Yes it seems that whitetails are very wary animals. But thats not to be confused with intellegence, they just have very keen senses and are afraid of anything that moves. Again I've never hunted them so I am only passing along knowledge I've heard from the so-called outdoor channel experts.

id go for the elk because i know there is a hugemoungous !!!!!!!!!!!! one near our property in sawyrd b.c and it would get in the reecord books, i picked up one of it's sheds on my property and i have seen it before

Rather be Huntin
You need to come East and chase whitetails for a while. I'll put you smack dab in the middle of good whitetail country in the snow so you can track (if you desire) and see what has come through and you will be very surprised on how hard you will hunt and come up with nothing. Stupid there not, not by a long shot.
I'm not taking anything away from Moose, elk or Mulies but there is no question they have an edge on a lot of game.

Moose is my first choice followed by Elk, Mulie, then Whitetail

EKM, I don't think anybody will argue the chances of harvesting a deer is very good in most places in NA. However you said Trophy and once you attach this tag all species become a formidable opponent IMHO. To me adding the word Trophy to the hunt "kicks it up a notch". Granted there will always be more deer entries in the record book but that is not due to being easier or less of a challenge to hunt, it has to do with population. Here the deer pop is pegged at over a 1 million animals and Elk less than 3% of that number (under 30K), it only stands to reason that more trophy animals will come from the deer side vs elk. Any way you slice it landing any animal in the book is a big accomplishment and one not every hunter will do.

As to smarts they all have their strong points, although the Elk would have to be tops IMO in this department. I use to think Mule Deer were stupid, until I started to hunt Trophies and found just how stupid they are not! I think it all boils down to personal experience and preference. Some find challenge in new experiences while others just need to change their methods, goals, viewpoints, area, etc for the game in which they have always hunted. Kicking it up a notch to me is extended myself past my past performance and is not just subject to the game I have chased...it is simply finding new ways to increase or maintain the challenge and try to be successful.

Moose because I wiil be hunting elk and mulie and whitetail every year.

I've always dreamed about Elk Hunting, so that would be my frst choice... Can I answer again after this upcoming saeson??

I think this is a very interesting subject. I have never hunted whitetails but I have done a little research. You are getting keen senses confused with intellegence. A whitetail is hard to hunt because he smells extremely well and he hears extremely well. His instincts tell him to run, not intellegence. I remember hearing something about thier intellengence on Babe Winkleman's show. Below I copied and pasted the trivia question he had. The question is worded wierd but heres the link if you'd like to look at it.

http://www.winkelman.com/OutdoorSecr...ives/0311.html

"3. Whitetails my be elusive, but they are not smart.

Answer: Deer are very good at eluding their predators with their smelling ability, but have a very short term memory and often forget about where the source of danger came from just minutes after the confontation."

Moose

Elk

Moose

Mulie

Whitetail


Elk are just two much fun! Been chasing 350 class bulls the last couple of years.

Cant wait for this fall