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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Diversifying your Hunting Portfolio

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Sorry I have not posted in a while. Been busy with school and getting ready for my son to get here in February. If you watch any of the national news today you will see the horrible situation that is happening in Europe. Greece and Italy are on the verge of collapsing at any moment. At the same time we in the United States are trying to recover from an economic recession. When trying to ensure a strong financial portfolio, it requires many decisions and precautionary steps; much like what it takes to be successful at hunting (no matter what your definition of success is). Having a diversified portfolio is one HUGE step to ensure the integrity of your financial portfolio, you can also do this in your hunting preparations for this season and future seasons.

Leading economists view having stock in Gold is important in a strong, diversified portfolio. Generally speaking, when the rest of the stocks in the market are falling; Gold is rising. Relate Gold to owned hunting land (I will touch on leases later). Owning your own land allows you to be able to hunt (without paying an expensive yearly lease fee) and gives you some mental stability in knowing that at the beginning of each season you will have somewhere to hunt. I understand that you do have to pay for the land, but it is a piece of stock that you can rely on to enjoy the season. Leases are much like investing in higher priced stocks that you hope will pay out/off. They are risky investments, in that if you buy-in and the stock falls, you could be out a lot of money; on the flip-side, it could pay off greatly.

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Another stock group recommended for a strong portfolio is commodities. These directly correlate directly to hunting. Gas, water, fertilizer, corn are all an example of commodity stocks. Holding these are good so that in a strong market you can have a strong portfolio. Gas is essential to a hunter so that you can run your truck, tractor, or ATV. Corn as an attractant and fertilizer to grow food plots. Water also for food plots and for the hot, drought of summer. If you have enough oak trees on your property, count acorns in this category.

The rise of technology in our society today demands holding stock in it. The same is true in your arsenal for hunting. From scouting cameras to angle adjusting range finders, technology has become just as much apart of hunting as it is our everyday lives. The use of game cameras has dramatically increased the success of the average hunter. It allows you to keep eyes on your food plots, feeders, trails 24 hours a day so that you can see exactly when game are moving. Some now can have the pictures sent to your home computer via cellular service. Technology is also more than just game cameras and range finders; it is also the weapon used. Some compound bows in today's market can shoot on the upper end of 340 fps (feet per second) and not to mention the advancement in firearms.

Having the guidance by a financial planner is important for them to guide you through the process of buying and trading stocks in the market. Related to hunting, the guide can be anyone that knows more about hunting than you. To me it is my father, he taught me how to hunt whitetails. I always know that I can rely on him to give me sound advice that will pay off at some point or another. It can be a literal guide that you use once a year that offers you great insight on how to run a quality deer management program, or a wildlife biologist. No matter who it is, having someone that can help point you in the right direction is just as important at the gun/bow you use.

The ways and possibilities that you can have a diversified hunting portfolio are endless and I know that I barely chipped the iceberg on it.  There are hundreds of ways to do this that I did not mention.  Remember to have security for success in your hunting, diversifying is a great way to accomplish your goals.  Most importantly, have fun and teach others about our great way of life.