For Idaho hunters
Hunting in Canada from Idaho
You can wait out the Idaho moose lottery, or you can book a date.
Idaho hunters have real moose at home, one of the healthier programs in the Lower 48, roughly 500 permits a year on a simple lottery with no points. That is the good news and the catch in one sentence: it is a lottery, nonresidents get only a small slice, and the odds in any given year are long. You can put in for it your whole life and hunt at home when the draw finally smiles on you.
Or you can book a date. We run guided moose hunts in Alberta's Rockies where the tag comes with the hunt, no lottery and no points. Our bulls average better than fifty inches, our moose hunt is $15,500 to $17,500 in USD plus 5% GST for ten days, and it is a short trip from Idaho: a one-stop from Boise, or a day's drive from the Panhandle. Wait out the lottery, or put a hunt on the calendar. That is the whole choice.
Hunting moose from Idaho
Idaho's moose hunt is one of the better ones in the Lower 48, but it runs on a lottery of roughly 500 permits, with nonresidents eligible for only a small share and long odds any given year. Even as an Idaho resident, a moose tag can be a wait measured in seasons. The animals are there. The tag is the bottleneck.
Alberta removes the bottleneck. Our 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. So the pitch to an Idahoan is simple: you already know moose hunting, we just take the coin flip out. See the moose hunt page and the moose cost guide.
Elk and bighorn: tags that vanish in minutes
Idaho still sells general-season elk tags, but the nonresident allocation now sells out nearly instantly, tags that vanish in minutes each December, so even an over-the-counter idea has become a race against a clock. Bighorn is the lottery of a lifetime.
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, on horseback and on a guaranteed allocation, no December scramble. Bighorn is the continent's premier ram tag at $45,000 to $100,000, and every US state with bighorn 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 Idaho
From Boise it is a one-stop to Calgary through Seattle, Salt Lake City or Denver. From the Panhandle you can skip the airport: Spokane puts you roughly a day's drive from the lodge, so plenty of northern Idaho hunters just load the truck and cross at a land port. From the airport our camp near Nordegg is about three and a half hours by road.
The rifle paperwork is the same for every US hunter, and the land crossing uses the exact same form: 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 Idaho
Here is what our hunts cost from Idaho, 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 Idaho?
Yes, but only by lottery. Idaho issues roughly 500 moose permits a year with no points, nonresidents get a small slice, and the odds in any given year are long. Our Alberta moose hunts carry the tag through an outfitter allocation with no draw, so you can book a date instead of waiting out the odds.
Q. Do I need a guide to hunt in Canada as an Idaho 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. Can I drive to your Alberta hunts from Idaho?
From the Panhandle, yes: Spokane puts you roughly a day's drive from the lodge, and the land crossing uses the same RCMP firearm declaration and CAD $25 fee. From Boise it is an easy one-stop through Seattle, Salt Lake or Denver.
Q. How does an Alberta moose hunt compare to drawing an Idaho tag?
The animals are comparable, but the access is not. An Idaho tag depends on a lottery you may wait years to win, while our Alberta hunt comes with the tag through our allocation, so you pick a date and book.
Keep reading
Plan your hunt
Ask us about an Alberta moose hunt without the Idaho lottery
Tell us what you are after. We reply within 1 to 2 business days with honest numbers, real dates and the outfitters we would send our own family to. It costs you nothing.