Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Where to hunt ?

Friends, colleagues, good fellows and Gals:

Things I have often contemplated! What to hunt and where to hunt it? I suppose I could/should limit scope to North America. But I'll open the door to world wide too.

I've been hunting for a very long time. I'll set the parameters of what and where. Money is a limiting factor somewhat, but waive that. Suppose there are funds for a 6 to 10 day hunt. The game type is big game - not necessarily dangerous big game. The thing that has set me off now is that I have been reading recent books about competent hunters experiences in various parts of the world for various game. This has exposed - to me - previously unknown and unsuspected little pockets of a super abundance of game in great numbers.

The goal here is to search out the best places with the most likely chances of success. For example - when I was young, and not too smart, I made some rather unfortunate decisions and went to the wrong places.

USA & Canada:

Deer, moose, bison, elk, caribou, antelope, bear, big horn sheep, musk ox. In some States it can take years to draw a tag. Shifting to parts of Canada can mean an over the counter tag and seeing, for example, multiple game in a day - indeed in some places hundreds in a day.

Africa:

Some countries are off the list, little or no game. East and South Africa are high on the charts. In some places there is an abundances of some species. In others it's maybe a game farm.

Rest of the world, SE Asia, Russia, South America, Australia, New Zealand:

So lets suppose that I am planning a hunt *( Or hunts ). I'm not particular about what species. Of course there are hunters and there are hunters. Tough question to answer but:

What are the best species for abundance? Where are they located?
Easiest tags to get? Best ratio of success? Best " bang for the buck"?

FWIW - A friend of mine just did a 10-day hunt in Kamchatna, Russia for brown bear. He was able to kill two bear and the price was about 60% of a guided hunt in Alaska.

He should go again, while the getting is good. "First come, first serve" is the motto of wildlife management in Russia.

Fees to the state wildlife agencies, OTOH are part of the costs for a guided hunt in AK.

I've always wanted to see Australia. A while back one of the members here posted about hunting feral camels down there and how there are millions of them in the Outback. That just sounds like a really fun trip with no language barriers and plenty of opportunity to take game. No, they aren't trophy animals, but I think the experience would be fantastic!

I've been on 2 safaris and twice to Argentina and hunted in the western US. Probably the most exciting was a horseback hunt for
free range red stag in Patagonia. While I only took 1 stag, we saw 20-25 per day and they were roaring and fighting all around us.
The cost was far less than a safari. Best bang for the buck I have experienced.

Have you yet been to Africa? If not, I would recommend a plains game hunt in either S. Africa or Namibia- great fun, lots of game, and not too horribly expensive (yet). Do it while you can.

Not a very accurate statement NR hunting license in Alaska are $85 and Brn bear locking tag $500. Hunts are going for $20,000 or more now.. Fish and game not making much.

Good feedback, thanks.

I'm thinking about setting my grandson up for a hunt, his first really BIG game adventure.

Yes, I did live and hunt in Africa but many years ago. Things changed. I'm not current at all.

I also hunted Canada. Good success after I did my homework and smartened up.

What I am hearing are places like:

Anticosti Island where you can be down on the beach and sneak up, peek over the crest and see 30 shoot able bucks within range.

England and Ireland on Royalty estates completely overrun that cull 200 deer annually.

Canadian BC areas where an abundance of many game species can be seen.

Alaska caribou migrations where hundreds are seen daily, Same with parts of Canada.

Much more-------------

I've heard really good things about Namibia, staying with Dutch families, home cooking, very friendly, big variety of plains game and reasonable prices.

Some of the East African country's are much more murky. Ethiopia had a great abundance but seems to not be in the main stream and very expensive. Mixed reports about Zimbabwe. Not much reliable info about those other peripheral countries.

He's not talking about an $85 hunting license. You think guides get to operate for free without paying the state? So who in turn pays those fees, the hunter.

Never been there myself, but wouldn't TX whitetail fit your criteria? Wouldn't be my first choice, but if you want abundance...