What's your ultimate dream hunt

[Pygmy]

8 hours ago, PREDATE said:

That's considered hunting? I'd consider that culling. Lol

Imo even hunting behind hounds isn't really hunting. Maybe sporting, but not truly matching wits & tact with the animal.
That's a debate for another thread though. Lol

I  wasn't suggesting it was sporting, hehehe...Just very effective...

The Alaska F&G  used it  for years to control the wolf population  until the bunny huggers , most of whom were not Alaska residents, managed to get it halted...  Moose and caribou  populations have plummeted in many areas due to a surplus of wolves...

Actually, it sounds like lots of fun to me...Kinda like shooting ( culling)  wild hogs from a helicopter..

[Pygmy]

8 hours ago, nyslowhand said:

Little advice from someone that has had dream hunts on their bucket list for years and now that I'm ~70yo they have dropped to the bottom of the lists. Those all day hikes, esp up & down the Rockies, thru the deep snow or in the swampy Yukon are really out of the question now. If you have the resources ($$) and the support from the family to do one of your dream hunts - DO IT!!!!!

Those of you that dream of taking a moose or grizz with a long bow, I admire your dream...... and courage! lol

This is the best advice on this thread...

My Dad was a child of the Great Depression, and although our family never wanted for anything, he seldom spent any money on himself.  After 40 +  years he retired, and less than a month later suffered a debilitating stroke and COULDN'T do much..

My Mom told me shortly after that " If there is anything you want to do,DO it, while you can.."

So I DID what my Mom advised and I don't regret a minute of it, especially now that I am older, less physically able, and no longer have the financial resources...  I have a wonderful collection of memories , pictures and videos of my numerous adventures over a period of about 20 years in some of the most wild and beautiful places on this continent.

[dbHunterNY]

probably somewhere with my dad and brother, if possible some uncles and cousins.  daughter is only 2.5 but my wife has hunted.  doesn't matter what.  probably big game that we can eat though.  seems i'd have to buy out an large hunting lodge or something.

[dbHunterNY]

my dad has a picture with a whole moose only field dressed.  he, his siblings, and grandpa are in front of it.... the whole thing come-a-longed up to an elevated front porch up in Canada.  guide thought they were crazy taking the thing out whole but it was some NY deer hunters who wanted the picture.  neighboring camps and hunters came out of the bush from everywhere to see it hanging.  thing looks gigantic despite being a young immature bull.  that was their dream hunt.

[Doewhacker]

1 hour ago, dbHunterNY said:

my dad has a picture with a whole moose only field dressed.  he, his siblings, and grandpa are in front of it.... the whole thing come-a-longed up to an elevated front porch up in Canada.  guide thought they were crazy taking the thing out whole but it was some NY deer hunters who wanted the picture.  neighboring camps and hunters came out of the bush from everywhere to see it hanging.  thing looks gigantic despite being a young immature bull.  that was their dream hunt.

Lots of folks drag em out whole when they can in Maine. You'd see the hunters towing snowmobile trailers and what not.

[Doewhacker]

A few years ago I would have said a trip west for whitetails but now I'd have to say a fly in trip for Ptarmigan would be tops. The more attainable stuff I do when I can like waterfowl in New Brunswick, Grouse in Maine ect. Once I went I got hooked on the adventure and now we plan vacations around it.

 

We booked a cabin in Maine for this summer, while there I plan on scouting areas for our return trip in the fall for bird hunting. We will spend the first half of the week hunting waterfowl outside of Fredricton, New Brunswick with friends. Hopefully I can make the pilgrimage to the western states for birds soon too.

 

As some of the guys have said, don't wait, make it happen!

[Pygmy]

3 hours ago, Doewhacker said:

Lots of folks drag em out whole when they can in Maine. You'd see the hunters towing snowmobile trailers and what not.

It is common practice to drag them out with log skidders in Maine...

I'll guarantee one thing,,They don't drag them very far without MECHANICAL assistance....hehehehe....

When I  shot my New Brunswick bull,  my host and guide was a local dairy farmer....He called his hired man, who came over with a HUGE 4WD tractor, and drove through a clearcut, over stumps, logs, etc and dragged the moose out, and then loaded it whole into the back of a truck with the front end loader and a sling.

Easiest moose I ever got out...The others were shot in Alaska and we had no other choice but to cut them into pieces small enough to strap onto a pack frame and then carry them on our backs to a place where a  float plane could get to them...

The whole process  could be considered LABOR INTENSIVE.....<<grin>>...

[Buckmaster7600]

Lots of folks drag em out whole when they can in Maine. You'd see the hunters towing snowmobile trailers and what not.

I know in Vermont and New Hampshire that having them dragged out by horse is the most common. They advertise in the regs books.


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[Pygmy]

Another factor in Maine hunting....There are thousands of miles of roads through timber company land in Maine that are open to hunting..

Many of the moose are shot within rifle range of these roads, which  makes recovery much easier...Many of them can be simply gutted and then winched into the bed of a truck.

[The_Real_TCIII]

I spent a week in the Maine North Woods and saw more moose than I could count. My friend had a tag and shot a nice bull 15 minutes into the season. I caught brookies in every puddle too. Its heaven on earth up there, i'll get back someday with a moose tag of my own I hope

[turkeyfeathers]

Friend just got back from Ireland from a dream like hunt. Not even a serious hunter. He's 21 and his uncle paid for the trip. Pheasant hunting. Between 10 guys they averaged over 400 birds a day for 4 days. They had tables out in the field filled with cheese, crackers, meats, port, wine etc. Had loaders at their standing locations. Guys would push birds to them. They'd shoot on any stand for 20 minutes to an hour. Take a break and eat some more in between. Huge dinners in some castle at night.  Private toured Guinness brewery. He and his uncle wore camo and the Irish guys wore old school shooting clothing, lol. Pics were funny to look at . Being a great golfer he also played some of the premiere golf courses there. To me it would be more like shooting than hunting but not denying it wouldn't be fun. Just the culture alone.

[Lawdwaz]

16 hours ago, nyslowhand said:

Those all day hikes, esp up & down the Rockies, thru the deep snow or in the swampy Yukon are really out of the question now.

Africa is calling my friend..........

[dmandoes]

On 1/21/2017 at 8:42 PM, Uncle Nicky said:

Pygmy- there is a small population of Gould's turkeys in Arizona, it's EXTREMELY difficult to draw tags to hunt them. I've been applying 5 years now, no luck but some points built up. The outfitter I talked to said on average you have to apply 10 years before you get drawn.

hey uncle nicky;  i hope ur gaining 2 points a year.  with a loyalty point u should have 11 points for goulds turkey.  i'm sitting on 23 points and believe i can go for goulds anytime i choose. whats your plan if u draw?  maybe we could do it together. 

[vizslas]

red stag.. either Argentina or New Zealand with  my dog. I used to talk to a fella who was training his dog for red stag in New Zealand.

[Dinsdale]

40 minutes ago, vizslas said:

red stag.. either Argentina or New Zealand with  my dog. I used to talk to a fella who was training his dog for red stag in New Zealand.

Interesting, don't think I've ever heard of NZ hunters using dog to hunt deer there, pigs yes. Tracking wounded too.

Found some nice sheds exploring some DOC (public) land there when we couldn't get out of camp due to high winds when doing a Tahr hunt on bordering private land. Brought one home. Seen a few Red deer hinds and a few smokin' bull Tahr and would love to fly back in there and take a crack at one or both. 

Seen a few deer on another piece of public when flying out the following day from the air. Including 2 very nice stags, good enough for the chopper pilot to go around and get a closer look for me.

They ain't exactly what you see on the high fenced farms there, more akin to what you see on average hill stags in Scotland and other free ranging stag areas.

[RoadKill44]

I've hunted deer since 1960 and never ventured a hunt outside NYS. I always had a Colorado elk hunt on my bucket list. Maybe some day it'll happen.

[hunter49]

  Shoulda,  coulda, woulda   I could have gone on elk & mulie hunts 30 yrs. ago & didn't,  now I wish I would have.  I would still like to (in  my mind) but now with bad knees & being 67 I guess it's out of the question.  So to you younger guys & gals Do it if you can, don't put it off !

[Dinsdale]

55 minutes ago, hunter49 said:

  Shoulda,  coulda, woulda   I could have gone on elk & mulie hunts 30 yrs. ago & didn't,  now I wish I would have.  I would still like to (in  my mind) but now with bad knees & being 67 I guess it's out of the question.  So to you younger guys & gals Do it if you can, don't put it off !

I think a bunch of guys are selling themselves short here.

Sure, you may not be able to scramble across scree fields with a full pack on a sheep hunt.

But there are places and/or quality outfitters who can give an honest experience to folks even with challenges.

I hunted Muledeer with a guy I met off another forum who needed both hips replaced at 60 and he shot a fine deer on his own terms, and went back with another forum member the following year and did it again.

Private land, ranch tag,  guide helped him out moving around to glassing points; I did my own thing.

Finally he's getting squared up medically 4 years later and hopefully trying to drag him to Namibia with me in the near future.

 

 

Edited January 24, 2017 by Dinsdale

[Lawdwaz]

10 minutes ago, Dinsdale said:

I think a bunch of guys are selling themselves short here.

Sure, you may not be able to scramble across scree fields with a full pack on a sheep hunt.

But there are places and quality outfitters who can give an honest experience to folks even with challenges.

I hunted Muledeer with a guy I met off another forum who needed both hips replaced at 60 and he shot a fine deer on his own terms, and went back with another forum member the following year and did it again.

Private land, ranch tag,  guide helped him out moving around to glassing points; I did my own thing.

Finally he's getting squared up medically 4 years later and hopefully trying to drag him to Namibia with me in the near future.

 

 

Nice.........

[Dinsdale]

20 minutes ago, Lawdwaz said:

Nice.........

Everyones worst nightmare, a pair of Blaser owners.....LOL

[Trigger518]

Reading all these replies and hearing a lot of experiences from everyone, and also a lot of regrets makes me really want to push to accomplish these goals of mine. In reality I'd like to tell the boss to shove it pack my bags toss the cellphone and head off the grid and make my job living off the land I guess thats the ultimate dream for me, if I was a single man with no children id be gone.

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[nyslowhand]

6 hours ago, Lawdwaz said:

Africa is calling my friend..........

From what I've read, a hunt in Africa can be cheaper than some exotic NA hunts, but there's nothing in Africa I'd want to shoot. Esp some animal that would eat or kill me if I didn't connect ethically. Now one of those photo safaris looks interesting though!! For now I'll just have to settle for those Nat Geo live feed photo safaris viewed from my recliner close to the refrig & bathroom! lol

 

2 hours ago, Trigger518 said:

Reading all these replies and hearing a lot of experiences from everyone, and also a lot of regrets makes me really want to push to accomplish these goals of mine. In reality I'd like to tell the boss to shove it pack my bags toss the cellphone and head off the grid and make my job living off the land I guess that's the ultimate dream for me, if I was a single man with no children id be gone.
 

Like a lot of others have hinted, live life with NO regrets is a great philosophy that I also try to follow! Then there's all of life's little "real world" inconveniences or stumbling blocks thrown into the mix, like careers, bills, family obligations, blah, blah...  Regardless, keep your bucket list, work on achieving each item, make additions and live life to its' fullest in the process. Unless you've won the lottery or been fortunate enough to be born with a silver spoon, dreams are what keeps life interesting!

[Trigger518]

Well said, the days are quick no doubt.

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[First-light]

It has to be an Elk hunt out west. 

[Lawdwaz]

New dream hunt for me..........rabbit hunt locally. 

It IS on the horizon boys & girls.