Hunting in Canada from Illinois

Hunting moose from Illinois

There is no wild moose in Illinois, so this is a step up in scale, not a substitute for a home season. A bull moose is three times the weight of the biggest whitetail you have ever hung, and the only way an Illinoisan hunts one is out of state.

Our Alberta moose is a horseback wilderness hunt. Bulls average better than fifty inches, we run one-on-one rut hunts, 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: not in Illinois

Illinois has no wild elk hunt and no bighorn sheep. Both mean leaving the state, and there is no home tag to build toward.

We hunt both in Alberta on guaranteed allocations. 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. Every US state with bighorn makes it a jackpot or decades of points, and 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 Illinois

Chicago O'Hare has a year-round nonstop to Calgary on United, American and WestJet, so you land in the mountains' 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, and we walk every hunter through it: 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 Illinois

Here is what our hunts cost from Illinois, 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.

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.