From sea to shining sea...

[BigBore44]

So I'm laying in bed recovering from surgery Friday. And I'm going absolutely nuts. I am NOT an inside person. So I've been planning what I'm going to do this next hunting season. Where I'm going to go. What I'm going to hunt. And what I'm going to hunt with.

Like many here, I have plenty of options as to game and weapon choice. But I was speaking with another internet sniper from the smallest of the 58 great states in the union (sorry Jim) and he got me thinking about....Where I'd wish to go hunt. What I'd wish to hunt. And what I'd choose to use.....

And my answer is.... I just simply don't know. I'm a hunter. I've never persued anything I didn't enjoy. So I'm looking for some input.
Help me choose a hunt within the continental U.S. No, not just a hunt. THE hunt. Where should I go? What should I hunt? And why do you recommend it? Hot, cold, flat, mountains, fighting off chiggers, or black flies, doesn't matter. If you wish to include pics to further back your recommendation, by all means. This is about THE hunt and why you chose it.

 

[jim in Anchorage]

A for real hunt or a wish hunt? A wish hunt for me would be bighorn sheep. No other animal on the planet I'd rather hunt and that inculds Africa
But Cal does issue some permits so it's not a total fantasy..

 

[BigBore44]

Jim,
I think it wouldn't really matter whether it was real or a wish. One hunter's wish is another's reality. Your reality is moose and bear. Well that's simply a wish for me right now. But this is what a hunter who has had the experience before, would recommend.

 

[jim in Anchorage]

Oh I've hunted plenty of sheep before but just Dalls.
It is without question the hardest but most rewarding hunting there is.
A big horn to me would be the ultimate prize.

 

[jim in Anchorage]

delete

 

[Patocazador]

I'm into muzzleloaders and black powder. Not the "fake" muzzies that they pass off nowadays that shoot 350 yards but sidelocks.

That said, my dream hunt would be to join in with a So. African group that has done a re-enactment hunt for the last 2 years using what was available in 1881. That even includes a full scale replica of a Boer's ox cart.
They cast their own projectiles, butcher their game, and sleep in period-correct tents or just on the ground ... even though leopards and hyenas skulk about. Killing an impala or kudu would be a bonus.

 

[H&Hhunter]

Oh I've hunted plenty of sheep before but just Dalls.
It is without question the hardest but most rewarding hunting there is.
A big horn to me would be the ultimate prize.

Start putting in for a tag in, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Arizona, Oregon, Washington and California. You might even draw a bighorn tag before you die if you're lucky.

 

[H&Hhunter]

My wish list includes a bighorn, another big cape buffalo bull, Himalayan Thar, and a bruiser mule deer buck.

 

[jim in Anchorage]

Start putting in for a tag in, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Arizona, Oregon, Washington and California. You might even draw a bighorn tag before you die if you're lucky.

True someone has to win the lottery. But before I put down my tag application fee I want to know if that state requires a NR sheep hunter to have a guide. That would make it cost prohibitive.

 

[BigBore44]

Yeah this is kind of going in the direction I had in mind. But since a Mod (H&H) has now included an African hunt, even though I said U.S. I guess it can go that direction. I was just thinking the U.S. would be more feasible for most THR members. But let's roll with it. So the question is what hunt would you recommend to someone and WHY? I think patocazador has gotten closest. I think that hunt sounds fantastic!

For some, it's the chosen animal. A bucket list animal that they finally were able to chase. For others maybe it's the location. For others, it's a period correct reenactment. Danger doesn't always have to be involved for a hunt to be memorable or recommended. And the animal doesn't have to have horns. Ducks to bucks. Goose to moose. Hair to bear.

 

[courtgreene]

Pronghorn in Wyoming. I know that's mundane to many, but I dream of both hunting and fly-fishing out there, hopefully with my 14 or 15 year old son who is currently just shy of three.

 

[CraigC]

I'd like to do a horseback elk hunt next year. I would love to take one with a traditional muzzleloader but it will probably be the little Ruger .338RCM.

 

[Malamute]

True someone has to win the lottery. But before I put down my tag application fee I want to know if that state requires a NR sheep hunter to have a guide. That would make it cost prohibitive.

Some places aren't stuck on the highest costing guide. Even for more mundane game for a non-resident to hunt in designated Wilderness areas requires a guide,...or a relative that's a resident, or one or two other alternatives. Some residents can act as a guide for a non-resident if not related, and not a formal guide, but not as a regular vocation, only for one or two or so times per year. My memory may be off a bit, but I recall some of that from looking years ago in one or more of the mountain states. Something to look into if you are interested.

 

[ZeroJunk]

If you have never done it you should hunt some remote Rocky Mountain high country once, preferably a horseback camping hunt, for whatever you can get a tag for. I would probably go and not even take a rifle if I didn't get a tag.

 

[BigBore44]

ZeroJunk,
That's what I'm talking about. A hunt where whether there is an animal harvested or not, the trip is worth the price of admission. It's the adventure. I can kill elk 10 miles from my house. Cost me about $10,000 for a 350" bull. Or $12,000 for a white buffalo. But I want to hunt, not kill. Have actually been talking to my father and brother about this. We're thinking about a family hunting trip. Dad's not really a hunter. But he loves photography and nature. But I bet if we put a tag in one hand, and a rifle in the other, he'd become one real quick.

 

[Bush Pilot]

I can sit on the deck at my house in Montana and see bighorn sheep all day. Do you think I could draw a tag? Not for love nor money. BTW, if you're lucky enough to get a tag you don't need a guide, you can park in my yard and we can head out (I get the backstraps)

 

[X-Rap]

I put a notch in my bucket list last year with a CO area 2 elk hunt. Passed up a lifetime worth of good bulls and couldn't close the deal on a couple monsters and finally connected on the last morning.
Moose, sheep, goats are sure on that list as well. Getting old so some may never happen.
Wish I would have put in for Ibex and Oryx when I lived in NM.
Guess that would be my advice to those younger hunters, do it when you have the chance.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[H&Hhunter]

True someone has to win the lottery. But before I put down my tag application fee I want to know if that state requires a NR sheep hunter to have a guide. That would make it cost prohibitive.

I know for sure that Colorado and New Mexico do not require a guide. I don't think that any of the other states do either except for Wyoming which requires a guide in wilderness areas.

 

[BigBore44]

BushPilot,
I just read that in 2013, an anonymous bid of $480,000 was taken for a Montana Big Horn tag. And other states routinely sell tags well over $100,000. I don't think I'll ever get in on those auctions. That's just assanine. I can get a whole lot of memories for half a million dollars. Give me a big full curl Nubian Ibex over a BH anyways.

X-Rap,
I think it's awesome you got to scratch one off the bucket list. Got pics? And I will heed your advice.

 

[H&Hhunter]

When I was in NM I got an Oryx, Ibex and have a Mt Goat, and Shiras Moose here in Co. I just need a BH sheep to complete my draw only bucket list.





On the wish list.....


I'll have to dig up my Ibex and Oryx pictures...

 

[buck460XVR]

This conversation came up a few weeks back when a group of friends got together for dinner. Most of the men in the group have been lifelong hunters and we were talking about the first hunt we would take iffin we hit the lottery. Most talked about Dangerous Game and Africa Plains game. Then the talk of sheep and going someplace where the really monster Elk roamed, along with finding a place where only the biggest bucks roamed. After all was said and done, I stated that at my age, some of those dream hunts were not possible anymore. While I have always enjoyed deer with a stick and string, and had always wanted to hunt for a big bull moose, that first and foremost, I would want to go someplace where I could work Tom Turkeys all day, every day for a week, and not have to stop after shooting just one. Something about going out, in the dark and watching the animal world wake up, with the sound of multiple Gobbles answering my calls as the sun comes up, has never ceased to give me goosebumps. The After the kill work is easy and quick, and even the meat from 5 Toms would not go bad in my freezer.

 

[95XL883]

In terms of a dream hunt, I would love to hunt a Kodiak bear. But I suppose what I really want is to repeat some recent hunts on a 40 acre tract with slightly different endings.

The one I really dream about is getting busted in the open at 10 am by a whitetail stepping out of the woods 200 yards away. I saw her and she saw me. I managed to move into some timber without spooking her. Once in the timber I gave a couple of calls on a grunt tube and then inched to the pasture edge. Through the limbs, I could see she was still there, no longer on alert, and was preparing to bed down. I want to spend another 1 & ½ hours covering 150 yards in the timber without spooking her. Here’s where I want the different ending. I want to realize she is still there (instead of stepping into the open to just watch her get up and walk into the timber), I want to cover another 30 to 40 yards in the woods, barefoot if necessary. Then I want to nock an arrow, slowly rise from all fours, draw and put a double lung shot through her as she stands up. Food on the table and two hours of hearing nothing but nature, no footsteps or other noise I could have made. To stalk so silently that even a bobcat would be jealous. Yeah, that is what I want.

Another repeat I dream of happening is to be in position before dawn, watching the dark give way to the rising sun. Shortly after sunrise I want to hear and see the flapping of a 20+ flock of turkeys coming from roost to the clearing in front of me. Okay, I do want a slightly different ending. The next time I want my 20 gauge Baretta with me. I don’t think it is possible to get to full draw when any one of 20+ pairs of eyes can get nervous and cause the flock to move away, come back, move away, come back, and finally move away for good. Next time, I’d like to drop one of ‘em where it stands, but just hearing and seeing that flock one more time would be really cool.

 

[Paul7]

To me, Oryx is the ultimate hunt, lots of guys have to travel to Africa to hunt them. Big, tough, 36" horns and supposed to be good to eat. They kill lions in Africa an the US.

 

[H&Hhunter]

I've killed a couple of oryx. One in NM and several in Africa. They are one of the toughest critters around.

 

[jim in Anchorage]

BushPilot,
I just read that in 2013, an anonymous bid of $480,000 was taken for a Montana Big Horn tag. And other states routinely sell tags well over $100,000. I don't think I'll ever get in on those auctions. That's just assanine. I can get a whole lot of memories for half a million dollars. Give me a big full curl Nubian Ibex over a BH anyways.

X-Rap,
I think it's awesome you got to scratch one off the bucket list. Got pics? And I will heed your advice.

Is that the state auctioning off those tags or the individual who won them?