You have been dreaming of this big game hunt for years. Imagining the feeling of success when you or your loved one hopefully take the animal. Dreaming of experiences far away and the excitement they will bring. You have finally found the time to plan this adventure with the expectation that you will be able to go soon.

But then reality hits.

The specific destination you wanted is booked up. Don’t you wish you had known to start planning your adventure earlier and had the time to do it? How were you supposed to know there wouldn’t be availability?

We understand this frustration! Not only have we experienced this ourselves, but we have been on one too many calls with potential clients who found themselves in this situation.

How is this problem remedied? Through knowledge! Below we want to share with you a good timeline of when you should start planning your big game hunting adventures based on our experience from the past 15+ years and where we see the industry moving.

If you are flexible with your travel dates, this is a great guideline to give you the best chance of success. If you have specific dates, add a year to the stated amount of time below. Start planning your trip this many months/years ahead:

South America Hunts:

• For Red Stag roar dates: 2 yrs
• For Red Stag non-roar dates: 6 mths

North America Hunts:

• Brown Bear: 1- 4 yrs
• Black Bear: 6 mths to 2 yrs
• Elk: 1 – 4 yrs
• Moose: 2 yrs
• Caribou: 1 yr
• Whitetail Deer: 6 mths
• Dall Sheep: 2 – 3 yrs
• Exotics: 3 mths
• Fallow: 3 mths
• Mountain Lion: 2 yrs
• Muskox: 6 mths
• Walrus: 6 mths
• Arctic Grizzly: 6 mths – 2 yrs

African Hunts:

• Plainsgame: 3 mths
• Dangerous Game: 1-2+ yrs

New Zealand Hunts:

• Roar dates: 2 yrs
• Non-roar dates: 6 mths

European Hunts: 6 mths

At Family Expeditions, we seek to remove the stress and time-consuming nature of trip planning for you. One way we do this is by staying on top of open dates and being the first place our lodges call when they have new openings. This allows us to help you have the best chance of nabbing the dates you want without you having to spend the time to regularly follow up with lodges.

When you work with us, you will have a greater chance of success in planning the big game hunt of your dreams because of our insider information and close communication with our lodges.

The earlier you call us, the better chance you have of making your hunt happen sooner! If you are looking for a hunt in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, or New Zealand, call us today so we can talk through the best planning schedule, even if you are several years away.

We represent lodges in South America that specialize in these big game hunts:

• Red Stag
• Mouflon
• Fallow
• Blackbuck
• Water Buffalo
• Feral Goat
• Puma (non-importable to the USA)
• Axis

We represent lodges in North America that specialize in these big game hunts:

• Brown Bear
• Black Bear
• Elk
• Moose
• Caribou
• Whitetail Deer
• Dall Sheep
• Exotics
• Fallow
• Audad
• Antelope
• Mountain Lion
• Muskox
• Walrus
• Some arctic bear species

We represent lodges in Europe that specialize in these big game hunts:

• Red Stag
• Fallow
• Ibex
• Chamois
• Mouflon
• Roe Deer
• Wild Boar
• Eurasian Brown Bear
• Balearian Goat

We represent lodges in Africa that specialize in these big game hunts:

• Plains game – some popular species being:
  • Kudu
  • Zebra
  • Wildebeest
  • Red hartebeest
  • Impala (and variants)
  • Springbuck (and variants)
  • Nyala
  • Eland
  • Lechwe
  • Roan
  • Sable
  • Waterbuck
  • Gemsbuck
  • Sitatunga
  • Grysbuck
  • Oribi
  • And more
• Hippo
• Crocodile
• Leopard and Other Cats
• Cape Buffalo
• Other Dangerous Game

We represent lodges in New Zealand that specialize in these big game hunts:

• Red Stag
• Himalayan Tahr
• Chamois
• Fallow
• Elk
• Arapawa Ram
• Balearian Goat