People ask me some version of this question every week: "When's the best time to go?" The honest answer depends entirely on where "go" means. Huntica hosts hunts across seven destinations spanning both hemispheres, and because the seasons run in opposite directions north and south of the equator, there is rarely a month when nothing is open somewhere on our ground.
This is the calendar I actually use when friends ask me to help plan their year. It covers the season window for each Huntica destination, the prime weeks within that window, and the rut, roar, or coat condition that decides whether you are looking at a good trophy or a great one. Seasons shift slightly year to year and, in several destinations, by province or region — where that is true, I have said so rather than pretending there is one clean date that applies everywhere.
The Huntica Season at a Glance
Here is the fast version — one line per destination, with the season window, the prime weeks, and what drives the timing.
| Destination | Signature species | Season window | Prime weeks | What drives it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa | Kudu, impala, gemsbok, sable, buffalo | Roughly March–October | May–August | Kudu and impala rut; cool, dry bush with the best visibility |
| Spain | Spanish ibex, driven wild boar, Iberian red deer | Roughly October–February (ibex and montería); Southeastern ibex runs closer to year-round | November–January | Montería season and the ibex rut |
| Greenland | Muskox | July–September | August | Insects fade, bulls pack on pre-rut weight, tundra is dry underfoot |
| Canada | Moose, black bear, mountain goat, elk | Roughly August–November for most big game, plus a separate spring window for black bear (species and province dependent) | Late September–mid-October (moose) | Moose rut; provincial season-setting varies the exact dates |
| Argentina | Red stag, dove, duck, perdiz | Red stag: roughly March–August; dove: year-round | Red stag: March–April (the roar); wingshooting: May–August | The roar, then the austral winter wingshooting season |
| New Zealand | Red stag, Himalayan tahr, Alpine chamois | Red stag roar: late March–April; tahr and chamois: no closed season on public land | April–August (tahr and chamois) | The roar, then full winter cape and mane on tahr and chamois |
| USA | Elk, mule deer, pronghorn | Varies by state; most hunts fall roughly August–January | September (rut) through November (general rifle) | State wildlife agencies set dates individually — always confirm the current-year calendar for your state |
Every one of those windows is a range, not a promise of a specific date. State and provincial wildlife authorities publish exact dates annually, and they do shift — always confirm the current year's calendar before booking flights.
Month-by-Month: What's In Season Where
The clearest way to see how the destinations interlock is to walk through the calendar month by month.
| Month | What's in season |
|---|---|
| January | Spain: montería and ibex hunting are in full swing — regulars call January their favourite month for boar in full winter coat. Argentina: dove, year-round. New Zealand: tahr and chamois are legal but past their coat prime. |
| February | Spain: montería and most ibex seasons close by mid-to-late February. Argentina and New Zealand: as above. |
| March | South Africa: the plains game season opens. Argentina: the red stag roar begins, alongside dove. New Zealand: the red stag roar begins in the back half of the month. |
| April | Argentina and New Zealand: the red stag roar peaks. South Africa: early season, bush still green from summer rain. New Zealand: tahr and chamois begin entering their prime coat window. |
| May | South Africa: kudu and impala rut begins as the dry season sets in. Argentina: red stag post-roar, and the winter wingshooting season (duck, perdiz, alongside dove) gets underway. New Zealand: the tahr rut begins; chamois carry a strong winter cape. |
| June | South Africa: peak dry season, rut still active. Canada: spring black bear season, in the provinces that run one. Argentina: wingshooting in full swing. New Zealand: the tahr rut peaks. |
| July | Greenland: the muskox season opens. South Africa: peak dry season continues. Argentina: red stag season is closing in some provinces; wingshooting continues. New Zealand: tahr and chamois carry maximum winter coat. |
| August | Greenland: prime muskox month. South Africa: late season, still productive as animals concentrate near water. Canada: many provinces open moose and other big game, plus a fall black bear season. USA: archery elk and deer seasons open in several western states. New Zealand: tahr and chamois remain prime. |
| September | Greenland: the muskox rut, a later-season option. South Africa: late season, closing in October. Canada: the moose rut peaks (roughly 20 September to 10 October in British Columbia) and general seasons open widely. USA: the elk rut peaks and archery/early rifle seasons run. |
| October | South Africa: the season closes. Spain: montería and ibex seasons open. Canada: general big game and fall black bear seasons continue. USA: general rifle season opens across most western states. |
| November | Spain: montería in full swing; the Beceite ibex rut peaks. Canada: most provincial seasons close by month's end. USA: general rifle season is at its heart. |
| December | Spain: montería continues; the Gredos ibex rut peaks. Canada: closed in most provinces. USA: general seasons have mostly closed, though a small number of limited-entry elk permits — Utah's among them — run into mid-January. |
Two patterns are worth naming out loud. First, the Southern Hemisphere destinations — South Africa, Argentina, New Zealand — run their primary seasons from roughly March through October, opposite the calendar most Northern Hemisphere hunters grew up with. Second, Spain, Greenland, and most of North America run in the other direction, which means a hunter who wants two trips in one calendar year can genuinely have both without either season fighting the other for dates.
Southern Hemisphere Seasons: South Africa, Argentina, New Zealand
South Africa: March Through October, Prime in the Dry Months
South Africa's plains game season runs roughly March through October, with year-round options for a handful of species on specific ground. May through August is widely regarded as the prime South African hunting window: the bush thins out as the dry season takes hold, visibility opens up, and game concentrates predictably around remaining water. Within that window, kudu and impala are at their most active during the rut, which peaks in May and June — a rutting kudu bull vocalizes, scent-checks in the open, and generally drops the caution that makes him "the Grey Ghost" the rest of the year. Gemsbok and blue wildebeest are also easiest to locate on open ground through the cooler months. Our full kudu hunting guide breaks the South African season down week by week if that is your target species.
Argentina: The Roar, Then a Winter of Wingshooting
Argentina runs two overlapping calendars on the same ground. Red stag hunting opens around 1 March and, depending on the province, runs through July or August, with the roar — the Argentine rut — peaking from mid-March through mid-April. A roaring stag drops his guard: he bugles across a valley at rivals, stands in open ground he would avoid in June, and moves during daylight in a way that makes him far easier to locate. Our red stag hunting guide covers that window and what it looks like in the field. Dove hunting, on the other hand, never closes — Córdoba's resident eared dove population breeds year-round, so there is no bad month for it, though most hunters pair a red stag hunt with the winter wingshooting season (May through August), when duck and perdiz join dove for a genuine mixed bag. The Córdoba dove hunting guide has the detail on that combination.
New Zealand: The Roar, Then the Mountains
New Zealand's red stag roar begins in the back half of March and peaks from late March through mid-April — broadly the same weeks as Argentina's roar, which is why some hunters treat "roar season" as a single travel window and choose between the two countries rather than the calendar. Tahr and chamois have no closed season on New Zealand's public conservation land and can be hunted twelve months of the year, but the trophy you take home depends heavily on timing. The prime window for both species runs April through August: the tahr rut peaks in May and June, and by July and August both species carry their full, dense winter coat — the jet-black chamois cape and the bull tahr's flowing mane that make these trophies so distinctive. Outside that window, through the New Zealand spring and summer, both species are legal and huntable, but the coat is thin and the visual impact is a fraction of what it is in winter. The tahr hunting guide and chamois hunting guide go deeper on judging coat condition month by month.
Northern Hemisphere Seasons: Spain, Greenland, Canada, USA
Spain: Ibex and the Montería, Autumn Through Winter
Spain's two headline hunts run on close but not identical calendars. The general montería season — Spain's driven boar and red deer tradition — runs roughly from the second week of October to mid-February, with November through January as the heart of it; regulars often name January their favourite month, when boar carry full winter coats and the season's rhythm is at full pace. Our montería guide covers how a driven day actually works. Ibex seasons vary by subspecies and by the autonomous community that regulates them: Beceite ibex run October through February with the rut peaking in November and December; Gredos ibex run November through February with the rut in December and January, tightly controlled by permit; and Southeastern ibex, the most flexible of the four, are available across a much wider window, including spring and summer in some cotos. The full Spanish ibex guide breaks down all four subspecies and their individual calendars.
Greenland: A Short, Deliberate Arctic Window
Greenland's muskox season is the shortest and most tightly defined on this list — set by the Naalakkersuisut (the Government of Greenland) and administered through a municipal quota system, it runs July through September. August is the prime month: the brutal early-season insects have faded, bulls are packing on pre-rut weight and grouping into bachelor bands, and the tundra is dry enough for reliable cross-country travel. September brings the muskox rut and the most dramatic behaviour of the season, but also the first real weather risk as snow can arrive any day after mid-month. The muskox hunting guide walks through all three months in detail.
Canada: Set Province by Province — Plan Around That, Not Against It
Canada is the destination where "it depends" is the most honest answer. Big game seasons are set individually by province and territory and vary by species, region, and management unit, but most fall in a broad August-through-November window, with British Columbia moose as a useful anchor: the general season runs from late August or early September into late October or November, and the rut — the window that actually matters for calling bulls in — peaks roughly from 20 September to 10 October. Black bear is the exception to the single-season pattern: several provinces run both a spring season and a separate fall season for the same species. Ontario, for example, runs a spring black bear season from 1 May to 15 June in most wildlife management units, and Manitoba's spring bear hunt runs through June. Fall black bear seasons typically follow the general big game calendar into September and October. The takeaway: if Canada is on your list, decide on the species first, then let that decision set the month — not the other way around. Our moose hunting guide covers the BC moose calendar and rut in full.
USA: State-Set, Mostly August Through January
American big game seasons are set state by state, which means there is no single "USA season" — there are fifty of them, plus federal land rules layered on top. That said, a clear pattern holds across the Western states where Huntica hosts elk, mule deer, and pronghorn: archery seasons often open in August, the elk rut peaks in the second half of September (driving the best calling and the most predictable bull movement of the year), and general rifle seasons run through October and November in most states. A few states offer limited-entry permits that extend well beyond the general season — Utah's, for instance, run into mid-January. Because every state wildlife agency sets and adjusts its own dates annually, always confirm the current calendar for the specific state and unit you are hunting before you commit to travel dates.
How to Plan a Multi-Destination Season
The two-hemisphere structure of Huntica's ground is not just trivia — it is genuinely useful if you are planning more than one trip a year. A hunter chasing the roar can do Argentina in late March and New Zealand in April without the two trips ever competing for the same dates, effectively doubling the roar season into a six-week window across two countries. A hunter who wants South African plains game in the southern winter and a Spanish montería in the northern winter is, in practice, hunting two "winters" in the same calendar year.
The practical planning rule that matters more than any single date: book the ground before you book the flights. Prime weeks — the South African rut window, the Argentine and New Zealand roar, the best Spanish montería dates, peak muskox weeks in Greenland — fill first, often months ahead. Spanish montería estates in particular fill their calendars by late summer — if a specific estate in late November matters to you, you book in June, not October. If a specific week matters to you, that is the conversation to start first, not the last box to check. For everything else that goes into building a trip around a season window — flights, firearm paperwork, trophy shipping timelines — our international hunting trip checklist and first African safari guide cover the logistics, and our breakdown of what a safari actually costs covers the numbers behind the season you choose.
This is also where a hosted trip earns its keep. A host who works this ground every season knows when a province has moved its dates, when a montería estate has released a cancellation, or when Arctic weather is about to close a window early. That is the difference between chasing a season on your own and having someone on the ground call it for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best month to book an international hunting trip?
There is no single best month — it depends on the destination and species. If you want the roar, March and April cover both Argentina and New Zealand. If you want peak South African plains game conditions, May through August is the window. If Spain's montería or ibex is the goal, aim for November through January. Decide on the destination and species first, then let that choice set the month.
Can I hunt in both hemispheres in the same year?
Yes, and many Huntica hunters do exactly that. Because South Africa, Argentina, and New Zealand run their primary seasons roughly March through October while Spain, Greenland, and most of North America run the opposite way, a single calendar year can genuinely include a Southern Hemisphere trip and a Northern Hemisphere trip without the dates conflicting.
Why do South Africa, Argentina, and New Zealand hunt in what feels like the "wrong" months?
Because they are in the Southern Hemisphere, where the seasons run opposite to the north. Their autumn and winter — which produce the cool, dry conditions and rutting behaviour that make for the best hunting — fall in the months that are spring and summer north of the equator. March through August in these three countries is the equivalent of the North's autumn-into-winter hunting stretch.
Do hunting seasons change from year to year?
Yes. Wildlife authorities — provincial and state agencies, Spain's autonomous communities, Greenland's Naalakkersuisut — set exact season dates annually and can adjust them based on population counts, weather, and management targets. The windows in this guide are reliable ranges, but always confirm the current year's exact dates before finalizing travel.
Which destination has the shortest hunting season?
Greenland's muskox season is the shortest and most tightly bounded of any Huntica destination, running July through September and administered through a strict municipal quota system. Most of the other destinations run open windows of five to eight months, even though the prime weeks within those windows are narrower.
If I can only make one trip this year, when should I go?
That depends entirely on what you want to hunt, which is exactly the conversation worth having before you pick a month. A roar hunt in Argentina or New Zealand, a dry-season plains game trip to South Africa, a January montería in Spain, and a prime-month muskox expedition in Greenland are four completely different experiences built around four different calendars — and the right one for you is a question of species and terrain, not just dates.
If you already know which season is calling you — or you are still deciding between the roar, the rut, and the winter mountains — tell us where you want to go. We host where we hunt, on every one of these calendars, and we can tell you exactly what a given week looks like on the ground before you commit to it.