What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

Which big game species is the most difficult to hunt, is it the elk, whitetail, moose, sheep, bear, and what's your reason's? I hunted various animals and for me its a toss up between the elk and whitetail deer, what say you?

Dr. Mike

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

Bighorn sheep as legal rams are scarce and the terrain is demanding.Many people would not be capable of enduring a backpack hunt for bighorns let alone kill a ram.

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

i would have to say antelope because you can see them in one spot and then there not there when you go after them. Also because they are quite quick

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

I have never had the opportunity, but from the information I have gathered sheep are the toughest due to the terrain. Good luck.

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

From what I understand hunting for a trophy elk would be the max. You first have to find 1 which involves hiking in steep terrain for 10-12 miles a day. then you have to sneak up on it and considering the fact that their built in radar outstrips the finest technology that the U.S. possesses. Finally you have to pack the darn thing out!

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

I would go with mountain goat or dall sheep for the terrain.

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

I could see hunting elk being the toughest on yer wallet, but that's about it.

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

I'm not sure if you mean physically, financially or something else. It takes a decade of waiting or $100,000 in the auction to get a bighorn tag in CO.

Although I have heard those sheep hunts are pretty tough, I have at least four years to wait and get in shape.

I am equally sure those DG hunts are difficult. I don't think my drawers would fare too well. Right now, it seems AK grizzly/moose hunts are around 20k, which is more than I would spend.

I would say for the vast majority of NA hunters, the wapiti is as tough as it gets.

CE

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

Big Horn Sheep & Mountain goat just because of the demanding terrain. Elk are the hardest animal I hunt year in & year out. After you kill an elk the real work begins.

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

As Teddy Roosvelt once said, "Hunting the mule-deer is the most noble sport of all the deer, yet the true challenge is the big-horn."

As for me I (having never hunted bighorns) would say that an elk is pretty tough to beat.

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

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,

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

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

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

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).

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

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.

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

Almost forgot sucsess rate in PA is only 10%

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

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.

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

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.

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

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.

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

"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.

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

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.:D

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

I have hunted all of the species mentioned here, and in my opinion, the hardest trophy to harvest is a whitetail buck with the bow and arrow right here in Pennsylvania. Our deer wake up nervous and don't take many naps. They are as high strung as a secretary with pms and twenty cups of coffee in her system.

On the other hand, if you are talking about the species you would have to be in the best shape to hunt, my opinion changes a bit. Flip a coin between mountain goat and sheep (Dall comes to mind). A backpack hunt for two weeks is darned tough, and you better not be fat and overweight.

At the age of 62 (in two weeks), I can still hunt most of the species out there, but there is one I won't tackle. That is polar bear. The weather is just too harsh, and I like having all my fingers and toes. Polar bear gets my vote as the toughest to hunt, even though you might not have to be in as good shape as you do to hunt sheep or goat.

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

Nyflyer-
I have hunted whitetails in Pa- centre county- and in one afternoon saw around 25 bucks-13 spike/forkhorns-1or 2 small 7 or 8 pointers and many 6 pointers.
this year in the scofield/knuckwoodard area I only saw 6 bucks and 3 were after dark. Where in the Manti/lasalle did you hunt? Yes this also is the most heavily populated area for deer in Utah other than the Paunsagunt or Kaibab (or CWMU ranches). I am willing to bet that 80% of the bucks that you saw were spikes/fork horns. You might have seen 1-2 trophy mulies (4x4 or 24") but then you would be very lucky. And hate to break it to you, but just looked on the Pa Division of Natural resources web page and the results so far for the hunt show a 46% success rate on bucks, so look up your facts please.

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

You might try that yourself, j3. In Pa last year, we had nearly a million licensed hunters. The BUCK kill was estimated at 175,000. That would be a 20% success rate or perhaps a bit less. Of the half million whitetails we harvested, 2/3 were does or antlerless male fawns, referred to as antlerless deer by our blame commission. To get your 50% success rate, you have to include does and fawns, and assume that only one deer was killed per successful hunter.

What NY was talking about was the success rate among those nearly a million hunters. Some of us take three or more deer per year. The huge majority of that million hunters take none. I suspect his 10% figure is very close to being accurate. In most of the state this year, we were permitted one buck (with antler restriction of either three or four points on one antler) and two doe tags.

In my camp in south central Pa., six hunters harvested four deer. I took three of them. Lest you think I am bragging, I'm not. I am the only one who is retired. I hunt almost every day I'm not off hunting something in another state. Your hunting out west is great compared to what we have.

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

Thank You patrkyhnt you took my thunder but you hit the nail on the head. Some more examples. Our camp in north central has 12 to 18 guys a year. we take two deer (usally on the first day). In the last 20 years only 5 times did we shoot more than 2 deer. 4 times we killed a 3rd deer, and one year we managed 7 deer over the two week buck season. We have never done that before or since in the 74 years that this camp has been here. To prove that it's not from a lack of deer. we hold a bear camp the week before the buck season opens and we count between 15 to 25 different bucks in three days on a 950 acre piece of property. doing the math for the last 20 yrs. We kill 2.25 bucks per year with an average of 15 hunters in camp. That = 15% per year on private land. Most of PA's hunters hunt public land and don't fair nearly this well. In fact in PA the average deer hunter shoots a BUCK once every 10 years. With a hunting time of three days.

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

You guys think you have it rough.... Ha HA In my living room I can sit for hours upon hours and not so much as see a deer, I can make endless trips to my Fridge and not so much as see a pile of deer crap! 0% success rate. I tell you what I do not wether to laugh or sit and cry.
:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

Come on out west and try the Blacktail Deer for something tough to hunt.

All I ever hear is Whitetail, whitetail, whitetail. Buncha Whinners! Come on out
here and try a real deer hunt for Blacktails, they will have you pulling your
hair out. Thats' why I aint got much left up top anymore!;)

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

the 3 hardest hunts i have tried

1. takeing a 30" muley (maybee next year)
2. spot and stalk black bear (maybee next year)
3. takeing over a 300 point bull elk (maybee next year)

all on public land in the mountains of western wyoming

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

Well if you put in 3 days I am sure that shooting a buck would be a long shot. I do think that all of us need to take into account of the different hunting methods we do for our different species as well. so I am eating a bit of crow with the does/fawns included. but just for curiousity sake, how many bucks were mature that you saw on the manti/lasalle ny?

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

The first time I went I saw 8 3x3's or better and 10 or more young bucks. The second trip I saw 5 3x3 or better and 5 young bucks. This was the bow season in Aug. and Sept.

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

What area of the manti lasalle?

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

I'd say antelope because they are so fast and usually where you hunt them it is open and they can get away from you before you even realize they are there.

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

Where do you go for the tastiest game animal? I go t wyoming and typically have shot both my does with a couple of great stalks by about 12:00 p.m. I have not yet drawn a buck tag but my dad did and shot a 14" that was 15" wide in the first 3 hrs of hunting.

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

Mountain Goats, hands down, no contest. I have hunted mule deer, whitetail deer, blacktail deer, Rosevelt elk and mountain goat, and in this state atleast goat is it.

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

Spring City

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

Thanks! I enjoy hunting for sheds as well as for meat, always appreciate some more info!

Just out of curiosity as you didn't state how may 4x4 or 24"+ deer you saw, how many in this class?

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

Sportsmen outta be up in arms 'bout the ignert position VA G&F is taking on the reinterduction of elk, instead of milking the system. Same stupidity what wiped all the game out back there 200 year ago.

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

What are they doing exactly?
just curious...

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

nyflyer, pa guys, you are all wrong! try to get a record making buck in vermont! doesn't happen! we by far have the roughest job of getting bucks. personally, i couldn't care less about making a book over meat in the freezer, but just check, how many b&c, p&y entries can you find from here? our success rate hovers around 10%, i believe. but then again, if you just want meat, like me, it isn't too hard. hardest game elsewhere? whiye phase bear on vancouver island, so i hear. sorry, guys from p.a., but i know guys that go to your state to hunt, and they don't seem to have problems getting good bucks. maybe we know something about deer hunting that you don't?:D, lol

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

Vt the original question was what's the toughest game to hunt. I never said anything about trophy animals. Based on the simple facts. The odds of shooting a buck in PA. is only 10% Given the amount of deer we have in this state and the amount of hunters. This would only go to prove that the Deer in PA are more wary and smarter than the ordinary deer in other parts of the country Period. There is nothing that anyone can say that will change that fact.

RE: What's the toughest game to hunt?
 

I hate to point out that Pa has one of the largest deer herds in the U.S. and are among those with the best buck:doe ratios as well.

vtbuck-
thankyou for the pa hunter imput! they really don't have it that bad. My uncle lives there and has never gone a season without getting a 7 point or better. this year was a beautiful 8 that scores 168 3/8. I also enjoy a fellow meat hunter. I will take a spike if it gives a shot.:D