One species, for the rest of your life?

Ardent

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If you had to, and all this is hypothetical internet fun to keep forum banter interesting, do you have a single species you could focus on and call it good? I met some European hunters in Africa once, one was accomplished guy and a professional hunter in Africa. He went back home to France to hunt Roe deer as his true passion every year. Struck me as quite something, all the stuff he did, and in the places he did it, and he enjoyed above all else dressing like a gentleman and hunting dog sized deer at home. I admired, and continue to admire that.

So, I'll let entire disciplines go on the small game from- waterfowl as a group, upland as a group, small four legged game (coyotes, rabbits, yada yada) as a group, gophers even hell.

You MUST pick one, not "this, or this" as I'm sorely tempted to give one of those middling answers and dabble in a few possibilities. I'd like to see it down to one, you CAN share your short list though, as long as there's a final pick. One catch; we have to be able to afford it and feasibly do it, no professional elephant hunters for instance (unless you're wealthy enough to do it annually).

Short List:

Upland
Grizzlies
Blacktail deer

Rationale: I hunted blacktail on our farm before anything else, love them. Grizzlies I find more interesting than any other creature where I'm from. Upland, nothing puts a bigger smile on my face than going out with the dog and my son, and my wife doesn't mind it either.

Decision?

Upland. I'll be able to do it till I die, it's least likely to face a ban, it's easy, it's fun to bring along someone who hasn't hunted before, I like my dog, my kids like it, my wife likes it. Lots of action, rarely a dull day. I love fine shotguns and how they handle. I love the dynamic nature of wing shooting. Few outside hunting take offence to it and it's easy dinner conversation. You can do it on every continent in the world except Antarctica- and hey Douglas may prove me wrong there too with penguin.
 
A cruel question but I'll play. Because I live with a hunting dog and couldn't be happy without one, Upland birds are on my must do list. Couldn't pick once species though, I hunt sharptails and huns and ruffed grouse and pheasant, and sometimes others like spruce grouse and ptarmigan. Great quarry, wonderful country, and good eating.
 
Deer plus 10-15% home raised pork - perfect. Though I am keen to try elk... might have to go to sask to my brothers for that considering I am on the island.
 
OP gets to set the boundaries... so being able to group sub-species... I would probably have to say "waterfowl"... Although waterfowling in is hardly user friendly and takes place at un-godly hours in un-godly places... I gotta go pack the dogs... I'm going duck hunting... literally.

But my short list would include;

Upland
Canada moose
Whitetail deer
 
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Grackles and crows with my .22 495fps pellet gun.

Seriously, I know. But a lifetime of hunting and being in the outdoors, has turned me into a bit of a hardcore, closet bird watcher. And here in Ottawa anyways, the stinking grackles, bh cowbirds, starlings and English sparrows (and crows) have pretty much pushed everything else out.

Yep, even being able to afford an annual NA hunt, I would be perfectly happy smoking grackles that come onto my property, over anything else.
 
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