Dream Critters

[RobertD]

I have taken...

1 big black bear - California

The following in NV
5 mountain lions
5 antelope - 2 bucks and 3 does
4 does and 7 buck mule deer
3 cow elk
And just last week - a desert bighorn ram.

My list is quite short by a lot of standards. I dont apply out of stste much, and just enjoy hunting close to home.

I would like a Nevada black bear and a bull elk. Mountain goat and Rocky/California ram are also on the list but are long shots for sure.

One thing that does entrigue me is a white tail deer.

Now you got me curious, are there any huntable WT populations in Nevada?

 

[RobertD]

The only goal like this I can think of would be taking a decent representative species of each of the five deer subspecies, hopefully on public. On private I'm 1/5th of the way there, on public 0/5ths haha

 

[mevertsen]

Now you got me curious, are there any huntable WT populations in Nevada?

No

 

[hank4elk]

Still a 30" mule deer. 29 3/4" ...........2 times,LOL
I will get a pic of a real big bull someday.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Since 2019 I have taken almost all the African animals on my "list." Red letchwe and Barbary sheep still left for this coming year. Perhaps nyala if budget allows. Early on in my hunting career I managed to get two very fine bull elk (largest @ 356 3/8) and one quite respectable whitetail. I've taken a couple of okay muley bucks over the years. Only six moose with just four bulls, three @ three years old each + a spooner ... nothing great but I'm okay with what I have. My elk racks take up too much space already. Though the house is full of trophies (and about to get fuller ... yesterday's email confirms the recent African stuff is on the way), I only have one wall pedestal mount and one fish mount. It's our business now but I've never been a big fan of fur and glass eyes. All but one of my trophies are cap or euro mounts. That will also change this year when I open the ceiling in living room and trophy room. I have two African capes (kudu and sable) waiting for pedestal mount. My daughter will use those for display at shows.

As for the future, I am thinking seriously about Caucasus Ibex. Some good deals are out there. That country is beyond spectacular. The only drawbacks are 1) perhaps the geography is too rough for a soon to be seventy year-old and 2) it's a hairy part of the world for travel. Personal security is probably more of a concern than my vertigo issues. Anyway, it's fun exploring the options. I can shoot an Ibex for a fraction of the price of a dahl sheep and the trophy is much more spectacular.

 

[Doublecluck]

Black swan

 

[Hammsolo]

A big mature mulie buck or bull elk with my brother Hamm59701. I don’t care who kills it. We’ve just started hunting together again, and it’s the best. We’ve killed some bucks together, but no bulls. We were so so close this year… literally inches from a 7 point. We will get it brother!

 

[Sask hunter]

I would like a grizz some day and a Cape buffalo. Would like a 50” moose preferred called in instead of spot and stalk. Also a booner WT some day. Last two should be attainable with a a draw tag and patience.

 

[Zim]

Yes I know everyone's interpretation of "goal" is different. And that's fine.

 

[npaden]

My dreams aren't as big as most I guess. I would like to take a B&C minimum mule deer, whitetail, pronghorn and elk. So far I have the elk. Pretty close on pronghorn a couple times and a 181" gross mule deer that didn't net well at all. You would think being from Texas I could knock the whitetail out pretty easy but that's the one I have the most improvement needed on.

My non B&C mountain goat was a dream animal also, my goal there was to make sure I shot a billy and I was able to get that done.

 

[Zim]

In the west my “ dream critter “ would be a bighorn ram from the Unlimited units in Montana. In the east it would be the kind of whitetail that you just know is a big one at first glance.

Haha I like this answer as any ram from there would be quite a challenge. And yes I was lucky to get that "just know" glance at a WT this year and get an arrow in him. Don't know the score he just special.

 

[MTLabrador]

I don’t care at all about shooting animals I know nothing about in places I know nothing about. Big bull elk and a Beartooth ram are my dream critters.

 

[TheTone]

I’d like a 150 inch or main frame 6x6 public land Idaho whitetail and a 320+ OTC archery elk here as well. I’m pretty content on mule deer but another few nice mature bucks would be cool. A 45 inch shiras is way up my list and cashing in my elk points in Wyoming and Arizona and hunting where elk are less pressured and mature bulls more common is also something I look forward to

 

[BuzzH]

Exceeded any expectations/goals I may have ever had a long, long time ago. If my hunting came to an end today, wouldn't feel cheated. For a guy of average means I feel pretty fortunate and that I've capitalized on many great opportunities.

I do have a goal of 4 wild sheep rams, any species...one left and its going to come down to drawing another tag or spending some cash.

I do want to hunt a couple caribou species, Canada moose, and a Columbia blacktail.

I find myself enjoying the hunts I can do every year more and more all the time versus dreaming about chasing the more complicated stuff.

 

[TheBenHoyle]

My biggest goal was to get a whitetail with a bow. I accomplished that in 2018. since then I have taken a doe and another buck.

I would like to take a whitetail with a recurve bow and eventually with a bow I built myself. I would also like to get one still hunting. I have been close on that last one, but I need to work on my stalking abilities a bit yet.

I really like turkey hunting so another goal is to get at least one every year. I'll take them how I can get them, but at some point I'd like to get one with an arrow.

I would like to get an elk some day and a caribou and a pronghorn. Not looking for trophies, just looking t=for the experience and the meat.

I don't travel to hunt much but I have a goal in mind to hunt something in Hawaii someday. Maybe Axis Deer or a wild goat or hog.

I think if I can check off all those in my lifetime I would be overjoyed. I really just like the opportunity to get out in the woods with the hopes of seeing things. Anything I take is a bonus really.

 

[The Hedgehog]

A Bald Eagle would be excellent.

 

[buffybr]

This has the making of an all time great thread WITH PICTURES.

OK, you can call me greedy, my dream list would be one of everything like Jim Shockey or J Alain Smith have done. The only things that are holding me back are time and money.

Actually, I have already way surpassed the number and quality of different animals that I ever thought that I would get. So far I have successfully hunted 37 different African species, 20 North American, and 9 other species from around the world. My house is literally filled with 76 mounts of most of them, and 10 more waiting at the taxidermists.

My "short" list for North American animals would be a Stone and Desert ram, an Alaskan and a Canadian Moose, a Woodland Caribou, a Grizzly bear, a Columbia Blacktail and a Coues Deer, and a Javelina.

My African wish list would be just about anything that I haven't hunted before.

Then there are some birds and fish....

 

[hank4elk]

You folks would crap your drawers if I got a clear pic of one of the big bulls & posted it......lol

 

[BuzzH]

A Bald Eagle would be excellent.

Spend time on the docks in Kodiak...they're a sorry trophy, at best.

It would be more fun to spend a day on a garbage barge shooting gulls and crows.

 

[jryoung]

I do want to hunt a couple caribou species, Canada moose, and a Columbia blacktail.

Come on out anytime for that blacktail, with the fires the past few years in the Mendocino NF, Shasta-Trinity and Six rivers plus if this wet winter (thus far) holds we could have some great hunting the next few years.