I was really referring to the glacier or color phase black bear. I simply would not shoot one of the others. I believe they are icons to native Americans and I just see no pleasure in shooting such a incredibly rare animal. I would love to shoot one with my Nikon tough ! There was one taken in AK a few years back and they publushed a article about it in the NRA American Hunter. Personally I thought thought the article was in poor taste at a time when the shooting sports are already under fire.

The Glacier Blue is probably as rare (in it's range) as the Kermodi (in it's range).

Thier ranges do overlap along the Portland Canal BC / AK border. I have never heard of a Glacier being tacken on the BC side but they are there.

At this time taking a Kermodi (in AK) is a personal ethics type decision as there is no law against it yet.

We hunt and take many Native American icons. Buffalo, Wolf and Rattlesnakes to name a few.

That is a good point. It would just be a personal choice for me and the color phase BB is on my list.

Bigfoot

I belive that Dall sheep might be the toughest trophy to hunt.

In many parts of the great state of Alaska, the legal sheep population is around 2% Now out of those few animals that are even legal to take, about 2% of those are "book" Even trying to find one let alone take one is an exahusting task. Mt. goats may be tough to hunt, but they are not hard to find. Also while goats may live in rougher terrain, sheep typically live higher. Much harder for hunters to breathe at sheep altittude.

Dall sheep rut in the very wosrt part of the winter. They also dont participate in the rut until they are about 7 or 8 years old. The average ram becomes legal at 8 years. They wander, fight and screw during the rut. They dont eat or even sleep, they drain themselves and 1 in 3 rams wont make it to see spring. Many rams die before becoming legal. The ones that do survive are in their last 1-3 years on average of life.

The average amount B&C rams taken in Alaska are 1-2 per year.

Now, how about those odds.

It has to be the desert bighorn. Just the cost alone of a permit puts it head and shoulders above any other North American game animal.
Bravo

Bravo,

What does the permit cost? I have never really had an interest in hunting them, so this is news to me.

Pete

This is a quote from the first post!

Quote:

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I would like to rule out animals that are tough to get only due to cost or very limited tags.

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How about a hybrid duck? Watching a pintail/mallard hybrid come to your decoys is very cool. Shooting it and having it mounted is even cooler. I have pictures for those who care...

I actually think that there is a close relationship between how hard it is to catch (or kill) a certain species on one hand and the time, money, personal fitness, knowledge, and skill spent catching that animal, on the other, and that the two cannot be seperated. Caribou are common, but if you do not live where they do, it is moderatley diffecult to shoot a cow because it is or it can be diffecult, to get to them and then tolerate their environment while you are trying to catch one. Hunting anything in or above the Brooks Range is hard. Sheep, bear, caribou and other species require time money and physical work. Hunting whitetailed deer out of tree stand is nothing like tryng to get to a Mountain goat, but both can be tough. The most diffecult animal to get is the one you want and have not figured out how to to get yet. I use to think white tailed deer were it. Then black bear, moose, caribou, then small South African antelope and zebra. The hardest animals to get now are muskox, polar bear, all the sheep, mountain lion, and brown bear. That is North American. Most of the truely hard animals to get, other than polar bear and muskox, and those little white caribou that live with the muskox, are African species: lion, leopard, elephants, bongo and mountian nyala. All of these species cost a lot of money to chase. But I do not think there is anything easy about catching any of these animals, with or without lots of money.

I think polar bears would be one of the toughest animals to hunt.

rwj

There are two that come to mind for me.

Top of the list for challenging would be the Whitetail buck, in thick brush. If you are on the ground in his territory, he has the upper hand, and will stay close to you to keep track of you.

Second on the list would be a Roosevelt bull elk, again in brush. I have been within rock throwing range, and never saw more than the tracks. Judging from the broken brush, he was a good one!

Im with the other poster. No one has killed a Bigfoot creature. I have no idea if they exist, but if they do, they are sure slippery.

Florida Panther with a bow and no use of dogs could be a challenge. (Yes, I know its illegal)

GTR

I certainly agree with that. The first time I chased Caribou in the Mountains I thought I was in respectable shape. lol. Well I was in a LOT better shape by the end of that week ! I think it is a progression for all of us and a very personal choice.

Thank you GTR for seeing my point.

I would like to see that picture of your duck. A mallard pintail cross?? Cool.

As far as tough trophies go, I think killing a mountain lion with no dogs and a bow would be about as tough as it gets. Even in areas with high lion populations, just how often does a guy get to see one?? The other stuff folks have posted a guy can glass, locate them, then stalk (or at least set up on them). I've spent a LOT of time in the woods and only have two lion sightings to my credit.

MG

Toughest to collect taking into account all legal methods, a mountain goat. Not a mad goat or a happy goat, a big billy mountain goat!





Rough terrain, access is poor, dangerous terrain.

Politicians!

There are 2 different guys around here that bow shot cougars while quartering out their bow killed elk. Both times the cats where circling the hunters at close range and would not leave. But yes I absolutely agree that stalking or calling in a mt lion is tough enough let alone with a bow.

Mike,
We must know some Weird, do anything for kicks kind of guy.

I use to know a guy who was a Hospital Administrator at a small hospital in Northern MN. He was a bow hunter and his favorite quarry was black bear.

He got one every year, but he use to tell me every year he got it as it was climbing up the tree after him and he was zapping it with arrows as fast as he could.

The guy either had more balls or less brains than I do.

I am approaching the question from the "Which animal is the toughest to hunt" perspective. Obviously, it is more difficult on the hunter to kill with a spear than with a scoped magnum. It is also easier for a hunter to hunt in his home turf than his first trip to the Rockies without a guide. It is also easier to kill a moose in the Yukon than in my home state. Pound for pound I think a 5 1/2 - 7 1/2 year old whitetail deer in farm country is the toughest critter going. I know that many guys would argue that timber whitetails are tougher. I'd argue they are just tougher to find. A whitetail that learns to survive in man's land is a sharp critter. Just my 2 cents.

I have to agree with the above.Mule deer used to rule here in Idaho and now there all but endangered compared to the old days.Those nasty little whitetails that cackle and paw the ground while huning Elk really kinda tick me off.There like hunting pheasants where I hunt in thick timber.You here a noise and see a flash and there gone letting everything around know your there.Come the Rut we already have our meat,so I haven't tried hunting the big bucks during the rut when they are more likely to be seen.In the summer we see the big ones all the time and know where they hang out,but during hunting season all I here is a bounce -bounce and there gone.

I miss the dumb Mule Deer.Jayco.

quote:

Originally posted by Gatehouse:
</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font>

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<br />ChuckWagon,<br /><br />What is a "Spirit" bear? <br /><br />Regards,<br />Dave <br /><br />

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</blockquote><font class="post"><br /><br />It's a black bear with genes that make it white! Sows will have both a black and a white cub in one litter, at times.<br /><br />A really big grizzly is hard to find <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Glacier Bear in American English is the blue color phase Black Bear.

Kermode is the American English word for an all white black bear, I am pretty sure they are protected.


Here's my 2 cents:

Elk, well anyone can shoot a B&C elk all it requires is money time to get in some place like the White Mountain.

Mule deer are the same except the answer is a limited entry tag in Utah or a hunt on Santa Rosa in California.

Whitetails are the same except replace the destination with South Texas on the King Ranch or someplace with excellent genetics.

Moose are tough, if you can draw a good tag in the lower 48 your probably not going to shoot a trophy bull. In Alaska and Canada it's better but a tougher hunt. So moose are tougher than any of the above.

Black bears aren't so tough, big bears exist in CA, PA, WA, BC, AB, and AK. It's just a matter of holding out for a big one.

Brown bears are tough, but not as tough as moose are. I am talking about the coastal bears, where there are lots of bears to look over.

I think the bighorn and desert bighorn thing is easier than the thinhorn sheep. All the bighorns require is money and time. The thinhorns require luck, and lots of it to shoot a B&C ram. So I think the bighorns are easier than moose and I think the thin horns are harder than brown bears but easier than a grizzly.

Wolf, just a matter of spending some time in the North. Or shooting one in the Yellowstone Ecosystem, shoveling and shutting up.

Pronghorn antelope are hard to judge but there are tons of them to look at. So they are toward the bottom.

Caribou are similar to pronghorns.

Mt goats are tough and harder to judge than anything else. They gotta be number 2.

But number one is a wolverine, nothing else comes close. Nobody know anything about them, if you ran a trap line in the north you could probably get one that way. Maybe you could get one on a bait in the middle of winter in Montana or farther north, but that would be maybe.

A daytime wolverine sighting would be purely luck. Nothing is tougher. Nothing.

My vote goes to a Trophy Coues Whitetal Deer taken in the US (AZ or NM)on public land.

All it takes is money and time to take one in Old Mexico.

Taking a trophy or "book" Coues Whitetal in Arizona is tough - Lots of hunting pressure.

I would agree that a Mt Goat is tough as hell too.

D99, you hit it! The wolverine is so hard to find that no one even thinks of it, ....there are only 8 in the SCI record book. We know they exist from California to the east, and into the Arctic, but how many are even seen let alone taken. No one even considers them as a huntable trophy. I've had hunters take quite a few by chance over the years, and believe me, they were beyond being thrilled because they never considered having the chance of seeing one. .....Truly a rare trophy! ~Arctic~

Quail Wing

You can shoot black bears any day in the spring by spot and stalk in BC. I think these days a really nice muley is tough to come by, as is a B&C whitetail. I haven't hunted sheep, but have seen a lot of them and the biggest problem with them is access and physical difficulty. Trophy mulies are just plain scarce, as are grizzlies. I don't know what is the most difficult, but someone said wolverine, and I saw one in BC and my guide said that was the first one he'd ever seen, so they would be quite hard to get apparently.

I'd make it a tie between albino Sasquatch or 4 point unicorn.

First off I don't have deep pockets, But I work Damn hard and save and Hussle a buck to hunt what i hunt.Sometimes it taks me 2 years to do a hunt.
Now it is said that a goat hunt is tough and a man usally only does one in his life.
Two of the Hardest Hunts are Glacier Bear and Coues deer.
I think in the first Question was no super Cost Hunt or Draw Tag.
Glacier Bear is like finding a needle in a haystack or hens Teeth. I was in Alaska in Camp when Bodington Took his Galacier Bear. He did an article called the Valley of the blue bear. To make a book of any kind blue bear is
a 1-100,000,000 chance.
The couse deer you have to be in What it is called Sheep shape. They are not called Gray Ghosts for nothing. Getting a book Coues is super Hard . It only takes 110 to make B&C.
Some of the well known Hunters and Outdoor Writers still with all there money and Resorces Don't have a book coues.

For me, the most challenging hunt physically and mentally so far has been Polar Bear and that was a guided hunt. I guess it depends on the person, and thats the way it should be. Ive always listed the hunts I would like to experience and have been working down from what I think would be the hardest. I figure eventually I'm going to get either too old or too smart.

Another vote for the Rocky Mountain Goat, the most underrated trophy in N. America. I've hunted rams in the Brooks, and that's a snap compared to goats in the coast range. I finally got my goat, at age 61. Above the Stikine River with Dave Benitz, Stikine Guide Service. It was physically the toughest hunt of my life.

quote:

Originally posted by Quail Wing:
Bravo,<br /><br />What does the permit cost? I have never really had an interest in hunting them, so this is news to me.<br /><br />Pete

Minimum of $30,000

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:

quote:

Originally posted by Quail Wing:
Bravo,<br /><br />What does the permit cost? I have never really had an interest in hunting them, so this is news to me.<br /><br />Pete

Minimum of $30,000

But if you are Lucky and Draw a Tag it can be done for about $7000 with an Outfitter .
Mexico Most are $50,000 to $55,000

Over here, certain specimens of Stöckelwild take an awfull lot of $$ to collect.

As Gatehouse says, BC is crawling with black bear and spot & stalk is how it's done. Great fun and beautiful country but not the most difficult of hunts.

actually the jaguar is still on the list for NA game animals, try to find one of them you could shoot

Time and money can get you anything more easily than a trophy mule deer.

Well, let see, if you have enough money and "flexible" ethics you can "shoot" anything. Next up if you have enough money you can hire someone to get you within rifle range (eventually given repeated attempts) of most anything under ethical situations, maybe not B&C defined fair chase, high fence etc, but arguabily fair conditions.

Hardest hunting conditions for any game: Alone, on foot, public land. Some would say archery only season but I might say general rifle season is actually tougher in some instances. Weapon choise can have a big affect on outcome. I know a bowhunter that got within 80 yds of a legal ram in Montana's unlimited bighorn sheep unit but never got a shot. With a rife, dead sheep.

Species population per square mile has a big influence, getting a mature whatever that has 5 per square mile is going to be easier than say a mature male mountain lion with a range of 1 cat per 500 square miles. Time of year, rut or no rut? Flat land, mountains, swamps, every habitat has it's masters.

My nominations based only on my experience: Male mountain lion, no dogs, on foot, on public land. Second, large male black bear, no dogs, no bait, on foot, public land. Six point bull elk, general rifle season, on foot, public land. Mature blacktail buck on public land. Mature whitetail buck, public land. Mature mule deer buck on public land. I'm sure this would vary with different areas and in fact I've seen the order of these change over time due to changing conditions.

No one who goes out to purposely hunt nine of my state's 10 big game animals -- mule deer, Coues deer, elk, pronghorn, bighorn (both Rocky Mountain and desert), bison and black bear -- is considered overly optimistic.

None of these nine is especially difficult to hunt if you know where and when to go -- and can draw the tags.

But someone who says he's going to purposely hunt a mountain lion here on foot without dogs or calls is more than an optimist. He has to be nuts.

At the very least he's wasting his time.

Bill Quimby
Tucson

Over a month, two full pages of posts, and only one slight mention of musk ox ?!?!

The hardest thing to come by is free time and the extra money to go play!!!

Not exactly "big" game but, in my experience, the hardest NA trophy to collect is a Cinnamon Teal!