Recommended Big Game hunts for new guys

C

canoetrpr

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
13   0   0
Location
Just North of Toronto
Thought a thread on this might be worthwhile.

I'm a relatively new guy. Only hunted one WT deer in Ontario so far; started a couple years ago.

Would like to build up big game hunting skills more than anything else and learn techniques from others who have being doing this a while. Like many who are starting I don't really have any hunting mentors. No dads or uncles before me to teach me what to do; mostly learning from google and forums.

I decided it was best for me to do guided or semi-guided hunts as I learned my way through.

Hunt #1 was semi guided for WT deer in WMU 47
Hunt #2 in a few weeks will be guided Pronghorn in Wyoming

What other big game hunts would you recommend for guys like me; won't break the bank to bad, good chance of getting game to stay interested, not completely grueling so I'd want to continue doing it year after year.

Ideally I'd like hunts that I can learn spot and stalk rather than in a blind over bait. I do hunt in a tree blind and ground blind on my own property for WT deer so I have that covered.

Where would I go for a spot and stalk western type hunt for deer for example - WT or mule without breaking the bank too much and having a good chance of success?

Hawaii is another location I am thinking of. Was just there on vacation and relatively inexpensive hunts can be had for Hawaiian black sheep and goats and even axis deer. Day or two day hunts mostly. Seems one could put together a very economical hunt there even after air fare is considered.

I've also vaguely considered a cull hunt in Africa. Figure one on one time with a PH taking 5-8 animals of different species in a week ought to teach me a thing or two about spot and stalk even though they are cull animals. Not cheap even for a cull hunt when you put air fare etc. together.

P.S. Oh yeah. One of my criteria is that the game actually has to be edible and enjoyable. Once I was looking at an Aoudad hunt (does not meet the non grueling category though) and then learned that the meat was practically inedible. My personal ethics require that I consume the meat from an animal I hunt which means I must enjoy it.
 
Last edited:
If you really want to learn how to hunt you should put in a few more years hunting deer and expand to bear and moose by yourself or find/make hunting buddy's to go with. Guided hunts aren't going to give you the same raw experience. Everyone I know that guides says the same thing about most of their clients...."their not hunters" Don't be that guy.
 
Republic of Alberta said:
If you really want to learn how to hunt you should put in a few more years hunting deer and expand to bear and moose by yourself or find/make hunting buddy's to go with. Guided hunts aren't going to give you the same raw experience. Everyone I know that guides says the same thing about most of their clients...."their not hunters" Don't be that guy.
Click to expand...

I have to agree. I just passed the Hunters Safety Course on October 5, had my temp Outdoors card and small games license on the 6th, ran into an acquaintance at my local watering hole on the 7th who invited me on a Moose hunt up North (we left on the 9, season opened on the 11th), and we had a young bull on the 12th. I learned a great deal from the guys in the group, most have been hunting for as long as I have been alive...over 40 years. I was shown what to look for in the bush, and Moose sign I would have normally walked right past. Do your best to find a group of guys who have experience and you will be glad you did.
 
Though I on the lookout for new hunting partners. My current ones either don't have much more experience than me, or lack time. Also incredibly harder than I anticipated among a bunch of guys wanting to learn together to align vacation time.

I guess I viewed using an outfitter differently and less harshly than what has been suggested here. What I view I am really paying for is someone's time to scout game ahead of the season (admitidly an important part of the skill but not really possible when you live a ways away from if) and most importantly use of hunting leases on land they have rented.

Had originally planned Wyoming antelope as a DIY hunt but simply couldn't find permission in units where tags are available.

Is it really building up my hunting skill with limited time be spending it knocking on doors? I viewed that as a chore not a skill building part of the hunting activity. If it is then hunting sure takes more skill now than 50 years ago.

Not disagreeing with the wisdom has been imparted here. I appreciate your thoughts and will take them to heart. I am continuing hunting in my own back yard for deer this season. Just wondering if it isn't to harsh to say that guys that go on guided hunts are not hunters at all?
 
canoetrpr said:
Is it really building up my hunting skill with limited time be spending it knocking on doors? I viewed that as a chore not a skill building part of the hunting activity. If it is then hunting sure takes more skill now than 50 years ago.

Not disagreeing with the wisdom has been imparted here. I appreciate your thoughts and will take them to heart. I am continuing hunting in my own back yard for deer this season. Just wondering if it isn't to harsh to say that guys that go on guided hunts are not hunters at all?
Click to expand...

Knocking on doors is a skill that may or may not garner some fruit...land that only you are allowed to hunt on.

Yes, it would be pretty harsh to suggest "that guys that go on guided hunts are not hunters at all'' ...Judge not, that ye be not judged.(Mathew7:1 KJV) ok, enough of the bible study but it does have some real life merit.
I try and have an open mind when it comes to shooting/hunting, but when someone tells me ''I can not'' or ''I need'' a certain gun to do it this way then it is time to Chive On and do what I like/use best.
Join a local Rod and Gun Club you may find a like minded person who may impart with some wisdom.
Tight Groups,
Rob
 
The Wyoming antelope is a great idea and very affordable. It can easily be done DIY or guided hunts are quite inexpensive. Some guides are great mentors and some aren't but I know that I've certainly learned a lot of skills over the years from spending time in the field with these professionals. There's no harm in being "that guy" if your intent is to indeed learn from their experience. At one time, we were all "that guy". Some hunters go on guided hunts with the intent of showing the guide what they know....others go to learn and enjoy the experience. It sounds like you fall into the second category.
 
Congrats on the wise choice of antelope for your next hunt. I took my first on a "semi-guided" hunt in Wyoming last year, and it was a wonderful experience, and a huge contrast to the type of moose/deer/bear hunting to which I am most accustomed. Tons of fun, high success ratio, low cost and as easy or as hard as you want to make it. Contrary to much of what I have read, the meat was terrific, although I'm sure that if you fail to take care of it properly it would be less so.

Guided hunts can be great, and are often required by law depending upon where you go and what type of game you are after. A good guide will figure out in short order what kind of hunter you are, what you can and can't do, and how to best meet your needs. But if you can legally do so, a DIY or semi-guided hunt offers infinitely more satisfaction.

Good luck in Wyoming...you are going to love it!
 
For me the top North American hunt would be Dall sheep, closely followed by coastal grizzly. The most handsome trophy IMHO is a bull caribou. Mountain caribou are the largest, and this would fit in nicely with the sheep.
 
Once you leave your own backyard guides and outfitters are a fact of life. Or maybe its a necessary evil, because some of them are evil. You seldom get to pick whether you want a guide or not, that's a legal issue. Your choice is usually whether you want to go or stay home doing the same thing over and over for the rest of your life. Most hunters I know that do the international hunts are quite experienced at home too. From what I see, most guys on their first guided hunt are at least 40 and have at least 25 years of hunting experience.

Guides are mixed bunch. Some are very good, and some aren't. Few of them can hold a regular job.
 
Last edited:
Indeed, the typical transition I've seen for hunters is they go outside "their" area once they've tired of what's available locally, on their own. Guides are simply a legal necessary evil quite often, but just as often they can prove good company and the good ones have insights you'll never learn on your own into their areas and species.

This all said, I see no issue with a guy who didn't have all the cards lined up growing up, be that living on large acreage with game or family introduction and mentoring, heading out guided. In fact I applaud anyone who wants to enjoy the sport, and learning from good guides will outperform learning from the advice of our online peanut gallery we all share here. You can watch a million YouTube videos, but field dressing an animal once with a guy who's done a hundred will be worth a million videos.

Hawaii is good, google "Morrison Arms Big Island" for my inadvertent scouting trip and some insights.
 
I learned more about packing horses in three weeks on a Stone sheep hunt in BC from a guide than I could of ever learned on my own.

I learned the gutless method nearly 25 years ago from a caribou guide in Quebec.

I continue to learn and hone my tracking skills with every trip to Africa.

I learn about the behaviour of animals, some of which I've never seen before, every time I hunt somewhere new.

I've learned tricks for hunting in the extreme cold in the arctic and in the extreme heat in the desert.

It seems people that have never been on a guided hunt look at those that do as some incapable idiot and I'd bet that most are very accomplished hunters just with a desire for more knowledge and experience. Certainly there are exceptions.
 
sheephunter said:
The Wyoming antelope is a great idea and very affordable. It can easily be done DIY or guided hunts are quite inexpensive. Some guides are great mentors and some aren't but I know that I've certainly learned a lot of skills over the years from spending time in the field with these professionals. There's no harm in being "that guy" if your intent is to indeed learn from their experience. At one time, we were all "that guy". Some hunters go on guided hunts with the intent of showing the guide what they know....others go to learn and enjoy the experience. It sounds like you fall into the second category.
Click to expand...


"that guy" I am referring to is the one that has always spent more time hunting for an outfitter than actually hunting for game. The guys that can't sit or walk quiet, don't know one track from another, know nothing about the game their hunting, cant look, cant listen, know nothing about being outdoors, no clue about facing adversity, and have generally no clue about the HUNTING part of hunting. So many guys are like this (it may be an American thing?) and I can't deal with it so I will never guide. Anyways don't be that guy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom