the Top Five Hunts Every Truly Dedicated Hunter Should Experience

[Speeddmn]

Archery whitetail in the golden triangle area!
Any elk hunt in the Rockies! FYI Utah general rifle elk is much harder than some think!
Pheasant in the Dakotas!
Muleys in the badlands!
Spring Black Bear in Montana!

 

[CabinFever]

Well... There's 4 american hunts in there... And some optional extras.

No worries, I'm not even sure I could put any order to my bucket list, but as far as Americanized hunts I'd have to go with:

Shoot a Turkey from my pickup window
Shoot a hog over a feeder
Shoot da bull with 17 guides from Mossback on Utah governor's tag
Shoot pheasants planted 20 minutes ago
Whitetail hunt over a stump with C'mere Deer for da Turdy Point Buck!

 

[npaden]

Top 5? Not my personal list, but probably the list the average american hunter would put up.

1. Whitetail deer. Millions of deer and millions of hunters every year.
2. Wild Turkey. Quickly becoming almost as popular as the whitetail deer.
3. Mule deer. Seems like fewer and fewer and lower and lower quality, but still on most folks bucket lists.
4. Rocky Mountain Elk. Most hunters say they would like to go on a back country elk hunt before they die.
5. That leaves one more. I would say feral hogs and they might should even be farther up the list.

My personal list right now would be.

1. Mountain goat. I'll end up paying for a guided hunt in Canada or Alaska if I don't draw in the next couple years.

2. Big Black bear. I shot a small one in college, but I would like to do a spot and stalk hunt for a big blacky sometime soon. This might end up in Alaska.

3. Trohpy Whitetail deer. You would think with my own property here in Texas and hunting over feeders and supplemental feeding them year round that this would be an easy one, but I've been after them for 6 years now and my largest buck was an 8 year old deer that only scored 112". Would really like to shoot a buck in that 150" - 160" gross range.

4. A sheep. A free range west Texas aoudad on a spot and stalk hunt would be the start. Very doubtful that I will ever draw a bighorn or desert tag, not sure I will ever be able to justify the cost for a Dall sheep tag. One sheep would probably be all I feel like I could somewhat count on.

5. Something else. Lots of different things mix in for that bottom one for me. Moose? Caribou? New Mexico Oryx? Mountain Lion? Wolf? Hard to limit it to just 5 animals.

Already off the list.

Trophy Rocky Mountain elk. Probably never shoot a bigger elk than my Wyoming elk this year.

Trophy Mule deer. It didn't make book, but a 181" nontypical is probably about as big as I'm going to find unless I really get super serious about it.

I've shot more feral hogs than I can count and a few turkey as well. They are fun to hunt, but not something that was ever very high on my personal list though.

I'm still going to keep hunting elk and mule deer though. Elk is probably my favorite animal to hunt right now.

 

[huntRme]

1. Blacktail deer in the rut in N. W. Oregon

2. Hunt anything anywhere with my son, Richard.

3. Pheasants

 

[1_pointer]

I'll put a list, but it will probably change tomorrow depending on my mood and mentals state. That said, here goes and in no order of preference...

1. Moose anywhere during the rut
2. Archery Elk in the rut
3. Spot and Stalk black bear
4. Mountain Lion with dogs
5. Rocky Mtn Bighorn out of a backpack

 

[bigeasygator]

Are we talking bucket list, or the top 5 must have hunting experiences for the American sportsman? Those are two different lists IMO. Here's what I would put:

Top 5:
1. Pack trip for elk into the Rockies
2. Deer camp whitetail hunt during the rut (KS, IA, IL, etc)
3. High country mule deer hunt
4. Spring black bear hunt
5. Waterfowl hunt on the Mississippi flyway

My top 5 would be
1. Sheep. Any sheep. Anywhere. Just one sheep please (for now anyway!)
2. Mixed bag Alaska hunt (Griz, moose, caribou, sheep, etc)
3. Brown bear. If I get the balls, with a bow
4. Mountain goat.
5. Free range buffalo.

 

[Triple BB]

1. A guided Antelope hunt so the guide could fetch my bottle for me,and the staff could change my diaper.I would require my guide to where a chauffeurs hat while driving and the ''Dream hunt'' would be complete if he would answer to Jeeves.

2. See above

3.See above

4.See above

5. See above

Hey Jeeves, know how to tell a single Arkansas girl from a married one?

The single girl can always out run her brothers...

 

[2rocky]

npaden and big easy both "got" what I was inferring.

I omitted upland and ducks because those traditions came over from Europe with our ancestors.

Turkeys are native to North America, so that is why it made the list.

Attempts to introduce the wild turkey to Britain as a game bird in the 18th century were not successful. George II is said to have had a flock of a few thousand in Richmond Park near London, but they were too easy for local poachers to catch, and the fights with poachers became too dangerous for the gamekeepers. They were hunted with dogs and then shot out of trees where they took refuge. Several other populations, introduced or escaped, have survived for periods elsewhere in Britain and Ireland, but seem to have eventually died out, perhaps from a combination of lack of winter feed and poaching.[22] Small populations, probably descended from farm as well as wild stock, in the Czech Republic and Germany have been more successful, and there are wild populations of some size following introductions in Hawaii and New Zealand.[23]

Interesting discussion though...

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

I think this would be a pretty good resume for any North American Hunter

1. Whitetail Buck during the rut
2. Rocky Mountain Elk when they are bugling
3. Any of the wild sheep out of a backpack
4. Caribou during the migration
5. Pheasants in South Dakota

Now my bucket list (tough to limit it to only 5):

1. Boundary Waters Moose out of a canoe (if they ever open the season back up) otherwise same hunt for Black Bear (spot and stalk or calling) and Whitetail
2. Spring Black bear in western MT
3. Drop camp hunt in AK for Moose, Brown Bear, or MT Caribou
4. Tracking Cape Buffalo
5. NV Elk

 

[SFC B]

No worries, I'm not even sure I could put any order to my bucket list, but as far as Americanized hunts I'd have to go with:

Shoot a Turkey from my pickup window
Shoot a hog over a feeder
Shoot da bull with 17 guides from Mossback on Utah governor's tag
Shoot pheasants planted 20 minutes ago
Whitetail hunt over a stump with C'mere Deer for da Turdy Point Buck!

Now I don't care who you are, THAT is good comedy right there....especially the Denny A. reference I almost spit out my pepsi on that one

 

[Selkirk]

Deer
Elk
Wolf
Mountain Lion
Bear

---------------------
Buffalo

 

[SFC B]

I would say that these are 5 essential hunting experiences in America:

Hunting deer from a tree stand in the Midwest with snow on the ground
Hunting birds (waterfowl or upland) with really good dogs
Hunting elk or muleys in the Rockies from an "elk camp" setting
Hunting small game as both a tune-up and for table fare
Picking and hunting a "dream" or extreme NA specie to hunt (ie Sheep, Moose, Bou etc)



My bucket list goes like this :

First hunt and harvest with both kids - check (buck for him and pig for her)
A mature whitetail from home (IN) shot in the hardwoods with snow on the ground -
Bull elk in the Rockies- check
Moose (either Canada or AK)-
Red Deer in the Alps-
Any hunting with Grandkids (when they come)-

 

[Bulldog0156]

I'd love to have that breaks sheep tag after seeing a couple big guys last weekend!

 

[spook12]

Hey Jeeves, know how to tell a single Arkansas girl from a married one?

The single girl can always out run her brothers...

I got lucky my Wife/Sister has a limp.

 

[Triple BB]

I got lucky my Wife/Sister has a limp.

lol...

 

[big28hunter]

I think your list is truly rounded and with range of most hunters but my bucket list are these.

1. Kodiak Brown Bear
2. Alaskan Dall Sheep
3. Alaskan Moose
4. New Zealand Red Stag
5. Mountain Goat

 

[BOWKILL]

Shoot a Turkey from my pickup window
Shoot a hog over a feeder
Shoot da bull with 17 guides from Mossback on Utah governor's tag
Shoot pheasants planted 20 minutes ago
Whitetail hunt over a stump with C'mere Deer for da Turdy Point Buck![/QUOTE]



If you didn't laugh at that theres something wrong with you!!:hump: