North American Big 29 - average success rates?

[buffybr]

...There are not many people who have been able to collect ALL legal species of North American game...

With the exception of Quebec-Labrador Caribou that Quebec closed hunting to non-residents, tags for the other 28 are available....IF you have the money.

 

[JES Adventures]

Dont forget Walrus with hunts being currently conducted. If you are not concerned with trophy import, 30 species are currently available.

 

[Muskox]

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• Roosevelt Elk 100% on Vancouver Island
• Tule Elk 100% on private ranches in California
• Alaska Yukon Moose 80% in the Yukon, 40% in Alaska
• Central Canadian Barren Ground Caribou
• Woodland Caribou 50% success in Newfie!
• Mountain Caribou low success in BC, great success in NWT and the Yukon
• Quebec Labrador Caribou currently closed
• Polar Bear 30-50%
• Alaska Brown Bear top areas 100%, most areas 40%
• Grizzly Bear 40%
• Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep problem is the tag, British Columbia hunts are 40-75%
• Dall Sheep Alaska success has dropped thanks to more residents hunting them, but Canada could be 100%
• Desert Bighorn Sheep in Mexico 100%
• Stone Sheep again problematic, If you pay top dollar the success is really good. If you go cheap you will be lucky to be at 30% Many outfitters will book 5 hunters for 2 sheep hunts

 

[Justbryan]

Too old, too fat, too tired, too poor, too lazy, too... for such. I will continue on an easier path as I have opportunity. My success rate on desert big horn and polar bear is probably going to remain at 0%.

 

[Milo]

Dont forget Walrus with hunts being currently conducted. If you are not concerned with trophy import, 30 species are currently available.

Not sure why alligator and wolves were never included.

 

[buffybr]

I just got back from Alaska where a beautiful blonde Brown Bear brought my NA 29 up to 18 animals, but we didn't see a legal bull Moose so I ate an expensive bowl of tag soup there.

Also a couple of years ago I hunted Newfoundland for Woodland Caribou and Canadian Moose. My guide and I did not see any Caribou and the 3 bull Moose that we saw in my unit did not meet the antler size that I wanted, so I passed on all of them. More expensive tag soup!

 

[Graysonstrauss12]

That’s a really hard thing to answer. For instance a stone sheep hunt today is in excess of 30k, not to mention most polar bear hunts about the same. Now factor in hunting the species multi able times . It could easily cost over 200k with all expenses.

What is the cheapest?

 

[Graysonstrauss12]

That’s a really hard thing to answer. For instance a stone sheep hunt today is in excess of 30k, not to mention most polar bear hunts about the same. Now factor in hunting the species multi able times . It could easily cost over 200k with all expenses.

Is this Canadian dollars or US dollars

 

[LivingTheDream]

Is this Canadian dollars or US dollars

I think you are probably touching 90k to 120k USD for a stone sheep hunt now.

Caribou have gotten expensive as well.

 

[Mark Audino]

Stone Sheep? Upwards closer to six figures with the rate of increase exceeding the other sheep. It won't be long before Stone Sheep tops well over that. A big factor general of success is physical conditioning. As a general rule, most things that a hunter hunts "up" for should be done sooner. But even that, while logical has to be balanced against the year-over-year price trajectory for each animal. If going for all of them in a concentrated period of time, a youngish, fit person with funds, doesn't necessarily have to parse it down as much. Best wishes.

 

[JES Adventures]

What is the cheapest?

Whitetail deer would most likely be the cheapest.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Is this Canadian dollars or US dollars

For anyone who could afford a stone sheep, the currency denomination is immaterial.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I think for the average zillionaire rich person, this would still be nearly an impossible goal to achieve in one lifetime unless the "hunting" is not real hunting (e.g. shooting bear over bait or out of a boat, deer from a treestand next to a feeder, etc.). For me the goal has always been the quality of the hunt rather than the size or number or variety of game harvested. The tougher the hunt, the more it appeals to me. I have declined the spiral slam because shooting a bushbuck on the edge of a farm field has zero appeal (and for totally unexplained reasons I simply have no desire to shoot an eland). In August I harvested my third gemsbuck and couldn't connect on my fourth kudu. I'll shoot the same species over and over if the hunt is challenging.

 

[LivingTheDream]

Whitetail deer would most likely be the cheapest.

I know you almost have your 29, but given your experience, do think all of the deer would pretty much be attainable DIY if you didn't really care about trophy size of the deer?

 

[LivingTheDream]

I think for the average zillionaire rich person, this would still be nearly an impossible goal to achieve in one lifetime unless the "hunting" is not real hunting (e.g. shooting bear over bait or out of a boat, deer from a trees and next to a feeder, etc.

This is pretty laughable statement. It just reads as someone who lacks the patience and creativity to get it done. Part of the beauty of hunting a vast array of species in different terrain is the experience of different hunting styles that necessitate hunting that game.

I have shot 3 bushbucks, one in crater of an inactive volcano, another in the thick of a swamp in Kafue, and another after an 800 ft climb in the Eastern cape. All are extremely memorable and each had their own style.

 

[Firebird]

Bushbuck was Possibly the hardest trophy I hunted and took and certainly the luckiest shot and my eland one of my absolute favorites to hunt, eat and have in my house.
-I guess javelina are not among the 29 but are a fine and affordable adventure. I’ve done it solo in Arizona but achievable in many places.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

This is pretty laughable statement. It just reads as someone who lacks the patience and creativity to get it done. Part of the beauty of hunting a vast array of species in different terrain is the experience of different hunting styles that necessitate hunting that game.

I have shot 3 bushbucks, one in crater of an inactive volcano, another in the thick of a swamp in Kafue, and another after an 800 ft climb in the Eastern cape. All are extremely memorable and each had their own style.

I think I would enjoy the Eastern Cape experience you describe. My PH wanted to hang around a farmer's field. Not for me. I have never been big on sit and wait style of hunting. Yawn. I'm a search and destroy type. Raised on tracking game in snow. Two days ago I took a very nice muley buck after two days of hiking rough terrain approx twenty miles total. Not 800' but in the end at least 200' elevation climb just to get up to him from where I shot (230 yard shot).

 

[HankBuck]

Hello,

I am trying to, for personal curiosity reasons, figure out what exactly it would cost someone to accomplish the "Super Slam" of all 29 big game species found in North America. In this, I've factored in the average cost of a hunt for each species, based on costs I've found for popular and unpopular hunting destinations for each species. I've included a variety of destinations, some on public land some on private.

For this, I am assuming all are guided rifle hunts, and I am factoring in costs of a guide (or two), airfare to get to the hunting destination (based on average flights out of Washington DC), any kind of car rental/hotel stay/meals that need to be purchased, cost of a license/tag if needed, and any other miscellaneous charges needed (for example, polar bear hunts require fees paid to an Arctic Research Fund, and medical insurance comes highly recommended on a trip like that as well). I have NOT factored in any equipment for the hunt, as this is preferential based on the guide and hunter. This has given me the average cost of a hunt for each of the 29 species (currently, I have 17 finished and 12 to go).

However, I believe there's an issue with that system - it assumes that every single hunt you would go on, you would bag your trophy on the first try. This would take an unimaginable amount of skill and luck, that I doubt many, if any hunters have. So, this is where success rates comes in.
For example - if a hunt costs $10,000, but has only a 25% average success rate - the hunt is $10K, but on average a hunter would need to do it four times before they got a trophy, meaning that the cost of that animal is $40,000.
For my estimate of the final cost, I need the average success rates of hunts for these species.

So what I am asking - is that you please comment if you have any figures (either from personal experience, rates you've heard, rates you've seen, or something else) on the success rates for these hunts. I do not wish to split them up based on the destination, rather just find the average.
The species are:

• Whitetail Deer
• Mule Deer
• Coues Whitetail Deer
• Sitka Blacktail Deer
• Columbia Blacktail Deer
• Rocky Mountain Elk
• Roosevelt Elk
• Tule Elk
• Canada Moose
• Shiras Moose
• Alaska Yukon Moose
• Barren Ground Caribou
• Central Canadian Barren Ground Caribou
• Woodland Caribou
• Mountain Caribou
• Quebec Labrador Caribou
• Polar Bear
• Alaska Brown Bear
• Grizzly Bear
• Black Bear
• Cougar
• Muskox
• Bison
• American Mountain Goat
• Pronghorn
• Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep
• Dall Sheep
• Desert Bighorn Sheep
• Stone Sheep

I will tag @johnnyblues and @SnowLeopard as, per my thread on one caliber for NA hunting, they have suggested that they have hunted the majority of these species over several years - but I invite anyone to reply.

Thank you everyone for your insight,
Drew

Drew, will these be Free Range - Fair Chase Hunts? Or High Fence? If they are high fence your success should be near 100% on many species... and if you are willing to take smaller/ lower quality trophies then costs will also be less. I can’t imagine anyway to calculate costs to any degree of accuracy because the range would vary so greatly.....figure somewhere between “a lot $$$$” and “more $”.

 

[HankBuck]

I think for the average zillionaire rich person, this would still be nearly an impossible goal to achieve in one lifetime unless the "hunting" is not real hunting (e.g. shooting bear over bait or out of a boat, deer from a treestand next to a feeder, etc.). For me the goal has always been the quality of the hunt rather than the size or number or variety of game harvested. The tougher the hunt, the more it appeals to me. I have declined the spiral slam because shooting a bushbuck on the edge of a farm field has zero appeal (and for totally unexplained reasons I simply have no desire to shoot an eland). In August I harvested my third gemsbuck and couldn't connect on my fourth kudu. I'll shoot the same species over and over if the hunt is challenging.

Ontario, I have some similar feelings regarding the “difficulty” taking an animal has a direct relationship as to whether it is a “trophy” to me. Hunting over a feeder in Texas seemed a bit too easy but hunting over bait in Saskatchewan - at -20 below zero would meet my standards. Now, if I lived up there then maybe a spot & stalk would be feasible. As for hunting bear from a boat - I wouldn’t mind spotting one on a shoreline, then beaching the boat and planning a stalk....but I wouldn’t want to rifle shoot one “from a boat”. I also have no issue shooting a Mountain Lion over hounds - that hunt is all about the Hounds and your ability to stay up with them or reac( the tree.....which can be easy or near impossible - after 3 Cougar hunts and No Cougar it’s been challenging enough. But bottom line - if it’s too easy then I don’t enjoy it. A hunt without effort is a hunt without rewards.

 

[Milo]

Whitetail deer would most likely be the cheapest.

Depends on your zip code. I've hunted dall sheep cheaper than whitetail.