OK, this is sort of blue skying on my part, but I would like, sometime in the next couple of years, to hunt red stag or Mongolian elk. I just checked airfare prices out of my local airport -- Portland International (PDX) and flights to Buenos Aires, Ulaanbator and Auckland are within a couple of hundred bucks.
Hunt prices are a bit tougher to nail down. I would not be paying a huge trophy fee just for a high-scoring bull, but would of course want a nice, mature specimen.
Argentina is attractive on many counts, not the least of which is the abundance of the game and great food and accommodation I see in the hunt reports here.
New Zealand's many charms need no additional mention.
Mongolia is attractive for its incredible culture and the charm of going somewhere exotic.
If anyone here has hunted these destinations, and especially all three, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
I'm no retired orthodontist, just an old newspaper hack, so I'd be looking for the most "bang for my buck" on the overall experience.
Oh, one more thing. I'd like to hunt with a lever action rifle, probably an 1895 Winchester in .405.

Bill,

I have hunted Mongolia and NZ. I didn't hunt elk in Mongolia nor did I hunt red stag in NZ. From what I can see, free range stag in NZ are uncommon and much less smaller than the fenced hunt. Frankly, I can't see hunting behind a fence at anytime, much less flying half way around the world to do it.

I did a DIY hunt in NZ after a guided deal for chamois and tahr, but it wasn't very serious and more like a 25 mile hike. But it was fun.

I want to hunt Argentina in the near future; looks like a really good time.

Thanks AZ. Your comment and a couple of PMs I have had and I think New Zealand is off the list. I'd shoot a ranched meat bison under some circumstances but not a stag.

I have hunted free range stag in Argentina twice. Will probably do so again. First time was in Patagonia on horseback. Wide open beautiful country, kind of reminded me of Wyoming. Second time was in La Pampa. Stalking through Calden thickets, reminded me of hunting Buff in Tanzania.
Both times the Mrs came along and enjoyed it. We were staying in nice lodges eating well and drinking malbec. I would go back for the food alone.

http://forums.accuratereloadin...=685104264#685104264

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BT: Argentina seems to be a really good choice. The food and fellowship are a big part of it.

Bill - I've hunted all 3 countries for big game. I would rate them as the following, were I to consider doing so again.

1st choice - New Zealand! Beautiful country, great people, great trophies, great food/lodging.

2nd choice - Mongolia! Unique place/culture and some big wild/free ranging critters. The food sucks, and dealing with the Mongolians is difficult to say the least.

3rd choice - Argentina! Good food/lodging and people, but nothing overly exciting, including the hunting.

Just my opinion - good luck!

Bill, if Bang for the Buck is on the table, Argentina would be my pick. I went in March 2 years ago for $3,999, trophy fee included. We saw free range Red Stag every day, and nobody in our group had trouble tagging out, even the bowhunters. Food was way over the top, as were the accommodations. I could check with the agent to see what the current prices are. Here's mine, and there were many animals of this size that I encountered in the 7 days I was there.

I have not done Mongolia. I have done the others.

I would not automatically write off NZ. They have much bigger stags. Some of the hunting can be quite difficult . The country is amazing.

Have hunted none of them. But I don't see much in common between New Zealand/Argentina and Mongolia.

Mongolia is much much more expensive. The plane ticket is not the best comp to use for the hunt cost.

Mongolia is also a terrible country - not in beauty or wildlife - but in culture. Mongolians are xenophobic and their food is as terrible as it gets.

Only positive to hunting Mongolia is in 15-25 years you can tell everybody you been to mongolia when the country does not exist. Just my worthless 2 cents.

Mike

Also keep in mind Mongolia has a very unstable political environment from a hunting point of view. Its not a developed hunting destination and its political system is a populist mess.

Most booking agents or guys selling you a hunt will not mention it or ignore it.

But if you end up having any accident (firearms related, vehicle or transport related, wildlife law related) you will be praying to god to be stuck in New Zealand or Argentina.

http://www.businessweek.com/ar...-executives-detained

These are guys are with real global multinational companies backing them but they are stuck in limbo in Mongolia.

Its a risk not mentioned in hunting adventure business or even marketed as a exotic location and culture thing. But it is a risk that is there and one that you should be aware off.

Again just my worthless 2 cents.

Mike

Jon, that's a beautiful stag! Mike: Points well taken.

I have not hunted Mongolia. When deciding between New Zealand and Argentina, I ultimately choose Argentina for it's free range hunting. My wife and I both loved it there. the food was awesome, the wines great and hunting stags during the roar was a unique and fun experience. We were in La Pampa, so the brush was thick and the stags hard to see, but what a hoot.

Prior to the hunt, we went on a progressive fly fishing float trip for a week, stopping along a different stretch of fiver each day for lunch and each night to camp. I highly recommend this!

A doctor friend of a friend hunted Argentina last year I believe and took 7 stag for a total price of about $4,000. Trophy stag management stag and assasins, which are ones with a brow tin broken off and the fee is $0 on those.

Still trying to get info on who he hunted with because I want to go.

SBT, you took an exceptionally nice stag. Congratulations!

What do you know, I'm alone in this. I would hunt big game in Mongolia not New Zealand and Argentina.
I would definitely hunt birds and fish in in Argentina and New Zealand.

You need to be aware that the really big stags "hunted" in New Zealand are invariably raised behind wire and sold to the hunting industry , and are not free-range. If you dont have any moral difficulty with that then come here to hunt , the variety of game animals is varied , game bird hunting can be very good , and its a nice , fairly safe place to visit - we speak a similar version of english too.

quote:

Originally posted by Navaluk:
What do you know, I'm alone in this. I would hunt big game in Mongolia not New Zealand and Argentina.
I would definitely hunt birds and fish in in Argentina and New Zealand.

Well, I would also always go to the most exotic and remote area/country I could find.
Instead of Mongolia you could also just to to Kazastan and hunt Maral&Ibex there.

My only experience is New Zealand - great place, speak English, superb trophies and zero hassles.

I have Mongolia on the "hit list" but only for ibex or sheep. I would get an agent that knows the area upside down and backwards, then consider Turkey!

I have hunted various game in all three countries, but was unaware that Mongolia has reopened for maral (elk) hunting. If it has, I would definitely recommend the experience.

The food was awful, the hunt was disorganized, and my guides and interpreter were drunk more often than not when I hunted there in the early 1990s, but I would do it again if I were younger.

I saw more than 100 bull elk in the ten days I was in the country, and came home with a smallish 6x6 bull and what would have been the No. 1 Siberian roe deer at the time if I had entered it.

Of all my hunting trips, though, this was the most memorable. (I like to say I stayed in a yurt, rode a yak, and hunted a yelk.) If you're willing to go with the flow, by all means do it.

Bill Quimby

quote:

Originally posted by billrquimby:
I have hunted various game in all three countries, but was unaware that Mongolia has reopened for maral (elk) hunting. If it has, I would definitely recommend the experience.

The food was awful, the hunt was disorganized, and my guides and interpreter were drunk more often than not when I hunted there in the early 1990s, but I would do it again if I were younger.

I saw more than 100 bull elk in the ten days I was in the country, and came home with a smallish 6x6 bull and what would have been the No. 1 Siberian roe deer at the time if I had entered it.

Of all my hunting trips, though, this was the most memorable. (I like to say I stayed in a yurt, rode a yak, and hunted a yelk.) If you're willing to go with the flow, by all means do it.

Bill Quimby

I actually loved the food on my Mongolian hunt. I distinctly remember having trout that was so good I asked for it my last night there again. But you can have that yak milk tea or whatever it is. Yuck.