North American Big 29 - average success rates?

[HankBuck]

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

Milo, I’m assuming that would only be possible based on the price of a High Fence whitetail hunt where you shoot a 300”-400” freakishly big buck (and pay $15,000-$25,000) or possibly a King Ranch buck in Texas where you pay-by-the-inch for big bucks killed? Otherwise, please tell us where these bargain Dall Sheep (sub $12,000) hunts are? Obviously Dall have Walmart pricing compared to other sheep hunts...

 

[Milo]

Milo, I’m assuming that would only be possible based on the price of a High Fence whitetail hunt where you shoot a 300”-400” freakishly big buck (and pay $15,000-$25,000) or possibly a King Ranch buck in Texas where you pay-by-the-inch for big bucks killed? Otherwise, please tell us where these bargain Dall Sheep (sub $12,000) hunts are? Obviously Dall have Walmart pricing compared to other sheep hunts...

Alaska resident - drive to trailhead and starting walking with $45 license in pocket. I've done the same for mountain goats and moose.
Commercial airline flight and non resident license for anywhere with whitetails.

Point is, everything is relative.

 

[HankBuck]

Alaska resident - drive to trailhead and starting walking with $45 license in pocket. I've done the same for mountain goats and moose.
Commercial airline flight and non resident license for anywhere with whitetails.

Point is, everything is relative.

Thought so Milo, hardly relative - you are fortunate to live in Hunting Heaven While the rest of us reside closer to Earth. It is nice that you can pursue sheep out your back door and are in the physical health required to do so...you must enjoy that.

 

[buffybr]

What is the cheapest?

Probably the animals in your home state that you can DIY hunt on a resident license.

I was lucky enough to have hunted mule and whitetail deer, black bear, RM elk, pronghorn, Shiras moose, bighorn sheep, and mountain goat all on DIY and most on solo hunts that only cost me the price of a Montana resident license and a tank of gas for my truck. Many costing less than $25.

 

[Milo]

Probably the animals in your home state that you can DIY hunt on a resident license.

I was lucky enough to have hunted mule and whitetail deer, black bear, RM elk, pronghorn, Shiras moose, bighorn sheep, and mountain goat all on DIY and most on solo hunts that only cost me the price of a Montana resident license and a tank of gas for my truck. Many costing less than $25.

Exactly that. Hell, I met a young lady that shot a polar bear for the price of a couple rounds of .243 ammo.

 

[R eight]

need the average success rates of hunts for these species

………………..

From my experience.

First hunt in Alaska for 16 days had tags for; moose, Dall, wolf, grizzly, BC caribou. The Caribou tag was a draw tag. Results, never saw a bear, wolf or legal ram. Saw one legal bull a couple of miles away right on dark. Shot a monster of a BG bou that made the B&C all time record book. Had a great adventure and met some great people.

Second hunt in Alaska. 14 days had tags for moose, Dall, grizzly, wolf. Shot a nice ram. Passed on a young boar grizzly. Never saw a legal moose or wolf. Had a real adventure.

Third trip to Alaska. 10 days had a tag for a brown bear. Shot a nice boar. Saw a wolf and had a great time and another adventure.

First, and hopefully not last, trip to BC. 10 days. Had tags for moose and wolf. Shot a very nice bull. Saw a few bears. Another adventure.

Being a non resident alien all of my hunting in Alaska and BC is guided.

As to success rates? Well I guess it depends on a few things. Length of time you hunt, weather, how fussy you are with trophies, fitness ( I’ve seen some clients who have trouble walking hunting sheep) and a few other factors.

So I guess success rates are very much like the length of a piece of string.

 

[WAB]

I’ll give you an example of success rates and local knowledge. King salmon on the Kenai river averaged 16 rod hours per fish when I lived on the Kenai. My boat averaged under 4. I wasn’t a better fisherman, I just watched the fish counts, new the time from tide to each hole for the fish, and only fished when I knew there was a good count of fresh fish in the holes I liked to fish. As a local I had the flexibility to do that. Fly in to Kenai for a week of guided fishing, 16 rod hours per fish.

I’ve been fortunate to live in great areas. If you have the capability and flexibility, DIY in-state
beats guided hunts every time. I never hunted big game with a guide in NA until I started hunting Coues deer. I just don’t have the local knowledge for that game.

 

[Milo]

I’ll give you an example of success rates and local knowledge. King salmon on the Kenai river averaged 16 rod hours per fish when I lived on the Kenai. My boat averaged under 4. I wasn’t a better fisherman, I just watched the fish counts, new the time from tide to each hole for the fish, and only fished when I knew there was a good count of fresh fish in the holes I liked to fish. As a local I had the flexibility to do that. Fly in to Kenai for a week of guided fishing, 16 rod hours per fish.

I’ve been fortunate to live in great areas. If you have the capability and flexibility, DIY in-state
beats guided hunts every time. I never hunted big game with a guide in NA until I started hunting Coues deer. I just don’t have the local knowledge for that game.

Guides wish they could do 16 rod hours per fish these days.

 

[HankBuck]

Exactly that. Hell, I met a young lady that shot a polar bear for the price of a couple rounds of .243 ammo.

Milo, was she an Inuit Woman? That is one of the most specialized & most expensive hunts in North America - the location & extreme cold eliminate it from the DIY list, then needing a good team of sled dogs or snowmobiles (everyone doesn’t have those) and a lesson on building an iglo.....plus getting a permit - which usually go to Inuits and are then “sold” to Hunters for much needed revenue to those native people. Other then in a “self defense” situation, while sight seeing in Churchill - how did she do it?

 

[LivingTheDream]

Milo, was she an Inuit Woman? That is one of the most specialized & most expensive hunts in North America - the location & extreme cold eliminate it from the DIY list, then needing a good team of sled dogs or snowmobiles (everyone doesn’t have those) and a lesson on building an iglo.....plus getting a permit - which usually go to Inuits and are then “sold” to Hunters for much needed revenue to those native people. Other then in a “self defense” situation, while sight seeing in Churchill - how did she do it?

Well I dont want to give away my spot, but I am never allowed in that zoo again.

 

[WAB]

Milo, was she an Inuit Woman? That is one of the most specialized & most expensive hunts in North America - the location & extreme cold eliminate it from the DIY list, then needing a good team of sled dogs or snowmobiles (everyone doesn’t have those) and a lesson on building an iglo.....plus getting a permit - which usually go to Inuits and are then “sold” to Hunters for much needed revenue to those native people. Other then in a “self defense” situation, while sight seeing in Churchill - how did she do it?

I have friends who did DIY polar bear in Alaska before the closure. If you ever get a chance, watch the movie ‘at his is my Alaska’. I wish I’d been there in those days.

 

[JES Adventures]

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?

Absolutely all of the deer could be done DIY with the goal of collecting a representative of each specie. Moose, Caribou and Black Bear DIY in Alaska should be attainable as well. But I believe if you place any value on your time factor a guided hunt will be more successful.

 

[JES Adventures]

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

That’s a fair statement, I’m from Texas and shot my first whitetail for the cost of the license. I believe it was $6.40 back in 1980. I would imagine the Dall Sheep tag was a bit more than that.

 

[WAB]

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

I’ve got a huge dall ram on the wall. Cost? $120 in fuel for the plane.

 

[JES Adventures]

I’ve got a huge dall ram on the wall. Cost? $120 in fuel for the plane.

That’s a great hunting story! Post a picture of that cheap Dall.

 

[gbflyer]

I’ve got a huge dall ram on the wall. Cost? $120 in fuel for the plane.

Must have been awhile back or you were damned close. That’s 10 gallons today.

 

[Milo]

Milo, was she an Inuit Woman? That is one of the most specialized & most expensive hunts in North America - the location & extreme cold eliminate it from the DIY list, then needing a good team of sled dogs or snowmobiles (everyone doesn’t have those) and a lesson on building an iglo.....plus getting a permit - which usually go to Inuits and are then “sold” to Hunters for much needed revenue to those native people. Other then in a “self defense” situation, while sight seeing in Churchill - how did she do it?

12 year old Inupiat girl in Northwest Alaska.

The difficulty in your journey depends on where you start it.

 

[Milo]

That’s a fair statement, I’m from Texas and shot my first whitetail for the cost of the license. I believe it was $6.40 back in 1980. I would imagine the Dall Sheep tag was a bit more than that.

As an Alaskan resident, there is still no tag required. Just a hunting license but that's good for almost everything.

 

[WAB]

As an Alaskan resident, there is still no tag required. Just a hunting license but that's good for almost everything.

Well ya need a tag, it’s just that it’s free!

 

[WAB]

That’s a great hunting story! Post a picture of that cheap Dall.