I feel like we tend to talk about deer mostly here, but there's a whole world of game out there we all hunt.
What is your favorite game animal and why? Is it the challenge? The taste of the meat? The size? The fun? I want to hear what everyone loves.
A tie between rabbits and pheasants. There is just something watching that arrow fly after you missed a pheasant. I am rabbit crazy and I cannot explain that.
The whitetail by far. Even when I could not afford to consider most other game, I could ride a few miles from the house and be hunting within minutes. They were plentiful and challenging, so they took the lead in my mind. It has always been almost the only game I hunt.
Being in Texas, whatever I get the opportunity to hunt.
:campfire: :coffee: :archer2:
Elk are and probbly always will be my favorite...they are fun to call, taste good and a bulls rack makes a fine bow rack ... yes I'm an elkaholic :help:
I like stalking muleys and water holing antelope .
Whitetail
Hogs, cause I can hunt them year round, no bag limit and spot n stalk in the public wood is rather tough (for me).
Whitetail nut here.
As much as i kno this will sound like a sappy,, washed up oldman response... i love hunting anything that flys,walks or swims with my trad bows.to me...its the challenges, preparation and just fun of being proficient w my bows. Yep i have a wheel bow i love and have taken bucks at 55 yards and enjoyed my experiences. That being said,, just a simple rove yesterday in the beautiful yellowtail wmu in Wyoming was priceless... i just love to shoot my recurves.........Mule deer may the new favorite... idk.pronghorns and elk lookin sweet....
No question, whitetail. I love piecing things together then the challenge of making those work out
The next closest is pigs , it's a no pressure ground hunt thing for me.
Rabbits. Lots of action and very good eating.
I cant do it any more but if I could, I would be after them every chance I had.
I figured out a trick so I wouldn't loose my arrows, I tie a bright colored string to my arrow and have a spool (like a fishing rig) about 20 feet of string and not attached to the spool so it can come completely off.
Wabbits in the snow while listening to the beagle serenade. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :archer:
Well if I could be in elk like I am whitetail deer and pigs then elk would definitely get the nod. Unfortunately that will never be again.
I love whitetail but they take a close second to pigs.
No one cares how old they are. There are no culls, no management animals or trophy class that need another year.
No bag limit, no closed season, no means oe methods restrictions. Pigs eat well but if you wanna feed one to the yotes no one is gonna cry foul.
To me they are oftentimes a tougher challenge than whitetail except for their vision. You can fool a whitetail into thinking your scent is diluted enough you're not a danger and if they don't see you, you're in. Pigs will smell where you walked yesterday and hightail it out of the county. Their eyesight though will allow better spot and stalk opportunities than even the most clueless whitetail will as long as you have the wind in your favor.
So pigs get the nod from me. And hopefully this year I'll get the time and energy to give them the attention and arrows they deserve.
Whatever comes by my stands .
We have a long season and I have several stands for different winds. Many times I'll squirrel hunt during the mid day, sometimes I get a couple for a meal, have also taken turkeys, grouse, rabbits. I'm an opportunistic hunter and take what the good Lord sends my way. I have passed on many deer over the years lately as we really dont need alot of meat since the kids are gone. But we' ll always take small game as they're easy to carry out and mix up the appetite...
Everything we shoot is a trophy and a gift.
Easy to answer,
Bunnies and Water Buffalo, by far my favourite.
Easy to answer, but not easy to hunt. Unfortunately bowhunting opportunities for either are almost impossible to organise here at the moment. So, as Richmeister put it so well, "I'm an opportunistic hunter and take what the good Lord sends my way".
But to actually name them, bunnies and buffalo, easily my favourite.
Best
Lex
No contest WHITETAILS. :)
Quote from: GCook on January 26, 2022, 09:38:19 PM
I love whitetail but they take a close second to pigs.
No one cares how old they are. There are no culls, no management animals or trophy class that need another year.
That is a great perspective and a sad commentary at the same time. It is unfortunate what whitetail hunting has become for many people.
Grey Squirrels by far
Mature Whitetails! :thumbsup:
I like elk hunting for the beauty of the animal and of the country plus I can stay in my tent for a full month away from the craziness of the big cities people. Only the season is too short. Lol
Whitetails and it's not close. I've hunted lots of different species over the years but deer are my favorite by far. Love the scouting and setup, love eating them.
Honestly, just getting together with friends, and camping, hunting, archery shoots, does not matter what species or targets. I have killed enough deer, and it doesnt matter if i never kill another.
Caribou .... if you like spot and stalk they are a good as it gets. Second comes elk because I love the calling and the beautiful country they live in ....
Elk, they live in beautiful country, nothing like bugling bulls in the fall, the meat is pretty tasty also..
All the above, I'll hunt anything! My favorite is (was) caribou, I hunted them before you had to have a fortune to do it.
Beautiful animals majestic in every way and they eat good. Elk, love the country and the bugling, 29 times chasing. I could really get into pig hunting, only been 4 times but loved the stalks. Black Bears. the excitement of one showing up unseen and unheard util they're right at your bait. I hunt whitetails the most as I can close to home but Turkeys have become my favorite lately. The last few years they have consumed my springtime, hearing the gobbles, the frustration when they ignore you, all make for great fun. Like I said before All the above!
If I had to choose one animal to hunt for the rest of my life it would be groundhogs. Absolutely love it.
I have to say squirrels and rabbit because you can have friends and dogs along. Hunting small game with friends is special or just hunting squirrels with a squirrel dog that is also your best friend.
Hunted Caribou in Quebec in '99 and '03. Definitely the most memorable times I've spent with a bow in my hand. Fortunate to have hunted them before prices went through the roof and then the hunts were stopped. In 2003 we were blessed to experience the front end of the migration and saw hundreds of Caribou every day. Glad I got to do it!
Now I am a Whitetail hunter with Turkey and small game mixed in, is most likely going to be it from here on out. May get a chance to chase some pigs sometime, but if not, I am content with deer and turkey.
Still Whitetails by a hair. Biggest rush was sneaking up to a Bull Moose in his bed to 15 yds. Then shooting up at him when he stood. And they're so big!
Grouse
Whatever I'm hunting that day.
If I had to choose one it is moose, solo, deep in the Alaskan bush. I love the solitude.
Any Big game I have a tag for and small game.
I enjoy hunting elk the few times I have, pigs are so much fun, I love spring bear camp..... but to me there is nothing like playing chess with an old mature whitetail, especially in pressured areas. I can plan and scheme every single day of the year for an encounter with a really mature animal or two.
Whitetail is now my favorite live all aspects of it. Growing up in Ohio in the 70 s my very favorite was quail what a rush when a covey busted up lol but blizzard of 78 killed them all and have never come back
Years back it was drifting the rivers with a canoe for ducks, then I discovered woodcocks, I got two with my bow, that was enough. Then i swore the only deer i would shoot were the ones that got between me and the pheasants and turkeys. With the rabbit and turkey numbers down, this year it has been pheasants. It was not going well at first, but I had a couple of great late season days. I changed to slingshots for trying to hit passing doves this year, running low on shoot away arrows.
Quote from: Larry Dean on January 28, 2022, 05:39:29 PM
Years back it was drifting the rivers with a canoe for ducks, then I discovered woodcocks, I got two with my bow, that was enough. Then i swore the only deer i would shoot were the ones that got between me and the pheasants and turkeys. With the rabbit and turkey numbers down, this year it has been pheasants. It was not going well at first, but I had a couple of great late season days. I changed to slingshots for trying to hit passing doves this year, running low on shoot away arrows.
I think ducks would be my favorite if I could hit one with a recurve.
Most of the ones we hit. we water swatted on the back bends.
If we still had enough rabbits, and places to hunt rabbits it would be rabbits.
Most of my hunting is for whitetail deer these days. But I have enjoyed every species I've hunted. I only hunted caribou once in 2006 and I got 2 bulls. Always wished I could go back but prices went crazy. Elk hunting is awesome in the mountains. Hogs and javelina are so fun to stalk in the southwest. Bear are really fun with the time to relax with good friends in camp in the mornings. Everything is special in its own way
I've only ever hunted whitetail and squirrel. Looking forward to my first elk hunt this year, and may try a turkey hunt this spring. Also think I would like hog hunting...maybe some day.
With out a doubt, wild pigs....javalina very close second
Caribou. Nothing else comes close.
Among the 29 North American big game beasts, I've hunted only 5 (whitetail, elk, black bear, pronghorn, and mule deer). So, I don't know what I'm missing regarding the other 24.
Whitetails are #1 for me because of affordability and opportunity, out my back door.
I've been watching moose and grizzly bow hunts for the past week on youtube TV.
I thought caribou would be happening but then the herds crashed in so many places and opportunity has shrunk.