Had a friend reach out last night looking for some advice on a surprise 40th birthday gift for her husband. She has about 1 1/2 years to get this planned out but doesn’t have an idea where to start. First thing I asked was budget and tried to throw some ball park numbers on popular big game animals. I asked if she was more interested in an experience vs a huge animal on the wall and she opted for for a wall hanger.
First number she threw out was 6k, so I tried to inform her some of these larger species like an elk hunt in Colorado would exceed that range.
Husband has harvested a few deer, Aoudad, loves bird hunting, will fish but not real passionate about it. I threw out a group cast and blast, exotic ranch options here in the state, a fly in Canada fishing trip, and an elk hunt on a specific ranch in Colorado. I think there’s some flexibility on the budget and she wasn’t too concerned making this a group trip.

So, what comes to mind, places you’ve been or have knowledge of that would produce a quality animal, prefer out of state, close to that budget, that would make this an awesome birthday gift?

Dang, a blank check for an adventure? Awesome couple.
Without knowing the buddy, I'd go adventure over a trophy harvest. He's turning 40, so should in theory still be able to kick [censored] in the mountains or some remote area and if he isn't this will be a good excuse to start getting in shape since there's time. Shooting a wall hanger someone raised on a high fence can be done when he turns 80. If my wife was asking someone to help point her in the right direction, I'd want to do an Alaskan black bear drop camp.

Open country audad or muley in West Texas. Several guides on this site. Agreed, you would need more information.
I had a nice Axis hunt with Charles at Lucky JAC Outfitters this year. He might be able to point you in a good direction.
I'd go fly fishing in New Zealand or Jackson Hole for a week. There are so many awesome trips in that price range. That guy is going to have a blast.

A black bear hunt in Canada can be done for that.
Here is an example:
https://www.blackbearadventure.com/rates-and-info

I'd strongly recommend that you consider a guided black bear and/or mountain lion hunt in AZ behind a group of hounds. Reach out to Mike Harris and Layne Chitwood; they are top notch.

Good stuff. Hadn’t thought of a bear hunt. Although she’s not thrilled on the idea of a huge mount in the house, a rug or tanned hide might go over better

Wyoming back country pack in Bull Elk hunt. I've hunted with these guys 3 times and was very successful on 2 of my hunts. Make sure you book the rifle season opener hunt.

Call these guys, Swift Creek Outfitters there Elk specialists.
Picture of my best bull, it scored 346 7x7.

That’s a great elk.

I obviously dont know the guy, but if you add a couple of thousand for airfare and taxidermy he could do a South African safari. That would be something he would remember the rest of his life for sure!!!

$6k-$8k budget, go to Eastern Canada for Moose & Bear, go do a Bear hunt in Saskatchewan, Pronghorn in New Mexico or a Mule Deer hunt in just about any Western state.

You’re gonna have to factor in Airfare but you can also do a Red Stag hunt in Argentina or Scotland, plains game in South Africa or Namibia.

You can also do some cool waterfowl hunting in Alaska paired with fishing.

You can also do an elk hunt in several western states for $8k and under

quote=angus1956]Wyoming back country pack in Bull Elk hunt. I've hunted with these guys 3 times and was very successful on 2 of my hunts. Make sure you book the rifle season opener hunt.

Call these guys, Swift Creek Outfitters there Elk specialists.
Picture of my best bull, it scored 346 7x7.




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I’ll check them out. Thanks !

Any other ideas or outfitter recommendations?

Do a search at Cabelas website, they have a lot of really good hunting and fishing trips and they are well researched.

Also do a search for Frontier's, they also have a lot of quality trips.

Looking at those places would let her see what is available (hunting and fishing and combo trips) and the pricing.

My wife just got me an ibex hunt in Kyrgyzstan for my birthday. I couldn't be happier. I think it's in that range before airfare and add ons. I am much more about the adventure than the trophy.

Don't know his comfort in the Backcountry, but top of my list would be caribou drop camp in Alaska, black bear in Newfoundland, plains game in Namibia or South Africa, thar in New Zealand.

Whatever happens tell her that if he isn’t pleased with the gift to drop him and look me up.
I’ll need pictures but we can await developments first……

Red stag in New Zealand was one of the best trips we ever took - great for hunting and site seeing -

All good info. Thanks fellas.
We’ve narrowed it down to staying in North America, but now I’ve got the bug to go hunt some of these other countries

My recommended list in order from top to bottom
1. Back country Elk Hunt
2. Northern Bear Hunt
3. Az lion hunt
4. Axis hunt

So, again, if you have been on one or more of these, please give some feedback/recommendations on outfitters.. dos/donts, ect…

You need lots of due diligence on the elk hunt. I've used 3 outfitters. The first, a great one, retired. The other two are close to con artists. (One was on here for a while.) Wish I could help more.

I’ll check them out. Thanks !
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Here's my other bull, scored 315.

And I would have that huge Chit eating grin too

Flattops Adventures for elk in Colorado.

Wyoming would take some PP to draw an elk tag.

Mt lion would be a fun hunt, they make great rugs.
Black bear too.
Mule deer pack in trip would be fun as well, mainly Colorado but might pull a Wyoming tag in certain areas with 1-2 PPs.
Pronghorn with Grimmetts would be great, book animals, Pronghorn Guide Service.
Alaska black bear boat hunt or fishing trip, maybe deer from a boat.

A archery hunt in the Flat Tops will take PP's for a non-resident these days and I would not call it a trophy hunt or think it could be had for 6k. I know some private ranches around Meeker you can get a elk hunt for $6500 but you are not likely to get anything that breaks 300 inches more like 250.

If he loves bird hunting go for King Eider in Greenland

Here's my other bull, scored 315.


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So did these two hunts require preference points? I’m not quite sure how all that works outside of texas, and I’m 99.999% sure this guy doesn’t have any

Good stuff. I’ll look up flattops