What is the toughest animal you have ever hunted.Both terrain wise and animal wise. :campfire: :coffee:
I would have to say that would be Bighorn sheep. They are the most amazing animals. They can defiy gravity or so it seems. They are smart and can see very well. It was a lot of fun though.
wild Ostrich or Gemsbok on the ground walk and stalk.
Tie between Dall sheep and mountain goat. Here is the thing, goats like terrain that would give a sheep a nose bleed but they also like to laugh at hunters who die trying to reach them so they hold there vertical wall of rock longer than sheep.
Sheep live so high up because they are basically cowards a big full curl will run if he spots you a mile away!
So between the tougher terrain of goats and the easily spooked nature of sheep they end up very different, but about even.
Elk for me. I've been 6 times with a bow and have not harvested one yet. That is about as exotic as I have been able to do so far.
Mule deer for me, hands down. I haven't hunted sheep or goats, so can't compare to those, but mulies are tough!
Coyote for me, every time I get close, I get Busted. When I do get mine, It will be a trophy!
Elk or coyote. Coyotes are a lot tougher to get a shot at up close.
Any archery K9 predator harvest is a trophy!
Don't stalk them, call them to you, much less chance of getting busted especially combined with a visual decoy.
elk
Roosevelt Elk
Terrain: elk.
Toughest animal: gray squirrels.
Hmmmm I was thinking big but Jason might be on to somethin here, lightning fast, nearly impossible to sneak up on or hit......?
I've not found goats to be very smart, but hunting them in PW Sound (the only place I have), is the definition of miserable and tough.
Dall Sheep in areas where they aren't too pressured are not very bright. Twice I've seen sheep rifle killed and the others just run a short distance and then watch their buddy get cut up. Like goats, the challenge is the terrain.
I think deer, hunted spot and stalk would be the hardest for me. Elk after they've shut up are about the same.
I would have to go with Whip Muledeer.
Gray Squirrels...just once I'd like 'em to fall over dead the moment the arrow hits 'em...
QuoteOriginally posted by LKH:
I've not found goats to be very smart, but hunting them in PW Sound (the only place I have), is the definition of miserable and tough.
Dall Sheep in areas where they aren't too pressured are not very bright. Twice I've seen sheep rifle killed and the others just run a short distance and then watch their buddy get cut up. Like goats, the challenge is the terrain.
I think deer, hunted spot and stalk would be the hardest for me. Elk after they've shut up are about the same.
Sorry but what draw did you hit to find Dall sheep that behaved like that!?! Never seen a full curl that didn't head for the next mountain ridge the second it thought a hunter might be in the area.
And no goats aren't smart they are tough and vindictive!
Tok, Mt. Harper. Both cases the survivors just stayed around.
I've bumped rams while bow hunting that just went over the next ridge. In some cases they let me walk under them at about 400 yards. We once hunted 2 big rams, one probably 13 years old, for 4 days by just going to the next canyon. Kind of ping ponged them back and forth till partner's back gave out and we had to leave.
Remember the "aren't too pressured" part of what I posted.
Coyotes and edgucated ground squirrels. Real hard to get an educated coyote to come in .
Bighorn sheep for me. They can see real good. They are mostly really smart and cagey, sometimes almost dumb, always in physically demanding terrain. I learned a lot. Hunt of a lifetime for me.
Animal wise,its coyotes.
Rick,
Its very common once a ram is down for the flock of sheep to not flee! My first ram this very thing happened, could have easily bow killed a second ram if the law allowed!
I'll third sheep hunt has been my hardest hunt, but all animals have a niche per say.
I have not yet had that experience with them, but I drive to the areas I hunt and walk in. Like any where in road Alaska there is plenty of hunting pressure.
Rick, my first ram was a drive and hike in area...like I said it's a very common thing once a ram is killed for the rest of the flock not to leave.
My second ram was an ordeal to get too...I couldnt see the rest of the rams so I dont know what they did.
Before the kill I hear you 1 or 2 miles and they're gone!
Elk for me, only big game animal I have been fortunate enough to hunt yet, two trips now and no elk down.
Goats!! Did it twice and never connected. I afraid of heights and goat hunting had me in a scary place all the time.
LOL
Mike
Trying to stalk a whitetail deer on public land.
I dont know about toughest.I guess it depends on a particular animal on that day,but a call shy Tom Turkey can be a pretty tough customer to deal with.Coyotes are nearly always smarter then me, so they would be up near the top for me.Then again at one time or another,I have been frustrated by nearly every species I have gone after.Its a good thing I dont know enough to just give up.:thumbsup:Im sure this is one reason we keep coming back after those toughest animals.The lessons that come with humble pie.
Bill
An old matriarch, whitetail doe can be just downright FRUSTRATING...so can the call shy tom mentioned above! But I don't have much experience outside of WT deer and turkeys.
SNIPES!!! Every time I dove on the bag as a boy scout that stinkin snipe was gone. I wanted to shoot arrows at the bag but my scout master wouldn't let me. :scared: :smileystooges:
I have lost more arrows at squirrels than anything else. When I'm deer hunting I always tell myself, "Don't shoot at squirrels" but eventually I do. I once lost 5 arrows at one dumb squirrel, 3 with broadheads. Got him though.....$30 squirrel. :knothead:
Turkey!!!!!
I have hunted turkey with trad gear since 2004 and haven't connected yet, LOL!
Public land birds in Michigan are tough and very call shy!
A mule deer that's past the age of 4 is next to impossible it seems for me..
I won't ever quit trying though..
Todd
Turkeys are my nemesis. I prefer to call them the wing(ed) spawn of satan, but I love the dang things!!
I can always get on them, but I can't seem to seal the deal half the time. I think I might have to break down and get a blind for them someday, but it sure is fun hunting them out in the open!
For myself I find the trophy mule deer to be the smartist. Now I talking about a 5 to 7 year old deer. I have killed more coyotes than trophy bucks and coyotes kick my butt. Toughest would be the raven,all grisle. They might be even smarter than any deer I hunted,there are just more to chase.
The most physically demanding hunt was caribou in Labrador. From the air it looks very flat. It isn't!!!!!!! If the caribou are not there in abundance you do a lot of walking.
Squirrels :goldtooth: ..Those little buggers have an iron will
Definitely coyote.
JMartin said it..."definately coyote".
I`ve called them in to the outer fringes of my effective range, I have yet to have them in the same position when my arrow arrives as they were when I shot. :banghead:
I have a few accidental kills, but not one I can say I killed when I was actually out after them.
Leatherneck I remember the dark night in the woods looking for snipe. :biglaugh:
This side of the country we don't have very many ram or hard headed goats that like the heavens, but we do have the Sika deer in the marshes here in MD. Hardest dang thing I've hunted. Small, a stag is only about 100lbs, quiet, dark brown, they blend real well. Not a big critter, but a lot of heart.
Fred....
All NA animals are wimps compared to mtn goats!
Chipmunks - chipmunks :banghead: .....little varmits are sooooo small and fast..jump the string all the time...heck they jump at everything..never stand still...darn chipmunks...chipmunks...chipmunks
They will drive you crazy....chipmunks....tee hee
Jer Bear
NO BUT SERUOSLY - it's still CHIPMUNKS.....and minus 28 when you don't feel like going outside and shooting....CABIN FEVER...CABIN FEVER dudes and Dudettes....Please warmup..please...friggin chipmunks :banghead:
Jer Bearly
I have to say coyotes. I have never been able to get off a shot at those wiley critters, maybe once years ago when I saw my first one.
I have seen them circle to pick up my wind or I have been busted by their amazing eyesight nearly everytime.
The only other time I could have killed one, I was in my treestand and just about to haul my bow up in the gray light of morning. It came directly under my stand and peed next to my bow and sat down for a few minutes. What brazen gaul. Not a thing I could do. Each time I encounter one and walk away without a fur, I become more intrigued by them as game animals.
Going with the idea of "toughest animal", as opposed to "toughest hunt", I would unequivicably go with the guys that said squirrels. I've squared one in the back with a 60# bow and 650gr arrow and it pop back up and run off, and I've had to put multiple hits on some to kill them (several times). Then of course, half the time after you put one down it's not down for the count, and you end up in a foot chase and then having to go hand to hand with the beast to bring it to bag... :scared: I've always said that if fox squirrels were half as big as a whitetail, nobody'd ever be able to kill one.
your tree rats :biglaugh: still aint got one maybe next time i come over man they are more fun than a barrel of monkeys
sandhill cranes, eyes as good as any animal
squirrels tough little critters
Toughest to kill....tree rats. I shot one with a Muzzy three blade with new, sharp blades about 4 years ago. He was at the base of a pine an made it up about 75' before he expired. I didn't get my arrow back til the next Spring when the other carnivores and decay allowed it to fall to the ground. I know when Ben Pearson thought up the Deadhead he was thinking about turkeys but I have a feeling squirrels is where his subconscious was.
Bighorn sheep was my toughest hunt, the sheep won hands down.
A big mature Mule Deer can be a pretty tough nut to crack, after that, a Coyote!
eastern turkey!!!