Favorite Hunt?

[375Ruger416]

Well, sitting in a blind, "hunting" whitetails, waiting for the feeder to dump goodies or watching a bait planted field, overlooking a bulldozed/chained strip through the mesquite or even a trail intersection where for weeks prior you've cataloged bucks by name coming and going via a trial cam is not my idea of a dream hunt of any kind. Get into a large, unrestricted area where you actually hunt whitetails, mano a mano... now that is a different story. Can be as rewarding and as challenging a hunt as any for any big game anywhere. Add to the whitetails' keen senses and awareness of their territory to a habitat of steep, rocky, broken, scrub thicket covered terrain all on public land and you have a hunt! Do it right by stop and go still hunting an old Coues' buck in his territory, and report back on what kind of hunt that was Hunting most whitetails that way has almost become a thing of the past as best I can tell. I remember reading all the stories of generations of the Benoit family in Maine still hunting those buggers on their own terms years ago. Now it's all trial cam cataloging, blinds and tree stands, whispering to a video camera over your shoulder while waiting for 12pt Fred to show up.

I prefer spot and stalk or still hunting. However, Alberta has gone from 1 million to 4 million residents in my lifetime. We are lucky enough to have a few quarters of land in the extended family, but due to increased hunting pressure and acreages everywhere on prime farmland we are going to put up some blinds to ensure we have safe shooting lanes.

We also hunt in the green zone - Crown land that is largely undeveloped - and I’m happy to go for a nice walk in the woods with my rifle anytime. Blind hunting has become a necessary transition as we teach my kids and nieces and nephews to hunt for safety and practical reasons.

As they say about fishing, ‘a bad day fishing’… Hunting is all about making the best of the opportunities you’ve got IMO.

 

[Green Chile]

I need to do more Coues hunting. This one was taken from 540 yards...couldn't get closer...uphill shot into the setting sun...very difficult hunt...I was pulling cactus thorns out of me for weeks. He has a special place in my memories and office wall.

 

[Elkeater]

I need to do more Coues hunting. This one was taken from 540 yards...couldn't get closer...uphill shot into the setting sun...very difficult hunt...I was pulling cactus thorns out of me for weeks. He has a special place in my memories and office wall.
View attachment 585005

That is a great deer. I hunted hard for 4 days to kill this guy. 400 yards but the sun at my back in a beautiful October morning.

 

[Green Chile]

That is a great deer. I hunted hard for 4 days to kill this guy. 400 yards but the sun at my back in a beautiful October morning. View attachment 585014

Yea you earned him for sure. Mine was 5 days in and I was feeling beat up at the end of it.

 

[375Ruger416]

I need to do more Coues hunting. This one was taken from 540 yards...couldn't get closer...uphill shot into the setting sun...very difficult hunt...I was pulling cactus thorns out of me for weeks. He has a special place in my memories and office wall.
View attachment 585005

I’m no expert on coues deer - but that looks like a great one!!

 

[Green Chile]

Thanks. It's right at 100", which is B&C minimum. Very nice Coues, especially for AZ. Many of the biggest ones are taken in Mexico.

 

[Kalahari Safari NAMIBIA]

I have loved all my hunts, even the ones where I came home without a trophy. But in the end Africa is where my heart lies. The best hunt overall was probably the first time I took my kids to Africa. All 3 of my children hunted on that trip and we had such a great time. Our PH, Janneman Brand, and his wife Aldalene were great hosts. Janneman was very patient with my young children and to be on safari with my wife and kids and watch my children experience Africa for the first time was truly the "trip of a lifetime"

We will always cherish the special memories!!!

 

[Andrew62]

Pretty hard for me to pick a favorite hunt, it’s easier for me to say the Zambezi Valley is my favorite place to hunt.

 

[Zinz]

Hunting with my dad. I tried to be in the stand with him every opening weekend of deer season, especially later in life. He would recite from memory the opening stanza of "The Lady of the Lake" by Sir Walter Scott

The stag at eve had drunk his fill,
Where danced the moon on Monan’s rill,
And deep his midnight lair had made
In lone Glenartney’s hazel shade;
But when the sun his beacon red
Had kindled on Benvoirlich’s head,
The deep-mouthed bloodhound’s heavy bay
Resounded up the rocky way,
And faint, from farther distance borne,
Were heard the clanging hoof and horn.

Papa was a simple man from an even simpler Sout Texas upbringing. He had memorized this as part of a grade school assignment, but he never forgot it. I still hear his voice in the deer blind every Fall.

After my first safari, I swore to take Papa on the next one. A year later we were on a huge place near Ellisras, RSA in what is now referred to as the Limpopo Region. That was my favorite hunt. Late on Day 1 we stalked within about 40 yards of a big Oryx bull, only to have him bust us at the last second. Papa's eyes were as big as saucers. To share that thrill will forever be the highlight of my hunting career.

Papa’s been gone almost 8 years but I miss him like it was yesterday.

Ed Z

 

[steve white]

Buffalo in the Zambezi Valley

 

[Moe324]

I love hunting ducks and geese here in ohio. Favorite guided hunts are mexico jungle hunt for ocellated turkey and jungle birds. Also night hunting with thermals in Africa was a blast.

 

[Pondoro]

Hunting dangerous game always has that extra element of excitement..

But I also love hunting grouse and black grouse over standing setters..

 

[MS 9x56]

Not a single hunt but all the hunts I had with my beagle bandit. He had such a joy in him when we were hunting. He’s been gone for 23 years and I still miss him.

 

[ftothfadd]

Two come to my mind, vastly different ones. One was two years ago in Tajikistan for mid asian ibex. Unforgettable experience being guided by locals who knew the mountains like the back of their hand. I felt utterly clueless as we were climbing up the snowcapped mountains in the shadow of the once called "pik Communism". We found the ibex really high, but were able to stalk within 160 yards and managed to get a nice goat.
The other one is my annual pilgrimage to South Dakota to hunt a white tailed deer doe. It is usually in late November, the weather is crisp, very few hunters are around and it is absolutely carefree, with little on the line. Just pure enjoyment.