The Economics of Dove Hunting

Years ago, my father and uncle would walk out their front door, head down the creek and hunt ducks, quail or some other game.  Before then, people depended on fish and game to help feed the family.  Even today, I see folks with cane poles lined up at the river to catch a meal, and I hear about families depending on squirrel hunts to provide food.  My father actually justified the purchase of a nice Browning shotgun by telling my mother that he would be putting meat on the table.

But times have changed since then, and fishing and hunting is a sport rather than a necessity.  We no longer kill game, rather we “harvest.”  We spare no expense in this recreation, spending money on top dollar guns, clothes, gear and anything else we think we need or would help us in the field.  I recently took a look at what I’ve spent planting the dove field and getting it ready to hunt, and I wonder what the costs per dove will actually be.

When I was in college, I took a recreation economics class, and I remember the professor saying something about including a person’s time in the models to determine how much a trip is worth to the person.  So, trying to remember the concepts the professor taught, I set out to estimate the value of this dove field to me.

Let’s see, I’m lucky and there isn’t any cost for the land, but there is the cost of fertilizer

and seed, and weed kill;

 oh I shouldn’t forget the cost of the soil test.

There’s the time I went to test the soil, I think it was 1 hour, and the time plowing, and

time planting.

Let’s see, time in the field times my hourly pay rate;

carry the 1.

Oh, what about travel costs?  Number of miles times the government mileage rate;

cost of the hunting license, shells, water ….;

total the factors.

How many dove will I take?  How often will I hunt? OK, maybe I’ll hunt four times in the first season, three in the second; 

Maybe I’ll average 8 birds a hunt, hopefully more.  56 birds divide by the total.

That comes out to about $583.60 per pound.  Wow, I could buy a lot of Kobe Beef with $583. 

Of course, you are probably not paying this much to hunt nor spending as much time to prepare for a hunt.  But if you spend 3 hours in the field to take your limit of 15 doves, you’re not only a good shot, but you’re also valuing the hunt at least from $25 to $50 per pound.  (Sorry Dad, your gun is not going to pay for itself with meat on the table).

That is a hefty price, but it’s not the point.  The point is that I’ve enjoyed working on this field, and I can’t wait for this fall season.  There’s time spent with family and friends, trying to figure out what I need to do to get dove’s to fly in the field.  I’m not sure we will go as far as to call it “harvesting;” I still call it dove hunting, and it’s worth it!