Wannabe Sheep Hunter

willidru

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Jan 12, 2017
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California
I have a question for sheep hunters, how do you become a proficient sheep hunter? Seems like draws are once in a lifetime in each state or pay $20k to hunt in Canada. How do you become a good sheep hunter when they pull your lucky number? I've hunted deer for years and still don't think I'm a great deer hunter, but I feel I get better every year. Without the ability to consistently hunt how do you get experience? Live vicariously through others posts and videos?
 

WRO

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Nov 6, 2013
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Idaho
I have a question for sheep hunters, how do you become a proficient sheep hunter? Seems like draws are once in a lifetime in each state or pay $20k to hunt in Canada. How do you become a good sheep hunter when they pull your lucky number? I've hunted deer for years and still don't think I'm a great deer hunter, but I feel I get better every year. Without the ability to consistently hunt how do you get experience? Live vicariously through others posts and videos?
Tag along on hunts with anyone who will let you.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
Joined
Apr 22, 2012
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Chugiak, Alaska
I really don't think that sheep are any tougher to hunt than anything else that is challenging. The biggest obstacle to overcome is accessing the places where they live (being in decent shape). From my experience, they are definitely much easier to kill than a lot of species. An UL .223 or .22-250 would be a great sheep hunting rifle if the chance of a brown bear encounter wasn't a concern. I can only speak from the stand point of hunting Dall sheep since that is the only sheep hunting I've ever done.
 
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
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Be able to hike and haul a load for the long haul. Train and then train some more. Be proficient at reading the wind and using the terrain to stalk within your comfortable shooting range. Other than that, keep on hiking and training. If you do a guided hunt, you want to be able to out hike the guides. If you can't access the area or climb up a mountain, then it doesn't matter how good you are, you can't kill them. I don't know much about drawing sheep tags, but either way you're going to have to hike and haul a load I'm assuming. Get your gear, boots, shelters, etc. all dialed in so that you're familiar with everything in your pack and know how to use it in the worst conditions. Go to really exposed areas with nasty terrain on a rainy and windy day and setup your tent/shelter. Then practice and time yourself to see how quickly you can break down camp and be ready to hike. Find what meals and foods your body prefers in the mountains and then take extended trips where you do mock sheep hunts. It's all training and will help you get ready for when the time comes. I've only Dall sheep hunted, but I'd be ready to go on any sheep hunt in a heartbeat if someone wanted to go. Elevation is elevation and weight is weight...it takes work and it's well worth it.
 

wyosteve

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Jul 1, 2014
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Do what castandblast said-- pack into the sheep areas in the summer with gear, spotting scope and camera. Once you spot some, do a 'stalk' with the camera to get into whatever your comfortable shooting distance would be.
 

Jimbob

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Feb 27, 2012
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Smithers, BC
Watching videos and reading stories are what I am doing right now. I am trying to pick up on every detail possible while watching and reading.

I think the biggest thing for me is the patience that I see in these hunters. Waiting hours or days for a stalk. Waiting till the sheep are in the right place. Hiking miles and miles up and around a mountain to get in position. etc.

I am planning on moving out west and sheep and goats will be in my future and I know my biggest obstacle will be learning to navigate the terrain these guys live in. So I plan to do a lot of hiking in some crazy places and slowly extend my boundaries and learn what I am capable of.
 
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Patience is definitely a key element. Sometimes it's a waiting game and then a go-go-go game when the sheep move. Being able to really tough it out on a mountainside in nasty weather is good too. I've been locked down in sleeting blizzards with nasty winds on a mountainside before and let me tell you, it'll test you to the limits.
 

Stid2677

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Sep 13, 2012
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Read everything you can find concerning sheep biology and hunting. Decide where you would like to hunt and study the sheep habitat and horn growth. Determining legality is a key component, and being a student of horn growth really helps with this task. Study and learn how wind moves in the mountains, also how thermals effect wind flow. Be mindful of shiny stuff on your gear and never wear sunglasses on your head, they reflect light that can be seen for miles. Learn to do more glassing than walking and try not to hike into an area when sheep are bedded, they have the advantage if bedded as often only their head is exposed. Much easier to spot them if they are up and feeding. Sheep can be patterned, as mentioned patience is often key, they will often feed in the same areas and return to safety to bed down. I like to creep near their feeding spots and wait for them to come to me. Overwhites and decoying can be effective.

Taking a mountaineering course would be a smart move, remember that if it is sketchy going up, it will be terrifying coming back down. Always conserve your strength and energy. Keep basic survival gear on you and don't be adverse to spending the night where you are when it gets dark. A sheep hunter's feet and mental toughness will be key to success. Pain and discomfort are all part of it, learn to embrace the suck. If you don't want to quit at least once, you are not hunting hard enough.

If you can find a mentor, that really helps, finding an older sheep hunter can often be beneficial. Sheep hunters are about the tightest lipped hunters there is, so finding one that can no longer hunt, which often means "on their death bed" can be gold. NEVER betray that trust, anyone that I ever share with would become "those I never speak to" if I learn they spoke of a place on the map. :)

I tread the high places, not to seek and find sheep, but seek and discover my own limits, hoping to maybe bring home a ram in the process.

Good luck on your journey.

Steve
 

MTGunner

Lil-Rokslider
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Jul 4, 2015
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NW Montana
Becoming a sheep hunter...

There has been a lengthy post on Accurateraloading.com about drawing a sheep tag in the lower 48 for a few days under the American big game hunting "Need your opinion on sheep tags". This discussion smacks of discouragement about drawing a tag and the length of time it may require in the lower 48 states. Having stated this it is indeed difficult to do so...yet can be accomplished if patience is employed. Becoming a sheep hunter, deer hunter, rabbit hunter, if you will, takes lots of days afield. Patience, research, time afield are the instruments of experience and capability. Whether you are a firearm hunter, bow hunter, hunt with a camera or other...all provide for a intelligent, instinctual predator. Yes, we are predators!
Mountain hunting is arduous that requires good physical conditioning. Good equipment is a must not with standing the $$$ layout of funds.
I urge those who seek to hunt Ovis or Capra to look at other species for tune up trips and certainly the opportunity for adventure. Do not surrender your dreams of hunting the four Ovis species of north America.
I have been fortunate to draw a mountain goat tag in NW Montana 2011 for which I took a good Billy with great horns. I was 64 yrs. of age at this time and the hunt kicked my butt for 3 long days. It was a grand adventure. I took a very good aoudad in TX the following Feb. near Post, TX. He sports a 29" beam length head. BTW, this I shot at approx. 70 yds. as I stalked close and had plenty of time to place my shot. One and done!
Best thing you can expect is to continue to hunt and learn. Other contributors have lent sage advice to this thread. Good luck, good shooting, good hunting! MTG
 
Joined
Apr 22, 2012
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Chugiak, Alaska
Patience is definitely a key element. Sometimes it's a waiting game and then a go-go-go game when the sheep move. Being able to really tough it out on a mountainside in nasty weather is good too. I've been locked down in sleeting blizzards with nasty winds on a mountainside before and let me tell you, it'll test you to the limits.
I hear ya. It's pretty hard to explain what it feels like, spending 3 days, stuck in a 1 person shelter, on a mountain side, by yourself. It's definitely something a person has to experience to really understand. On the bright side, I do think it builds character though.
 

204guy

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Mar 4, 2013
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WY
The answer to this is pretty simple you need to spend a lot of time around sheep, and reading/ studying everything you can get your hands on concerning sheep. Really serious sheep guys are a pretty small fraternity and usually love to talk about sheep. Because the tags are so hard to draw there isn't so much secrecy surrounding hunting them.
 
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
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I tread the high places, not to seek and find sheep, but seek and discover my own limits, hoping to maybe bring home a ram in the process.

I really like this, and I think it sounds like a great opening line for that book you're always talking about writing:D
 
OP
willidru

willidru

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Jan 12, 2017
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Thanks for all of the input. Just something intriguing about the apparent challenge and life lessons the hunt would provide. Not to mention, who doesn't want what they can't have...
 

Jimss

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Mar 6, 2015
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I've been on a number of sheep hunts. The biggest obstacle for me is drawing a tag! It's possible to research to figure out strategies where you may have a better chance of drawing a tag. Checking out draw odd stats in every state that offers sheep tags is a great start. Some states like Wyo may not be worth applying because there are so few tags that go to those with max or close to max pts. You may never draw a Wyo sheep tag in your lifetime. It may not be worth the application costs to apply for Wyo sheep. Montana has a couple OTC sheep units that you can actually hunt every year. Each unit has a quota and once they are reached the unit is closed down. Another option would be to move to Alaska. Alaska res can hunt dall sheep every year. One last sheep opportunity is to hunt poorman's sheep (aoudad) in Texas or New Mexico. Texas also has a long list of exotic sheep available from all over the world. You have the option of hunting sheep on large high fence or free ranging private ranches.

Once a sheep tag is drawn, the fun begins! Being in "sheep shape" is obviously important. It's always an advantage having super light, less bulky equipment and gear if backpack hunting. High quality optics will aid in determining whether rams are legal..and for field judging exactly how big they are. The more time you spend researching and scouting the more likely you'll be successful (before and after you draw a tag). Similar to hunting any game in the Western US, there is a pretty big learning curve until you actually get out there and do it a time or 2.

It's kind of amazing how willing avid sheep hunters are willing to help others out once a tag is drawn....especially in high demand once in a lifetime type draw units. Research will help out but it also helps when others on websites similar to Rokslide are more than willing to offer advice! Good luck in your quest! There's nothing like hunting wild sheep in gorgeous country!
 

kaboku68

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Jun 14, 2012
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Alaska
Forums are good places to start. There are also Grand Slam/Ovis and FNAWS groups that can set you on the right path to learn. However, you might try to find an older sheep hunter in their mid 40s, 50s or 60s and go along as a sherpa. You might learn more from sessions of talking sheep with people who are really into sheep than reading about them. Then you make a data collection system where you learn how to find successful strategies and locations for sheep hunting in different places. Data mining is an exception strategy for learning about sheep hunting.
 

mnnowak

FNG
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Jan 27, 2017
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Houston, AK
It's a mental game. Can you keep getting up morning after morning for 10 days hurting, sore, tired and just plain worn out. It's the worst fun you will ever have. Keeping a positive mind set and having a hunting partner that is a positive person can change an entire trip.
 
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