Sheep Hunting

[nube]

Originally Posted by Bushrat

Never was much interested in barely legal squeekers where you had to squint down to the millimeter from 34 different angles for 2 hours to see if it's legal. Anyways I think guys shooting short sheep are shooting them because they don't know how to judge horns, spotting scope or not.

Telling someone to stay off the mountain because they don't commit to the very best equipment is like telling a new fly fisherman he may as well stay off the river unless he has a $1200 fly rod, $700 reel and $800 waders.

Of course having a spotting scope is an advantage, you might miss seeing a few sheep or stalk up to one a 10 hr hike away and find it isn't legal sure, but that happens to guys with spotting scopes who see a ram two days hike away and find its not legal when they get there. If you don't have one it is no reason to not hunt sheep. You still have a good chance to be successful, you learn things about sheep and gain experience as you go. Collect or improve gear over time when you can afford it. Go on shorter day hunts closer to roads if you haven't got all the gear, it's all good experience.

I doubt anybody is stupid enough to go on a week long hunt in sheep country with nothing but a banana and an handful of nuts in their pocket. Most hardcore sheep nuts also carry binos, knife, bottle of water and some poptarts if they're really going deep.

Well said and I agree

[nube]

Originally Posted by bdub

My basic first aid kit is black tape and tp along with heavy duty pain killers, some milder stuff/ibuprofen, some cold meds, antibiotics, temporary dentel filling material and a safety pin for slivers.

Ibuprofen...... forgot about that. Man alive what a difference it made waking up in the morning after taking that stuff. Didn't feel as stiff and full of pain. I take multiviitmin and lots of ibuprofen now

[West O'5]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is how many packs of cigarettes to bring?I just turned 50,1 smoke 1.5 packs/day normally,I'm 30lbs over my prime "fighting weight",I get winded hunting deer/elk in foothills.....will I likely smoke more or less at altitude?
Also,when hunting east slope Rockies is it more uphill or downhill,I'm pretty good at stumbling downhill but again,I get winded with 50m of altitude increase,so I figger if I can drag my fatass uphill to find a sheep then packing it out downhill should be a breeze.
Also,how much meat am I required to salvage?Can I eat most of a ram in 2-3 days?Cant I just pack out horns and cape and say a grizzly ate the rest?

[BuckCuller]

Originally Posted by rk4

I don’t think I’m being negative, at least I’m not trying to be. Yeah well things were a lot different back in the day. It’s not the same game anymore. To me it just isn’t realistic to start hunting sheep without a spotting scope. You must of killed some monster sheep if you aren’t even bothering to double check legality with a scope. I personally find more Rams with a scope than binos, about 4 to 1. That’s just me though. I can cover way more country in a day sitting down with a spotting scope than anyone can with binos. You’ll be doing a whole hiking if you don’t carry a scope. Scope can save you a whole 2 days of hiking in lots of cases.

Everybody in this province has an equal right to hunt sheep, that’s without a doubt. But if you aren’t fully prepared to hunt sheep responsibly than wait till you are ready. Carrying a spotting scope so you can accurately judge a ram is your responsibility, at least until you feel comfortable enough that I guess you decide you don’t need one? Not trying to insult anyone who hunts that way successfuly, I’ve just honestly never heard of that.

Hunting sheep is becoming more and more popular now a days so let’s try starting the new guys off in a position to succeed, where they aren’t going to be making mistakes do to advice like “it’s good enough for me! It’s good enough for you!”.

If you want to start hunting sheep than commit. Don’t half ass it. If you want to half ass it just stay home.

One of the best sheep hunters I have ever known was a native fella from Moberly Lake and all he would carry for optics was a set of 10x binoculars.
It doesn’t take a spotting scope to be an ethical sheep hunter it takes ethics to be an ethical sheep hunter.
If you are not one hundred percent sure it is legal don’t shoot that’s it.

[RZR]

Originally Posted by BuckCuller

One of the best sheep hunters I have ever known was a native fella from Moberly Lake and all he would carry for optics was a set of 10x binoculars.
It doesn’t take a spotting scope to be an ethical sheep hunter it takes ethics to be an ethical sheep hunter.
If you are not one hundred percent sure it is legal don’t shoot that’s it.

And they don't care if it's legal for sustenance hunting. I should learn to sheep hunt.

[BuckCuller]

Originally Posted by West O'5

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is how many packs of cigarettes to bring?I just turned 50,1 smoke 1.5 packs/day normally,I'm 30lbs over my prime "fighting weight",I get winded hunting deer/elk in foothills.....will I likely smoke more or less at altitude?
Also,when hunting east slope Rockies is it more uphill or downhill,I'm pretty good at stumbling downhill but again,I get winded with 50m of altitude increase,so I figger if I can drag my fatass uphill to find a sheep then packing it out downhill should be a breeze.
Also,how much meat am I required to salvage?Can I eat most of a ram in 2-3 days?Cant I just pack out horns and cape and say a grizzly ate the rest?

You will smoke more because you will take more breaks climbing the mountain.
You might think it’s easier downhill until you have a full sheep on your back and after a mile your knees are screaming at you WHY!
The biologists say Grizzlies in Alberta are pretty much extinct so if you told F&W a grizz ate your sheep they would know your lying.

[Mountain Guy]

Originally Posted by Big Grey Wolf

Mountain Man, yes most blacks are not a problem, however almost same number of people have been killed. by blacks as by grizz. Just ask 30-40 people at Liard hot springs when predatory black bear started killing people one after the other.

ya I know...
Maybe its just me but black bears don't bother me..

[BuckCuller]

Originally Posted by RZR

And they don't care if it's legal for sustenance hunting. I should learn to sheep hunt.

He was one of the most professional sheep guides in BC.
Only trophy rams were on his mind.

[Mountain Guy]

Originally Posted by rk4

Wow, you’re not really serious I’m guessing? If a black bear choose too, you would be dead.

Yes...as would a moose, cow elk , whitetail buck , pit bull....

[grouse_hunter]

Originally Posted by bdub

My basic first aid kit is black tape and tp along with heavy duty pain killers, some milder stuff/ibuprofen, some cold meds, antibiotics, temporary dentel filling material and a safety pin for slivers.

I prefer 3M medical tape to the black, electrical variety since it allows for the wound to heal. I carry a pair of manicure scissors and fine point tweezers, liquid bandage, a few band aids of various sizes, painkillers. I use whisky as a topical antiseptic and for internal prophylactics.

[raab]

Well took the plunge today. Bought the Vortex Diamondbacks and got the Celestron Ultima 65 spotter. It's not the best but will get me started. Once I get some experience I should have a better idea what I need and can upgrade from there.

[triguy]

way to go! I hope you do know that once you start you just cant stop! It's an addiction!
Good Luck and above all have FUN!

[andyzolik]

Originally Posted by raab

Well took the plunge today. Bought the Vortex Diamondbacks and got the Celestron Ultima 65 spotter. It's not the best but will get me started. Once I get some experience I should have a better idea what I need and can upgrade from there.

Can you please let me know how is that Ultima spotter. I was looking at it on amazon. If the glass is as good as on the binos I have it will be great deal for the price. Did you buy straight or angled?

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

[Sheepnu2985]

man do I feel like a idiot for spending 7 Grand on a spotter doubler and tripod listning to all these sheep hunters that dont use a spotter...... who would of thought of such thing

[Bushrat]

Originally Posted by Sheepnu2985

man do I feel like a idiot for spending 7 Grand on a spotter doubler and tripod listning to all these sheep hunters that dont use a spotter...... who would of thought of such thing

Give your head a shake, nobody said that at all.

I'll let you in on a little secret:... you can hunt sheep successfully with budget optics.

[Sheepnu2985]

Originally Posted by Bushrat

Give your head a shake, nobody said that at all.

I'll let you in on a little secret:... you can hunt sheep successfully with budget optics.

I know..... I started out with what I could afford also and highly sugest that. But As someone who has also seen a few sheep die in there day. these heros that are killing all these sheep without spotting scopes and suggesting to a newbie that they dont suggest packing one in a area where horn curl regulations are in effect makes me laugh.

[Tundra Monkey]

Originally Posted by Sheepnu2985

man do I feel like a idiot for spending 7 Grand on a spotter doubler and tripod listning to all these sheep hunters that dont use a spotter...... who would of thought of such thing

You spent $7k on your spotter/doubler & tripod?

How do you find mirage at the “upper end”?

I run a swaro 80hd, carbon fibre tripod & an outdoorsman head
& I come in less than half the cost of your set up. What are you using?

[raab]

Originally Posted by andyzolik

Can you please let me know how is that Ultima spotter. I was looking at it on amazon. If the glass is as good as on the binos I have it will be great deal for the price. Did you buy straight or angled?

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

I got the angled. Was pretty happy looking through it last night, could see some young bucks around 900m from the back of my place in low light. It can be hard to focus at times but I think it will get better as I get used to it. If you have glasses the eye relief my be tough for you.

I plan to replace the eye piece after doing a bit of research. Sounds like most spotters have half decent glass in the body, but the eye piece is where its hard to get good glass for the price. There's one called the Baader Hyperion Zoom 8-24mm that will fit it, and apparently takes the spotter to a whole new level. The down side is that the eyepiece costs more then the spotter. Im going to check because if I can get the Hyperion in 10mm fixed, I'll just grab that and have it fixed at 38x magnification.

On another note, wanted to thank everyone for their input. Definitely gave me a few things to think about. Keep the info coming as I'd like to at least see a few sheep this fall, and any tips and tricks are appreciated.

[Norwest Alta]

Originally Posted by Sheepnu2985

man do I feel like a idiot for spending 7 Grand on a spotter doubler and tripod listning to all these sheep hunters that dont use a spotter...... who would of thought of such thing

Curious what your using for a doubler and where you got It?

[katts69]

I am assuming this is what he is running.

[rk4]

Originally Posted by nube

RK4 sounds like you have hunted sheep a lot. I'd love to see some pics of your rams? Got any big ones to share with us?
A lot of this comes down to how you hunt and what the terrain is I guess. Also depends on what you got to do to get into sheep country. When I hunted Wilmore I had horses and took a scope. Didn't use it a ton at all. I would spend time needed to check a valley over and then off I went over the next hill to check it out till daylight was done. If anything had decent curl and looked promising I went in to the stalk whether it was legal or not and usually found the odd ram hiding off on it's own or run into a few others in between.

I hunt sheep every season for about 8 weeks solid, every day. I’ve killed a few sheep. I’m not trying to take anything away from guys who know how to hunt sheep. I read this board a fair bit and you’re a very respected authority on sheep hunting, I respect you’re experience. You know how to find sheep. You’re comfortable enough that you can kill a ram without a scope and that is awesome, honestly the fact some of you guys have done it that way impresses me. The conventional way to hunt sheep though is with a spotting scope, and I think if you’ve never been before you should start out that way. I believe a beginner might as well start by the book till he figures out his own style. I could go on for a whole page about the advantages of a spotting scope, can’t think of any disadvantages other than price.

Anyway it’s an interesting debate and I enjoy it. Best of luck to everyone this season, it’s coming up quick now!

[sillyak]

Originally Posted by Tundra Monkey

You spent $7k on your spotter/doubler & tripod?

How do you find mirage at the “upper end”?

I run a swaro 80hd, carbon fibre tripod & an outdoorsman head
& I come in less than half the cost of your set up. What are you using?

An ATX 95mm Obj + eyepiece module + 1.7x extender = $4800 USD which is $6300 CAD. One can easily spend $700 on a nice carbon tripod.

That's the only spotting scope set up I can see being 7k.

Talk about top end though. And the 95mm is a little heavy and large IMO.

[rk4]

Originally Posted by Bushrat

Never was much interested in barely legal squeekers where you had to squint down to the millimeter from 34 different angles for 2 hours to see if it's legal. Anyways I think guys shooting short sheep are shooting them because they don't know how to judge horns, spotting scope or not.

Telling someone to stay off the mountain because they don't commit to the very best equipment is like telling a new fly fisherman he may as well stay off the river unless he has a $1200 fly rod, $700 reel and $800 waders.

Of course having a spotting scope is an advantage, you might miss seeing a few sheep or stalk up to one a 10 hr hike away and find it isn't legal sure, but that happens to guys with spotting scopes who see a ram two days hike away and find its not legal when they get there. If you don't have one it is no reason to not hunt sheep. You still have a good chance to be successful, you learn things about sheep and gain experience as you go. Collect or improve gear over time when you can afford it. Go on shorter day hunts closer to roads if you haven't got all the gear, it's all good experience.

I doubt anybody is stupid enough to go on a week long hunt in sheep country with nothing but a banana and an handful of nuts in their pocket. Most hardcore sheep nuts also carry binos, knife, bottle of water and some poptarts if they're really going deep.

Good for you. I’ve seen nice rams broomed back to the point where you’d be taking a chance shooting him. I’ve seen nice tipped rams as well, with deep curls that just wouldn’t make the jig. The discussion here isn’t what kind of sheep you like to shoot, there’s hundreds of guys who would gladly shoot any ram that’s legal. I’m not one but if you are than a spotting scope is gunna make a a big difference, especially if you’re shaking so bad you can’t hold your binos steady.

Outside of my optics, all my sheep hunting gear would probably add up too a couple hundred bucks. I’m not an advocate for buying a bunch of fancy stuff. I didn’t tell anyone to spend 700$. I’m sure you can find a spotting scope to borrow or buy one for 300$ if you needed.

Well some guys said they fill they’re pockets and carry a sheep out in they’re arms so I don’t know. You tell me what that means. If you were brand new to sheep hunting that could give you a definite misconception of how it really is.

Not sure why you’re really arguing this, telling someone to bring a back pack and a spotting scope doesn’t seem unreasonable.

[Sheepnu2985]

Originally Posted by sillyak

An ATX 95mm Obj + eyepiece module + 1.7x extender = $4800 USD which is $6300 CAD. One can easily spend $700 on a nice carbon tripod.

That's the only spotting scope set up I can see being 7k.

Talk about top end though. And the 95mm is a little heavy and large IMO.

Yes exactly, but the way swarovski prices has been the last 10 years its a pretty good investment lol.

yes its heavy... yes its big there is no argument there... but cant nearly be as heavy as the heads on these guys that are running around killling sheep without a spotting scope.

[Stinky Coyote]

Originally Posted by grouse_hunter

I'm surprised that a first aid kit and the knowledge required to use it don't get mentioned too often.

yes, some mole skin, maybe aspirin in case the ole ticker starts buggin or for a buddy who might start buggin, aleve (naproxin) is great pain reliever for the trip out, pop it about a half hour before descent on a big day you know is going to hurt on the way out, it lasts a long time but it's good to get ahead of the pain before it starts,

good tip on the advil for the overnights, along with some earplugs you could have some zopiclone sleeping pills if you're a light sleeper also, audible perimeter tripwire style alarm tech has come a long ways so i carry that now but i'm always solo so i need to use something as a buddy

but keep it minimalist like anything, you'll want your tags/licenses of course and in the same ziplock as the small first aid kit, you'll want a havalon knife with a few blades, headlamp, few garbage bags for the meat...that sums up my minimal stuff that always rides in the pack regardless of mission length

rule of thumb that will help going forward too is to audit your pack after every trip....taking note of the stuff you packed around the mountain that you didn't use and start seeing that you'll likely never use....leave it at home, eventually you'll have a pretty sleek set up of gear and what you pack

run a word or excel document for awhile to use a checklist for missions and modify as you go, i keep one printed with my gear stache so i can be half brain dead and throw it together short notice and not forget stuff and get on the road

[nube]

Originally Posted by rk4

I hunt sheep every season for about 8 weeks solid, every day. I’ve killed a few sheep. I’m not trying to take anything away from guys who know how to hunt sheep. I read this board a fair bit and you’re a very respected authority on sheep hunting, I respect you’re experience. You know how to find sheep. You’re comfortable enough that you can kill a ram without a scope and that is awesome, honestly the fact some of you guys have done it that way impresses me. The conventional way to hunt sheep though is with a spotting scope, and I think if you’ve never been before you should start out that way. I believe a beginner might as well start by the book till he figures out his own style. I could go on for a whole page about the advantages of a spotting scope, can’t think of any disadvantages other than price.

Anyway it’s an interesting debate and I enjoy it. Best of luck to everyone this season, it’s coming up quick now!

That is a ton of sheep hunting if you got 2 months in a year for sure. I didn't want to debate your experience just wanted to see some dead ram pics! lol I would bet you have some good ones if you are spending that kind of time in the field. If you don't want to share the pics I get it. Feel free to PM me them if you want

[rk4]

Originally Posted by nube

That is a ton of sheep hunting if you got 2 months in a year for sure. I didn't want to debate your experience just wanted to see some dead ram pics! lol I would bet you have some good ones if you are spending that kind of time in the field. If you don't want to share the pics I get it. Feel free to PM me them if you want

it is a privilege for sure, though 95% of my time spent sheep hunting is as a guide. It’s the only way I’m able to afford that much time spent hunting sheep. So unfortunately the pictures I do have aren’t really mine to share. Even though I’m fully involved in the hunt it wouldn’t be right to show off someone else’s sheep. I really appreciate the guys who are willing to share pics of their sheep or sheep they’ve seen and Eventually when I kill my own I’ll glady share. I’ve missed a couple good ones that haunt me still, seems to work out better when I’m not the guy pulling the trigger.

To me the climax to a sheep hunt is just spotting a big ram. I love starring at a ram through the scope, to me it’s all part of the ritual. There’s the whole series of events leading up to the moment you spot a mature ram, then it’s the sequence of judging, stalk, shot, caping and packing out. I love every part of it, and everyone is gunna enjoy it differently, but the biggest rush to me is just watching him through the scope. I’d hate to have a new sheep hunter miss out on that part of experience. Sometimes sheep hunting gets broken down into numbers and science a little to much I think. It’s not always about efficiency. Even if you spot a ram you know isn’t legal its fun to watch them through the scope for a while.

[pinchy]

Spotting scope is gold if your paying 2000 .... if not bins are good I guess 🙄

[nube]

Originally Posted by pinchy

Spotting scope is gold if your paying 2000 .... if not bins are good I guess 🙄

And how many guys are being guided here in Alberta on a sheep hunt? not many at all.......

[Sheepnu2985]

Originally Posted by rk4

it is a privilege for sure, though 95% of my time spent sheep hunting is as a guide. It’s the only way I’m able to afford that much time spent hunting sheep. So unfortunately the pictures I do have aren’t really mine to share. Even though I’m fully involved in the hunt it wouldn’t be right to show off someone else’s sheep. I really appreciate the guys who are willing to share pics of their sheep or sheep they’ve seen and Eventually when I kill my own I’ll glady share. I’ve missed a couple good ones that haunt me still, seems to work out better when I’m not the guy pulling the trigger.

To me the climax to a sheep hunt is just spotting a big ram. I love starring at a ram through the scope, to me it’s all part of the ritual. There’s the whole series of events leading up to the moment you spot a mature ram, then it’s the sequence of judging, stalk, shot, caping and packing out. I love every part of it, and everyone is gunna enjoy it differently, but the biggest rush to me is just watching him through the scope. I’d hate to have a new sheep hunter miss out on that part of experience. Sometimes sheep hunting gets broken down into numbers and science a little to much I think. It’s not always about efficiency. Even if you spot a ram you know isn’t legal its fun to watch them through the scope for a while.

You hit the nail on the head here rk4. best part of mountian hunting is hiking somewhere remote, taking your pack off setting up the spottting scope... theres nothing like seeing the white ass of a sheep on a distant mountain.

also i dont know if its been mentioned but do as much research about water sources in the area you are going to hunt. hiking to the top of a mtn in the mid summer with no water left and not knowing where the next water source will be is a ****tttttttty feeling.