Easiest to “book”
General Topic
What species would you say is the easiest to put in the record book and at this time
Seems per numbers of animals and hunters, it would be whitetail. But... seems everyone that goes to Wyoming after antelope, kills a book lope.
Considering I have only hunted Ne for antelope I would have to say whitetails based off my experiences.
Antelope if you're willing to sit from dawn to dusk in a blind in black underwear sweating like a POW in the "box".
If you have a decent place to hunt in the midwest, 125" whitetails seem to be behind every bush.
By shear numbers and their wide distribution, whitetails by far.
Not sure which specie is the easiest but based on hours hunted nationwide and numbers of guys hunting them no specie is harder than the Whitetail.
Antelope seems to be leading the way. Why is that do you guys think? Not as many hunt them thats for sure...is that the reason?
Alberta mountain lion Those huge beast should have there own separate category>>>>~~~~>
Charlie X100. Over 3 million whitetail hunters and millions upon millions of hours spent on stand by them and not all that many go in each year. I would think Black Bear and Antelope based on percentage of hunters to book animals. Shawn
Caribou used to be really easy.
I have long thought antelope to be. I also would agree with Charlie that whitetail deer is probably the hardest.
But that said, “easy” is all relative, if you live in an area with lots of big whitetails then yeah, it can be easy. If you live in an area with lots of big bears, then they can be easy. If your name is Frank Noska they are all easy ;)
—jim
Depends what book and where you live. If it's Alabama and you're talking TBM scale then whitetails ;)
I can say this for sure, it is way easier to kill a book whitetail in Kansas, Illinois, Indiana and Nebraska then it is where I hunt in NY. I agree it can be relative to where you hunt. Shawn
Antelope, because there are so many.
Depends on where you hunt as others have said. Eastern Wyoming doesn't hold near as many big lopes as other parts, just lots of them. East Texas as a whole ain't anybody's first choice for a book whitetail either, but several between 140/160 are killed every year......just not by me ! :-)
I'm going "less conventional": musk ox
Has anyone that has hunted musk ox not shot a book animal? I've hunted (not killed ;) all 29 NA Species and would say musk ox was the "easiest to book". Hunts usually last a day or two and the result is usually a book animal. Name another species where that is the case...
I don't think there is such a thing as "easy" when hunting trophy animals. I do believe that the P & Y Record book is a great research tool in finding "trophy" areas to help increase the odds of finding a trophy animal. But that does not ensure "easy" to kill a trophy animal. Genetics, animal numbers, animal quality, weather conditions, etc. are all variables and integral parts that can impact "easy." JMHO
I think we've had this thread before. Several species would seem to be "easy" to make P&Y if one is willing to pay for a quality outfitted hunt in a prime location. I believe (and I may be wrong) that most everyone who goes on a quality Musk Ox hunt brings home a P&Y animal. Baited black bears in a prime location seem very easy. Pronghorn do not seem difficult.
A more interesting thread would be what animal is easiest to make P&Y on a DIY, public land hunt.
That's what I was thinking, Overland.
maybe it is a combination of what is "easy".........easy overall includes the species is both easy to hunt and easy to kill when you hunt them..... relatively speaking.
yes musk ox are easy to kill when you go, but few go because it is not easy. therefore the all in "ease" is maybe less than antelope which are accessible, cheap, plentiful, and require no effort or physical challenge.
"and require no effort or physical challenge. " - I beg to differ, but I've only sat over a water hole a few days and I found that it's not my cup of tea... Hunting them spot and stalk requires plenty of effort and physical challenge.
That’s true Nick but it’s not necessary and certainly not the easiest way to hunt them
one could argue that hunting muskox spot and stalk using snowshoes instead of a snowmobile makes it more difficult on as well but that is not necessary and not the easiest way to do it
Pronghorn and black bear - just do a little research to be in the proper locales. If one has the resources add musk ox and caribou to the list.
Quantify easy vs cost. Many things are "easy" if you go to the right place with a quality outfitter but generally that is not cheap.
DIY hunting, would depend on where you live. If you are a resident of Alaska or BC, or someplace that you can hunt without guides, there are lots of species that are probably reasonable to take a P&Y animal, but many do not do it because of limited opportunity.
The easisest species I've hunted in Colorado has been Whitetail Deer.
P&Y minimums are set crazy low for the most part. I now every tom mtn lion I have taken with Clients is over 14" and lots over 15" so to me that seems pretty easy. Black bears as well, not often do my clients shoot anything under 18 that to seems pretty easy accomplish as well. When we are talking B&C that is a different story, for the most part shooting "all time" animals is tough pretty much anywhere.
Depends entirely on where you live and what you have experience in hunting.
I would say where I was last year on Kodiak I would rate Sitka Blacktailed deer as the "most difficult to book". Bone piles offer no opportunities. Beware the famine.
First step - Dig in the hardest soil imaginable.
First step - Dig in the hardest soil imaginable.
A different blind finished.
A different blind finished.
Agree with some of the above comments. The question was easiest to "book" not easiest to hunt. You can't kill one if you have no opportunity to hunt one, or difficult, expensive, restricted access. So when rating difficulty, you must begin with that. More hunters have easy access to whitetails than any other critter. Try musk ox in the fall instead of on the ice. And as to this "...antelope which are accessible, cheap, plentiful, and require no effort or physical challenge." No physical challenge? Maybe if you hire a guide, or just set up a tent. But try setting up a "proper" pronghorn blind. By the way, one of these is far from a sweat box, no matter the weather.
I see how easiest to hunt and easiest to make book can differ.... But I still stand by my answer of Musk Ox regardless how you spin it. I personally don't know someone who arrowed a bull musk ox and it didn't make book. And as for the ease of the hunt, let's not confuse logistical challenges of getting somewhere with hunting difficulty.
I'm not bad mouthing it, I can't wait to finally pull a tag and go myself! From personal experiences my next answer would be Sitka Blacktails.
For me, here in BC, black bear is by far the easiest to hunt and shoot a P&Y qualifier. The “prime time” window in the spring can be a little short, but it’s not difficult to shoot 19” bears every year. The hardest part is trying to decide if you’re looking at a really good bear or just another meathead.
I tend to agree with where this is headed. Only went on one Sitka blacktail hunt....got a P&Y buck DIY the first day. Only had one tag so didn't hunt more.
Went on a guided NWT muskox hunt and got one the first day...P&Y. Muskox are super neat, as is the Arctic environment where they live, but man they are pre-historic ice age throwbacks. They have yet to develop a sense of how to successfully escape hunters in my limited exposure.
Antelope hunted over water holes all DIY in CO and WY have probably averaged a P&Y buck per 3 days hunted, and I'd often pass up a few smaller P&Y candidates during that time.
On my only Alaskan Brown Bear hunt I got a P&Y bear on the second day...with a super guide (Roy Roth) and outfitter (Jonah Stewart). Most haven't been so lucky on their brown bear hunts.
When Quebec had huge herds of QL caribou they were pretty simple to hunt. I shot two bulls on my only hunt (one P&Y). You won't get one now, as the season is closed.
As per Mt Caribou in BC, ask Ambush how easy they are. He is a super hunter and without a Mt Caribou (yet) despite many tries. Hopefully he and I both break the jinx this year. As a side note, there have only been 18 Mt Caribou entered in P&Y from BC over the past 10 years, which certainly screams "hard to get".
Kurt, “supper” is spelled with two p’s.
But caribou will be so easy this year, we’ll wonder why it took so long!!
Zeik...I shot my Musk Ox in the fall on the tundra on day one. Well above the P&Y minimum. I agree with Tembry, in that logistics were not part of the question. I stand by my answer: Musk Ox. I’ve been on several pronghorn hunts, killed several and have yet to kill one that makes P&Y. (Though I have two within a quarter inch with the bow and two in the mid 80’s with a rifle.). In all honesty, after hunting all 29 species nothing is even close in the category of easiest to “book” than Musk Ox.
Musk Ox is easiest to kill and make P&Y but I'll say it's one of the harder hunts to commit to and do. Without my Alaska residency I'd have zero P&Y musk ox instead of two....
I'd also say it's the easiest to shoot a booner... nothing else compares.
I hunted muskox in the fall in Alaska (Seward Peninsula out of Nome) and a week into it I hadn't seen a single animal. Saw a group while coming out in a different area but they were off limits. To verify that I actually knew what I was doing and looking in the rights spots, I set up camp by the individual (he was moose hunting) that has five-ten times more P&Y muskox than everyone else.
BTW, the answer is either WT or black bear.
It took me 3 days to kill a musk ox on Victoria Island on a fall hunt. But of course, that was guided not DIY. There were three other hunters in camp - 2 rifle and 1 ML. They were done on the first day, but mine was the largest at 95 2/8 P&Y, and by far the closest shot - 16 yds. I was also the only one that took only one shot. I was beginning to think it wouldn't happen due to terrain that looked more like a golf course. In fact, EVERY golf course I've seen had better cover.
Again, maybe the hunt itself isn't the most difficult, but everything considered, there are much easier species to put in the book.
I don’t think it would be bears. I would bet most outfitters kill less then 20% success for actual py animals. I’d say antelope or caribou if your in them. Possible to pass on 20-30 py caribou a day or more if your on the herds.
Zeik...How many other species have you hunted for the first time ever and put one in the book by day 3? (Curious/serious question )... What other species boasts near 100% success with pretty much every one of the animals ever taken with archery equipment making P&Y? Interesting topic, hearing everyone’s perspective...
Four but almost five. Pronghorn - 1st day; Bighorn sheep - 3rd day; Rocky mountain goat - 4th day (I got snowed out on a stalk half way through day 3); Shiras' moose (B&C) - 1st day; and Musk ox - day 3. All but the musk ox were public land DIY.
But I wouldn't recommend any of them as the easiest to get your name in the book. For most bowhunters, the logistics and/or difficulty of drawing make it much more difficult to just get on the hunting ground. Actually, guided Alaska moose is pretty easy. Mostly because most outfitters put their guided clients in their best spots before drop camps and moving is usually included in the price - and rightly so. Also, legal antler size pretty much guarantees making the book when you kill one. But it took me one 10-day drop camp, and the 9th day of a guided hunt to kill one. Although, if I had known what I was doing on the first drop camp, I should have killed on the 2nd or 3rd day.
Pope and Young? And including pay hunts on private land? Without a doubt would be the Whitetail.
Steve, you know a guy with 80ish Musk Ox in P&Y? That's a pile of ox!
Nick, looks like Mark Wayne Smith has a pile of muskox...about 10% of of the first 80 some if I counted right and most of the bigger Alaska ox. Of course Frank has a bunch too.
Kota,
I hope you are right that muskox are the easiet to book...
"Nick, looks like Mar[c] Wayne Smith has a pile of muskox...about 10% of of the first 80 some if I counted right and most of the bigger Alaska ox."
BINGO!
Zack...I’ll go out on a limb and GUARANTEE both you and JT shoot P&Y Musk Ox this week. (Or early next week). Pressure is on boys. Get after it! ( and good luck)
