Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game The North American 29. What do you have?

Just curious , is it still legal to hunt Jaguar anywhere???????

Having worked in a couple of camps, I would say the percentage of these " Hunters" is rare around here. But they exist. I would not call these so much hunters as I would call them shooters. They rarely have input on strategy , unless it is too difficult, and fully expect the guides to "Do their Job!!!" Not my idea of great camp mates usually either.............

You're right...I shouldn't have said "sub-species" as that indicates scientific and genetic reasoning...I probably should have clarified that big game scoring organizations separate the Desert Bighorn from the Rocky Mountain bighorn....but they consider the Cali Bighorn the same as a Rocky Mountain Bighorn.

Anyhow I have taken:

Rocky Mountain elk
Mule deer
Whitetail deer
Pronghorn
Shiras moose
Barren Ground Caribou
Black bear
Cougar

I have killed wolf too, but it isn't on the NA29.
Like Buzz, I am not too concerned with slams and "lists"...I just like chasing critters and seeing new country.

I got lots of points in several states for bighorns and goats...plus I keep putting my name in NM and ID's sheep hat, but no luck. One of these days.

Did you steal some of Mark's lucky mojo in Alaska? He seems to have drawing luck as good as anyone.

Hell no. I have never seen anyone with the draw luck that guy has. He pisses me off...

I put in for everything in WY, MT, NM and AK as well as the ID sheep and Maine moose draw. These are the states that either have no point system or you don't need to buy a full license to buy/accumulate points. I quit AZ and NV and never bothered with OR, WA and UT (I need to look into VT and NH)...as I would rather put the money for licenses and point fees towards overseas hunts.

edited: MT is expensive ($70) for their moose, goat and sheep draws...though $20 of that buys you your bonus point...but there's no "point only option" so if you want your bonus point you have to pay the $50 app fee too. No big deal to me really, but it does get confusing trying to keep all the state's systems straight in your head, plus I am in too deep with Montana's system to stop now..

It's all good...I'll happily take my general tags and keep on marching....

Yeah, these type of people are rare but I have seen a few while working for different outfitters. I cannot believe they are not giddy, thrilled to hunt under these conditions.I Don't believe folks like this even look at the mountain peaks. I was raised in them and often look at them in disbelief they are so awesome!

The ones that really get me are the ones that invite themselves to go with you...then are late, grumpy, bitch about hiking so far, slow you down and end up killing a good critter when you didn't (which really isn't a big deal)....then they act like: "I had to get up at 4 in the morning for that?"

I've had this happen a few times, and to this day I still have not killed a critter that was as big as the one they got...one was a 10" tom turkey and one was an awesome whitetail buck with 3 drop tines.

What I admire most about some of the more successful posters here is that their thrill to hunt is actually that. They don't all punch the tag every time but they still enjoy what they do.

I enjoy ambling through game country and carrying a rifle. Don't make a lick to me if it's a squirrel timber or pronghorn prairie. I am grateful that my dad and uncles found the time to get me into situations where I learned to love the hunt.

Oh, and

Whitetail
mule deer
pronghorn
&
black bear
and 1 cow elk when I was 14

I don't believe that it is legal to kill a Jaguar anywhere. And if you did, the USFWS would not allow you to import it into the States. There may be countries that would allow you to dart a Jaguar "for scientific purposes" like Jim Shockey did on one of his shows.


I also just use the SCI and GSC/O lists to learn what animals are available because I like to hunt new animals and new areas.

I ran into a couple of "list" guys on a couple of my African hunts.

The first guy came with his PH (guide) to the concession that I was hunting so he could shoot an Eland. I talked to him after he shot his Eland, and he told me that he had become very successful in his business
and although he had not done very much hunting at home, his new found friends from his business told him he should go on an African hunt and gave him a list of animals that he should shoot. He said that he didn't have any idea what any of the animals were, and after he shot the Eland he was anxious to get on to the next animal on his list.

The other guy was a retired airline pilot who was big into the SCI slams. He was with the other guide on the concession that I was hunting. I would see and talk to this hunter at and after dinners. He was after one or two small African cats and a Hyena that he "needed" for one or more SCI slams. He "had" to get them on that hunt so that he could register them in time for the awards at the next SCI convention. He left that camp several days before I did, and in talking with his guide afterward, his guide just laughed and told me that this guy only cared about shooting these animals for his slams. The guide told me that when they found some Hyenas, the guy was so obsessed in just killing a Hyena that he didn't wait for the old male and just quickly shot the first one that came into the clear.

I was at a sport show last winter in Las Vegas where that guide had a booth. Even though he had not been my guide, and it had been 10 years since I had hunted at his concession, he saw me before I got to his booth and he came out to greet me and acted like we were long lost best friends.

I had a lot of fun so far elk hunting this year, seen plenty of elk, had Way too close encounters with moose. Hunted new areas, Dragged out and packed elk, even put down a sick cow elk..... But have no meat to show for it. And I am satisfied.

Living where you do, you do as well on general tags as I do on permits! He does have a good knack for drawing tags.

Might want to reconsider putting in for UT. It's $65 for the license, but you can make that stretch for 2 years. If I draw pronghorn in WY next year, I might come a few days early and see if my dog can find a sage grouse. I'll trade sage grouse tips for beers!

You got it...I killed 16 sage grouse this last year...which means I had to eat 16 sage grouse Easily got my limit every time I went out.

I like eating them! Kinda like beef liver.

white tailed deer
mule deer
antelope
that's all folks

This list has all the stuff that Jack O’Connor or Warren Page would have hunted, but it really needs to be updated. For starters I’d add javelina, all of the wolf and fox sub-species, alligator, and coyote. Even though they’re not native, I’d also add feral hog, Axis deer, fallow deer, mouflon, aoudad, blackbuck, and nilgai because enough of them are running around loose that you can honestly expect a shot at one if you hunt the Southwest, even without visiting a game farm. And if we use that as a criteria, then we can add feral goats, sheep, and donkeys because you can shoot as many of them as you want in Hawaii.

Also, if we’re going to list walrus and jaguar, then let's include sea lions, 20-30 varieties of seals, and a bunch of other endangered and/or protected species, which will make this list completely irrelevant instead of just partly irrelevant.

That said, I’m not willing to stoop to armadillo—I have to draw the line someplace.


Okie John

Living in Montana, you don't have to go anywhere else to find something to hunt. I have been fortunate enough to kill all the "Big Ten" in Montana. The best part is you can almost do it every year...

I really don't need to measure my dick against anyone else.

Interpreted this means you suck as a hunter?

You are tremendously luckier than I am in the draws.

I'll agree that you can hunt Mule and Whitetail deer, Elk, Mountain Lion, and Black bear every year. I think your second deer has to be a Whitetail doe. Antelope licenses have been reduced so it isn't a guaranteed draw every year any more. There are still a few "unlimited areas" for Bighorn sheep, but now if you buy a tag you have a 7 year wait before you can buy another. Moose, Goat, and Buffalo are also on a very low odds draw with Moose and Goat also on a 7 year wait after you draw a tag. You can buy a Buffalo hunt every year on Turner's ranch (which I did one year).

I've applied every year for almost 40 years for Montana Sheep, Moose, and Goat tags and every year that they have offered Buffalo tags. I also have the maximum number of "bonus points" for each species. I drew my last Goat license in 1978, my last Bighorn ram license in 1983, and my last Moose license in 1988. Back then they didn't have the 7 year wait restriction if you drew a tag. I am still waiting for my first Buffalo license.