Sheep Habits

[kurthunter]

Hello,

Did some sheep scouting on the weekend north/west of Grande Cache. Managed to spot some ewes way off in the distance.

Do the rams and ewes hang together or do the rams hang alone?

Thanks and always appreciate any tips from the 1% club

[Bushrat]

Outside of the rut and sometimes wintering areas are shared but spring, summer and early fall rams tend to hang out away from ewes and lambs. Might be miles away, the next basin over or just higher up the mountain, nor is it unusual to see them mingle together for a while when they cross paths in their travels. Older age rams are where you find them, and when you find them stick a pin in the map, It's not the first time they used that area and it won't be the last. This is your first piece of the puzzle. Look for sheep trails, where do they go? Where did they come from? How old is their sign, look for beds. Where and what are they eating, where are they watering?

[kurthunter]

Thanks for the reply, sounds like you've got some time in the mountains under your belt!

[RockyMountainMusic]

Id be prepared to hike a lot of miles to get away from people, your likely to see more people on that ridge than sheep come late Aug.... Bushrat answered the rest already. Good luck

[kurthunter]

Ya figured that area would be busy since its only an hour hike from Grande Cache

[Dark Wing]

Originally Posted by kurthunter

Ya figured that area would be busy since its only an hour hike from Grande Cache

That's my view off my back deck .

[hunter123!]

Yup anybody who has been in grande cache knows that ridge. Its a good spot there for sure. But ya like the other guys said it being so close to the town it will be covered with other folks. I've only ever seen ewes there anyways . Best of luck. Also with the amount of horses going in their these days boy o boy its busy!!

[eric-kam]

I was told to hunt rams like whitetails, and when I started looking in the trees more, I started seeing more rams.

[summit151]

Originally Posted by eric-kam

I was told to hunt rams like whitetails, and when I started looking in the trees more, I started seeing more rams.

Have you ever seen them down in the valleys in the trees? Or are you referring to the steep slopes that are covered with trees?


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[OldRussian]

Originally Posted by summit151

Have you ever seen them down in the valleys in the trees? Or are you referring to the steep slopes that are covered with trees?


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They will travel through there. I have seen Rams in low elevation trees. I have also seen tracks and droppings on valley trails.

I just got out for two scouting trips the other week. All the wildlife I saw were on south facing slopes. I think the north facing slopes aren't green enough to hold wildlife yet. I suggest you get out there and glass. Right now would be prime time too since half the slopes appear to not hold wildlife right now.

I am a rookie sheep hunter and others on here are far more knowledgeable. That being said, I seem to see lots of sheep where the mountain has a bench with high alpine meadow.

[RZR]

Originally Posted by summit151

Have you ever seen them down in the valleys in the trees?


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Yup, lots!

[kurthunter]

Last time I was out we saw lots of sheep scat on the lower valley trails. Could not belive it. Would be neat to put a cam up and see what u catch on it.

[summit151]

Originally Posted by RZR

Yup, lots!

That’s interesting! I have only seen ewes and lambs down in the flat valley areas. Seems like all the Rams are always bedded up in the cliffs close to a good green feeding area. I might have to start glassing the tree areas better now


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[RZR]

Originally Posted by summit151

That’s interesting! I have only seen ewes and lambs down in the flat valley areas. Seems like all the Rams are always bedded up in the cliffs close to a good green feeding area. I might have to start glassing the tree areas better now


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Quite often I catch Rams standing in the creeks. There are a lot of mineral licks in the bottoms and you will catch them in these lots throughout the summer.

[kurthunter]

Originally Posted by RZR

Quite often I catch Rams standing in the creeks. There are a lot of mineral licks in the bottoms and you will catch them in these lots throughout the summer.

Thats interesting how the do that!

[buckman]

They have to move down at times to travel from ridge to ridge I would think.

[OL_JR]

There could very well be rams there at any given time, as Bushrat put it so well, rams are where you find them.

An old guide once told me that the biggest mistake new sheep hunters make is spending to much time looking at the top of every mountain. They can be right down low below the elk and mule deer. I've found that to be golden advice. My first ram was shot way down low in a mountain valley, the one my partner killed last year was making it's way down into a bowl. If they are way high up in the s#$% they probably got pushed there.

[kurthunter]

Originally Posted by OL_JR

There could very well be rams there at any given time, as Bushrat put it so well, rams are where you find them.

An old guide once told me that the biggest mistake new sheep hunters make is spending to much time looking at the top of every mountain. They can be right down low below the elk and mule deer. I've found that to be golden advice. My first ram was shot way down low in a mountain valley, the one my partner killed last year was making it's way down into a bowl. If they are way high up in the s#$% they probably got pushed there.

Thats good advice Id say!

[Big Grey Wolf]

All animals need a drink of water, thus they go down to valleys to have a drink in the streams, not much water at top of a mountain.

[Bushrat]

Once hunting season starts and they get chased around many of the old experienced rams will simply go somewhere and hide, they been there done that. When they get disturbed they might move miles to another range or simply move up into the rocks and cliffs or just as often down into the timber. I used to watch a heavily hunted small herd of adult rams, once the season started they would go to the timber and be rarely seen, feeding only in the open at night and leaving at the first hint of daylight in areas where people don't or are unable to access easily. Then again every once in a while you see them in the craziest places, walking down a road in the middle of hunting season at high noon or standing in a farmers alfalfa field beside a highway. Who knows what notion will go thru their head, occasionally they do things that make you wonder.

I used to sit and glass a mountain side for days on end. Hunters would come and go, glass for an hour and leave, ask you if you saw anything, wondering where the rams went. They were there the whole time, just a matter of waiting them out till they made a mistake and showed themselves. A broken off stick behind a boulder in an overgrown slide chute down thru the timber that you've already glassed 27 times that morning moved when one turned it's head and you realized it was a broomed off horn tip attached to a ram.

They are where you find them. When you find them, don't get all excited and do something stupid, take a few minutes and think about where they are, can you get to shooting range your comfortable shooting at. The question then is can you get to it and get it out after it is shot. Have passed rams that would have been easy enough to shoot but no way to recover it without a helicopter.

Most important make sure they are legal, when looking up at rams from below the horn tips sweeping up can look like they are over the bridge of the nose but when looking at them from the level and side on square as pictured in the regulations they are not even close. Many short rams get shot because of that mistake.