Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep behavior

[ssssnake529]

Going on a Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep hunt in Colorado this fall.

Problem is that I don't know much about sheep behavior. I've seen tons of books on elk and deer. Tons of information on what they eat, their migratory patterns, where they go day and night, etc.

Not so much information on RM Bighorn Sheep.

Can anyone recommend a book (or website) that could provide some insights on sheep behaviors.

 

[blackdawg]

Don’t have any book recommendations but my good ole longtime Colorado buddy took this pick a few days ago, perhaps an insight on their behavior,he says they hang around the yard sleeping when they aren’t fightin,

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[Kimbersig]

Jack O'Connor's Sheep and Sheep Hunting is a great book. not a cheap one tho but its a great book. Duncan Gilcrest has several sheep books out as well.

 

[Coveyleader]

Personally unless you just want to read books I'd skip on the Geist books etc. I found them boring really.

The sheep units in Colorado vary a ton. It would help to know is it an archery or rifle tag? Some units the sheep are very approachable. Others, they see you a mile away they're on their feet looking at you.

Unit, season, weapon will have a greater influence on their behavior vs a general sheep behavior answer.

 

[ssssnake529]

Rifle Tag.

S11 Collegiate Peaks.

 

[Coveyleader]

First and foremost, congratulations. A sheep tag is special.

Being that it sounds like an alpine sheep area (CP) I'd look to find them above timberline close to some cliffy/rocky areas but that isn't needed. In areas like that, the sheep seem to bed in pretty open areas. You will need to do your summer scouting really early, and late in the day. When sheep are on their feet, and visible. When they bed, they can be extremely hard to find. Hours and hours of glassing, you swear nothing there, packing up you stuff and with your naked eye you see sheep that got to their feet. Been there done that.

Since it's a rifle hunt getting close isn't as important as archery, but being there is a rifle season in there i'd assume those sheep may be pressured a bit from hunting and may not tolerate human presence. In saying that, the CP see alot of hikers so they may be used to seeing people. Your summer scouting will help on that. Units like S12, S32, sheep don't tolerate people at all. Areas like S38 and few others that are archery only, they can actually be quite approachable. In units like that, as long as they can see you, they hold tight. Not like that in pressured areas like S32, S12 where they are up and running.

I'd check those areas right at treelilne as depending on the unit, they can be just like deer where they bed in the timber, and then right at dark pop out and feed up or down the slides. They can really be active after those August thunderstorms and a good rain.

I'd get with the DOW, get the kill sites down, and hike in there and check those drainages out. It's surprising how sheep no matter what the generation, will often use the same areas year after year.

In closing, I'd get the info from the DOW, get in there late summer and find sheep and watch them. They will act alot like deer and elk at times.

Good luck

 

[Coveyleader]

DIY Colorado Archery Bighorn Sheep Hunt | Pure Hunting S.3, Ep.4 "Rocky Mountain Rams" - YouTube

Pretty good example of sheepy areas.

 

[MtGomer]

Look up any CPW studies or graduate student thesis on your unit/ specific herd if they exist.

 

[camo_deerslayer]

The harvest reports from years past on the CDOW will give you kill locations for the last decade. Sheep generally go to the same place every year to stage for the rut.

When I drew my sheep tag in 2013 I read books, articles, blah, blah. The thing that helped me the most (on my mountain goat hunt as well) were those kill coordinates.

Also, get on the RMBS forum and go to the unit you drew. Those guys are more than willing to guide you via email/phone. Most have hunted that same unit in the past. I take a call every summer from somebody who drew my old unit, I gladly help them!

Good luck, have fun!!


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[Jimss]

Do yourself a favor and head to the sheep hills in the unit you drew! There's nothing like spending the summer in gorgeous, alpine country watching and filming sheep! My son drew a different unit last year and I was up scouting just about every weekend. Got to almost know the rams by name! An added plus is watching velvet muley bucks and bulls, ptarmigan, pica, marmots, and other alpine critters. It helps having the best optics you can afford (spotting scope and binos are essential). I also brought along a Panasonic camcorder with a super zoom which was a bonus for bringing home video and sizing up rams on a big screen tv.


I recommend mapping ram harvest coordinates plus possibly looking for advice on the RMBS website. I'm pretty sure there is a mapping service on the web that sells maps with these coordinates. I also bring along topo maps that I do a lot of scribbling notes on (access, glassing areas, sheep bedding areas, water, ram locations at certain times of day, etc.) A gps also is good with way points. A gps is also nice in case the clouds move in and visibility is around 50 yards!

 

[rjpopp]

Going on a Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep hunt in Colorado this fall.

Problem is that I don't know much about sheep behavior. I've seen tons of books on elk and deer. Tons of information on what they eat, their migratory patterns, where they go day and night, etc.

Not so much information on RM Bighorn Sheep.

Can anyone recommend a book (or website) that could provide some insights on sheep behaviors.

SSSSnake529 I drew the same unit this year 2020 that you drew in 2018, S11 and would love to hear about how your hunt turned out? Please reach out and we can chat on this forum or through email.
Thanks! Robbie
[email protected]

 

[justin davis]

Be advised that past kill corrdiantes if they are guided are a lie. So don’t be fooled by them. The Outfitters dont accuracy report their kills even thou that’s against the law.

I found bighorn sheep in the unit I hunted to be very nomadic. They did not pattern and were very random. I found them to be skiddish as well. If spooked they would run miles. Not like a deer or elk that might run around the mtn and stop. Sheep will run for like 4 mountains before stopping

 

[Brent]

Don’t have any book recommendations but my good ole longtime Colorado buddy took this pick a few days ago, perhaps an insight on their behavior,he says they hang around the yard sleeping when they aren’t fightin,

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Wow! I'll bet that's loud being that close.

 

[recurveman]

There is a youtube video of a Colorado wildlife biologist giving advice. It was a pretty solid video from start to finish.

 

[RnnHntr]

One thing I was told by Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists, as well as other sheep biologists is that here in Colorado if you see goats in an area, you probably won't see sheep. Apparently the goats will chase the sheep out. I wish I had known that last year when I drew my sheep tag. I hired a guide to help with the first few days of the season, and the area they took me too was full of goats. I guess the guide didn't know about sheep being driven out by goats either. The upside is that the hunting gods took pity on me and I drew a goat tag for the same area this year and know where the goats are.

 

[nabooska]

Good luck!

 

[Kotaman]

One thing I was told by Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists, as well as other sheep biologists is that here in Colorado if you see goats in an area, you probably won't see sheep. Apparently the goats will chase the sheep out. I wish I had known that last year when I drew my sheep tag. I hired a guide to help with the first few days of the season, and the area they took me too was full of goats. I guess the guide didn't know about sheep being driven out by goats either. The upside is that the hunting gods took pity on me and I drew a goat tag for the same area this year and know where the goats are.

In BC, I've seen sheep and goats on the same face. In fact the sheep in my avatar was killed with a goat standing 30 yards behind me.

 

[RnnHntr]

Interesting. Our State wildlife agency increased the number of goat tags in the unit where I am hunting because the goats are supposedly impacting sheep numbers and distribution. My guess is that since goats are native to BC, the two species have adapted together there, whereas goats are an introduced species here in Colorado.

 

[Wapiti1]

In BC, I've seen sheep and goats on the same face. In fact the sheep in my avatar was killed with a goat standing 30 yards behind me.

What he isn't telling you is the goat led him to that sheep. The goat wanted the sheep bumped off.

I've also seen them both in close quarters in MT. In those areas they have been there forever, so they just figured it out.

Jeremy

 

[justin davis]

One thing I was told by Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists, as well as other sheep biologists is that here in Colorado if you see goats in an area, you probably won't see sheep. Apparently the goats will chase the sheep out. I wish I had known that last year when I drew my sheep tag. I hired a guide to help with the first few days of the season, and the area they took me too was full of goats. I guess the guide didn't know about sheep being driven out by goats either. The upside is that the hunting gods took pity on me and I drew a goat tag for the same area this year and know where the goats are.

That’s interesting they say that. I see goats and sheep very close to each other at times. Here is a pic of band of rams and goats right next to each other.