First western hunt what game animal would you chase?

[tmmcampbell]

Well all I can say is that Elk is by far the best eating.. so that would be my choice but difficult for a first time hunter to the west to have much success on his own. Antelope is by far the easiest, but the poorest eating.. ha ha.. know that is going to cause some comments. Mule deer would probably be the most fun to hunt.....

I respectfully disagree. Best eating is: 1. Buffalo 2. Moose 3. Antelope 4. Cougar 5. Mule deer 6. Elk 7. White tail deer. And dead last (by a long ways) is big horn sheep. At least that's what my taste buds tell me.

 

[tmmcampbell]

Antelope hunting I have 40 lbs of ice in a cooler in the truck. When we shoot one we pull out the guts and put a bag of ice at both ends. Time we get back to camp the meat is cool. We skin it, cut it up and put it in the cooler. It is wonderful. The big horn sheep I ate was killed in 90 degrees and took them 5-6 hours to get it off the mountain. It might have ate better if they could have got it cooled down sooner.

 

[TG-5150]

I respectfully disagree. Best eating is: 1. Buffalo 2. Moose 3. Antelope 4. Cougar 5. Mule deer 6. Elk 7. White tail deer. And dead last (by a long ways) is big horn sheep. At least that's what my taste buds tell me.

Yer gonna start a poll, haha. Cougar is very good.

 

[Mike 338]

I think more than anything, I enjoyed hunting javelina in Arizona. Bow, pistol or rifle... they're all fun.

 

[mobenzowner]

For me, If you are patient and time things right there is nothing like putting down a big bull elk. However I usually see more Mule deer that elk depending on elevation. Other than a nice herd of antelope we always see at the Yampa Valley airport area they weren't where we were hunting, but I know they were withing 15 or 20 miles of where we hunted.

 

[Rhino Hunter]

Antelope are easier hunts, less expensive and have high success rates.

Mule deer are a little tougher on all three counts.

Then there's elk...boy do I love elk hunting. They're NOT easy, they're more expensive than the other two, and probably the lowest success rates of the three. But Il love hunting them more than anything on the planet! To me they're like a 700 pound muscle-bound whitetail (from living high up in the mountains), that can be incredibly vocal at times. They live in a postcard type area, and you hunt them in a stunningly beautiful time of year. And they taste fantastic!!! Did I mention I love elk hunting?

Have fun, but be forewarned. Hunting any big game out West can be, and usually is, very addictive!

 

[TG-5150]

Antelope are easier hunts, less expensive and have high success rates.

Mule deer are a little tougher on all three counts.

Then there's elk...boy do I love elk hunting. They're NOT easy, they're more expensive than the other two, and probably the lowest success rates of the three. But Il love hunting them more than anything on the planet! To me they're like a 700 pound muscle-bound whitetail (from living high up in the mountains), that can be incredibly vocal at times. They live in a postcard type area, and you hunt them in a stunningly beautiful time of year. And they taste fantastic!!! Did I mention I love elk hunting?

Have fun, but be forewarned. Hunting any big game can be, and usually is, very addictive!

Out here in Wyoming a non resident can draw a type 6 cow/calf elk tag along with deer and antelope.
They type six seasons start very early. A person could come out and archery hunt deer and rifle hunt for antlerless elk and antelope. Or come out and scout for antelope and deer while hunting for antlerless elk right before rifle deer season opens. The combo type is what I'd want.
Lots of folks on DYI hunts would do well to come out for a season or two and build their preference points up for a bull tag, giving them time to learn areas.
We run into several out of stare hunters who say they wished they had put in for this or that tag as well as whatever it is they are hunting. Don't want to paint a picture of a hunters utopia because that is not how it is, but the opportunity is there.

 

[Deleted member 107796]

Maybe consider doubling up the species for such a special hunt? We can easily hunt deer and elk in CO, in the same seasons as well as plains archery deer and rifle pronghorn. There are other possible combinations.
I like the comments as to the better taste of some critters over others. My personal faves are the pronghorn, elk and corn fed whitetails. I had to give up on the mountain mulies as I found them way less palatable than elk and pronghorn, our primary game.
Enjoy your hunt planning.

 

[Deleted member 107796]

Antelope hunting is fun! They are easy to find, easy to see, easy to hunt, and easy to kill.

Now I love your post and I love pronghorn hunting, but given the fastest land animal in N America that happens to have much better long distance vision than any human and resides in very large open parcels, I think I'd characterize the hunting as something other than "easy!" Fun yes, easy no. Delicious, yes.

 

[FIGJAM]

If it was my first hunt, I think Antelope is a good choice. Not because its my favorite game animal, but because the success rate is high and its a pretty laid back hunt. I LOVE chasing elk, but its a different hunt - they travel long distances. We hunt elk on horseback, mule deer on foot, and Antelope from the truck. I know a lot of guys that hunt elk without horses - those guys are studs...packing one of those suckers out without a horse just flats sucks.

 

[Hunter09]

Having done most of them.....there is nothing like chasing bugling elk in the aspens.

 

[tmmcampbell]

Alright as much as I love mule deer, I will have to agree, there are few things that will get the blood pumping more than an elk screaming at you from the other side of a juniper tree.

 

[TG-5150]

Having done most of them.....there is nothing like chasing bugling elk in the aspens.

Alright as much as I love mule deer, I will have to agree, there are few things that will get the blood pumping more than an elk screaming at you from the other side of a juniper tree.

Agreed, rifle hunting for elk is way different than archery during the rut. Having something that either wants to hump ya or kick your rear, so close when they bugle, you can feel the sound waves ripple through your body. As long as I'm able to get around I don't care if I get to rifle another bull in my life, got cow tags for that.

 

[RogerPA]

Your question takes me back several years when my #1 hunting buddy and I were trying to decide the same thing... Being from the east and having no contacts any further west than Ohio, we were pretty much left to our own design. The internet wasn't quite the powerful tool it is today, but with a bit or research we were able to find a relatively inexpensive guided antelope hunt in eastern Wyoming. It was nothing fancy, but it truly was a great introduction to western (and longrange) hunting. The guide helped us with the licensing process, and of course gave us access to private property. With that experience, several successful (public land) mule deer and antelope DYI hunts have followed. I love elk and mule deer hunting, but will never forget our first western antelope hunt. Being eastern whitetail hunters, we weren't use to seeing hundreds of game animals a day. And having shots at anything over 300 yards? Unheard of! I highly recommend doing it the way we did...The lessons and experience gained have repaid us many times over.