Good question-----IMO, it would have to be those timberline mulies. They live in the same rough terrain as the bighorn. But they are much more alert than the bighorn. They test the wind & can pick-up movement just as quick as a ram. They feed in the alpine but slip back into the timber to bed. Rams will bed in the open giving you a chance to stalk. If you look at the success rate on bighorn or mtn goat --at least here in Colorado it's pretty high Goats are pretty close to 100% & sheep is about 75%----I think it's been a couple of years since I looked.

Elk-----a great game animal----but he bugles, giving up his location. The timberline mulie doesn't.

By timberline mulie---I mean a 30" buck.

Not to brag or boost---But I've taken a 7/8 curl bighorn, 8" billly & a 300 class bull----all here in Colorado on public land -------but never a 30" mossyback,

That depends on what you call tough to hunt if you mean area I would guess it would be goats or sheep. If you talkin about smartest, craftiest, down right hardest to out wit then it would have to be a Pennsylvainia Whitetail deer I've hunted deer in a lot of places but the deer in PA are still the toughest to score on consistenly

nyflyer-
Have you tried hunting a public land muley in Utah lately? a success rate of a grand total of 27%! It really bites to have the fastest growing cougar population with a dwr that doesn't give out enough cougar tags (to top it off we are in an 11 year drought as well).

j3k2c1 yes as a matter of fact I have bowhunted for mulies in the Manti lasalle ( I think it's spelled right) widerness area. Saw more bucks in one day than I see in two years in PA. I'm not knockin you, but I considered that easy huntin.

Almost forgot sucsess rate in PA is only 10%

For the area that I hunt I would say that the elk is definitely the hardest to harvest. Though I usually get a chance every year I do have to work hard to get them even though they bugle. You still have to get into bow range and work everything perfect or they will spin on a dime and you will never see him again. Taking an elk sometimes isn't all that hard but getting a real trophy is.

I think the hardest would be a trophy whitetail in eastern maine. I think that becasue there may be 2 or 3 and all the deer up hear spook so easy they are like turkey.

Elk ain't hard to hunt, but its hard hunting. Mulies are hard hunting cause of the country they like to hang out in. Whitetails are the wiliest game critter, but nowadays they got gadgets like trail cameras and climbing tree stands to take all the challenge out of the chore. But using only boot leather and a standard 30-06, I'd say whitetail present the most challenging hunt opportunity cause you really gotta know what yer doin' to kill one, without all the crutches that is.

"That depends on what you call tough to hunt if you mean area I would guess it would be goats or sheep. If you talkin about smartest, craftiest, down right hardest to out wit then it would have to be a Pennsylvainia Whitetail deer I've hunted deer in a lot of places but the deer in PA are still the toughest to score on consistenly"

Damn right nyflyer, but I have to add there are pretty dang wiley in NJ too! Lots of people don't realize what its like hunting an animal that gets the kind of hunting pressure the whitetails get in our (pa, nj, ny) area get.

Out here in the west I will have to say the antelope is the toughest to hunt with bow, then the muley, and last but not least the elk. I will probbably will never have a chance to hunt sheep.