I agree that it's getting crazy. Earlier this spring, when I was at Bass Pro Shops, I couldn't believe the prices on regular old Remington green box ammo. The cheapest loads were $19.99, and went up to over $40 a box! And it was common calibers too....243, .270, and so on. Forget about the "premium" loads. The only ammo that they had with what I would call decent pricing was Hornady, much of which was still in the $20 range. The Federal and Winchester stuff was high as well.
It's getting so bad that I've sold all of my high power rifles except for my Rem. 7400 in 30-06 (a present from my wife while we were dating, so it'll always have a home. I knew that I had better marry her too, when I opened the box, LOL). I love to shoot, but I just refuse to pay over $2 a shot in some cases. I've been playing around with military sporters some this year, and the last box of .303 Brit ammo I bought from a shop (who's notorious for ripping people off, but they were the only game in town when I needed the ammo) cost me $45, but it was worth it to find out that the barrel was too worn to stabilize bullets (before buying the rifle).
The pistol caliber carbines are starting to look really good to me, as pistol ammo, while still expensive IMO, is considerably cheaper than rifle ammo on a per round basis, unless you're talking .460 S&W, the Linebaughs, and stuff like that. Honestly, almost all of my shooting is within a 150 yards or so, and a .44 Mag or .357 Mag rifle would handle it. I can't remember the last time I took a shot over 200 yards on a deer. Of course, I live in KY and I don't hunt out West. If I lived in Montana and could shoot 400 yds or more on a regular basis, then maybe I'd feel differently.
Rimfires are also starting to play a much bigger role in my shooting and hunting, and since KY allows air guns for small game now, I'm looking at those too. All of them are TONS cheaper to shoot than shotgun, rifle, or pistol ammo.
I have pretty much determined that I've going to have a bolt action in 7.62x39 very shortly, as the ammo is still cheap and readily available, comparatively. It'll do all I want out to 250 yards, which will be good enough for me, as I rarely have a shot that far. It'll be semi-custom, as I want a bit longer and stouter barrel than any factory guns offer, but the savings on the ammo will more than offset the cost of the barrel.
I've really gotten bit by the muzzleloader bug in the past couple of years, and it's easy to find stuff really cheap after the season closes, so I stock up and save money. I bought enough powder at the end of last season to get me through this year of targets and hunting, and I paid in some cases, 75% or more off the retail price of Triple Seven.
I can't see how some people even afford ammo today. People making minimum wage, kids and new hunters, and just anyone else with a below average or average income (what's the average for a male nowadays, $37,000 or something?), even more so if you're living on one income, it would really strain them to buy a deer rifle, scope, and ammo. Strain like skipping a mortgage payment or a car payment or something just to get the gear, or having to save for a year or more. For most people, financially, it's just not worth it.
I know several guys that would love to hunt and shoot way more than they currently do, but they just can't/won't afford the ammo prices for centerfire rounds.
I make an above average living (close to six figures), and my wife works as well. But with 3 kids, a mortgage (a used house, LOL), a car payment (a used mini van), and just the costs of living in general, food, gas, etc. We're pretty tight with our money, and it shows with what we have and the stuff we can afford to do IF we want to, but I just can't see the point in spending so much money on what's essentially an item that's non-reusable.
I mean, JEEZ, it would be cheaper to use a .22LR (brick of 500 for lets say $15) and five $5 bills for targets than to run two boxes of "premium" ammo though my 30-06. I could shoot all day and still save money, using MONEY for targets! And who in their right mind would want to use $5 bills or any other money for targets?
I feel very strongly that there will come a day (maybe sooner that we think) that hunting and shooting are going to return to being "rich people" sports, like they were generations ago, and perhaps similar to how it is in Europe. The game will be on estates that charge very high fees for access (like they are cheap anyway today, what with license prices for out of state and such) and the cost of ammo and guns will just plain put them out of reach of the average Joe.
