For Arizona hunters
Hunting in Canada from Arizona
Arizona big game is a points game measured in decades. Ours is a phone call.
Arizona grows some of the biggest bull elk in North America, and Arizona hunters pay for it in patience. The top units run eight to twenty years of bonus points for a nonresident, and even average units take years to draw. It is a points game measured in decades, and there is no wild moose in the state to fall back on either.
We run guided elk, moose and bighorn hunts in Alberta's Rockies on guaranteed outfitter allocations. No bonus points, no waiting list, no draw at all. You book a date and you hunt. Phoenix has a year-round nonstop to Calgary, our camp near Nordegg is about three and a half hours from the airport, and the tag comes with the hunt.
Hunting moose from Arizona
There is no wild moose in Arizona, so unlike your elk this is not a tag you have ever been able to build points toward. That makes it simple: the only way an Arizonan hunts a bull moose is somewhere north, and we take the draw out of that entirely.
Our Alberta moose is a horseback mountain hunt. Bulls average better than fifty inches, we run a small number of one-on-one rut hunts a season, and the tag rides with the booking through our provincial allocation. It is $15,500 to $17,500 in USD plus 5% GST for ten days, archery, muzzleloader or rifle. See the moose hunt page and the moose cost guide.
Elk and bighorn: the points wall
This is the heart of it for an Arizona hunter. The state's elk are worth the wait, but the wait is the problem: a decade or more of bonus points before you draw a premium unit, and years for a middling one. Bighorn is worse, a literal lottery jackpot. You are not short on quality in Arizona, you are short on tags.
In Alberta the tag comes with the hunt. Our elk rut hunt is $9,500 for ten days of bugling bulls or $7,500 for six days on the migration, and bighorn is the continent's premier ram tag at $45,000 to $100,000. The nationwide rule is worth remembering: every US state with bighorn, Arizona included, makes it a jackpot or decades of points. Guaranteed-allocation bighorn does not exist in the Lower 48. See elk and bighorn sheep.
What we hunt in Alberta
Everything on this page runs out of one operation: our horseback backcountry camp in Alberta's Rockies near Nordegg, in country where motorized vehicles are prohibited and access is by horse and on foot. We hold provincial allocations for the species below, which is what lets us hand you a tag with the hunt instead of sending you into a draw.
- Moose: premium mountain bulls averaging better than fifty inches, one-on-one, $15,500 to $17,500 in USD plus GST.
- Elk: a $9,500 ten-day rut hunt for bugling bulls, or a $7,500 six-day migration hunt.
- Bighorn sheep: the premier tag on the continent, $45,000 to $100,000, on a guaranteed allocation.
- Mule and whitetail deer: the November rut, $6,500, 130 to 170 class.
- Black bear: baited hunts, $2,500 to $5,000 CAD, the most affordable guided big game in Canada.
- Wolf: a free add-on with any booked hunt, unlimited harvest, CITES permit to export.
Getting here from Arizona
This is one of the easy ones. WestJet flies a year-round nonstop from Phoenix straight to Calgary, and Flair also serves the route, so you land in the same time zone with no connection to miss. From the airport our camp near Nordegg is about three and a half hours by road, whether you fly into Calgary or Edmonton.
The rifle paperwork is the same for every US hunter: the RCMP Non-Resident Firearm Declaration and a flat CAD $25 at the border for non-restricted rifles and shotguns. See bringing firearms into Canada.
What our hunts cost from Arizona
Here is what our hunts cost from Arizona, in plain USD. These are our own published rates, and the figure below is the guided hunt only. Licences and tags, Alberta's 5% GST, your airfare, tips for guides and camp staff, and any taxidermy or export sit on top of it. For the full stack on any species, follow the cost guides.
| Our Alberta hunt | Price | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Elk, migration | $7,500 USD | 6 days |
| Elk, rut | $9,500 USD | 10 days |
| Mule or whitetail deer | $6,500 USD | November rut |
| Moose, rut one-on-one | $15,500 - $17,500 USD + GST | 10 days |
| Bighorn sheep | $45,000 - $100,000 USD | Backcountry camps |
| Black bear | $2,500 - $5,000 CAD | Baited |
| Wolf | Free add-on | With any booked hunt |
For the full itemised breakdown by species, see the moose cost guide, the elk cost guide and the other cost guides.
Bringing your rifle across the border
This part is the same for every US hunter, whatever state you leave from. You fill out the RCMP Non-Resident Firearm Declaration, form 5589, pay a flat CAD $25 at the border, and have it witnessed by a border officer. That declaration acts as a temporary licence for the length of your trip and lets you buy ammunition here. It covers non-restricted rifles and shotguns, the sporting long guns you hunt with. Leave any handguns at home, and note the five-round magazine cap on semi-automatic centre-fire long guns.
We walk every hunter through the paperwork before you travel, so nothing at the border is a surprise. See bringing firearms into Canada for the full walkthrough, and do you need a guide in Canada for why the outfitter is the access, not an add-on.
Common questions
Q. Can I hunt moose in Arizona?
No, there is no wild moose in Arizona. Our Alberta moose hunts carry the tag through an outfitter allocation with no draw and no points, so a bull is a booking away instead of a tag you can never build toward at home.
Q. Do I need a guide to hunt in Canada as an Arizona resident?
Yes. In Alberta a non-resident hunts big game either with a licensed outfitter-guide or an unpaid resident hunter host, and as an American your tag comes through the outfitter's allocation rather than a draw. We hold the allocations for the species we hunt.
Q. How long is the wait for your elk hunts compared to an Arizona tag?
There is no wait. Arizona's best elk units take a nonresident eight to twenty years of bonus points. Our Alberta elk hunt comes with the tag through our allocation, so you pick a date and book instead of banking points.
Q. How do I get from Arizona to your Alberta hunts?
WestJet and Flair fly year-round nonstops from Phoenix to Calgary. From there our camp near Nordegg is about three and a half hours by road.
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