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Alberta or US, is the $ worth it?

I need help deciding on where to go lion hunting. After an unsuccessful hunt in Nevada a few years back I want to make this one count. I know there are no guarantees but I want the odds in my favor. Realistically lion hunting is probably something I'll do once. There are many other animals I'd hunt before pursuing a second lion, assuming I kill my first. I know Alberta has big cats and high success rates but that comes with a big price tag. I have researched US outfitters and have a couple I really like but chances are the cats are average size, but the cost is a lot less as well. So my question is, is it worth the extra, we'll say $4000, to go to Alberta? Big cat/big $ vs. average cat/less $?

I booked a hunt in 2011, thinking that a lion hunt was, pretty much, a slam dunk hunt. Wrong! Fortunately, I went back a couple of weeks later with better conditions and killed a nice tom. Lots of guys have gone out and killed their cat the very first day, and still others have gone on several trips and have yet to tag out. The Alberta hunts seem to have a higher success average and, they seem to usually kill huge cats, but I know at least one guy who struck out up there his first time. Good luck to you on your quest!

If you can swing it, I would go the Alberta route. A lion hunt, and you get a cool trip out of it as well. I am all about the adventure, and I would do Alberta over a lion hunt here any day.

Agree with Scar. I’ve done a US and Alberta lion hunt and in my case it was an entirely different experience for the better.

I hunted with Byron Stewart and TNT last year in Alberta and was not disappointed I did. It was a great hunt and he runs a very good operation. And I live in Montana which has some pretty decent cat hunting. I'd do it again for sure.

The only person that can answer that question is you. I went to Alberta, and I'm glad I did. I will most likely do it again because I enjoyed it that much. I did speak to a couple of guys that guide in the states and I'd love to hunt with them as well. However, for me, the positives outweigh the negatives for hunting in Canada.

T-roy, I struck out with Noah in Alberta in 2016. 15 days and never found a runnable big tom track. We treed a medium tom with a snare in his mouth and treed several females the last day just to run the hounds. No gripes with Noah. He worked his butt off. We even had very good snow with several dustings to keep things fresh. I'm just not lucky hunting cougars. 7 trips, 5 outfitters, 42 days total hunting, over 17 years and over 20,000.00 dollars. Zilch. It hurts to think about.....

You have me beat Redneck. I struck out in Utah twice, once with John Cassidy (who I think sold one of his tags to Noah), and then finally took one at TNT.

30 days and 4 hunts but you definitely have put your time in. Wow!

Another vote for Alberta. Byron Stewart and TNT.

I'm a little biased since i'm an Alberta resident, but here is my cat from Jan 24 2019

Cat track outfitters in Colorado worth every penny. Dont need to waste extra money to go to Canada

I would also go to Alberta. I did a moose hunt with a guy up by Whitecourt, AB and he has sent me pics of the lion's he takes. They are huge.

Alberta / British Columbia cougar hunting is in a different league than the lower 48. I did both and learned the hard way. In the states there is a ton of competition/pressure. Don't get me wrong you could harvest a huge cat in the states but I think your odds go up substantially a big mature tom in Canada IMO. Good luck

I would say that depends if you want a monster lion or a nice lion. I would think the chances of a huge one are way better in Canada.

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