Heading out on opening day in 1960. Photo courtesy of Steve Sorensen

I was wearing corduroy pants when I shot my first deer. The swish-swishing of those corduroy ribs was much louder in the woods than in the hallways of school. It didn’t matter much because I was heading to a tree I had earlier picked out with my father.

“Just gotta find the right time, and the right place,” Dad said. The right place would be standing by that tree. The right time came at about 9 a.m.

Fast-forward a lifetime, and I wouldn’t have been standing on the ground. In 2025, advertising convinces many that a tree stand is essential. The tree would still be carefully chosen, but I’d need $200 for the tree stand.

The first deer rifle I carried was borrowed from my grandfather, a .25-20 Winchester he killed his biggest buck with, in ’46 after the war. It’s 86 grain bullet has feebler ballistics even than some revolver cartridges. While I never got a shot at a deer with the iron-sighted .25-20 pump rifle, most hunters my age shot their first deer using iron sights. My first fell to a .222 Remington wearing a Bushnell scope.

Today, a rifle scope is another essential, especially in the hands of a rookie hunter, and a scope adds a few hundred more to the cost of hunting. So, another $200 or more for the scope, if you find a good deal.

Of course, we need to think about bullets. If you have a way-back machine you can buy 20 shells of almost any caliber for about $5. Since you don’t have the machine, you’ll spend upwards of $100 — one box for sighting-in and another box for hunting. Hand the Benjamin to the clerk. Now we’re at $500 more than a kid from yesteryear had to fork over to go deer hunting, and we haven’t gotten dressed yet.

About those corduroy pants. Back then we wore what we had. Today, the specialty clothing offered to deer hunters makes the mind reel and the wallet empty. A couple of years ago I finally stopped wearing the Woolrich pants Grandpa gave me and went with modern high-tech duds.

Top-end Kuiu or Sitka apparel costs hundreds of dollars a garment, but I’ve found Huntworth more than adequate and more in my price range. All the features you need for a lot less money. Still, getting decked out for a day of comfortable hunting isn’t cheap. Throw $400 on that pile of cash — another $100 for a good base layer.

My first hunting boots were the buckled galoshes I wore daily in the winter. No traction, no warmth, and no support, but they kept my feet dry. After I melted the toes at a campfire, I transitioned to green rubber boots with chain tread soles. A little better support, a little better traction, and more warmth (if they’re insulated and you have room for multiple pairs of wool socks).

For a good pair of hunting boots, you’ll probably spend a minimum of $200, but $400 is likely. You can spend more on boots than on anything. My favorite is a pair by Under Armor I bought on my way to a southwest Pennsylvania hunt when I forgot to pack my boots. (I’ve done that twice.) They were heavily discounted, probably because they were ugly, but more than adequate and I’m still wearing them 10 years later. Forgetting my boots turned out to be a blessing.

Remember this — good boots will help you hunt longer, and you should probably have more than one pair for different conditions. But, without adding in a second pair we’re well north of $1,000. And the Cabelas catalog tells us we will buy a lot more.

We’ve counted the cost of a riflescope, but not the cost of the deer rifle itself or the hunting license. You’ll also need a sharp knife, a good pair of gloves, and some kind of pack to carry your lunch in. My pack has a single strap over the left shoulder so as not to interfere with shouldering my rifle. I learned that, like many lessons, the hard way.

You can always add more. For example, the paper topo maps I carried 30 years ago have become a cellphone app showing terrain and property lines — $100. But the point isn’t how much it costs to be a hunter today. Many activities and hobbies cost just as much and likely more. Any hunter who is also a golfer knows that.

The point is that hunting is worth the cost. Hunting is expensive by former standards, but not by today’s standards. We do what we find worth doing, and a lifetime of hunting tells us the benefits far outweigh the cost.

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When “The Everyday Hunter” isn’t hunting, he’s thinking about hunting, talking about hunting, dreaming about hunting, writing about hunting, or wishing he were hunting. If you want to tell Steve exactly where your favorite hunting spot is, contact him through his website, www.EverydayHunter.com. He writes for top outdoor magazines, and won the 2015, 2018 and 2023 national “Pinnacle Award” for outdoor writing.