About the only thing I have not hunted is Marco Polo sheep; at one time I really wanted to go, but not sure at this point if I will go. I love hunting cats in Africa; shot a lion and leopard in Tanzania as well as a nice leopard in Zim. Have shot nearly a dozen Cape buffalo, but they don't really turn my crank as much as cats or brown bears in AK. I never get tired of moose. If you can draw an early season rifle elk tag in AZ it is simply amazing; every morning and evening you see several 6x6 bulls. I shot 13 caribou in AK, most of them when I was stationed there in the army. Dall sheep are a cool hunt, but I guess I just haven't been bitten by the sheep bug as hard as others. New Zealand is a great hunt if you are not behind fences (limits you for the most part to tahr and chamois). I have hunted water buffalo in Australia; would do that again, but it doesn't rank up there with Cape buffalo. I have done three pack string elk hunts that were simply amazing adventures.
Probably my best hunt was a 21 day Tanzania hunt in 2009. I killed an elephant on day six then six hours later scored on a leopard. Twelve days later I shot an African lion. Shot a nice eland, two Cape buffalo, and a pile of PG. Another great hunt was my first elk hunt: killed a 6x6 with a broken 7th point on the first morning after passing a 5x5; that was DIY but had my brother with me who cut wood on the ranch we hunted and he knew what they were doing. Big bears in Alaska are a rush. Killed five black bears but all over bait; a spot and stalk would be fun. I shot a 45.5" inch ibex in Mongolia that was a real adventure.
I have more hunts behind me than ahead of me. Today one of my favorite hunts is whitetail deer in MN - I hunt right on the Canadian border. I love that hunt. I know the routine. I know the guys I hunt with. I love the shack life in MN - the saunas, the wood stove blasting heat when it is near zero or sometimes below zero, a cold beer by the campfire - the experience itself is more important than the deer.
I have hunted in Tanzania four times, Namibia three, and Zim once. You do hear Africa is a big bang for the buck, but my unsolicited advice would be to make sure you hunt free range animals - for that reason RSA has never appealed to me, although I realize there are some free range hunts. I went to RSA on business several years ago and stayed at a colleague's house. He was about an hour away from Joburg. During that week I ran on the paved road in front of his house and often saw a Land Cruiser driving that road, going from one high fenced area to another. My host said the guy owned 3000 acres; I felt sorry for the guys who booked a hunt expecting wild Africa. It is there, but not in RSA IMO.
At this stage in my life I hunt what I want to hunt and am not caught up in the "I gotta get my (insert name of animal)." In fact, when someone says "I got my leopard/brown bear/moose/sheep," it tells me it isn't something they plan on doing again, which leaves me wondering why they did it in the first place.
