesn’t cross my mind. Time is the most precious commodity.

 

[utah400elk]

Absolutely!

If the price of fuel goes up then I have to plan on spending more money for the trip. I also end up with a longer honey-do list when I get back.

I have been very fortunate and have not had to worry about the price of fuel in a long time.

Good luck in the draws this year!

 

[mdhunter]

Sorry, nope here as well.

 

[338RCM]

Will not affect my plans at all. Might affect the quality of the bourbon for said trip...

 

[D_Walt]

At current prices it doesn’t come into my consideration, if it was to triple it would be a concern. This year I rolled about 9,000 miles on hunting trips best I can figure. Some with a trailer getting 12mpg, some no trailer getting 18mpg. Say I averaged 14mpg on $2.50 diesel it would be about $1600. A few of those trips I had guys splitting fuel. So the way I see it fuel price is a relatively small % of the overall trip and it would take a drastic increase to change my plans.

 

[mtmuley]

I'm lucky. I drive about 45 minutes to my elk spot. But I've driven clear across Montana too. Don't care, I'm going. mtmuley

 

[MJE2083]

Nope, not at all. That being said, I'm very blessed to be doing well financially. I rarely take big hunting "trips"...once every 2-3 years generally. So in the grand scheme of things I consider that a one time expense. I am probably apt to travel more frequently when gas prices are low, but it wouldn't stop me from going hunting if it was high. That being said, if prices creep up like they did years ago to the $4.00 range or more then maybe my thoughts would change.
It would more so effect my day to day activities because that's where the real expense is. Cutting back on unnecessary travel, combining trips, influencing my choice of vehicle, etc....

 

[Shangobango]

Probably not unless it goes way up.

 

[Marshian]

The only thing that affects my hunting plans is the health of myself or my loved ones that depend on me. Pretty much without exception. It’s that important.

 

[MTGomer]

I’ll work more or cut expenses elsewhere if it comes to that.

 

[Irrelevant]

I put 12,250 miles on my truck from Sept - Nov. this year.

just saying - it is a thing.

For the sake of simplicity let's assume you were doing 60 mph for all those miles... you spent 204 hrs in your truck. That's 2.5 years worth of vacation at 80 hrs per year.

 

[/sw]

Yes, to some extent. It's the reason I mostly apply for units that are short drives from Flagstaff. I'll take one or two longer trips a year and try to make those multiple purpose trips, like in the early summer over towards Alpine for some learning the area and trout fishing and just got back from Sonoita/Sierra Vista for photography, javelina, deer, and quail.

 

[Okie94]

Was planning on hunting out west for the first time last year and was laid off along with most oilfield workers in oklahoma so higher gas prices would help me because I'll be able to go back to the oilfield, glad it happened before I put my applications in. Talked to a few companies and they're bringing rigs out so they're expecting it to go up too

 

[D_Walt]

For the sake of simplicity let's assume you were doing 60 mph for all those miles... you spent 204 hrs in your truck. That's 2.5 years worth of vacation at 80 hrs per year.

That’s why it’s never a good idea to do hunting math...it can be depressing! But what else are you going to do with your time? Spend 200 hours on the couch wishing you were going hunting? Between two New Mexico trips and one Wyoming trip I put a little over 6000 miles on my truck in September and October total drive time 82 hours (not counting miles or time driving around unit, etc); that averaged 73 mph on each trip including stops - quick fuel and bathroom stops and running 80-85 or so on the highway. We almost always leave right after work on a Thursday or Friday and drive straight through stopping every five or six hours.

 

[El Jason]

We almost always leave right after work on a Thursday or Friday and drive straight through stopping every five or six hours.

I do a lot of o’dark thirty runs. It gets old, but that’s life.

 

[Carnage2011]

I do a lot of o’dark thirty runs. It gets old, but that’s life.

It’s hard to hunt all day if you don’t drive at night...

 

[Wildabeest]

No for me...

Pickup of the Future?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2020/05/26/lordstown-motors-all-electric-endurance-intensify-truck-war/5257797002/

www.hunttalk.com

 

[F250]

If the price jumps a dollar or more per gallon, I'll bitch, complain, whine more, and blame the Dems... but I'll still go.

 

[mevertsen]

We drive about 25,000 miles per year at an average of 20mpg or so between my wife's car, my truck and my jeep. Add to that, two four wheelers, chainsaws, outdoor power equipment, etc and we burn through a lot of fuel.

I remember 08 and not being able to top off my dodge at that time.

There have been times on recent memory as well where I have taken all my cans to fill up, and not have enough money to fill them all up. Bu we are talking quite a bit of extra fuel there.

Gas is just under $3 a gallon here. If it were to hit $4, that would be a one third increase, which means I would have to cut something else to make it work.

We already are making big changes by down to the house, pickup and one other debt. Which is a vast improvement even over a year ago. Saving money. Cutting 20 or 30 dollars off bills where we can, largely in preparation for what we believe is coming.

I see higher costs of everything, plus an increase in income taxes coming in the very near future.

This will definitely have an impact on my hunting fuel budget as we hunt and are in the hills a lot, almost every weekend, within 120 miles of home.