The thing is, no matter how or where you hunt, your method is always easier than what someone else does. I did a 12 day walk-in hunt for Dall Sheep, with backpacks. It wasn't easy. And then I read about guys who do the same kind of hunt but with archery gear.
If you bagged that Dall, with a rifle, whatever. Hiked your ass off, glassed and hunted your ass off. Compared to sitting under a feeder and shooting it.
Which one would you feel like you’ve EARNED?
Good question. I'll start by saying the older I get and the more I think about it, the more I realize that what's important to me personally doesn't mean a whole lot to most others, nor should it.
As far as earning it or feeling a sense of accomplishment, yes the sheep hunt was physically tough and the most demanding hunt I've been on as far as pure physical effort. So for this lower 48 hunter it was the ultimate backpack hunt. But as a non-resident I was required to use a guide and truth be told, if you have a good guide who's done his homework, you're physically fit and able to keep up, and you can shoot straight when the time comes success rates are pretty high and mostly depend on your guide and the area you're hunting, not your individual skill. Hell, I would've been clueless up there looking for sheep on my own. There are guys who post here regularly who do the same kind of hunt DIY every year, and guys who guide those hunts. What was one of the most difficult hunts for me is just another hunt in sheep country for them but none of them chose to denigrate my hunt.
I like to hunt different animals using different methods. The fact that one kind of hunt is more challenging or takes more skill doesn't diminish the others. My most rewarding hunt wasn't the sheep hunt, it was one of the DIY hunts down here when I was fortunate enough to take a bull with a muzzleloader or bow and pack it out on my back, on my own. Either that or tagging along with my youngest son when he killed his first elk on an RFW hunt. That hunt was guided on private land with virtually 100% of the hunters getting an opportunity for a shot on day one. But it still ranks up there as one of my favorite hunts.
Probably the best response on this train wreck thread! Well said.
