How much navigational savvy do i need for sheep hunting?

How much navigational savvy do i need for sheep hunting?

As i don't have any whatsoever. Should i take any sort of course...where you learn to do the compass map stuff? Or just get a decent gps and learn it well?

I can walk outside or be asked at just about anytime whether i'm paying attention or not what direction i'm facing and i'll know but thats about the extent of my navigational skills.

Blake

Personally I find navigating in the mountains easier than most other areas. You have some very signifcant landmarks and are usually following drainages, ridges, valleys ranges ect. Having a GPS and topo map of the area, and knowing how to use them is a very good idea though. You never know when the fog or snow will settle in and all those landmarks disappear.

If you try Wholesale Sports or GPS Central they will have instructional DVDs for most of the Garmin GPS models.

Ya mountains are pretty easy....get some maps and after that the only direction you can go is up. Try to use existing hiking and horse trails to access areas. There are some great hiking/topo maps of the mountains west of Calgary.

These hiking/topo maps your talking about...where to find them? Dang, can't stop thinking about this and taking in info. Had some old books about survival and backpack hunting my Dad gave me but never read....guess what i was doing last night? lol

I'm both feet into this one.

Thanks for other tips. I want to go relatively prepared.

Blake

Look up Map Town and Map World - both here in Calgary. They should have what you are after. I have also used those Mussio books.

I have a mussio's backroads type book but never checked it for the mountains...pretty handy but thats about all i have for maps of any sort other than the one that comes with the regs...are the mussio's books good for this sort of thing?. I'm quite used to the m.d. maps for the land owners around town but they kinda stop giving info as you get close to the mountains .

Blake

If you want a good book, and one that will motivate you pick up Backcountry Bowhunting by Cameron Hanes.

www.eastmans.com/cameron_booksbb.php

"Look up Map Town and Map World - both here in Calgary."

Thanks, i will!

Blake

Abacus Datagraphics in Red Deer is a topo map dealer. ph. 346-7555

Maps are published by Gem Trek Publishing and they are a laminated map. There are 9 in total that cover from Jasper to south K-Country. Some a fairly specific to the parks but others cover a vast amount of hunting area. I've seen them at Map Town, Russells, Mountain Equip Coop and Wholesale. They are really good maps in that they show the topography plus all the named hiking trails.

www.gemtrek.com/

"Maps are published by Gem Trek Publishing and they are a laminated map. There are 9 in total that cover from Jasper to south K-Country. Some a fairly specific to the parks but others cover a vast amount of hunting area. I've seen them at Map Town, Russells, Mountain Equip Coop and Wholesale. They are really good maps in that they show the topography plus all the named hiking trails.

www.gemtrek.com/ "

How good is that! I'm on it.

B

That sheep is as good as on the wall! :rollin

Blake

Lots of other things that can deffintily help navigate up in the hills also,find your main head waters and the name of the river, all the mountains drain into,before you go, that way if your lost you can always follow the drainages and it will take you to the river on bottom,
Axe markings on the side of trees will deffintly provide you with security that you are in fact on a horse trail or someones trail, usually to a spike camp or cabin.
High vantage points will not only increase your chances at finding game it will give you a look at the horizon, you can usually see how and where you have come from up there.
If your following a creek drainage up the mountain and youve gone a couple miles,stop look around and build a little inuchuk or tree teepee on the side of the creek, then on your way down the mountain after a couple weeks and you dont remember the view, usually eventually you will come across your marking and know you are close to home....these questions are all questions we have all asked on our first sheep and goat hunts.
more you learn the safer you will be.

That sheep is as good as on the wall!


Love the enthusiasm Blake...i think you will make a fine sheep hunter.

Basic rule of sheep hunting, downhill is home.:rollin
Grizz

i also have the kaninaskis trail guides for west of calgary from waiporus/ ghost down to plateau mnt. it's a 2 volume set. great for most of the trails and has some good smaller scale maps in the backs.

Blake, listen to what Gunslinger posted. Find and know your drainages! From what I have learned from years of mountaineering also, is that your route up, is your best route down!

I don't know how many times we have tried an alternative path down, only to find ourselves sitting at the edge of a thousand foot cliff that runs for miles! Then you are backtracking. We did that (again) last summer on a peak and had to go back up (extra 2500' vertical!). I don't ever remember a sweeter tasting beer when we finally got down!

Know your routes, and NEVER assume that an area that is treed doesn't have sheer cliffs lurking in there. Get and learn some of the rock gadgets from MEC, can not only save hours of effort, but can also save your life! I always carry a 45meter roll of 7.5mm rope. 9 times out of 10 it is more than enough length.

One last point. I remember being above 10, 000 feet and watching a thunder cell sweep in at us at eye level (Aug. 17). Now, the one hard rule my partner and I always had, was to NEVER expend more than 60-65% physical effort on a peak, EVER. What too many people forget it that the top is your exact HALF-WAY POINT! You gotta get back! Anyway, as we were getting ready to bail out, two separate groups arrived, and they were absolutly pooched! We showed them where to hunker down to ride the cell out and gave them whatever we had left in terms of gear and food and water. They had no choice but to ride it out. My partner and I had a system of navigating where we consistantly every 10 minutes stop and LOOK AT THE WAY YOU CAME! That way on your way out, you will remember your sights. That storm dumped a foot of snow in 45 minutes with lots of lightning, we managed to get below the freezing level and we mostly hit with rain. Once down we waited the others out, and after a few cold hours they made it. The mountains are not to be underestimated!

Tree

Well said Tree. I'd like to add that a Light well thought out daypack may be what get's you home safe.
Blake, do yourself a long term favor, go buy yourself a Silva Ranger compass to go with your topo's. Since you're starting from scratch, get a topo for where you live and use the compass and map to navigate around your home stomping grounds. It's easier than you think, and will teach you to properly read the maps. Little practice you'll have'er beat. GPS is a wonderful tool, but you'd be well served to learn to navigate first. If nothing else they're good for holding down a corner of the map if the batteries die.
Personally I always found topo's great for planning hunts in the hills, but once there I never really used them as we were never more than a day from the truck, so we were hunting quite a small area on the map(lotta steps up and down though).

Thanks for tips guys. I stopped at indigo quick today after a somewhat successful trip to wholesale(forgot to check out the book section, looked through a couple spotting scopes and they couldn't find me any maps that weren't 90 bucks per disc)...and at indigo i found a gemtrek for area #8 so i'll hit maptown this week and get a few more. Seem like pretty smart maps! They cram lots of info into those things when you read what the colors mean etc....pretty neat. Sorry if i sound like a dork...not much of a map guy .

I checked out my Mussios backroads map and i like that it shows the wmu's but they don't do near as nice a topo as the gemtrek...but the gemtrek doesn't show wmu borders or sanctuary borders....at least from what i could tell....don't think they take the hunters into account near as much as they should lol.

At any rate...a guy won't likely find the perfect 'hunters' map will he?...will probably consult a couple sources to learn whats necessary right? Last thing i wanna do is shoot one where and when i'm not supposed to so i really want to understand the no-no areas/borders etc.... oh...and to also learn the mountains so i can figure out where to find me some sheep .

So far i haven't gotten to the pack yet but that question will come soon enough i'm sure....trying to take in too much in too short a span right now.

I do plan on building a little survival kit for my pack and i'll get a decent compass and hopefully learn how to use it even though it might be backing up a gps? I'm going to research those soon too...going to call the gps a luxery thing for the moment and i'll look into more once i feel more solid on my overall prep for the up coming season so maybe in the summer i'll dig deeper into the gps equipment available?, its about time i got one of them things anyhow right?...right.8o

I'm gonna study hard boys. I'll be reading maps nightly and learning the names of the mountains and figuring out the drainages etc. as much as possible. Hopefully when a sheep hunting pro starts talking about places i could try etc. i'll understand him fully and be able to go find it on a map and therefore make a plan to find it in real life too! Well...it should be a start anyhow....i'm sure it won't be quite as easy as that but you know what i mean....i'm definitely taking this seriously and i'll be working as hard as i can to give myself the best chance at pulling off a legal sheep first season!

Blake

Don't forget to check out Google Earth as well.

Ozi- Explorer is a great mapping program. I printed the maps taped the sections together and laminated it.

If you can read aerial photos northstar puts out photo maps of specific wmu's, very useful once you learn to read them, they are pricey though $30-$150 per wmu depending on size

www.nsnmaps.com

Blake;

One of the things I did to help me with my map learning was to take the map down to the local photocopy store and had them enlarge the area I was interested in to 11" x 17".

I used this for both my county maps and the topo maps. This was much easier for me to read in the Lazy-boy or in bed at night. The larger print sure helps when you are trying to make out some of the fine details.

For my actual hunting trips, I had a smaller colour copy made of the area and then they laminated it for me with a heavy plastic laminate. Carried it in my pack without any worries of damaging the original map.

Check out the local boy scout shop for some good basic information on map reading, they also had a good selection of compasses. You might want to get one that has an adjustment for declination.

If you are looking for a decent pack, I would suggest that you get one with water bladder in it, or buy the bladder assembly separate and modify the pack for it. This past summer, I was hiking in the mountains with some young university guys, and they would just sip on the water from a little tube by their shoulder strap. Very convenient!



Enjoy!

Soreneck Racing

You might want to check out this site. They seem to have some pretty good 3d maps etc. Depends on the area you are going to I guess.

www.albertawestcountry.com/mapping.html

Hey Blake. Soreneck Racing (you guys have to get some shorter names to type! >D ) makes a REALLY good point about printing out specific sheets and laminating them. They are very 'pack-storeable' and add no weight.

However, unless you are doing a multi-day mission, navigation is not a huge factor. As someone mention earlier,
"Down means home". Know your DRAINAGES. It is too easy to operate off of visual references, please, for your sake, do not fall into that trap. Storms come in from nowhere. I've been snowed in many times in July-August at realitively low altitudes, not to mention fog or cloud cover. And although you may never hear or read about it, if a storm rolls in when you are 'up high', lightning is a very real issue. Twice now, in my experiences, we have 'felt' the air 'change'. We watched the hair on our legs, arms and even heads 'lift'! I have personally had one lightning bold strike withing 700 yards on a mountain and one within 150 yards while working in a tree. The later...I could smell! The best advice I can give to you in those situations is to run away like a little girl! I know I did! lol. It's all about being smart man! Best of luck!

One would think that it is hard to get lost in the mountains. But if you try hard enough you can do it.

I was hunting in the mountains once and had a line and a couple hooks in my pack when I hit a little stream. I cut a willow pole and started fishing and getting the odd little high country bull trout. I'd been heading west but you know how streams tend to go whichever way the choose, pretty soon I was around a few bends and the clouds had closed in and the fog getting lower and a little rain was falling. I left the stream and continued west NOT for some time and did not hit the cutline I figured I was bound for. I got out into a bit of a clearing to see the mountains and find out where I was. Too fogged in. So I dugout my compass and I could not believe it said I was going in such a wrong direction. BELIEVE YOUR COMPASS. I di and walked through the bush till I hit the stream again and down it to the right trail. Cold and wet and tired from a long walk I went back to camp and had a coffee by the fire. I wasn't lost, just didn't know where the hell I was for awhile.

Robin.

P.S. If you get a GPS get a good one and learn how to use it. Don't get a cheep crap brand like the "Tates" . You must have heard the expression "He who has a Tates is lost"

I had that happen with a buddy while chasing grouse in the foothills and got turned around pretty good and last light was closing fast. My partner was calm but i wasn't...i had no reason to get all excited...we had a bit of snow and could always follow our tracks back but really didn't want to because it was nasty up and down thick crap too...i figured the truck was one way and partner figured it was another. Anyhow, found the road and hiked back up to the truck but sure opened my eyes as to how fast it can happen and also my own reaction!

I'm reading an old back country survival book and its quite interesting so i know #1 rule for me is to sit down and think instead of get wild like i did.

Anyhow, just got back from map town with quite a few maps and hope to have a much better grasp of things should i get lost and i'll be studying things these maps to get a good 'big picture' understanding of those hills out west.

Blake

All you need is a gps (i have a basic garmain) and a 1:50 000 of the area. If you will be in a zone with no hunting areas get out before the season and figure out the boundaries in relation to mountain peaks. I draw all the closed areas/park boundaries on the map and also have labeled dots everywhere i've seen sheep. I also record all trails i use and relative quality. You may think you'll remember it but the little notes are nice a season or two down the road. I made the mistake of not scouting an area along a park boundary once, by the time i figured out which mountain the rams were on and where the boundary was they had moved about a kilometer back into the park. I know it now but the gps is definetly useful for pinpointing your exact location on the map. Things to watch out for, national park boundaries, provincial park boundaries, sanctuaries, closed areas along roads, mines up in 438, BC border etc. I find air photos to be less useful than simple 1:50 000 as slope can be decieving and quality available can be really bad. I still have a few but don't rely on them too much.
My favorite map is still one i picked up free in 438 with an air photo, all boundaries and waypoints for orientation. Its awesome in conjunction with a 1:50 000, I wish every area had the same kind of map made up minus the closed areas :lol . I haven't found much use with google earth for sheep yet as qualitys kind of poor but i can see potential in a few spots or if its ever upgraded.
I know how you can get lost. Once i walked down the wrong stream in the foothills and ended up in a far off area. Was a 16 km jaunt in waders back to the forestry trunk road (about 30 km from truck as other guy moved it). Knew where i was immediatly after hitting a certain bridge but the walk in the dark has made me more cautious (and the blisters from wet waders). Extra batteries for the gps would have been nice!

Awesome tips! Since i am just starting out i think i'll document similar to you...trails/where i see them etc. will be nice to do this right from the beginning for a change unlike other things i get into and learn the hard way by being a *******.

Blake