As age (52 next week) is quickly taking its toll on my spouse, he would like to arrange future hunts hardest to easiest. As he says, hunting Alaskan Brown Bear on the Penninsula and returning to a bomb shelter tent, sleeping on the ground,wet clothes that never dry and eating freeze-dried food is not the same as hunting African elephant with great accomodations,food, and sundowners around a campfire at night.

If you had to pick, what is the physically toughest hunt on earth? As background information, he has taken lion,two leopard, elephant,two buffalo, Alaskan Brown Bear, moose, caribou, elk, Marco Polo sheep, African plainsgame, plus the usual U.S. game of whitetails, antelope, black bear, mountain lion. He is going for Mountain Nyala this October and High Altai in 2011.

He is leaning towards Blue Sheep in Nepal as they are hunted at 17,000 feet altitude or Himalayan ibex in the Northwest Frontier province of Pakistan.

He would appreciate your opinions as to what you believe is the toughest hunt.

Thank you for taking the poll and your opinions.

Question:
What is the physically toughest hunt in the world?

Choices:
Bongo
Polar Bear from dogsled
Blue sheep in Nepal
Tur in Azerbaijan
Mountain Nyala
Lord Derby Eland
Himalayan ibex-Pakistan
other-please post hunt

 

quote:

Northwest Frontier province of Pakistan

Gets my vote for "Least likely to return alive Hunt"...

Toughest conditions - Penguin hunt in July.

Toughest animal to track - California Sasquatch.

On a serious note - extreme altitude can be a major problem for guys with health issues...be careful...

If he's going to Pakistan, what about including a Markhor?

I've got no personal experience with any of those hunts, but it's seems like everyone else says to hunt the mountain game before your knees give out. Your husband seems like he's on the right track with the blue sheep.

The most physically difficult trips for me have been drop-off caribou hunts in Alaska with a buddy and without a guide, and having to pack all the meat out.

Toughest is hard to quantify. High altitude gets many - I see he has a Marco Polo but with the exception of dealing with the altitude most of those entail more driving than hiking. the Blue sheep hunt I did in China/Nepal was not much more difficult than my Marco Polo.
With the exception a few Alaskan hunts, I would say my physically most difficult hunt was for Ibex in Turkey. it was tremendously steep, rugged country with lots of hiking involved and many overnight bivoucs. There are many NA sheep hunts that also could physically as tough.

If the hunting involves true wilderness, rugged terrain, extreme temperatures, high altitude and wary quarry then any of them can turn out to be tough.

Just remind him he can borrow money - but he can't borrow time.

Bongo in Central African Republic WITHOUT dogs.

Mountain Goat hunting on horseback and foot. Not from a boat.

I've taken six cape buffalo and loved every minute of it. But, all I needed was one mountain goat!

Bull1

The toughest hunt....finding a good woman.

I'm at the DSC Convention in Dallas. The guys doing Mountain Goat hunts in Alaska (not at low altitude) are the toughest I've run across so far based on the advice from multiple sources.

The Blue Sheep in Nepal and Himalayan Ibex in Pakistan sound like two physically demanding hunts due to elevation and the terrain.

I've done about 10,000 vertical feet and about 16 miles in a single day on my feet and found that very challenging. Mental attitude is the thing that got me "home" because I pushed my body past beyond it's limit. I should note that I had a good physical condition and didn't suffer from any injuries or medical conditions at the time. After a recent auto accident, my back and neck may never allow me to do that sort of thing again.

A kudu hunt in the mountains of the south african lowveld on foot in march at 32-38 degrees celcius and very high humidity

Brooks Range of Alaska Dall Sheep hunt.

Man if the weather goes bad it is rough!

I think hunting wapiti in Fiordland in New Zealand would certainly rate high in the list of toughest hunts around the world. The core wapiti area is within a delcared wilderness zones that prevents helicopters from landing hunters in the prime areas. WThis, along with the fact that there are no roads or tails means you need to backpack in. Because the valleys are U-shaped, you either hunt the valley floor and climb straight up and travel along the alpine tops. Either way its HARD going when your carting 2 weeks worth of gear. To get a better understanding, read the article at the link below.

http://www.longrangehunting.co...s/wapiti-hunting.php

I have back packed hunted for Tahr in New Zealand, Mt. Goat hunted in Washington, British Columbia and Dall sheep hunting in Mckennize Mts of NWT of Canada. In my humble opinion Mtn Goat Hunting is most dangerous and physically demanding by far. Climbing the ice covered cliffs and crossing those snow packed passes pushed you to your limit. Sleeping in the snow with howling winds all night to wake up in several feet of snow. It took days if not couple of weeks in one case to recover from one of those Mtn. goat hunts.

I have never hunted sheep of Asia but what I have heard and observed you have a tremendous support staff when hunting those species.

Has anyone considered Wood Bison in the Yukon, Northwest Territory and Alaska?

I posted "other". For me it will always be hunting elephant in the SW rain forest back in the 80's. Always wet. Always hot. Always bug bit. Sleeping in villages when on tracks or too far to return to the main camp. Eating MRE's (meals rejected by Ethiopians) Using mules to get into unhunted country. 12 yards being a long shot!
Yep, that was tough.
Rich Elliottt

A self guided hunt or semiguided hunt in Cameroon is tough also. Have he tried forest elephant and dwarf buffalo ?


L

quote:

Originally posted by Joe Miller:
Has anyone considered Wood Bison in the Yukon?

DING! We have a winner here. Think of this hunt as a sheep hunt ... but in snow and at -40 degrees!

If I am not mistaken, you would not be able to keep the Polar Bear with the recent listing. Correct? The trophy isn't everything, but it would suck to go on the hunt and not be able to keep the trophy.

Thanks for everyone's opinions and posts.

Regarding the Markhor, when he received his Pakistan packet, all three Markhor (Kashmir or Pin Panjal, Sulaiman, and Astor) are on a nine day schedule. Arrive in Islamabad on day 1 depart day 9. The Kashmir and Sulaiman are hunted days 3-6, and the Astor 3-7. Not a very long hunt, 3 or 4 days.

You are correct about polar bear now being unimportable to the USA.

He never gave Wood Bison a thought, thanks for the new idea.

Much appreciated.

Any back pack, sleep on the mountain, mountain animal hunt, typically goat or sheep, that is unguided. Either solo or with another hunter that also kills an animal.
Get these done while you're young. They are extremely hard on your body.
I've done solo sheep hunts and they're very rewarding, nothing like relying on yourself to, hunt, survive and carry everything. The feeling transports you back in time to our forefathers (although we have modern gear) and what was just plain daily survival for them.

Kathi-I have the four sheep on the wall and if your hubby wants any more sheep my advise is to do it now! The toughest hunt I have ever been on were do it yourself Stne Sheep hunts!

The toughest hunt? Without a doubt a unguided Rocky Moutain Elk hunt in Idaho's Bitterroot Mountain range. I've hunted African Lion, Cape Buffalo, and Kodiak Bear. They were all a challenge. But, my 7X8 Bull I killed on Public land was the hardest hunt I've been on, and one of my proudest trophies. Those Mountains will wear down any man.

Kathi,

IMHO, any mountain hunt is tougher than a flatland hunt by a factor of two, or more likely three.

If Rick wants to hunt the beasts on your list that live at high altitude, then those would be the ones to go for sooner rather than later.

Next on the toughness scale are flatland hunts in extreme cold or heat. I think either can be a real problem, especially when the heat is coupled with high humidity. Put those next.

Last would be run of the mill elephant hunts, involving only 100 degree Fahrenheit temperatures, mile after mile of walking every day over every kind of difficult and sometimes treacherous ground, and the possibility of getting maimed or killed.

They all pose challenges.
Mountain Goat is the most dangerous; Walking on loose shale on 45 degree + slopes is nerve racking! It is a long way down! This frightened me more than any animal could!
Most physically demanding I found is packing out Moose in the tundra 120 miles NE of Kotzebue off the Noatak. Me and buddy (Alaska Native) on 3 trips (6 bulls). Animals the size of Eland through the Tussocks (Ankle breaking and knee wrenching)
Most challenging is archery for Elk (a good one on a fair chase hunt)

EZ

Hi Kathi,
Love Rick's spirit. He thinks like I do - save the 'easy' stuff for later.
I'd also have to vote for the mountain goat. But, it would have to be a late season mntn goat. The late season gets you the really long fur which is as much a trophy as the horn length. I went twice in Nov - once in '07 and the other in '08. The first time we got bogged down in weather and were stuck in a lean to for 8 days. The next year we actually got to hunt them. My buddy shot the first one he saw. He was so tired and cold he didn't care what size it was. I got mine on day three.
Our outfitter said we were the only hunters he's ever had in 20+ years that had ever booked a second mntn goat hunt.

Mountain Lion without dogs.

Lord Derby eland hunt in Cameroon, 2017. Walked 19 miles in direct sunlight, 120 degrees.

Nepal Blue Sheep. No Toyotas, no horses, no cabin.

quote:

Originally posted by Code4:
The toughest hunt....finding a good woman.

Bagged out on that one 50 years ago.

quote:

Originally posted by Joe Miller:
Has anyone considered Wood Bison in the Yukon, Northwest Territory and Alaska?

Wood Bison were recently released back into Alaska and can not be hunted yet.

The Bison in Delta Junction, Copper River, and Farewell are all Prairie Bison.

How about Red and Sika stags in the Scottish Highlands.

Mountain Goat on foot.

Bullfrogs in the Arizona Sonora desert. Hands down the toughest.

Red headed Latinas.

The chance of death is high and usually few survivors.

quote:

Originally posted by miketaylor:
How about Red and Sika stags in the Scottish Highlands.

Low altitude, but tough terrain: like hunting in a vertical bog studded with bowling balls. Made harder in my case by doing it ten months post-knee replacement.

I have been on a couple of tough ones but only due to the heat and miles but nothing like the harshest of conditions found in Mountain hunting in freezing
and fickle climates and take my hat off to those who guide there

I'd have to say Brown Bear on foot on Kodiak. Deadman Bay in November. Noting flat, nothing firm to walk on. Miserable weather 100% of the time.

The LDE tracking was long but not hard at all. How hard is walking on flat ground?

Not exactly what he has in mind, but Himalayan Snowcock hunting in Nevada. A very rugged mountain hunt for a wary and difficult to find quarry, with a low success ratio.

Circumstances can change any hunt to be more or less difficult.

Personally, I can think of a few that were quite difficult:

> A stone sheep hunt where I spent 11 days in a one-man tent while it snowed. Even when we got out, weather was awful. Everything was wet. It was cold.

> Blue sheep in China. The altitude was tough. I shot my second sheep at 17,500 feet elevation.. weather was awful. Food sucked. A 21-hour jeep ride to get to camp.

> a fall brown bear hunt Alaska. It was difficult because I got extremely ill. Any sort of physical activity proved to be incredibly difficult. Ultimately, I had to call it off. Flew back to Anchorage and went straight to the doctor. Spent days in a hotel in Anchorage afraid to get on a plane.

Kathi, Good question.

I say a winter, unguided mountain hunt in the Canadian Rockies, around timberline, 7200 ft., from a tent base camp for moose, Elk or sheep. Brian

PS. These days, a shot walk for a cape buffalo is a challenge for me. Chuckle. B