Dream hunts, like dream vacations, can be expensive. But that doesn’t meant that you can’t take adventure-packed hunting trips to exciting destinations. Maybe that Marco Polo sheep is a bit out of reach, so how about an African safari for half the cost of a Western guided hunt? Here are Brad Fitzpatrick’s top five picks for affordable adventure, fresh from the pages of Petersen’s Hunting.

Regardless of when the hunting season in your home state officially closes your mind is probably on pursuing game year round. Most of us are limited, however, with regard to time and money.  We’d all love to hunt every day, but most of us don’t have that luxury—even outdoor writers. And while I can’t add more hours to the day or weeks of vacation to your work schedule I can suggest a few hunts that offer high adventure at a low cost.

After all, hunting truly is an investment, and as with buying a home or a car you want to get the most for your money. Most of these hunts require at least a moderate level of physical fitness and a knowledge of some basic outdoor skills like skinning, quartering and hanging game, navigating in the wilderness, horseback riding, and so forth, but a willingness to shoulder some of the responsibility for the hunt helps you save money and provides a great sense of accomplishment.

Here are five trips that will provide a lifetime of memories, bucket-list hunts that you can actually do right now… [continued]

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