In the November/December 2019 issue of Sports Afield magazine, we find the story “North America’s Toughest Trophies” by Craig Boddington. While Boddington has extensively hunted the world over, no one living has had more experience on the African continent. But in this story Craig talks about the toughest North American trophies to bag as opposed to the most difficult hunts physically. If you are anything like me, you will probably think about your personal choices as opposed to his. Boddington mentions sheep, goats, elk, and whitetails, but for one reason or another he dismisses them.

Boddington named these five trophy animals: a Brocket Deer in the Yucatan jungle, a really good Mule Deer buck, a Grizzly Bear, a big Moose, and a Wolf. He named the wolf as his top personal prize.

I’m not his editor, but I would immediately throw out the Brocket deer as I see the Yucatan as Central America, not North America. Besides, I have no desire to fight biting insects in a sweaty jungle that smells like mildew while trying to bag a diminutive deer with buckshot.

Boddington’s really good mule deer buck would be my number one personal choice. On the only occasion I had a good mulie buck in front of me, my tag read “whitetail.” I have friends who have taken trophy mule deer bucks in South Dakota, but I would guess the top places to hunt them would be Alberta, Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming.

I would love to hunt grizzlies, but it would be cost prohibitive for me. Boddington has been on ten grizzly hunts to the very best places since 1974, but he was only successful on three of them. That’s 30%. He mentions how physically demanding a grizzly hunt is, and he quotes Jack O’Connor. “Even where there are lots of ‘em, there aren’t very many.” I’ll agree that the grizzly should make the top five.

A big moose! All moose are big, but he’s talking wide antlers with big paddles and lots of points. Boddington mentions that Newfoundland has the densest moose population in the world, but goes on to say that he hunted Newfie moose four times to get one good moose. His many attempts at a good Western Canada moose have failed. He says he is appalled by the price of a Yukon-Alaska moose hunt, and says that even on this hunt success is far from guaranteed. I’ve been on two moose hunts – Newfoundland and British Columbia. I hunted hard for a big-antlered moose, but was happy to bag not-so-trophy bulls on both occasions at the end of the hunt. However, both were man enough to have girlfriends. Once again, I’ll agree with Boddington.

Boddington claims that most wolves are taken by hunters who were hunting something else but had wolf tags in their pockets. When I hunted mule deer in Alberta and moose in British Columbia, I had an inexpensive wolf tag in my pocket but never saw a wolf. Wolf hunters have some success when they sit over bait in frigid weather, but it’s far from a sure thing. I have been lucky enough to see wolves in the wild, and I will once again agree with Boddington’s choice.

If the Sport Afield magazine editor had given me Boddington’s assignment, my fifth choice would have been a big Boone & Crocket quality whitetail buck. Conservatively, I’ve killed fifty whitetail bucks. Only two were much better than the others, and a good whitetail hunter would probably see those as nothing but respectable. In our nearby Bon Homme, Brule, Charles Mix, Gregory, Lyman, and Yankton Counties, we have such bucks. Given another chance in these counties, I’ll try to lay off the trigger and hope a big guy comes my way.

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It’s beginning to appear that my recent pheasant assessment was too negative. As the crops get harvested, birds are showing up. I’ve heard good reports – even from road hunters.

After reading my article in the hunting supplement of the Mitchell Daily Republic, a reader suggested that I work for the Chamber of Commerce. South Dakota has received additional praise since I wrote that story. We are #1 in the nation in college admission ACT scores, and we have been picked as the top state to retire based on taxes, climate, medical care, and safe environment.

See you next week.