Free: Contests & Raffles.
Not really gear but I would say my fitness. I spend a lot of time and money staying in good shape and eating healthy so I can continue to hunt every season
I have accumulated a lot of good pieces of gear over the last few years from clothes to glasses, tripods, packs etc but unless you never leave the truck good boots top my list of must haves. Once you wear good boots you can never go back to what you used to think were good boots, Danners etc. I am a tightwad and thats why it took me until the last few years to make the jump to $400 boots but I am here to tell you that if you hunt hard ,do it its worth it. Dry feet and no blisters and great support.