Is There Still Money To Be Made?

[hummingbird]

So I was thinking about the ways you could make money and be outdoors. There are a lot of ways including being a Ranger or working for the Army Corps Of Engineers. I was thinking about other ways too, like teaching classes and things such as that. But does anyone make money now with hides or other trapping or gathering wild plants? I have sold black walnuts I have picked up years ago, but does anyone do that now? I had an uncle who would go wild ginseng hunting too, he loved it and made a bit of change with the skill. What do you say?

 

[Grandpa]

Had a couple of nephews that put themselves through college trapping muskrats, but that has been a few years ago. In addition to the value of the hide, there is usually a bounty because of all the damage they do to canals, ponds, and roadways.

There is some market for gathering and preparing wild plants for medicinal purposes. If you know what you are doing you can teach classes for a fee.
From The Forest Home Page

And the best job of all, pay is lousy but room and board is free.......sheepherder. However there is a lot of competition for this job. Idaho has a very strong Basque presence because of sheep. Lately, Mexican immigrants vie for these positions. A lot of bands of sheep winter in Nevada and summer in Idaho and Wyoming. Herders stay with the sheep, keeping them off roads and private land and slowly work their way north to the summer ranges. The last few years, these annual migrations have been replaced with trucks though. A sheep camp (the original portable camper) and supplies are provided as well as horses. The monthly salary can pretty well all be banked unless you want some tobacco or alcohol for the long evenings. Fall brings the slow migration back to the winter ranges. It is a pretty laid back job although lonesome.

If you have good literary skills, writing outdoor guide books can be very lucrative. Of course you have to have the means to hike a hundred or so hikes before you write the book on them, but once started, Falcon Guide and others will commission you for any series that are not all ready in their list.

 

[Esperahol]

Thanks to poor decision making there is starting to be a market for hunting off non-indiginous critters like freakin' pythons and snakefish. Effectively you make a certain amount depending on how many, and their protenial reproductive value. So a couple of brooding females would get more than an equal or greater number of males or juveniles.

 

[bsmit212]

Yeah. The show "Mountain Men" on History show 2. 1 made at least part of his yearly income by trapping for furs to sale. Another one made a majority of his yearly income by making stuff like skins, deer antlers knives, etc. Both of them though live very basic lives and also lived a lot off the land, so not a lot of money.

 

[Bojib]

I'd say there is definitely no easy money to be made.

If you could find a way to make a decent living though, it could possible be more rewarding than the regular 9 to 5.

For the most part, I'd say the money you'd make in most outdoor ventures would only be supplemental income. That's not bad though, it'd be a great way to get a little extra cash to buy the cool gear you need for your own outdoor adventures.

 

[ppine]

Believe it or not, jobs that used to be hard to get in the outdoors like working for the US Forest Service, BLM and other agencies are much easier to get now. Kids today are not interested like we were. It takes a degree or sometimes two but there are lots of jobs in forestry, range, soils, hydrology, civil engineering, socio-economics, wildlife, archaeology, etc. They are partly in the field and partly in an office and require traveling.

Trapping, collecting antlers, mushroom hunting, etc. are much better suited as part-time sources of income. They are a lot more fun when you don't have to do them all day every day.

 

[Pathfinder1]

Hi...


Yes, there are several ways to make some money working in the outdoors...but it ain't easy...!!

There is taxidermy, tanning furs and trapping, gathering roots and herbs, and antlers, for examples.

I used to trap for a living in winter. It's a craft not easy to learn, and can be quite expensive today. When I first started trapping, the cost of a #1 longspring trap was only .25 at Sears. Now prices for the same trap start out at around five to six dolars, with other sizes being sold for more than thirty-five dollars...!!

Then you also need an area to trap, a trapping license, and sometimes have to take a formal trapping course, etc.

But it kept me outdoors, and I loved it...!!

 

[shaun]

I think you can make a decent supplemental income from foraging and selling the food, but you would need to spend a lot of time foraging to live off the sales. I know a few people who hunt for a living. They have clients who will pay good money for wild meat.

 

[RingTwist]

The people I know who make a living outdoors do it by farming or working at a zoo or park. There are probably quite a few python hunters further south in the state though.

 

[Pathfinder1]

I think you can make a decent supplemental income from foraging and selling the food, but you would need to spend a lot of time foraging to live off the sales. I know a few people who hunt for a living. They have clients who will pay good money for wild meat.

Hi...


Yes, that can be a profession envied by many. I trust that you are talking about licensed guides? Such people have to apprentice to other guides (in many cases)...sometimes for several years...before a guide's license can be issued.

 

[ppine]

Shaun,
What you are describing is commercial hunting which is very illegal. Nobody hunts for a living legally. Being a guide to help others hunt is a seasonal business that only last for a month or two under good conditions.

 

[Scotty]

I have sold black walnuts I have picked up years ago, but does anyone do that now? I had an uncle who would go wild ginseng hunting too, he loved it and made a bit of change with the skill. What do you say?

I didn't know you could do something like that, but then again, someone has to supply city folk with stuff like this. We used to gather black walnuts for our use during the winter though. My mother used to make very good chocolate fudge with black walnuts. Mmmmmmm. It was a special treat and she only made it a couple of times a year. Good times.

 

[JeepThrills]

I read an article about there being some small "gold rushes" in some places. People set up camp and pan for gold day in and day out. I think it might be fun for a while, but I bet it gets frustrating.

 

[ppine]

"Panning for gold" as a sole source of income is almost impossible. I have many friends in the gold exploration business. They assure me that prospecting is a hobby and nothing more for most people.

 

[Pathfinder1]

Hi...


Re: "panning for gold"...I'm of the opinion that you're right. I think that most of the gold that was retrievable by hand has already been mined (I said "most", not all of it). At what...$1,700.00 per ounce? it is certainly more desirable than ever now...so why not give it a try.

Areas which were commercially 'mined out' years ago are now looking better for big business to try their luck there again.

Also, there are some areas in the U.S. which will let you mine for gold, precious gems, etc. for a fee. Sometimes you can really find something worth quite a few bucks there.