My personal "grand slam" of hunting

[Warren1726]

I'm in my early thirties now, with a wife and two little kids (5yo boy, 2yo girl). I am realizing that if I don't make a plan and start saving, my hunting dreams will never come to fruition. So I'm looking for a little advice from you Roksliders. I have formulated a list of all of the big-game species I want to hunt. I hope you can help me decide how to attack this. I'm thinking, since I will have more funds as I get older, hopefully, I should start with the cheapest/logistically easiest.

White-tail Deer (Done)
Mule Deer
Columbia Black Tail Deer
Pronghorn
Elk (should draw a tag in KY soon as resident)
Moose
Caribou
Black Bear
Sheep (preferably bighorn, but Dall as well)

I'm a rifle and bow hunter so either is fine. I prefer a mature male of the species, but its not a deal breaker. Help me make a plan, and while we're at it, what are some ways that your list is different from mine?

 

[Texasbr]

Your almost to a legitimate super 10. Just need a cougar and bison. I would try to double up some of those hunts if all possible.

 

[realunlucky]

My biggest boost was deciding what I could afford to spend a year. I have a hunting savings account goes in straight from payroll. Saving money means diy but that truly lowers your success rate so it could be multiple trips after a animal. With no budget you can't plan

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[bigeasygator]

I love talking about hunting goals! I'll give some opinions on your list first and then share mine. Note that this advice is somewhat general and there are always exceptions, so keep that in mind.

Your list is very solid and diverse and will provide you with a number of unique experiences! It looks like you have only taken a whitetail deer, so I think it would be great to start with a fairly easy animal to hunt from the ground. Caribou and mule deer can help sharpen your spotting and stalking game.

You'll want to make sure you're in decent shape before handling the mountain game of the list. Elk are very romanticized and everyone wants to hunt them, but they are tough and success rates are low compared to a lot of the other animals on the list.

Moose offer a unique adventure but also keep in mind they are a very low density animal throughout their range. There are lots of places to hunt moose, all carry with them different challenges and different prices.

I think you'll really want to look at a Dall sheep as it is by far the cheapest of the sheep. If you don't have a pile of points in the key states, chances are very unlikely you'll draw a bighorn tag for decades (if ever). Prices to hunt bighorn sheep are in the neighborhood of $30-40K if you are unable to draw a tag. Dall sheep will run you around half of that.

From an expense perspective, pronghorn, the deer, elk, and black bear are probably the cheapest if you want to keep things DIY and tags are readily available. When you start looking at sheep, caribou, and moose the price is going to jump and tags will be relatively harder to obtain. First are the logistics to get to where these animals are. Lastly, some of these almost require you to go guided depending on where you hunt them. Think about whether you want to try and go DIY or whether you want to go guided -- it will drive costs and planning requirements.

Think about how important it is to harvest an animal. Your success rate will likely be drastically different if you are carrying a rifle compared to a bow. I've been on nine elk hunts -- I'm 3 for 3 with a rifle, and 0 for 6 with a bow. I've had other hunts (like moose) where even when going to a relatively high density area I didn't see a single moose. If your goal is to harvest all of these animals, you need to plan on some return trips (especially with a bow).

Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of taking the Super Slam (read too much Chuck Adams I guess!). Seeing as I'm sitting at 5 of the 29 (whitetail, mule deer, elk, black bear, Quebec Labrador caribou), it's a little presumptive to set my goal as the Super Slam!! Instead, I'm starting with the Super 10 which is one species from the following groups:

- Deer
- Elk
- Moose
- Bear
- Caribou
- Sheep
- Mountain Goat
- Pronghorn
- Mountain Lion
- Bison/Musk Ox

Next year I'm planning a mountain lion and pronghorn hunt in 2017 and hope to follow it up with an elk and a musk ox in 2018. That would leave me with the sheep, goat, and moose for 2019 and beyond. That would give me a Super 10 by the time I'm 40 (assuming I'm successful, which will require some luck and be driven by what weapon I decide to carry) and who knows what from there. Might decide to get the Super 10 with a rifle and then complete it with my bow.

SCI has some pretty well thought out awards programs that are worth looking into. Not that I (or anyone I know) necessarily hunts for awards, but it is a great way to track your accomplishments and help to plan some of your adventures in the future.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Nice list. With patience luckily I can tick off most of those in state, for me the caribou hunt is something I've drooled over and will need to save up some coin for. I really like the uniqueness of their racks as well (personally I like the hardset look).

A family member that borrowed money a few years back has just recently started repaying it, if that trend continues I may get my caribou hunt one of these sooner years.

 

[Beendare]

Most species you mentioned are easy....

.....its the Moose and Sheep that are going to be the most expensive or difficult to draw depending on how you go about it. So maybe start saving, planning ....and/or applying for those hunts with the easier ones as a fallback.

 

[weaver]

I've got a similar list I'm chasing. I just can't see me dropping the coin on a sheep hunt in the foreseeable future. I can do a LOT of diy hunts for 15-20 grand.

 

[cnelk]

I posted on another thread that I accomplished my goal of 4 big animals, in 4 different states, in 4 months this fall.
Im 52 and with both kids out of the house [son in college, daughter on her own] I had all kinds of time to do it

Total cost for all these 4 hunts - DIY - was approx $7500.

For some, money is the issue, other people its a time issue.

Its all about making goals. Attainable / 'Do-able' goals.
Otherwise it just wont work.

Pick a hunt, make it a goal.
You can do it

 

[Nick Muche]

Hunting goals are fun to plan! I wish you the best with yours and hope that you get the adventure you are seeking while obtaining them!

 

[blackdog]

After you draw your resident KY elk tag, pack up the family and move to Alaska for a few years. Scratch the moose, caribou, and sheep off your list after you've accomplished all those DIY, them move back to the lower 48. Simple! ;-)

 

[Merc]

I've got very similar goals but like BigEasyGator I'm working on my 10. And knocked out pronghorn and elk* this fall on DIY.

Let me know if you've got questions on Wyoming as it's fresh for me and would be a good place to double up on antelope, and Mule deer, and give a shot at elk.

So far I've got; Elk, pronghorn, black bear, whitetail and Mule deer.

Looking into moving to Alaska in the next year or two if work overseas holds up so I can get the goat, sheep and a grizzly on resident tags. Heading up for a fly in caribou and moose float hunt in 2018.

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[maninthemaze]

Good luck on the KY elk tag. I've been putting in for it for going on 4 years now. Haven't drawn a single tag. Luckily we can put in for all 4 (gun bull, gun cow, bow bull, bow cow) now, increasing our odds of drawing something. I'll still put in for it but I've started hunting out west. Good luck!!

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[Warren1726]

Good luck on the KY elk tag. I've been putting in for it for going on 4 years now. Haven't drawn a single tag. Luckily we can put in for all 4 (gun bull, gun cow, bow bull, bow cow) now, increasing our odds of drawing something. I'll still put in for it but I've started hunting out west. Good luck!!

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Yeah man, I've been in for 7 years now every year same thing "you have not been selected"!

 

[Warren1726]

Y'all are awesome! Thanks for the advice. I think realunlucky totally hit the nail on the head for me, I need to start a hunting savings account.

 

[Grumman]

After planning for a CO elk hunt this year I finally drew a KY elk tag. I had been putting my max chances in since the draw started.

One thing to consider is if your kids like hunting and if you would ever take any of them along for the hunts you listed. That could impact the sequence you plan to go after.

For instance on my elk hunt my 8 year old was right by my side and we had a blast. I am gonna try to take him with me as much as I can. However he is several years out before I would consider putting him in mountain goat or sheep country so for me I would put pronghorn and maybe mountain lion first. Best of luck, I hope 2017 is your lucky year for KY elk.


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[Ndbowhunter]

You could probably hunt all those species for 10,000 bucks tops all up if you have the time and exclude sheep.

In my mind I'd do a mountain caribou hunt and do a fun overseas hunt instead of a sheep hunt. Sheep are way overrated.

Nz is diy.. I've only shot 3 of the 7 deer species. Chamois are a riot and tahr are regal.

South Africa can be done cheap as. Stick to two medium sized antelope and chase warthogs on foot. Free range can be done too, do your homework

Scotland roe deer is cheap as, an you can always do management animals for a small fee. Missus will enjoy.

Sweden boar is a riot and really affordable.

Kyrgyzstan for ibex is less then dall sheep and offers one hell of an experience.

Ontario or Manitoba moose can be done for less then a grand. I do not enjoy hunting moose

 

[MuleyFever]

Hope you get to check them all off your list. One thing to consider is your assumption that you will have more money later. You cannot count on a prosperous future and for that reason I would start saving to get the more expensive and physically challenging ones done now.