Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, Lee Roth
- (December 13, 2007) — Todd Hogan has hunted big game
all over North America.
The 37-year-old pharmaceutical sales rep, who lives in Greece
with his young family, has gone for mule deer in Idaho, moose
and caribou in Alaska, sheep in Texas and pronghorn antelope
in Wyoming.
And he's done it for a lot less money than most people would
assume. "You have to be willing to explore different options,"
Hogan says. While he'd probably make a great adventure travel
agent, Hogan instead has been inspired to become a
self-published big game hunting author.
In his just released book, Pronghorn
Antelope Hunting: A Self-Guided Approach, Hogan dispenses
advice on how regular Joes can experience the thrills of a
trip out West for big game without blowing the kids' college
fund. The book is 50 pages, written in a useful how-to style
and chronicles a trip Hogan and some friends took in October
2006 to Wyoming. While such an experience using a professional
outfitter would cost about $3,500 a person, Hogan did it for
$1,200.
How so? By making phone calls and exploring
the Internet, he found a 15,000-acre ranch with a house that
he and six friends leased for $700 a day. "We had seven
friends and stayed three nights," Hogan says. "We all met in
Denver, rented cars, drove to this ranch where we set up camp
for three days and hunted." Each member of the party was
successful filling his tag. To say the least, finding fruitful
hunting privileges with lodging for $100 a person a day sounds
pretty good.
Hogan has done Alaskan moose hunts for
$5,000; that trip with a guide service could run $15,000 to
$20,000. He discovers places to hunt, stay and eat by phoning
the locals and simply asking questions. He says even
professional guides freely hand out advice since they know
visitors to their state are good for the overall economy.
"The adventure of hunting is planning the
trip, too," says Hogan, a native of Troy, Rensselaer County,
who graduated from Syracuse University. "Half the fun is
getting together with people and planning as a group,
exploring when you're out there and experiencing the cultures,
and then of course, doing the hunt."
Hogan hopes to write a series of books each
covering a different big-game hunt. His first book ($12.95,
Mercury Print Productions) has a run of 50 copies. Friends
helped with the project that includes his own photography and
a fun Web site (www.self-guidedhunting.com)
to take orders.
"They were able to do it for an economical
price," Hogan says. "It's not something I'm looking to retire
on and I might not even make my money back, but that's OK. I'd
love for people to have success like I did out West because it
was a great experience."
His message to sportsmen: Don't let cost
shoot down your dreams. |
