North Americas Big Five

[FLhunter7]

I've seen this debated before but most people seem to leave out the fact that Africa's big five was done by choosing the hardest and most dangerous animals to HUNT. Personal this would be my list and I'm curious to see yours.
Grizzly
Polar Bear
Cougar
Bison
having a really tough time with this one but I'll put BLACK BEAR only because not everyone hunts alligators with a hook and line in which case that would be in.
Honorable mentions: Alligator, wolf, and moose. I would have put Jaguar but since it's completely illegal to hunt there is no real point putting it on here.

 

[BnC 04]

Dangerous in terms of claws and teeth or slip and fall off a mountain or just brutal traveling..
Wild Sheep (Stone/Dall ect)
Mountain Goat
Coastal Brown Bear
Muskox
Wood Bison
6th a Rabid Bearmanpig (location unknown)

 

[Ridgewalker]

I have read that more people have been attacked by black bears than any other animal in North America. I believe it was from Outdoor Life Mag.
Early pheasant season in Kansas and quail season in Texas I have walked up on rattlesnakes. Pretty scary IMO!

 

[FLhunter7]

Only thing is is I'm not sure about bison. They seem so dangerous to people but all the hunting videos are the equivalent of shooting cattle.

 

[JakeH]

Only thing is is I'm not sure about bison. They seem so dangerous to people but all the hunting videos are the equivalent of shooting cattle.

According to Yellowstone Park from 1978-2000, two and a half times as many were attacked by bison in the park as there were by grizzly bears, and they killed the same number of people in that time frame.

 

[IdaRam]

In terms of being Dangerous Game, in the way African Dangerous Game is dangerous, I really think the only two in North America that qualify are Polar Bear and Brown/Grizzly Bear.
No question that Black Bear, Bison, Moose, Mountain Lion and Alligator CAN be dangerous, but no more so than say... Bushbuck or Blue Wildebeest.
As far as difficulty to hunt, my opinion is wolf is by far most difficult. Sheep and Mountain Goat probably most physically challenging. Musk Ox the arctic elements can be very dangerous amd challenging. Trophy Mule Deer are damn tough too...
Just my 2 bits

 

[sgt_zim]

I'd have to throw cat squirrels on that list. Shot one once, and it jumped out of the tree, ran down my leg, and bit a hole in my boot.

True story.

 

[cpr0312]

My idea of the North American Big 5 takes a different route, more of the "icons" so to speak versus being dangerous. Sorry to throw a curveball into the thread, but somebody had to

Whitetail
Mule Deer
Elk
Pronghorn
Moose

 

[Pheroze]

My idea of the North American Big 5 takes a different route, more of the "icons" so to speak versus being dangerous. Sorry to throw a curveball into the thread, but somebody had to

Whitetail
Mule Deer
Elk
Pronghorn
Moose

I like your thinking. I would have to include black bear somewhere there. Probably as ubiquitous as whitetail, with various methods of hunting.

 

[JakeH]

My idea of the North American Big 5 takes a different route, more of the "icons" so to speak versus being dangerous. Sorry to throw a curveball into the thread, but somebody had to

Whitetail
Mule Deer
Elk
Pronghorn
Moose

Hey, if we’re going this way then I think we’ve got to swap out a deer for a bear. Grizzly, black, polar, doesn’t matter. They’re just as iconic as any of the rest.

 

[johnnyblues]

Having hunted and taken all the animals on the list I’ll put my two cents in. Dangerous...no question the big bears, I shot my brown bear charging at 40 yards, my grizzly took 4 shots all good ones to finally stop him. Mtn goat absolutely terrifying if you not fond of heights like myself. One slip your gonna be hurt or worse. All of the sheep hunts in the mountains could be dangerous. So that being said my list would be big bears, sheep, goat, whitetail,elk. Iconic of course bison.

 

[FLhunter7]

I think it should be the animal thats the danger part not its environment. I also think you guys are right in terms of the animal being an icon as danger isn't everything. If it was the whitetail would be number 1 as it kills the most people per year in NA and the mosquito would easily top any of Africas big five. I do still feel like the animal must be in some way dangerous so wolf, black bear, or moose could easily go in as well.

 

[Rick Cox]

Polar bear (obvious)
Grizzly or brown bear (obvious)
Bison ( second largest cloven hoofed animal on the planet)
Mountain goat (iconic)
Stone sheep. (iconic)
I discounted elk or moose only because something had to go and they are found elsewhere.

 

[WAB]

I have hunted everything discussed with the exception of polar bear, but I have been around the big white rascals. If danger of attack is the criteria, I think you would have great difficulty arguing that anything other than the big bears pose a significant risk to a hunter.

 

[Trail Rated]

Not what you asked for, but I have the Grand Slam of Texas public land hunting: whitetail deer, feral hog, javelina and coyote.

As for dangerous game, I’d put hogs on that list. I’ve been charged by a boar and that was one time too many.

 

[gizmo]

Only thing is is I'm not sure about bison. They seem so dangerous to people but all the hunting videos are the equivalent of shooting cattle.

I would put feral boar before bison on danger factor. A large wild hog can kill you and is much more likely to get you than a bison unprovoked. I have both and I can tell you Bison are dangerous if wounded or in close quarters I.e. working pens or trailers. Outside of that they are pretty easy going. Now a gut shot 2000+lb bison bull can be extremely dangerous but that’s pretty rare and under those circumstances anything can be bad news, case in point, bushbuck.
As far as bison hunting goes I’ve seen and had it both ways. I’ve had them stand there like cattle and I’ve had to work my butt off for them. The last bison hunt we did was very challenging. It just really depends.

 

[jeff]

I would have to eliminate wild boar as they are not native species to NA

 

[gizmo]

I would have to eliminate wild boar as they are not native species to NA

True but the Spanish let the first ones go here in North America in like the 1600’s so they could almost be considered native.

 

[Cam Moon]

"Big Five": Polar Bear, Grizzly/Brown Bear, Mountain Lion/Cougar, Bison, and Wild Boar or Alligator, depending on the hunt.
"Iconic Five" Whitetail, Mulie, Elk, Moose, Black Bear.
Beaver and Bison are as iconic as you can get!..... But were not in the first top five that came to mind.

 

[Newboomer]

Women, Badger, Bears, Elk, Yukon Moose. Kind of a catch all category.