In your experience, what are the hardest and easiest hunts in north America -- considering both physical and mental aspects?

John,

Brown Bear in the mountains and alders on the Alaska Peninsula or out on the chain is extremely challenging. Any of the mountain game, sheep, goat, etc., would rate right behind Brownies. Right now, just due to sheer numbers and distribution, and I'm not knocking it as a classic big game animal, the whitetail would be the easiest.

Joe

I would have to agree with Ovis.
Sheep & goats, mtn. caribou, bear. Once you have them on the ground you still have to get them out.
I love hunting whitetails. Everyone knows how smart a mature whitetail is. A large one can be very difficult to bag. But just like ovis says, " by sheer numbers and distribution" and accessability makes them easier to hunt.

Goats and sheep are physically tough to get to, the reward is very satisfying, even if I don't kill one - as far as "mentally challenging", I would say that brownies / grizzlies are at the top of the "sphincter factor" scale - nothing like crawling through alders or tall coastal grass with the potential of meeting a bear - also, hunting sitka blacktail in Alaska is a bit of a mental game since you will always be looking over your shoulder if you kill one; you have effectively "rang the dinner bell" for any nearby bears and they always like an easy meal KMule

As far as understanding where to looking and setting up a shot... Mountain lion (without hounds or callers). Sheep can be the most physicaly demanding, until you drop a moose in a very unforgiving place
Take care
smallfry

Hardest - elk.

Easiest - elk.

My vote - Hardest, a big elk.

Easiest, antelope.

Note - I strongly disagree with others who suggest a whitetaail as the easy. I consider it pretty tough to whack a big buck whitey.

Hardest, Desert Bighorn. I have been told this from several hunters who have hunted everything.

Easiest, Antelope. A lazy drunk who rides around in a truck all day will have a decent chance at picking up a good buck, assuming he can shoot.

I don't think there is any hunt easier than Texas-style whitetail hunting. Climb up in a blind with an electric feeder about 75 yards away that kicks on at dawn and dusk. Shoot what walks in.

I refuse to call it hunting. It is however good shooting.

They can all come hard or easy ... that's hunting. All depends on the circumstances at a given time. Hey, excepting the weather, I've worked as hard for a smart woodchuck as I have for anything else. These days, I'd have to place exceptional mountain muledeer, on public lands, right up there with the others.

Re. whitetails -- combine a mature buck with a little hunting pressure, in a great big forest with lots of room for him to run, add in some cold and wet weather and thick brush for a bonus.

One place that fits the description is northern Maine -- hunter success rates in the single digits aren't unusual. I was up there last month and everyone thought it was a great season -- folks at the checkpoints reporting 6 or 7 deer coming out, this for a Saturday in an area the size of most Georgia counties.

It may not be a brown bear that will eat you if you screw up, and it may not be a sheep hunt where you can die from the hike in, but it sure isn't the easiest.

John

[ 12-03-2002, 07:19: Message edited by: John Frazer ]

Guys,

When I mentioned whitetail as the easiest, I meant overall. Northern Maine, if you are sucessful, yields great bucks but it is a difficult hunt. Eastern N.C., on the other hand is no sweat. If you don't see deer, you're not looking. Big bucks? Not hardly, but lots of deer.
If you want to shoot a whitetail, not a Booner, just a whitetail how about the entire Southeastern and Southern U.S. If you want to fill the freezer, well??????????????????? Big Book Whitetails, outside of the rut, in big buck country, are as tough as they come. As I stated, due to sheer numbers and distribution a whitetail hunt is pretty easy.

Joe