$20k+ and what to do?

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

For a lot of people a sheep hunt in Alaska is their dream hunt. If it were me I'd get lined up with a good outfitter up there and giver hell

 

[BrentD]

For a lot of people a sheep hunt in Alaska is their dream hunt. If it were me I'd get lined up with a good outfitter up there and giver hell

What more is there to say if your dream is sheep?

I think your real question is of the, "Who, What, When, Where (in AK)" should you go?" variety.

Get on it and keep us posted. And someone said you could go sheep hunting for under $10K ? That sounds optimistic to me, but it would be interesting to hear more about that.

 

[thusby]

Use it to buy some whitetail acreage. Then it becomes an investment and a hunting experience. I guess my intuition isn't to blow through it as quickly as possible, unless you are really well off to begin with.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

African safari

 

[runningmt]

I would do a dall sheep hunt

+1

 

[RidgeRoamingRichard]

I would invest in all new gear (mine ways a ton) and get stocked up on food and supplies. Given the cost of that stuff, that'll probably take care of all 20k.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

What more is there to say if your dream is sheep?

I think your real question is of the, "Who, What, When, Where (in AK)" should you go?" variety.

Get on it and keep us posted. And someone said you could go sheep hunting for under $10K ? That sounds optimistic to me, but it would be interesting to hear more about that.

biggest downside I know of is the good guides get booked years in advance, so I'd start calling sooner rather than later!

 

[hearteater]

I would book a dalls sheep hunt. Possibly save a bit more and tack on mountain caribou

 

[1_pointer]

Though I doubt it'd cover all the costs, but I'd be looking at a Stone's sheep hunt. My rationale is that Dall sheep are a bit less expensive and the other two can be drawn. Plus, IMO Stone sheep are the best looking of the 4.

That said, if a $20K settlement came my way, I have a feeling I'd be killing 5 maple trees in my yard and digging a big hole to fill it with a swimming pool.

 

[Pucky Freak]

I’d first get your wife a generous gift for A. All her support through the aftermath of your accident and B. Her generosity in saying the settlement money is just for you rather than both of you.

Beyond that, don’t lose sight of your dreams. A lot of people share their idea of what hunt they’d do, but that’s their dream, not yours. If sheep slam is your biggest dream, you have the $ to do an awesome sheep hunt, go sheep hunting!

 

[Smtn10pt]

If you want to do the sheep slam you'd better start with a sheep. I would look first to hunting Alaska, but I think you can throw together some wild combo hunts in Canada for that kind of money, I'd be tempted to look into those also.

 

[HighDesertSage]

Stone sheep!

 

[Letthemgrow]

Yep. I like where you’re coming from. But I’m a pretty frugal dude who makes a fair bit of dough and am very investment-savvy. Currently on track to be well ahead in terms of retirement.
So this is the proverbial ‘I have an excuse to go do what I want while I am young enough (33 y/o) to do whatever I can do.’ situation.
I rarely give myself permission to spend significant money on these things but also realize I am not getting any younger.

Good for you. Most people I speak with don't seem to have that level of discipline.
I really like the recommendation Kiwi had about going to NZ and also the recommendation of including your wife. You could take your wife on a great vacation for both of you and get in a 5 day tahr and chamois hunt.
The people are great, the scenery is spectacular and the animals represent a mountain/backpack style of hunt. It was one of my favorite trips.

In terms of dall sheep hunting, that is going to get tougher in the short run. With Canadian hunts being rescheduled in to 2021 and 2022 because of the pandemic and so many people realizing that time can be short, I think prices will only go up with more people booking them and the availability going down. Some outfitters are already posting 2022 prices over $30k, without any charter flights, commercial flights, tips, new gear, taxidermy, etc. Alaska can be done cheaper but I'm just saying I think it's all moving upward in price.
That's a hunt that I would go with the very best I could afford. You don't want to have to go twice to get a sheep.
Stone sheep hunts are $45k+. I assume that's out of your immediate target range based on the hunt budget you mentioned.

In the end, this is about what gives you the greatest amount of satisfaction and only you can answer that question.

 

[wytex]

Boy, I would hunt a few animals not just one.
Maybe do a back country guided elk hunt, find a mule deer hunt for a big buck, whitetail hunt- maybe go unguided for that but get a great lease for a year.
Lots of animals that interest me not just one.
Book the Grimmetts for an antelope hunt.

 

[Hunt West]

Mixed bag hunt in BC or Alaska. Some combination of moose, mountain goat, and a caribou if it fell in the budget. I’d definitely consider sheep as well but you could possibly hunt all three of the former vs one sheep.

 

[MTGomer]

This isn’t financial advice as I probably wouldn’t spend it on a hunt, but if I was going to spend that amount....


Brooks range sheep combo with arctic grizzly would be right up there as a contender.

 

[Addicting]

Yukon Moose with shoulder mount. Plan a extra day in a port town to take a charter. Rent the boat for the day and Fish till your arms can’t take anymore.

 

[Ben Lamb]

If you're young, free from pain, and have the cash to live your Walter Mitty fantasy hunt, do it.

If it were me, I'd do the Moose/caribou hunt like Fin had.

Or I'd be in the tall grass stalking Cape Buffalo with a new falling black 450/400 NE somewhere in Africa.

 

[BigHornRam]

Put it in a savings account. Draw on it to buy a Montana unlimited tag next year, and see if sheep hunting is your cup of tea or not before blowing the rest of it on a sheep hunt, if you can actually find a $20,000 sheep hunt these days.

 

[Oak]

If I had to spend it on one hunt and my goal was a sheep slam, I'd probably book a Yukon Dall sheep hunt. It will take every bit of $23k and probably a little more, but they aren't getting any cheaper. Theoretically (not likely), you can draw desert and Rocky tags. A Stone sheep hunt will be double your stated budget or more. As mentioned above, you could hunt AK instead and probably do a combo hunt for the same price as a Yukon sheep hunt. But you asked for my dream. My "plan" is to draw the first three sheep and win the Stone in the WSF "1 more for 4" drawing. Haha. Just need to draw the desert to be in it.