I have been thinking about this recently and it's kind of rubbing me the wrong way.

Why do most Americans hunt red deer in Argentina or New Zealand when stags aren't any more expensive in Europe?

We have tahr, red deer, some of the worlds best fallow as well as 50 other species on game ranches in America and Canada so why would a guy fly to New Zealand to hunt the same thing.

If your doing it for the experience I understand. Last night I spoke to an friend of mine that really wanted a tahr and chamois. I said "well yeah me too". He said that he was considering going down there just for those two animals, but he hadn't found any deals cheaper than $10,000 for the two of them.

For $10,000 he could have hunted a tahr in Texas or Nebraska and killed 2 or 3 chamois in Slovenia or Austria including everything.

I can see traveling to New Zealand or Argentina because you want to go, but why would you get so wrapped up in an exotic we have in America?

He's not the first person I have seen say this, a friend I was working with in Australia from Texas wanted to kill an Australian Red stag in the worst way, I said well you should really spend your money on Sambar, Rusa, Banteng or Water Buffalo.

Not that we don't have sambar, water buffalo and rusa in America the sambar are extremely expensive and the rusa are expensive and very small and the water buffalo don't have the same horn configuration as the ones in Australia.

I can see spending money on exotics that aren't exactly available in America. But why spend $6000 on a redstag in Australia when you could do that in the states and shoot a bigger deer.

Might very be the chance to visit and see a different country.

Some times if not all about money and killing.

That's not 100% what I am saying.

I didn't intend for it to come off that way.

What I am saying is that people will pay more to go to New Zealand or Argentina than they will to go to Europe. I don't have a problem with people doing whatever they want, I just think it's an odd choice.

I have heard several people say "I really want to go to New Zealand for a red stag".

Odds are they will shoot one in a fenced property in New Zealand, where in Europe the odds would be an unfenced property. So it would in that instance be about the killing?

I don't have my panties in a wad over it, but I am scratching my head.

I have lived on five continents I love to travel, and hunting is the essence of my being, it is the only absolute passion of mine.

Maybe they don't consider exotic hunting in Argentina, New Zealand and Australia to be exotic hunting. Maybe I am just missing that aspect of it.

You could hunt all 3 species in Texas with an African PH on the 777 Ranch if you wanted to.

At much more expense.

African game isn't the intent of this conversation, there isn't much of a reason to hunt African game on a game ranch in Texas beyond Scimitar Horned Oryx, Addax, Dama Gazelle and Aoudad that you can't hunt in Africa anymore.

The title of the discussion, does not put parameters on either the destination or the species.

Folks are giving some excellent answers based on their own experiences or how they view the base question. I would love to go to Africa and hunt Cape Buffalo/Eland and Greater Kudu.

Personally, I won't go to Africa because, and before anyone comes back with the "Well The Meat Does Not Go To Waste" comment, it would be a Trophy Only hunt, because I don't hunt to feed the starving pygmies, I want to be able, 3 or 4 months after I get back home, invite family/friends to the house and grill some of the meat from the animals I killed. I can not bring the meat back from Africa.

The flip side of that, is even though I can/could kill both an Eland and a Greater Kudu here in Texas and bring all of the meat home, but as has already been stated, Texas isn't Africa, so the overall experience is not there and while I have no proof of it, I seriously doubt that an Eland born and raised on a Texas ranch will taste the same as one that grew up in the African bush.

To some or many hunters, the trophy from a hunt, is the total experience, not just the animal killed.

I would not spend a dime in Europe.New Zealand is a dream of mine and I am almost there.I would also hunt Australia and Argentina.I know of no free range Red Deer in the USA.

For me it's not getting the biggest animal for my $, it's the adventure itself that makes the hunt and traveling to some exotic area to hunt them that makes it special and unique.

BWW, you can hunt Bongo in Texas too. Go get um killer. I'll take Cameroon over Texas any day.

Mrs Blacktailer and I are going to Argentina in March for the second time. We hunt there for stag because we like to hunt free range. Also she was supposed to get a blackbuck last time but ended up with a fallow instead so we just had to go back so she could get her blackbuck.
I looked into blackbuck in Texas but the hunts I found were about the same price as Argentina and did not include stag. We both enjoy Argentina a lot.

Why hunt non-native game in NZ versus its native Europe? The easiest answer is " Why not?". Finances, of course, are a very real consideration. I'd love to hunt red deer on every continent they are available, as long as no fences are involved.

On the other hand, I do go on meat hunts on big fenced Texas ranches and can attest that Eland from Texas, Namibia, and Zimbabwe have ALL tasted wonderful. I also wish that all game meat, regardless of country of origin, could be flown home for later enjoyment. Although contamination & disease-spread now preclude this, perhaps future techno-advances will make it possible.

Big Wonderful Wyoming,
Just a question, did you previously post under a different name?

Coyote Hunter with 44 post?

You an old AR hand hiding in the wind too?

quote:

Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:
Coyote Hunter with 44 post?

You an old AR hand hiding in the wind too?

Was there another before that? You post a lot of the same stuff as another guy who used to post here.

Maybe it's the adventure aspect of the hunt. New Zealand, And Argentina are much wilder places than Europe, at least to my mind.

quote:

Originally posted by Lhook7:

quote:

Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:
Coyote Hunter with 44 post?

You an old AR hand hiding in the wind too?

Was there another before that? You post a lot of the same stuff as another guy who used to post here.

That's it D99 would take me back to the inseption of AR.