OUT OF all the types of hunting there is out there, which gets your vote for the absolute toughest/hardest/most dangerous/most unforgiving environment hunt there is.

Can be based on danger, required physical exertion, or mental toughness and/or all of the above.

Very few people get gored by sheep class animals but people fall off mountains and you need physical toughness to climb to get them.

Chasing boars with dogs up and down the hills of Tennesee or the like can be hard. (My first bear hunt with dogs was tough and up close and VERY personal..41 magnum at 4 feet with a VERY irritated "Yogi".)

I remember Capstick writing about hunting some kind of deranged buffalo on some island in South America that REALLY sounded like it had it's moments.

SO, what is your vote for the hunt that separates the MEN from the wannabees. What hunt is the baddest of the bad?
Did you do this hunt or get the information from a survivor and why did you make the choice? Did you/they sustain any damage or injuries?

extra points should always be awarded for the increased chance of dying or at least getting maimed while engaged in the "chase".

Death in the long grass!
Hunting wounded leopard.
That would be some Pucker Time for sure.

Back packing moose from a swamp, in the middle of the night with these lingering around!
Ron
http://community.webshots.com/user/dan_grace

How about hunting feral cattle in the thiket country in the SouthWest US. I haven't done it obviously but have talked to a few who have and read about it. derf

Living life in the manner of and style of Ben Lilly would be challenging to say the least. While not opposed to a gun, he was at home jumping onto a grizzly's back armed with a knife. Not for the faint of heart. Ben Lilly was a contemporary of T Roosevelt, and was as tough as they come.

Jackalope with a 45-70

I've moose hunted with those confounded brown bears arond... still, I truly believe the world's toughest hunt is a backpack, public ground, bull elk hunt in the Rocky Mountain West. I put in a bit over 140 foot miles last season.

I think from the shit can go very wrong files,the Heap Big Balls Award goes to Hathcock on his 4day sneak on the Baddie General.

I've zero doubt the event happened and would be hard pressed to come up with a stalk that took more time and incurred more danger.

Carlos wins................

I'm with Brad as far as the toughest hunt goes, Mr elk on his terms and on public land on your own, without any help from a guide is thee hunt! At least in my humnble opinion-grins.

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dog

LAWCOP: By far the most dangerous type of Hunting I have done has been Mt. Goat Hunting! The following things I have encountered could easily have terminated yours truly! Ice, slippery rocks, fearless hungry fall Bears, steep terrain, wet sleeping bags, dense fog, inability to get weather reports, incessant rain, inability to start a fire, travelling constantly in and over unfamiliar terrain with no trails, dangerous bush pilot rides into small high mountain lakes, retrieving fallen prey from dangerous places and countless other dangers relating to remoteness and lack of communication in emergencies! Besides these factors the super strenuous efforts involved in just stalking and getting ones camp and self into Mt. Goat country is a whole additional risk to oneself!
Hands down Mt. Goat Hunting is for the very adventurous yet cool headed Hunter only!
I am glad I have had my fill of Mt. Goat Hunting.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

My toughest hunts have been late season bighorn.You pack in by horseback in deep snow and cross partly frozen rivers hoping the horse doesn't take a bad slip and drop you into a freezing river or fall on you.You set up camp and try to keep warm in a tent at 20 below.Every morning you get up and ride through the snow and rivers until you get to the base of the mountains where you climb on foot over the icy rocks to get to glassing spots.You try to stay warm all day then ride back through the snow and river crossings to the tent where you try to stay warm for another night.You do this every day for a week to ten days hoping that you don't get snowed in or neither of you gets hurt as the nearest help is a long ride out by horseback.These hunts sort out the serious hunters from the wannabes in a hurry.

Mt Goat.

When you are up there, you are basically rock climbing with a rifle...

But Stubblejumpers sheep hunts sound pretty hairy, too.

If you can keep you r feet warm, tha;s half the battle!

well I know there is alot of people on this forum that think a tough hunt is driving down more than one dirt road, proping the RUM/SAUM or whatever over the hood of the old pick-up and making some "hero" shot (range multiplied by 2.75).
I dont know what would be the toughest, many of the so-called tough ones I havent been on yet. But... some of my toughest hunts have been ones I was didnt know what I was doing. Some of my other (ones I did know what I was doing) toughest hunts have been hunting browns when living in SE alaska. The terrain was oftan unforgiving.

Gatehouse, my location was full of it! I have lost countless Items (shoes ect) and almost my life a few times. just try to aviod it when the ground starts movin I guess.
How deep is the water under that stuff anyways? I always wanted to know.

[ 05-24-2003, 11:14: Message edited by: smallfry ]

Sneaking a new gun past the old lady.
Wait, I guess that makes me a Pussy, wimp, mamas boy. Never mind.

Pretty good Old Fart, gotta love that one.

Physically demanding (and most rewarding)-- definitely high altitude backpack hunting (sheep, goats, elk, etc.), especially once you get one.

Most dangerous-- got to be something like Big Stick's comment above about snipers.

[ 05-24-2003, 11:29: Message edited by: sscoyote ]

Hunting people in the jungle.

I LEFT people hunting out because that is a whole different class of "hunt". I spent 20 years in the ghettos of one of the most violent cities in the US and it IS DGH at another plane.

Was talking to an acquaintence who went on a polar bear hunt the old fashioned way(dog sled) a few years ago. Temperature never above -20. high winds and blowing snow. Then there was the bear. After many days out on the ice only finding tracks they were bedded down for the night when a polar bear decided it wanted to join them in the "igloo". Said he had no real definition to the term LOUD until you touch off a .338 inside an igloo. The powder burn spot on his 10' rug makes for interesting conversation.
Said the polar bear joke is "why do polar bears think igloos are candy? Because they are crunchy on the outside with a soft chewy center."

Hunting anything in the Wrangell Mountains of Alaska....especially goats and sheep.

Hunting Mountain goats in Alaska is as good as it gets. The Mountain goats live in areas a little bit higher than the dall sheep and they are tougher to put down.

I got to float my boat with the guys on hunting Mountain Goats and Sheep. I believe my mountain hunting days are over now. Lawdog

Short of working undercover in Columbia, Mexico and some major cities in the US, which brought my milk a few times...I think having hunted and shot a number of Cape Buffalo with a couple of charges is an attention getter, one Lion charge really startled me, they make a lot of noise when charging....Lions tend to weaken my knees, something nothing else will do.

For plain old endurance, hunting elephant in 100 plus degrees, sleeping on the track at night for up to 5 or 10 days at a go is the the toughest hunting I have tried, and never for that long, but 15 miles a day for 3 or 4 days in that heat is enough for me......

I suppose it depends on your personal experiences, I have a friend that really gets henky when hunting Bushbuck, he has been stuck twice, along with a lot of other folks....

Well I would consider trying to collect a good White Tail Buck, that is older than 3 years. In New England about as tough as it comes. Maybe not from a physical point of view, but of that they are very few and far between. My last was a big old past his prime, 8 pointer that was my best Connecticut Deer I ever shot, and that was 13 years ago. If I got a shot , 2 years earlier, he would have made the book. I would put Bull Elk on public ground right up there too.

Ron,

Please tell me you are only about 4' tall! My goodness, I had no idea that Brown Bears got that big!!! Your picture has just moved those to the top of my list. Thank you.

High country backpack hunting for a good sheep is as ball busting as it gets.
Danger is never far away and help is days away.
Big trouble if you get hurt.

Just the thought of a lion charge is enough to induce uncontroled urination.

I gotta agree with any critter found in the mtns. Sometimes the terrain will just plain be bad for your health.

http://community.webshots.com/user/lilbiggun

I agree with X-man completely. Backpacking for sheep is in a league of it's own, and goat hunting is right up there with it. Actually, goat hunting can be even more dangerous, and on a day-to-day basis, tougher.

Here's another spin on this subject: Lion hunting in Africa is generally not too physical, and no mountains are involved. But for sheer pucker power, I don't know of anything that will make your hair stand on end more than hunting a big male lion on foot, on his home ground, with the lion so close that you can actually smell him. This is a 500 lb. cat that can kill a 1600 lb. cape buffalo, and you've got a rifle and a bullet standing between you and kingdom come......

AD

Ive got to agree with most here, hunting after Sheep and Goat is at the top, super tough and dangerous. You do have some control in that situation though. Hunting big Brown Bear in the open with a bow and arrow with no back up, that is something only the men with the biggest BALLS do... period! Not much control over the outcome in that situation if things go wrong. I'd rate hunting Lion with a bow and arrow right up there with Browns too! No "solo" bow hunting them guys for me.

Hog Catching - One man, one Bulldog & some rope.

Like Digital Dan said, hunting people in the jungle ain't much fun. Being hunted by people in the jungle wasn't much fun either. Semper Fidelis.

The toughest hunt and perhaps could have been dangerous for "me" was cougar hunting with hounds in the Snake river between Oregon and Washington. All I did was ran uphill as fast I could every 500 yards because the tom kept getting away because the hounds could not bay or hold the cougar for more then 5 minutes. This went on for almost 2 hours. I was too slow and out of shape.

Toughest, pound for pound: late season wild chuckars.

Most dangerous: mountain lion with a varmint call? Dutch.

I would have to agree with Brad and Mark that the toughest hunt is for elk on public land with no guide (The only REAL way to hunt them). With no African experience I would have to claim the most dangerous is Mt. goats. Goats inhabit places that sheep fear to tread and one small mistake can be deadly.

My toughest hunt was for wild hogs with hounds. We started at the top of the highest hill where the dogs were turned loose. After a while the dogs began to bay in the distance, and we took off after them. It was mostly down hill but wet and slippery. By the time I got to the cornered, and pissed off boar (which I took with my .44 Mag) my 57 years old legs felt like rubber. I made a wise crack about it later, and the guide said, "Shit, I've seen guys half your age who couldn't do what you just did."
True or not it made me feel real good.

I reckon I'd have to go with sheep and Rky. Mtn. goat hunting, from my experience, the sheep (Stone) being the hardest for the longest duration (back packing), but goat the most dangerous. Referring to goats, Ibex (a goat) in Kyrgyzstan was trying, to say the least--14000 feet, steep, as in we should have been roped and tethered, or whatever mountain climbers do. It had probably the most dangerous periods in it of anything I've done, I spent way more time in one slip instant death situations than any sane man should--and oxygen is damn sure at a premium up there! The guy who mentioned late season chukar knows what he's talking about, though, I'll verify that!

Moutain Goat hunting to me was the most physically challenging I have ever been on. And some of the most dangerous hunting because of cliff climbing, snow, ice and about some of the worst weather you can imagine. I slid over hundred feet down a moutain side before I came up against this one lone tree. The next stop was 400 foot drop over a cliff. Because of couple busted up knees and heart attack my climbing days are over but the goat in British Columbia Rockies and the Thar hunt in New Zealand are my most memorable hunts and my toughest. The most dangerous animal I have every hunted was Cape bufflo. Shot it at 15 yards in some of the thickest bush I have ever been in. And prayed like hell it wouldn't charge when I shot. I would love to go lion hunting, that would really get the adrelin going. If I could afford it, I would go to Africa ever chance I could.

Did anyone here see Crockadile Hunter last night? He was tangling with one of Africas Black Mambas, sweating like a stuck pig too! I dont think Ive ever seen that guy that scared before. That is what you might call the proverbial tiger by the tail.