Best "buddy" bowhunt

[Dusty Nethery]

A good friend of mine asked me just today what would be a great trip to take for a group (3-5 guys)? His 40th birthday is a few short years away and he is wanting to do his first out-of-state hunt.

Up to this point I had not given much thought to such a trip. As we discussed, the hunting would take precedent with the social aspect being a bonus.


The criteria for the hunt is:

Big game

Not too physical i.e. high country backpack hunt (couple of the guys couldn't cut it due to past injuries)

I immediately thought of caribou or a Homer Ocean Charter-type Sitka blacktail hunt.

I would appreciate any ideas, insights, opinions, and/or experiences.

Best regards,

Dusty Nethery

[Biathlonman]

Bear maybe...

[ChuckC]

I haven't done it, but all I read tells me that Homer Ocean Sitka hunt involves a lot of vertical movement.  The bears frequent the beaches, but the deer like the high stuff.  Pig hunting is a fun deal, it can be laid back with a lot of camp time or hi energy go go go.

ChuckC

[goingoldskool]

X2 on bear camp. ....

It's a real blast!

Good luck, shoot straight and God bless,

Rodd

X 3 on a bear hunt! You can find a good outfitter in Alberta, and shoot 2 bears per hunter. It is a load of fun too, esp when one climbs up the tree you are sitting in!

Bisch

[Dusty Nethery]

Completely overlooked bear hunting. I'll add that one to the list!

[Lechwe]

Have to agree with the Bear hunting. One of the cheaper options especially if money might be an issue for some of the guys. The bears are just plain fun to be around and it one of your higher success hunts to boot.

Good luck. out of state hunts with your buddies is about as good as it gets.

Merry Christmas!

[ranger 3]

Dustin, where are you in IL?

[Dusty Nethery]

Originally posted by ranger 3:
Dustin, where are you in IL?

Crawford county

[ron w]

I went on Bear Quest #9 this past spring. All set up with guys from this site. Tom runs a first class camp and I had a ball. Even got my first trad harvest with a nice boar bear. Bear camp is a good choice.

[Dusty Nethery]

Too many saying "bear" for it to be a bad choice. Ultimately, my friend has the final say.

Any other options to add to the till?

[2wfstlhunting]

Although it is usually a relatively shorter hunt, you might consider a Pronghorn hunt.  It is a physically easy hunt.  That said, from the point of view of a bunch of guys going hunting and having time to socialize, then bear or javelina are probably top of the list.

[Dusty Nethery]

Pronghorn had completely slipped my mind.

Thanks for the responses guys.

Good hunting,

Dusty

[Bowwild]

I have the same situation. I am constantly looking for hunts for my best friend (70), brother (51), myself (62), son (36) and grandson (12).

I agree that Bear are great for this. However, watch out for Idaho -- very steep but we killed 3 bears.

Some don't count turkey as "big game" but I do.  We will do one of these group hunts in Nebraska this year, 2nd week of April. NR tags are only $85 and you are allowed 3. Youth are less than $10/tag.

This year I'm looking for an antelope hunt. Blinds over water holes. I'm the only recurve shooter in this group. One shoots only crossbow, the others compounds.

I also know of a tree stand/ground blind elk hunt in colorado that is one of my options for t his group. Three in my group (myself, son, and grandson) can negotiate all-terrain hunts but I don't want to leave my best friend and brother out of hunt plans.

I'd imagine a carbou hunt would fill the bill too but the expense is more than we can do.

[ronp]

Have you considered a wild boar hunt down south?  They seem pretty popular.  It's something I'd like to do in the future.

[Sharp Stick]

I like your idea of caribou, maybe I'm different, but I personally don't want to eat a bear.  Them bears haven't done anything to me, so I vote to leave them alone  Caribou, now that's different.  Dang good eating and only found in beautiful surroundings.

[Sean B]

I'd go with bears or hogs. They're all fun as can be.