For Utah hunters
Hunting in Canada from Utah
Utah has a legal category called once-in-a-lifetime species. Moose is on it. With us it's a phone call.
Utah is unusually honest about how hard some tags are: the state literally maintains a legal category called once-in-a-lifetime species, and moose is on it. Draw a Utah moose tag and you can never draw another as long as you live, and for a nonresident the odds of drawing that single tag are minuscule to begin with. It is a tag structure built around scarcity, and it works exactly as designed.
We run guided moose hunts in Alberta's Rockies where moose is not a once-in-a-lifetime species, it is a booking. No draw, no points, no lifetime cap. Salt Lake City has a year-round nonstop to Calgary, our camp near Nordegg is about three and a half hours from the airport, and you can hunt a bull this year and come back for elk the next. For a Utah hunter, that is a genuinely different relationship with the animal.
Hunting moose from Utah
In Utah, moose sits in the once-in-a-lifetime category alongside the state's rarest tags. The system is deliberate: you may draw it a single time ever, nonresident odds are tiny, and most applicants never see the tag. It is a lottery that rations a lifetime opportunity down to, for most people, no opportunity at all.
Alberta treats moose as a huntable species you can book. 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. See the moose hunt page and the moose cost guide.
Elk and bighorn: more Utah points, or an Alberta date
Utah's limited-entry elk runs on years to decades of points for the good units, and bighorn is another once-in-a-lifetime species with odds to match. If you hunt Utah, your calendar is measured in point cycles, not seasons.
Our Alberta elk is $9,500 for a ten-day rut hunt or $7,500 for six days on the migration, on a guaranteed allocation. Bighorn is the continent's premier tag at $45,000 to $100,000, and the point holds everywhere: in every US state with bighorn, a tag is a lottery win 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 Utah
Simple trip. Delta flies a year-round nonstop from Salt Lake City to Calgary, so you land in the mountains with no connection. 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 identical 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 Utah
Here is what our hunts cost from Utah, 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 Utah?
Only through the once-in-a-lifetime draw, and only once ever if you win it, with minuscule nonresident odds. Our Alberta moose hunts carry the tag through an allocation with no draw and no lifetime cap.
Q. Do I need a guide to hunt in Canada as a Utah 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. Is moose really once-in-a-lifetime in Utah?
Yes, Utah classifies moose as a once-in-a-lifetime species, so you may draw the tag only a single time ever, and nonresident odds are tiny. In Alberta moose is a booking you can repeat, with the tag included in our allocation.
Q. How do I get from Utah to your Alberta hunts?
Delta flies a year-round nonstop from Salt Lake City to Calgary, and our camp near Nordegg is about three and a half hours' drive from there.
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 or sheep hunt without a Utah draw
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.