Tell me about large North American game hunting

[natedog]

I was prompted to write this thread upon realizing that I know nothing about hunting anything larger than deer, so please educate me .

Please tell me about large North American game hunting. Moose, buffalo, elk, caribou, bears, walrus, etc (which of these can be hunted?). What are typical rifes for animals greater than 500lbs? Are moose typically stalked, or hunted out of a stand like some deer hunts? What does moose, elk, or caribou meat taste like? Any info is appreciated!

 

[Sharps Shooter]

Hey Nate,
I haven't been ignoring your questions, it's just that there's a lot of them to answer and probably a whole bunch of different opinions about each one. I'll give you a couple of mine.

I think elk tastes like a cross between venison and beef, but a bit dryer than either of them, while moose is darker and richer with less wild taste. Moose is hard to describe, but if you ever have barbecued moose ribs, you'll never be happy with barbecued pork or beef ribs again - in my OPINION.

Discussions about rifles for animals over 500lbs. are sure to involve some heated arguments which I will not get involved in. Personally, I like a .300 Win Mag in open country and a .338 Win Mag in more mountainous terrain. My wife shoots a custom 7mm Rem Mag for all her big game hunting. When I can afford it, I'll be taking my .45-110 Shilo Sharps on one of those guided buffalo hunts.

We're only allowed one moose in a lifetime here in Idaho. It's a good thing too, I think. To me, shooting a moose is about like going out and shooting a beef cow. The moose around here are not known for their great intellects. Mostly they just stand around in the way, or spook and bust down through the brush which scares the living daylights out of you and every deer or elk in the canyon.

We hunt elk in much the same way we hunt deer. We walk, climb, sit, and glass. Many elk bowhunters here in Idaho do well bugling. It usually doesn't work during rifle season though because the elk rut is over before regular rifle season opens.

Well, those are a few of my opinions about big game.

 

[SHOOT1SAM]

natedog:

IMNTBHO, there's moose meat...............& then there's everything else.

A young bull buffalo, is good. My father-in-law and I took one each a couple of years ago. His was 2 1/2 years old & mine was 3 1/2. Helluva difference in both size AND meat. Mine made the much better mount; his had the much better & much more tender meat.

I think both caribou and whitetail deer are better than elk, which is better than mulle deer and, for me, it really depends on how mule deer is prepared. I've only eaten black bear once, prepared like burgundy beef, & it was delicious. I've eaten mountain lion mornay, & it was okay, but it was probably the sauce that could have been better.

As for rifles/calibers, well, I hunt just about everything with either a .35 Whelen or a .358 Norma Magnum.

BTW Sharps Shooter-as of this year, we can take two moose in Idaho; one bull and one cow in the course of a lifetime. IIRC, if you take one, you have to wait seven years to apply for the other sex.

Sam

 

[Mornard]

Just my opinions here. Both these other fellers are correct. Nothing better than moose. Then in my book elk, then whitetail. I've put buffalo at the bottom of my list - not much flavor. Never had mule deer or antelope. Bear's ok, depends a lot on how you cook it. You can hunt darn near everything from a tree stand - I hunt nothing from a tree stand. I don't hunt grizzly, so am happy using my .35 Whelan on anything.