Top 10 Toughest hunts in North America

[RC]

Public land Eastern gobbler without a blind.

[Jack Shanks]

I've had the opportunity to hunt a number of North American species and I would need to put the sheep and Mt. goat hunts at the top as far as toughest and most dangerous hunts.

[LittleBen]

It seems like we're all talkign whitetail here so lemme throw in my 2 cents.

I grew up on Long Island, Spent almost 10 years upstate, moved to VA and have hunted VA and MD as well.

My takes: LI can be tough. I was fortunate to live within a mile of 10,000 acres of state land so I knew it well and you could get it done, but iut was much harder at the popoular spots. Some places hacve a ton of deer thoguh like montauk and the hamptons.

Upstate NY: Adirondacks - stupidly hard, rough terrain in alot of places, unpredictable weather, remote, low deer density. This place is hard to hunt. I'm talking wilderness areas not farms. I'm talking High Peaks region. This is by far the hardest hunting I;ve done.

VA - I'm in northern VA and I had a 20yd shot my first day out on public land, and a 4yd shot in the same spot the next weekend which I took successfully. The deer are everywhere, I've snuck up on them in parks and such while carrying my Pug (read 'small wheezing land whalrus with wagging tail"). It's silly sometimes.

MD - I'm embarassed to have so many shooting opportunities in one day. I hunt a suburban private property surrounded by million dollar houses and I see 15-20 deer a day, probably 5 or more in bow range. It's ridiculous, unlimited doe tags, 3 bucks a year.

Anyway, Adirondack big buck, especially late season when the weather is rough, in a wilderness area .... Man if you can get that done, you're next challenge should be flapping your arms to fly.

[Keith Zimmerman]

I have a friend who has killed a couple mountain lions without dogs with his compound.  He was hunting Coues deer when he killed both of them.

Personally I would have to say anything with a 10 year old figiting next to you and asking questions:)

[Shedrock]

Coues deer, spot and stalk.

[tarponnut]

A buck with 5" antlers(or more) in the Big Cypress Preserve in the Everglades. I've killed one in 9 years of hunting there.

[stujay]

Mtn sheep/Mtn goats.

[AMB]

Originally posted by RC:
Public land Eastern gobbler without a blind.

X 100

[David lozzano]

Coues white tail, I think is by far the hardest deer to hunt with a bow.

[Izzy]

My vote is a mature Adirondack whitetail for difficulty of locating and patterning,  although Im gonna kill one this year  :readit:At times they are harder to find than bigfoot.

        For sheer physical exertion, lions without horses or sleds. I came near to freezing to death on my lion hunt. Theres no way to avoid sweating when sprinting up vertical slopes and than scratching and clawing up the next one that I can figure and when your waaaaay out from the truck in high winds and low temps soaked through and through things can get rather interesting. But yeah, Adirondack bucks are humbling if not demoralizing.

[Hoyt]

Originally posted by RC:
Public land Eastern gobbler without a blind.

X-2 only no decoys either. It's pretty much a naked feeling out there.

[TDHunter]

I have to agree with most, Mt.Goat & Mt.Sheep.

I've been fortunate enough to have killed one of each, and was there when "HUMMER3T" killed his but I have had many momments Goat/sheep hunting were it's one wrong step and it's game over!!   Many momments where I've thought "what the *^!#* am I doing up here"  Wet, loose , beyond steep terrain, hunting animals that don't seem to follw the laws of gravity.

But it sure makes for great adventures!!!

[ishoot4thrills]

Here's one nobody would ever think of: purposely hunting and killing a long-tailed weasel with trad gear! Now that would be a challenge, not just getting in range, but hitting such a small, always moving, target.

A 170+ inch whitetail buck on public land gets my vote. Heck, harvesting a 170+ inch buck with a trad bow on any land is tough!

The "turkey without a blind" gets my vote, too.

Not familiar with mt. goat/sheep hunting but I would say it's safe to assume that it ranks right up there.

[Jim Wright]

The question originally posted concerned the hardest animal to harvest with a traditional bow. I don't think it was about steep and difficult country. Concerning whitetails, look in the B&C record book, there are a number of traditional bow-killed Whitetails at least one of which is in the top 10 if not still in the top 5. Then look there for Mule Deer. A big Mule Deer buck is every bit as intent on survival as a Whitetail. He has as good a nose, better eyes and usually is found in a miserable spot in rough country. He is not bedding or feeding in the same spot for days or even weeks at a time like a Whitetail so "patterning" him is more than difficult. Go back and look at that record book again.

[jax]

Spot and stalk coyote

[wahoo]

I'm with Jim In my neck of the woods it is a monster mule deer buck hands down

[charles suttles]

Can't believe it's not the polar bear!

[M.Kerry Bird]

Neve hunted sheep or goats but big muley  bucks on public land are very tough.

[Thumper Dunker]

I would think coues deer. Sheep and goats. Chucker . Out here lions come in to a call And I know you can call in wolfs almost like coyotes. Spot and stalk coyote done that.
Any deer for me is hard to get.

[Sixby]

Tim, Anything should be easy for you to kill as good as you are on yotes. IMHO a yote is one of the smartest animals on the planet and has the most acute senses. sight , sound, smell and a 6th sense when something is not right. I attribute most of my successs at hunting big game to my ability to coyote successfully;

God bless, Steve