For Pennsylvania hunters
Hunting in Canada from Pennsylvania
Benezette built the East's great elk herd, then made hunting it a raffle. We don't.
Pennsylvania built one of the great conservation stories in the East: the Benezette elk herd, thousands of animals in the north-central mountains, a town built around watching them. Then it made hunting them a raffle. Roughly thirty thousand applicants chase somewhere around 140 to 150 tags a year, only about thirty of which are bull tags, which puts a nonresident hunter near one-in-a-thousand for a bull, with no points to build toward it.
We run guided elk hunts in Alberta's Rockies where the tag comes with the booking. No raffle, no thousand-to-one, no points. You pick a date and hunt bugling bulls. Close to a million Pennsylvanians hunt deer every fall, and most of them will never draw the elk tag in their backyard. This page is for the ones who would rather book the hunt than buy the ticket.
Moose from Pennsylvania: not at home, easy from here
Pennsylvania has no wild moose to hunt, so a Pennsylvania hunter has never had a home moose season to lose. That makes the Alberta option clean: there is nothing to compare it against except getting on a plane.
Our Alberta moose hunt produces bulls that average better than fifty inches, runs one-on-one, and carries the tag through our provincial allocation with no draw. It is $15,500 to $17,500 in USD plus 5% GST for ten days. See the moose hunt page and the moose cost guide.
Hunting elk from Pennsylvania
The Benezette herd is the heart of it. Pennsylvania restored elk to the state and grew the herd into the thousands, but the hunt is a pure random lottery: about thirty thousand applicants, roughly 140 to 150 tags, only around thirty of them for bulls, and no preference points to stack. For a bull as a nonresident, you are looking at something close to one in a thousand in a given year.
Our Alberta elk is a booking, not a ticket. The rut hunt is $9,500 for ten days of bugling bulls, and the migration hunt is $7,500 for six. There is no wild bighorn in Pennsylvania at all; ours runs $45,000 to $100,000, and worth remembering, in every US state that has bighorn a tag is 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 Pennsylvania
From Pittsburgh or Philadelphia the routing is a straightforward one-stop to Calgary through Chicago, Denver or Toronto. From the airport our camp near Nordegg is about three and a half hours by road, the same from Calgary or Edmonton.
The rifle paperwork 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 Pennsylvania
Here is what our hunts cost from Pennsylvania, 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 elk in Pennsylvania?
Only if you win the Benezette lottery, and the odds are brutal. About thirty thousand applicants chase roughly 140 to 150 tags a year, only around thirty of them bull tags, with no points to build. Our Alberta elk hunts carry the tag through an allocation with no draw.
Q. Do I need a guide to hunt in Canada as a Pennsylvania 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 rather than a draw. We hold the allocations for the species we hunt.
Q. How does a Pennsylvania elk tag compare to booking a hunt with you?
The Benezette draw is roughly one in a thousand for a bull as a nonresident in a given year. Our Alberta elk hunt comes with the tag through our allocation, so you book a date rather than apply. The rut hunt is $9,500 for ten days.
Q. Can I hunt moose in Pennsylvania?
No, Pennsylvania has no wild moose to hunt. Our Alberta moose hunt is $15,500 to $17,500 in USD plus 5% GST for ten days, with the tag included through our allocation.
Q. Is there a draw or points system for your hunts?
No. Every hunt we run comes with its tag through our Alberta allocation. You choose a date and book, rather than entering a raffle.
Keep reading
Plan your hunt
Ask us about an Alberta elk hunt without the Benezette 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.