That's a rip off on 2 meter radios, which require a Technician license

Not really the range I was hoping for. Things are a lot further apart,
in some places we camp, or the few accessible locations, from home,
where it might be possible to do a little hunting.

OK. I have found 100 watts on 80 meters(3.5MHz) to work long ground wave.
A repeater is a station that receives on one frequency and simultaneously
retransmitting it on another frequency. These stations are usually located
in high places to maximize range. Using hand held radios will always be
less then optimum as the radios are low power and have inefficient antennas.

There is no cheap and easy fix to getting more then 3 or 4 miles from ground
based radios. Get a commercial repeater or a ham ticket. Ham can not be used
for business or any way that making money is involved. $800 will buy a lot
of radios on VHF/UHF. That guy is trying to get rich on you. Used gear gets
just as much range as new gear. The antenna is the weakest link.