Just curious what you guys would consider your top hunts you've been on in North America. Animal, Area, Time of year, etc...

For myself, my most memorable hunts in order are:

Number One = Moose & Woodland Caribou in Newfoundland in Sept. of 1996.

Number Two = Musk Ox & Barren Ground Caribou in Nunavut in Sept. 2000.

Number Three = Black Bear in Idaho in Sept. 2010.

After those, any of the Elk or Pronghorn hunts I have been on over the years.

For me it would be several archery elk hunts my brother and I did in private land in the North Park area of Colorado, always in September. These were DIY, with us camping in a nearby national forest.

Next favorite is spring turkey hunting here in southern Wisconsin, especially when I'm calling them in for my kids.

Coues deer in the mountains near Hermosillo, in fun and challenge beats desert mule deer in my opinion!

Float hunting Alaskan rivers full of salmon in a raft in september with beautiful fall foliage, chasing moose or caribou in the company of bears.

Being packed in on horses and dropped off solo deep in the eagle cap wilderness of north east Oregon in october chasing mule deer.

Chasing elk in the rut in New mexico's high country wilderness at 9,000 feet in early october.

Wood Bison in the Yukon...no question.

DIY Moose hunt in Alaska with my brother, Henry Mountains Utah Buffalo hunt also with my brother and several hunts with my sons, their first Deer and my oldest sons first Bull Elk.
My solo Bighorn Sheep hunt, my Mountain Goat hunt.
Come to think of it I have a lot of "top" hunts that no matter how hard you could try you could never replace them, "top" them or duplicate them.
This thread makes me smile and feel fortunate beyond measure.

Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, early September 1999. In the Maroon Bells Wilderness Area near the town of Aspen, Colorado. Only time I ever hunted with a guide and damn glad I did. Hunted hard for seven days and got a nice one on the seventh day at about 12,500' elevation near Hunter Peak. Lost 10 pounds that week and had the time of my life.

Wild pheasants in South Dakota near Mitchell on the opening day...

DIY late fall Wolf hunt in northwest Montana. Predator calling for wolves in heavy timber is a RUSH!
http://forums.accuratereloadin...851073561#2851073561

1.Central Canada Barren Ground Caribou in the NWT back in 1993. Took two B+C bulls.
2.Sitka Blacktail and Black Bear with salmon fishing on Prince of Wales Island, AK in 1998 and 2002. Successful on everything.
3. Mule Deer and Whitetails in Battle River area of Alberta in 2005. 200+ mulie and 140 class whitetail.
4. Black Bear hunt with Pike and Walleye fishing in Quebec in 2006. Spring Bear wt 349 with 19 6/8 skull with great fishing thrown in

My greatest N.A. Adventure - Polar Bear

My favorite N.A. animal to hunt - Bull Elk

My favorite N.A. animal to guide - Whitetail buck

Cape Buffalo in THICK cover.
Even with a push feed.

Anything with my son

quote:

Originally posted by ravenr:
Cape Buffalo in THICK cover.
Even with a push feed.

I didn't know we had Cape Buffalo in N.A.?

You can hunt Bongo in Texas so I imagine buffalo can't be far behind. Shooting a buffalo or bongo out from under a feeder, might make someone's "top" list, especially if done with family maybe.

Shouldn't rush a response.
Read it again and I would say
Badland Mule Deer.

You're welcome for the chuckle Aaron

DIY moose in Alaska.

quote:

Originally posted by ravenr:
Shouldn't rush a response.
Read it again and I would say
Badland Mule Deer.

You're welcome for the chuckle Aaron

DIY moose for me. Calling a big love sick bull into rifle range and then shooting him in a place of your choosing is very satisfying.

Mark

2009: Tent camping for Sitka Blacktail on Kodiak Island the day after Thanksgiving, 2009. Barely 8 months after a motorcycle wreck that busted 7 bones in 10 places…I needed that hunt!

2013: Mountain Goat out of Valdez, Prince William Sound.

I would have to say it is all my firsts from squirrel, rabbits, raccoons, bullfrogs, and Bob White quail as a boy to deer, antelope, turkey, moose, caribou, and boars as I got older. I could almost say the last hunt but taking the first of a species is always special and hard to forget. I got a few more on the bucket list.
Good luck to you

Bull Elk, during the rut. Their Bugle is a siren's song AND meat is superb !

Depends on what and where and how you hunted. I would say top NA hunts for me have not been for Whitetail, Blacktail or Mule deer, or Elk, or Muskox, or pigs, or Moose or Pronghorn.

Better hunts have been: Black Bear with hounds or spot and stalk, but not over bait. Bobcat and mountain lion hound hunts. Spot and stalk Brown Bear. Sheep hunts because of the nice country they live in, not their difficulty in hunting.

Best hunts so far:

Mountain Goats. Your above the sheep in really nice and often really dangerous country, although they are no smarter than a sheep. The difficulty in pursuing Mountain Goats makes them a top hunt.

Polar bear has to be the top for me. Dog sled, 13 days on the pack ice north of 73 degrees, fighting God's creation and your desire to be warm while pursuing a ghost. A test so to speak. Shooting seals for dog food or trapping them with a giant treble hook was a bonus.

Your top hunt depends on what you have done and why you hunt. It's not math. There is no right answer.

Mine has to be bull elk on a tented horseback adventure in the white mountain wilderness area of New Mexico

Blacktail 3 x 3 toad I killed mid season in 2001. I had seen this buck about three different times in the early summer. Caught him feeding under an oak tree during a tremendous lightning and thunder show. I shot him and he took a leap and landed on a large chemise bush. I had to quarter him out as he was a brute and my winch on the jeep was not working. Gotta love those Peachtree Valley toads.

"Your top hunt depends on what you have done and why you hunt. It's not math. There is no right answer."

What a great thought, and so appropriate.

With that thought in mind, my top North American hunt was for a young white-tailed doe. I shot that deer at the Sandhill Wildlife Experimental Area in central Wisconsin during a special hunt held a week before the regular Wisconsin deer season.

Over the interveining years I've been on countless hunts in numerous states and have taken over 500 big game animals. None of them were more important or significant.

Why would any self-respecting hunter consider a small doe worthy of such an honor? That deer was my first hunting success and represents the culmination of an entire decade of effort and dedication.

Most of you will not be able to relate my story but here goes: Statistics say that I am not someone who's likely to take up hunting. I was born and raised in the heart of a big city. My father had no interest in the outdoors. No one in my immediate family, and none of my friends, were hunters. There are no farmers, ranchers or other large landowners anywhere in my lineage.

The urge to hunt hit me in 1970 when I was 14 years old. Where the urge came from, and why it hit me so hard, is something that I'll never know - but hit me it did! Dad (may he RIP) did his best to discourage my budding interest in hunting to no avail.

With no one to "show me the ropes," success (and the game animals themselves) eluded me until 1979. On a crisp November morning that deer and I met. I don't know who was more surprised, her or me. But I recovered from the shock and before I knew what happened the first of many big game animals lay dead at my feet. Several days later I ate the first bite of meat of my own killing. I was now a fully fledged hunter.

At the risk of repeating, I'm sure not many of you can relate to my story. Especially those of you who were fortunate enough to have been raised in outdoor-oriented families or those who have had the opportunity to go on great adventures. But that little deer, shot almost 35 years ago, was nothing less than a life changing event.

The more I think about it, the more I believe the old Indian philosophy that I really didn't kill that deer, as such. Rather, she offered herself to me as a gift, one life to another. For that gift I'm eternally grateful, Little Deer.

I understand where you are coming from completely and I imagine there are plenty of others that also understand.

Porcupine here in WI. This was the first animal taken with my daughter.

Honestly……… I could't really give an answer to this questions without context.

Regardless of species there are so many variables on how a hunt takes place with regards to the difficulty, weather, method of take, etc etc.

All of our big game animals can provide an incredible hunting experience or be a complete gimme and no big deal. Some huge trophies when it comes to score for record books are taken by people in situations that just make you shake your head at how easy it was for them.

In another space and time a hunter takes an animal that is not a trophy in the sense of inches, weight, hair quality or colour……. and yet it is a memory they will always hold dear.

The more I think about it, I cannot answer this question with any degree of certainty.

Its fairly simple. What is YOUR most memorable hunt (or hunts)? There are many variables, but that's what makes it interesting to hear the different responses.

I'd say mine so far have been Archery Elk during the rut in the Gila with my grandfather and his brother. A close second would be AK Peninsula brown bear hunt.

I'd say either my first Alberta bighorn or my BC stone. Both hunts were plagued by brutal weather and were definitely some of the most physically and mentally demanding hunts I've done. If I had to pick one, I'd say my bighorn. It started a life-long addiction with hunting sheep. Hard to believe it was nearly 28 years ago!

quote:

Porcupine here in WI. This was the first animal taken with my daughter

I tell people who hunt my property that if there is a big buck and a porcupine in sight at the same time make sure the porkey doesn't get away.

Man, at first I thought I'd just start at the top of my best hunts and work my way down, but ranking these is very difficult. Difficult enough that I gave up. So, in no particular order my top hunts:

Calling in big moose - like Mark said lot's of juice here

Calling in gobblebirds - never tire of this stuff

Muskox - amazing adventure

Trying to figure out what's going on in a Caribou's head

Sneakin up on big brown bears - the most juice

Sneakin up on big black bears - boat based luxury

Beating on old whitetail - very satisfying

Stalking a nice pronghorn

My number one hunt would be my 91/2 ft. Brown near Cold Bay Alaska, double shovel Caribou on the same hunt. My number two hunt would be a 2226/8th Alaska Yukon Moose in the Fairwell Burn of Alaska. Number three would be my best Bull Elk on Thornburg Mountain in Colorado on the same day my son and grandson also scored on their Elk. Building all the ammo for these hunts and many more in the future also comes in there somewhere. Good shooting.

1- Utah Elk (my wife's hunt)
2- Henry Mountain free range bison-Utah
3- Sons youth bull elk hunt- Utah
4- Book Cliffs Muzz deer
5- All my Utah goose hunts
6- Idaho bear
7- Mountain Lion- Montana

All were great, not really in a particular order!!

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
DIY moose for me. Calling a big love sick bull into rifle range and then shooting him in a place of your choosing is very satisfying.

Mark

+1 To me there is nothing like moose hunting in Alaska. In fact, even when i don't kill a bull moose I still have a great time up here.

Sometimes just watching or taking photos of the Northern lights by the campsite in September, is just wonderful.

Sweeet pic, Ray! Thanks for sharing.

For me it has to be elk hunting out west. The camaraderie, good times, somewhat relaxing at times with great friends, and bust your ass hard work helping pack animals out on your back giving you a real sense of accomplishment. It's such an enjoyable time I really don't care one whit about hunting among the hordes in WI during our rifle deer season. Completely different climate, much like deer camp in the Nicolet National Forest I grew up with.

The annual father and son redneck bonding session. Deer hunting, mid October.

Dave