Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game What is your favorite NA big game animal to hunt?

Still working on making an informed decision.

Love walking across the prairie hunting antelope the best. Usually decent weather that time of year and then there are those prairie dogs.....

Probably a tie for me between coues deer and pronghorn.

Followed closely by mountain whitetails in Western Montana and mule deer anywhere.

Distant 5th place to elk.

Cant hardly count sheep and goats as most just never get that many opportunities to hunt them.

Mule deer followed by elk.

Overall I think I get the most excited about pronghorn, mostly because you can find trophy size critters on fairly easy to get tags.Plus they are my favorite game meat.

then it'd be big mule deer, which usually kick my ass.

Elk are usually an afterthought, and I'll shoot one every few years cuz they usually eat good. i've always been kinda ho-hum about them for some reason..All tho great elk tags and huge bulls will take my enthusiasm for them to another level.

speed goats by far.....normally lots of animal, great country and the pack out is easy....plus they taste great.....packing out elk gets down right masochistic at times

Elk have become my favorite over the past 12 years. The country they live in is demanding and they taste better than all other big game - according to the wife.
One elk per year is all we need. Someday I hope to be able to buy a resident tag!

whitetails

I'm another big antelope hunting fan, its what I look forward to most each year.

As much as I like to chase mule deer there isn't much finer than being out in the sage in Wyoming looking for a nice antelope buck!

Big mule deer followed by elk. If it had been any animal it would be coyotes way out front.

In order of preference:
1) pronghorn antelope.
2) mule deer.
3) whitetail deer.
4) moose.
5) elk.

I reserve the right to change my mind after my trip to Africa in May.

Funny, but I have often said that if meat was not an issue and I could only hunt one thing for the rest of my life, I would probably choose coyotes.

Coyotes are common, no limits, often no seasons, challenging.

Kodiak Sitka deer because they're some of the best eating game there is. Moose and Caribou are great but Sitka deer are better and also easier to carry. --- Mel

Sheep is the hunt that I look forward to most every year, but I tend to enjoy whatever I'm hunting.

If I were to live someplace I couldn't hunt sheep, I'd choose that place by the quality of the elk hunting...

Mule deer.
Location? Wherever scenarshooter would take me...

I got hooked on elk hunting for good about 29 years ago and have hunted them somewhere every year since then. However, if I could only hunt one animal to the exclusion of all others, it would be Coues whitetails. I love the animals, I love the country and I love the challenge. Now that I have a new knee that works, I am back in the game!

Elk, followed by elk and elk. Especially during the rut. Gave up 2 months of whitetails for a week of chasing elk and never looked back.

Dall Sheep- for the trophy and the country they inhabit...

Elk- a freezer full of elk meat is never a bad thing.

Mule Deer- have never had luck getting tags, but I really want to dedicate some years to chasing them!

Sheep are great in their own way, but I suspect success with really outstanding examples has a lot to do with which ones rises to the top of the favorites. Having shot a pretty good whack of very fine examples I have to go with Sitka deer, still.

The season is only 5 months long, 3 tags per year free for residents and some years they raise the number as high as 7. They eat better than just about any other game meat and you might get to meet their neighbors while wandering around out there.

Limiting it to species I have covered all but 3 in North America...

Least favorite would have to be someone else's moose!

Elk, though my grizzly hunt was great but something I will only do once.

Blacktailed deer.

Why? Fall is my favorite time of year and prime blacktailed deer habitat is the best place to experience fall. Leaves start to change color, still generally dry out but the edge is gone off the heat, a little chill at night. And with any luck, a little venison for the smoker.

Tom