Elk & Sheep.... those dang sheep.

[CMack376]

Last year i hunted Colorado for my very first elk hunt. Felt good about the area we picked. We found lots of elk sign.... but it was old sign. We hunted the from Sept. 10th-20th. We found plenty of sign from other hunters as well. We truck camped for it was our first time in the area so we wanted to be able to jump ship easily if need be. We hunted pretty deep the first two days and found outfitter camps... but the were empty. We found a water hole that was loaded with elk tracks, elk scat, and smelled like a barn yard. But we never found the elk. after a few days we decided the place was a ghost town not only to the elk, but as well as the other hunters, and outfitter camps. There had to be a reason. So we traveled by vehicle to the next basin and to set up camp. On the way to that next basin we had to run to town quick. On the way to town we passed sheep, a lot of sheep, like 2,000 sheep. Little did we know we were headed to the same place. Once we got to our new camp location (a T.H.) we talked to one of the other hunters that was there bear hunting. He said you guys going back there?, as he pointed towards the trail. "yup!, that's the plan!". then he informed us that a cow boy just brought 2,000 head of sheep back there. It was getting late so we went to bed and rolled the dice. Again we found sign, but no elk.

Now that i know about grazing allotments, how far do you stay away from those sheep and for how long? Are you successful guys hunting these areas up to a week before the sheep get there? how long after the sheep are gone will you try that area again? Or are you better off avoiding that basin altogether and finding one that has no grazing allotment? Are cattle treated the same? Thanks for your help in advance!!!

Also a side note, how many of you guy are hunting up high those first two weeks of September? How high? We hunted between 9k to 10k. Were we high enough? Did we find night sign? Just trying to get my ducks in a row for next years trip. Planning starts now.

 

[Coveyleader]

All I will say is sheep and elk hunting doesn't mix. No other way to put it no matter how good of a spot you think it is. Sheep are your worst enemy period.

 

[Scrappy]

I don't remember where I read it the other day but guys were saying the elk are surprisingly close to grazing sheep. Didn't read the details but if I were you I would keep digging around the internet for the answer. Elk won't just completely leave an entire mountain just because of sheep.

 

[Rob5589]

F'n mountain maggots. There have been tons over the past several years in a southeast Idaho zone and wherever they've been, absolutely no sign of elk. We'll still see some deer but the elk seem to want no part of them. Not to mention those damn Pyrenees trying to eat us when we go by.

 

[JPederson5]

We just got back from a week in CO and ran into the same issue. We're on pretty good sign and even saw a few elk a long ways off. But as we went in to look closer over the next few days, you could clearly see a large number of sheep had just been through the area. Assuming they pushed most of the critters out of those basins. We weren't really sure if it was because of the actual sheep or because of the lack of feed once they grazed through there. Either way, it seemed like we missed what we were after by less than a week. There's always next year.

 

[CMack376]

I don't remember where I read it the other day but guys were saying the elk are surprisingly close to grazing sheep. Didn't read the details but if I were you I would keep digging around the internet for the answer. Elk won't just completely leave an entire mountain just because of sheep.

Yeah that's what i was thinking. This was our first elk hunt ever so we really didn't know what we were doing or what to expect. Im leaning twords paying more attention to the grazing allotments for this year and just trying to stay away from those areas.