you are kidding right? you realize that 23k ped worth of liver oil alone sold today on the auction house... that doesnt include any trades... and if all the hunting fields are empty, you may be at incredibly unpopular mobs, maybe they are unpopular for a reason, like they dont drop anything worth hunting for.
I'm not saying that I never hunted anything with out any markup. I have, lots, and I did it for the reason of knowing it was the best mob for me to hunt to gain skill faster. The real secret is, not focusing on where other people are, or where you want to be... but enjoy today, stop when you spent what you could afford, and maybe in a week or a month or two you will have gained a level...
Keep track of how much you repair and how much ammo you use. You will see that at the end of the year, you will be averaging better than you did at the beginning of the year, it might not be by much, but every fraction of a percent counts and eventually adds up to you being where you want to be.