Slams vs Your own Goals

[CMF]

I'm generally not a slam guy, but I would love to have an NA squirrel slam. I'm sitting at Fox, Red, and Yellow Bellied Marmot. Still need a gray and a black color phase gray, and woodchuck for sure. Not sure what all other species you would need. Two crown jewels would be the Delmarva Fox squirrel and Malabar Giant Squirrel (not NA, but an insane purple and gold squirrel from India). Neither of those two are legally huntable as far as I can tell.

Tassle ear squirrel down in the Gila

 

[Maverick1]

For the record... if I sold a billion sandwiches at a freaky fast speed, I would slam all your mothers and have every North American slam possible.

“Hey, how about we get off of mothers, all right? I just got off of yours!”.

 

[Maverick1]

A couple years ago the cost to complete a NA 28 slam was over $500k.

Imagine it has only gone up since then.

Thus, not a realistic goal for most.

*Edited to clarify the $500k was for NA 28*

 

[MuleyFever]

A couple years ago the cost to complete a slam was over $500k.

Imagine it has only gone up since then.

Thus, not a realistic goal for most.

There is a member here that booked all 4 a couple years ago for $296K. All you need is some equity in your house.

 

[Mammoth Steppe]

A couple years ago the cost to complete a slam was over $500k.

Imagine it has only gone up since then.

Thus, not a realistic goal for most.

USD? That sounds high, even for sheep. Assuming you go guided and are successful on each of the 4 hunts I'm assuming it can be done for around 300k. Still no pocket change.

40-50K for Dall
60-70K for Desert
80-90k for Rocky
90-115k for Stone

 

[Mammoth Steppe]

Probably slamming a 12 pack of Coor's while you skin your Whitetail.

Those Capra slams look a little more affordable, problem is aside from the Mountain Goat they are all international. Lots of Chamois in Europe that seem to be in the $5000-$10,000 range. Tahr in NZ as well.

 

[Maverick1]

USD? That sounds high, even for sheep. Assuming you go guided and are successful on each of the 4 hunts I'm assuming it can be done for around 300k. Still no pocket change.

40-50K for Dall
60-70K for Desert
80-90k for Rocky
90-115k for Stone

That $500k was for the NA 28.

 

[LostArra]

My Deer archery "slam":
Self bow (Osage bow I made)
Longbow
Recurve
Compound
Total cost about $2500 includes bows and arrows

 

[KurtR]

A guy i train dogs with wanted his dog to pick up every waterfowl species in NA and he did it. Got to hunt some cool areas and made memories with the dog that will last for ever.

Now my question always starts with can my dog come i would rather watch him pick up 2 teal at this point than shoot another 180" mule deer

 

[WCB]

I get it...Some do slams because they want to hunt say...Sheep everywhere they live and enjoy the new places and uniqueness of each species and habitat. Others do it strictly as a check box. I'd like to kill all the different deer and elk in NA. Obviously a sheep slam would be awesome...all for my personal reasons not because it is a "slam". There is a line there somewhere that would be hard for some smooth brains to understand. If I want to shoot all 4 sheep but don't register it am I chasing a "slam" or just hunting all 4 unique species?

The really odd ones are the "whitetail deer slam" or whatever dumb sh!t people make up. Apparently I've killed 4 and didn't even know it? 3 right here in MN....?

 

[Weldor]

Never really thought much about it. I hunt to enjoy my time outdoors and eat what I take. I get other that hunters want to get all the species thing. Like the man said "to each his own". If I had the time and where with all, I would try for the Turkeys just because they are ugly.

 

[hunt1up]

USD? That sounds high, even for sheep. Assuming you go guided and are successful on each of the 4 hunts I'm assuming it can be done for around 300k. Still no pocket change.

40-50K for Dall
60-70K for Desert
80-90k for Rocky
90-115k for Stone

Add travel, tips to guides, hotels, shipping, likely taxidermy. It'll get up there faster than you think, be it just the 4 sheep or all the species.

If using guides, which an American will be doing in Canada, and also assuming a guy doesn't luck out and draw some of the hard ones like the lower 48 sheep, it's probably more like a million dollar endeavor these days.

 

[william schmaltz]

I’d imagine people with a slam list are indeed hunting what they want to hunt.

I’ve always been a collector. Long before I knew about lists, I had the goal of getting the skull/hide/bacculum of every fur bearer in my home state. I just think it’s cool and I got to intimately learn about each animal trying to trap it. A handful of years ago someone asked me if I had my Super10. So I looked it up. I’m an elk and antelope away by just hunting stuff I like to hunt. It’s cool to hear other have also got fully DIY S10! I’ll eventually take time to hunt elk/antelope but I’m not sacrificing a moose season for it and if it came down to either moose every year or fill my S10, I’ll be happy eating moose meat til I die.

I can understand people having goals and a list that gets a person out of their comfort zone; I can’t yet understand the part that comes after where it seems they’ve only done it to get circle jerked at some conference/award ceremony in a room full of strangers.

 

[madtinker]

My Deer archery "slam":
Self bow (Osage bow I made)
Longbow
Recurve
Compound
Total cost about $2500 includes bows and arrows

This is the kind of slam I could get behind. Hugely challenging to yourself, with lots of growth and learning. If you have done it, that’s impressive.

 

[Blockcaver]

Bowhunting North America for new species in a new habitat.....each being a new challenge was great fun and whole lot of work. Took me 50 seasons to accomplish the NA29 (Archery Super Slam)

I also like DIY bowhunting and was successful on 20 NA species without guides thanks primarily to being a resident of CO for 35 years and a resident of BC for the past 16 years. That and drawing NR NV Bighorn Sheep, NR UT Bison, NR WY Shiras Moose and hunting deer species, elk, moose, caribou etc where I could without a draw or guide as a NR.

Wouldn't trade the adventures, failures followed by success sometimes a decade later, great meat, great people I've met for anything. But to each his own! And being a thrifty DIY'er on 20 of the species lowered the cost significantly. Sometimes I joke that I may have the least expensive Archery NA29 completed recently (2021).

Good luck to all....no matter what your goals are.