POLL: What's your favorite western game animal to hunt?

Founder · Feb 12, 2020

What's your favorite western game animal the hunt?

Why?

Buckjunkie · Feb 12, 2020

I love hunting mule deer because of where they live. It’s the most beautiful country in the US. I also think that taking a 180+ buck on public ground is one of the more difficult trophies to take.

Bluehair · Feb 12, 2020

Tough one....I can't really do the sheep mountains anymore ....and there is nothing cooler than an elk rut hunt in a quality area.......and glassing coues in the red rocks in the winter....I guess it depends.

fallguy · Feb 12, 2020

RM elk - love being in the country they live in and every time I walk up to one on the ground, I am amazed at how big they are. My wife and I both like the meat a lot also.

Trix4me · Feb 12, 2020

Which ever one I’m hunting........

Gunnihunter · Feb 12, 2020

Rocky Mtn Elk, I was hooked by the first bugle I heard. There is nothing like being in the middle of a large herd with bugling bulls all around you. Pure excitement.

wytex · Feb 12, 2020

Shiras moose, they are made for bow hunting. Easy to get in range of and our population locally is doing great. Big rush to call in a bull from hundreds of yards away to with mere feet.
Called this bull from the far treeline to within 10 yds while on an elk hunt.

yoteduster · Feb 12, 2020

Mule deer are the icon of the west imo mature buck always provide a true challenge in finding them and harvesting them

Zeke · Feb 12, 2020

Bighorn sheep of either variety are king to me ***BUT..... The tags are so few and far between that it hardly ranks as something a guy can regularly hunt.
My reasoning for picking sheep is that they make me get my butt in shape and take me to places a normal sane man wouldn't go,
Oh the things I've seen!
Zeke

Zeke · Feb 12, 2020

There are great replies, all of them on this thread!
Interestingly, I agree with them all!!!!
Zeke

BUGLEnmIN · Feb 12, 2020

I voted elk. Gotta be my favorite for sure.
Tied for second would be Mule Deer and Barbary.

Butts · Feb 12, 2020

Well my personal perspective is..

If I had the opportunity to hunt 1 200”+ main frame mule deer buck or 5 400” RM bull elk...

It would be the buck hands down..

smokepoll · Feb 12, 2020

I'm glad I don't have to choose to hunt only one. I love living in the west! I voted elk, it is hard to beat a screaming elk mid Sept. coming to you call.

money · Feb 12, 2020

I voted Mule Deer because they are my favorite animal to observe and hunt. I feel it is extremely tough to regularly kill big mule deer, especially on public land. Oftentimes I don't have as much fun hunting mule deer (it's still fun) because they can be tough to find and tougher to kill.

If this poll was just based on what I feel is the funnest to hunt I would have to say trophy bull elk in the rut with a bow in my hand. Being from Arizona and chasing those big bulls my whole life has spoiled me! It's the most fun one can have with their clothes on.

Tristate · Feb 12, 2020

There have been days that I have hated mule deer and days I have loved them. Either of those days are some of the greatest days of my life.

usafvet · Feb 12, 2020

Elk is my favorite but growing up in western Oregon there is nothing as majestic as seeing a Roosevelt elk in the timber. That being said since they aren't on the list I have to go with Rocky Mountain Elk.

Adventurewriter · Feb 12, 2020

Really all of them....Pronghorns are just plain fun...Nothing more beautiful that a golden-chestnut full racked Bull elk....My Mt goat hunt was incredible never forget a second of it....My Sheep Hunt changed my life Literally....didn't know I could write thing but was so jazzed from that hunt a wrote a story and now a regular writer for the pay to write mag's.... I liken sheep hunting (my one time) to being being best man in a wedding...the brides best friend is a international super model who jets in from Paris...the drinks flow and she takes a lusty attraction to you...well when you are experiencing it you better enjoy every second and burn it deep in you memory cause it aint ever happening again

roadrunner · Feb 12, 2020

Elk, and then antelope. Don't care much at all for mule deer.

Stonefly · Feb 12, 2020

I voted Elk, and to be more specific, archery Elk. Littlebuck and I archery hunted Elk for the better part of our lives. When our kids were little, she didnt hunt , but camped at our hunting camp. As soon as the kids could hike, and stay quiet, she hunted with me again. Our kids were raised on Elk meat, And hunting. She quit Bow hunting a couple years ago, when she couldnt hike anymore. Now she rifle Deer hunts. She picks a good spot not far from a road usually with a grandkid or too, to make small pushes for her. Im usually on the mountain, but we hang out together most of the time. I guess Deer hunting is becoming my favorite now.

3TOE · Feb 12, 2020

I voted for antelope, but in all honesty my favorite at the time is the animal that I drew a tag on. Lol

HIcountryman · Feb 12, 2020

Muley bucks cuz i have finally figured out how to do it after about 15 years! Elk hunting is not yet fun for me... they are damn tough to hunt and kill. Early season mz buck hunting for me.

3TOE · Feb 12, 2020

HIcountryman said:
Muley bucks cuz i have finally figured out how to do it after about 15 years! Elk hunting is not yet fun for me... they are damn tough to hunt and kill. Early season mz buck hunting for me.

AMEN man! I agree completely!!!

HIcountryman · Feb 12, 2020

Got 5 antelope points so i am starting to get interested in using them soon...
anybody mz hunt antelope? how tough is it to get within 100 ish yards?

maddog58 · Feb 12, 2020

My passion is antelope. Tough to judge and love to eat them. But that being said I love to hunt all the critters

3TOE · Feb 12, 2020

HIcountryman said:
Got 5 antelope points so i am starting to get interested in using them soon...
anybody mz hunt antelope? how tough is it to get within 100 ish yards?

I have bow hunted them & that is EXTREMELY tough. A muzzleload

er is more than doable if you have the terrain to move into position. It would be tough, but man are they fun to hunt!!! I personally love the way they taste and I’ve heard some say they don’t care for it.

jims · Feb 12, 2020

Dall sheep are my favorite critter to hunt in N America but bighorn are a close #2. Nothing better than spending the summer and fall in high, gorgeous locations watching, filming, and hunting sheep!

With that said, a lot of guys consider turkeys as 2nd-rate game. I enjoy hunting gobblers as much as elk! I still have hair rise on the back of my neck every time I hear a tom gobble or a bull elk bugle! I've been hunting antelope since I was a kid growing up in Wyo and anxiously await each pronghorn hunt. I just started hunting whitetails a few years ago and catch buck fever every time I see a whopper!

It's sometimes hard to point the finger at just 1 favorite species.

hhunter23 · Feb 13, 2020

mule deer for sure. i just like how cagey a big buck can be and versatile country they live in. desert low lands to the high country shale. its just so fun to find a big mature mule deer and beat him at his game. elk is a second mostly for meat. a big bull doesnt really turn my crank, they are cool though.

DeerHunter53 · Feb 13, 2020

Mule deer Number 1 on my list and I guess it's because of the way I was brought up. The whole family went up for the hunt all the Uncles and cousins. It was one of the best times in my life as we all shared the same passion for the animal we were hunting.

The_Coloradoboy · Feb 13, 2020

Mule deer for me. Love hunting elk, antelope, sheep and bears but nothing gets me worked up like a big chocolate horned muley.

money · Feb 13, 2020

jims said:
Dall sheep are my favorite critter to hunt in N America but bighorn are a close #2. Nothing better than spending the summer and fall in high, gorgeous locations watching, filming, and hunting sheep!

With that said, a lot of guys consider turkeys as 2nd-rate game. I enjoy hunting gobblers as much as elk! I still have hair rise on the back of my neck every time I hear a tom gobble or a bull elk bugle! I've been hunting antelope since I was a kid growing up in Wyo and anxiously await each pronghorn hunt. I just started hunting whitetails a few years ago and catch buck fever every time I see a whopper!

It's sometimes hard to point the finger at just 1 favorite species.

Turkey hunting is easily one of the coolest things in the world to do. A lot of people haven't tried it or don't know how to do it, but I promise if they would just learn how they would be hooked for life.

3TOE · Feb 13, 2020

money said:
Turkey hunting is easily one of the coolest things in the world to do. A lot of people haven't tried it or don't know how to do it, but I promise if they would just learn how they would be hooked for life.

I couldn’t agree more! I’ve been turkey and whitetail deer hunting since I was a kid. I still enjoy deer hunting but it doesn’t get me excited like an ol’ gobbler. I think for me it’s the interaction aspect of it.
Whatever it is... I was hooked from my very first turkey hunt.

sticksender · Feb 13, 2020

Any alpine species, but especially sheep. There's just something special about bowhunting up really high, and getting close to the animals who live there.

Bluehair · Feb 13, 2020

My vote was for sheep in general and included the thinhorns.

You can hunt the same stuff for muleys and RM's, and you can hunt the same stuff for muleys, coues, and deserts. Not so much the thinhorns.

What sets sheep apart for me is what they do on the mountain. They do things in the rocks and cliffs you won't see other big game critters do. To spend afternoons in the clouds watching them do sheep stuff is just breathtaking.

ironhead · Feb 13, 2020

I have always said if I could get a Muley to bugle, I would hunt nothing else. I don't have a favorite right now, I enjoy the variety.
So many different habitats and environments with incredible animals.

utfireman · Feb 13, 2020

2 legged dear!! The hunt for them is always epic!

The_Coloradoboy · Feb 13, 2020

utfireman said:
2 legged dear!! The hunt for them is always epic!

Every now and then you get one good enough to mount!

nontypical · Feb 14, 2020

Muleys and rutting bull elk!

Lil_Fish · Feb 19, 2020

I absolutely love archery elk hunting. I have been doing it since I could hunt. There is nothing like calling in a bull elk and watching bulls wallow or even fight each other. After elk hunting I am a duck hunter.

dgwoody · Feb 19, 2020

Whatever I have a tag for becomes my favorite. It’s been elk the last few years. My moose hunt was the best of my life, but I may never have the chance to do that again.

bugleb · Feb 19, 2020

Big mule deer bucks. They are hard but doable.
I like elk hunting too, but everything about them is hard, from finding them to packing them out after the kill. Their meat is a lot better than deer meat though, that's for sure.

gfontela · Feb 20, 2020

I've only done one mule deer hunt so far, but I'm hooked! Can't be beat.

X7ahunter · Feb 23, 2020

Mule deer and blacktail but I've never hunted any of the others

osu92 · Feb 25, 2020

I'm assuming anyone who didn't vote for Bighorn Sheep simply hasn't had the pleasure of hunting them. Everyone should get the pleasure of doing that at some point in their life.

buckhorn · Feb 25, 2020

I’ve always been crazy for big Muley bucks. When you connect on a really good one it don’t get much better than that.

Tikka · Feb 25, 2020

I’ve grew up living, breathing and hunting mule deer... 4 years ago I hunted coues for the first time, I can tell you I now have two addictions...

kk · Feb 28, 2020

Since Bear wasn't on the list. I went with Sheep

Giddyup · Mar 3, 2020

Founder said:
What's your favorite western game animal the hunt?

Why?

A truly mature is very hard to find , I’m talking 7-9 years old. And they are even harder to kill

Butts · Mar 6, 2020

Giddyup said:
A truly mature is very hard to find , I’m talking 7-9 years old. And they are even harder to kill

7-9 years old on what species? If your talking mule deer.. they are virtually nonexistent in the western US.

littlebighorn · Mar 6, 2020

I love hunting them all, but I gotta go with sheep, given I'm littlebighorn!
Top of the mountain air, rarely see another hunter, 10 day hunt minimum required for success, potential to be eaten by a Grizzly (except for Deserts, and there it's rattlesnakes and scorpions).
Sheep are more than a hunt to me. They are an adventure!

eelgrass · Mar 6, 2020

I'm torn between antelope and blacktail deer. Antelope are fun because if you can't see one, he's not there. On the other hand a Boone and Crocket blacktail buck might be laying down within 20' of you at any time. They are the exact opposite. You need a spotting scope for antelope and open sights for blacktails.