For Maine hunters
Hunting in Canada from Maine
You already love moose hunting. Stop paying seventy years of expected value for one permit.
Maine is the benchmark moose state, and Maine hunters understand the moose lottery better than anyone. In 2025 the state took roughly 76,000 applications for about 4,100 permits. At least ninety percent of those permits go to Maine residents, nonresidents are capped near eight percent, and the practical odds for a nonresident work out to something like one in seventy. Residents fare better, around one in ten, but that is still a decade of expected value for a single tag.
We run guided moose hunts in Alberta's Rockies where the tag comes with the hunt. No lottery, no points, no cap. You book a date and you hunt. Maine invented the registered-guide tradition, so this is a familiar idea to you: the guide is the point. We just take the coin flip out of it.
Hunting moose from Maine
The Maine hunt is real and it is legendary, which is exactly why the draw is so long. Tens of thousands of applications chase a few thousand permits every year, the resident share is protected by design, and a nonresident is looking at roughly one-in-seventy odds in a given year. You can hunt Maine moose in your lifetime. You probably cannot plan on it.
Alberta flips that. 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. Our moose hunt 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 a Maine conversation, until now
Maine has no elk hunt and no wild elk herd, and no bighorn sheep. For a Maine hunter, chasing either has always meant leaving the Northeast entirely.
In Alberta both are on the table on the same trip your moose is. Elk is $9,500 for a ten-day rut hunt or $7,500 for six days on the migration, and bighorn is the premier tag on the continent at $45,000 to $100,000. The bighorn point is worth keeping in mind: in every US state that even has the animal, a tag is a lottery 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 Maine
From Portland or Bangor the clean routing is a one-stop to Calgary through New York or Newark, both of which have year-round nonstops on to Calgary, or through Toronto. Boston also has a Calgary nonstop, but it runs summer-seasonal, so for a September through November hunt do not count on flying it direct: plan the easy one-stop instead. From the airport our camp near Nordegg is about three and a half hours by road.
The rifle side is the same for every US hunter regardless of state: 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 Maine
Here is what our hunts cost from Maine, 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 Maine?
Yes, but only if you draw the lottery, and the odds are long. In 2025 roughly 76,000 applications chased about 4,100 permits, with nonresidents capped near eight percent and practical odds around one in seventy. Our Alberta moose hunts carry the tag through an allocation with no draw.
Q. Do I need a guide to hunt in Canada as a Maine resident?
Yes. In Alberta a non-resident hunts big game with a licensed outfitter-guide, and as an American your tag comes through the outfitter's allocation, never a draw. Maine's registered-guide tradition means this will feel familiar.
Q. How do the odds compare to your Alberta hunts?
There are no odds with us. Maine's nonresident moose odds are roughly one in seventy in a given year. Our Alberta moose hunt comes with the tag through our allocation, so you book a date rather than apply.
Q. How do I get from Maine to your Alberta camp?
A one-stop from Portland or Bangor through New York, Newark or Toronto, then about three and a half hours by road from Calgary or Edmonton. Boston's Calgary nonstop is summer-seasonal, so for a fall hunt plan on the one-stop.
Q. How much is a guided moose hunt with you?
Our Alberta moose hunt is $15,500 to $17,500 in USD plus Alberta's 5% GST for ten days, one-on-one, with the tag included through our allocation.
Keep reading
Plan your hunt
Ask us about an Alberta moose hunt without the Maine 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.