Beyond a dream, what's your ultimate hunt?

Grizzly in Alaska has been on top of my list for a while, never the big coastal bears though. With a $100k you might as well tack on a moose and caribou while we can still hunt them. And I’m currently out of the magnum rifle game, probably gonna need to set aside a little bit of that money for the right gun.

Sheep don’t hold that special place for me but seeing the country dalls live in would be quite the adventure!
 
I'd take a walrus hunt
My boss actually just did this this past fall. Said as far as the hunts he's been on, it was super easy, basically boat up to a bunch of walrus and pick one to shoot. Can't bring the tusks back though. Have to have replicas made. He said it was more of an adventure than a hunt in his opinion. Traveling to get there was pretty neat!
 
I was fortunate enough to make my dream hunt a reality last Sept. AK moose and had the trip of a lifetime.

But....... if I could pick another it would probably be mountain caribou or possibly stone sheep
 
This thread is already an example of why my dream Yukon moose hunt is outpacing my moose fund!

But stories like @Dave N ’s pushes to me to find a way to make it happen while I still have good knees. And that forces me to ponder how I balance saving for retirement vs living life as I go 🤷‍♂️. I know a guy around here has a saying about health vs money…
 
I’d definitely try to fit multiple Alaskan hunts/species into it but if I only had one choice I’d probably chase a big griz in the coolest available area. A full body grid in my living room would be great
 
For me it's a hells canyon elk. Mid Sept. When I was a boy, the very first introduction to elk that I know of was an article in outdoor life about a guy that went on a hells canyon elk hunt. The author described pain and misery but the sound of bugling bulls to keep spirits alive. I don't know what's wrong with me but pain and misery with the reward of bugles has always been in my dreams and one of these days hopefully I'll draw that tag. But if I didn't have to draw it and was given this hall pass, that's where I would be.
 
For me it's a hells canyon elk.
I missed the biggest mule deer I’ve ever seen in Hells Canyon/Seven Devils area. That country is everything you imagine it to be.

I may have written this story out before, so if I have I apologize for the repeat. Our hunt started spooky and the feeling never really went away- there was a helicopter at the trailhead, and we started talking to the guys. They said they were searching for a lost hunter, and we said we would keep an eye out. We asked how long he had been missing… he kind of got quiet and said “17 days.” They found his body 10 years later.

Anyway, mine is Thorofare elk- came very close to pulling the trigger for next year on a last-minute opening but the stars did not align. Soon.

Here is the story of the missing hunter:

 
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First on the adventure would be a hard to draw Wyoming antelope tag, getting my buck within sight of my Grandpa Jake’s dugout cabin.

Once the antelope was on ice, probably a couple of days hunting sage chickens, and maybe target huns and/or grouse, saving some soft hackles to tie up some flies for tiny mountain streams.

After those adventures, archery elk in the canyon where Grandma Grace homesteaded and where she and I would compete to see who could catch a brookie the furthest upstream.

Rifle mule deer to follow (pending the return of the herd) or perhaps draw the Sasquatch-rare moose tag.

On the drive home hit the Miracle Mile (no wind allowed!) for a guided float (I’m totally lost on big trout waters, but put me on a crick (smaller than a creek) and I’m money. And then relax for a couple of days down south of less taxing activities. I’d hit the hot springs at Saratoga, get a Hotel Wolf burger, and make Wally come back to Saratoga to make me some of his amazing pizzas. Get my first Merriams gobbler using archery gear. The next morning eat two whole cinnamon rolls at Mom’s diner, and then have a “should have been here yesterday” on the right day and fish the upper Platte for the spawning brown trout.
 
For the sake of having fun, would said tag good for anywhere, even nat’l parks?

If so, I always thought it would be an experience to hunt elk in Yellowstone. It’ll never happen but when I was young and didn’t know better, I always thought it was a thing.

But to make the dream a reality, I’d hunt caribou in the Brooks Range.
 
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