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

Right now, Alaska-Yukon moose are my favorite animal to hunt, just something about glassing for big bulls on a chilly Sept day that brings a smile to my face.

When it comes to game meat, dall sheep wins that category hands down, dalls are the best eating game meat in NA IMO.

roundoak, I agree with you. There is nothing to get blood flowing like great mule deer country. Wonderful!

Tie between elk and mule deer.

I like hunting all of them.
The seasons determine my favorite.
That said, it's hard to beat Big Mule deer.

Big deer and big antelope!!!!

Elk with a someday moose.

I haven't hunted the wide array of game that some have, but when it comes down to those that I've hunted, there's no way that I could choose just one as a favorite. I love to hunt antelope, being able to choose from dozens of bucks and see game all day long is fun. Elk are a blast, whether it is an archery hunt during the rut in the Breaks or a late season hunt in the mountains, I really enjoy the whole process. WT and MD are a lot of fun, archery hunting for a velvet buck or hunting our five week rifle season, I'll never tire of looking for a big deer. Bears are fun, but I've shot enough that I do it more for fun than as a serious endeavor. Which isn't to say that I don't get pretty wound up when I see one that I want. I hope to one day be able to hunt some of the other stuff that's out there. For now I'm kept pretty busy just trying to shoot stuff in MT, WY, and ND. A big caribou and a moose are on the short list of stuff that I need to kill sooner than later. The more I think about it, the more I realize that there's no way that I'll ever have a favorite animal to hunt. It's the hunt itself that I enjoy more than anything else.

When I was young and lived in the East and then the mid west it was mallards and whitetails with a bow. Today I live on the left coast and have found that's there is nothing like chasing big stinky old bull elk in the fall through the beautiful high country of AZ,Montana,NM,CO NV and Utah.

I've only hunted Elk, mule deer, whitetail and hogs but Elk is my absolute favorite.

All of my big game hunting has been white-tail deer and black bears in Michigan. I like hunting deer, but black bear are my passion. The bears are more interesting, the weather nicer, and I have a longer season.

Without question and for quite some time now, it's been Coues whitetail deer.

BIG whitetail.

Have hunted whitetails, elk, black bear, and caribou. Killed many, MANY deer and 2 'bou. Have yet to get my first elk or bear. Would like to get a moose someday. One big problem with elk, 'bou, and moose is the expense. Hunting any of those is for the most part out of reach for me financially. The times I hunted elk, I loved the comaraderie of the camp more than the ceaseless hoofing in steep country, which I can no longer do. If I ever do get an elk or moose, I will have to hire it hauled out. Just getting there and back is probably more than I can handle now, unless I can ride in a vehicle.

I have to say my favorite is whitetails. I can hunt them out my back door on my own property. My young, strong sons helps me pack them out. Nowadays I hunt a lot with my wife, which we both love a lot.

Desert Bighorns then speed goats

I've never seen a Coues, but I know there are a lot of aficionados.

What is it that makes Coues a favorite?

I really enjoyed my coastal black bear hunt. I like shooting wild hogs as well. Like coyotes, no season, no limit, and they get big.

The remoteness. The terrain. The weather. The wariness of a whitetail buck that's pursued on a daily basis by mountain lions, the occasional jaguar, the occasional red wolf, coyotes, bobcats, black bears and humans. The difficulty of trying to even see an animal that's so incredibly camouflaged. And the allure of chasing specific older age-class bucks that are virtually unseen, in an ecosystem that's beyond challenging. Not to mention how petite and beautiful they are.

Used to be that Dall sheep were my favorite big game animal to pursue. That was the case for about 15 years or so. Now it's Coues whitetail deer and that's been the case for about 20 years or so. Currently, second place belongs to mountain goats and older age-class brown/grizzly bears. Dall sheep have fallen to fourth place, behind desert bighorn sheep and California bighorn sheep (tied in third place). Older age-class mule deer -- Sonoran, Rocky Mountain and Pacific (sub-species) -- are tied in fifth place.

I thought for sure you were going to say Russian women.

That's what I'm talking' about. Niiiice!

Axis
More bang for the buck.

Public hunt Texas Whitetails are hardly worth the effort.