Help a first timer for sheep hunt?

good time to head over to kananaskis where highway 40 cuts across the base of mount Baldy, lots of sheep in the trees there, brutally boring spotting though, you'll likely see more along the road in the ditch after they've come out of the trees.

You should pick up a copy of the Alberta Game Warden magazine that just came out It has some good picks of what rams look like in areas easily accessed by poachers ie WMU 400, they've got no heads, not much point in judging headless rams for 4/5 or full curl though!!

Wow, i always knew sheep hunters were hardcore hooked on them and it certainly shows!

"From what I get from your posts it sounds like you just want to drive into the mountains, spot a sheep, shoot it and go home."

Lol Brennen....yeah, is that possible?:lol I'd prefer to get in somewhere by foot and then glass rather than start glassing from truck. But will be open to pretty much anything that will help my chances.

I can see whats probably gonna happen and that i will have to really jump in with both feet, not just half ass it if i'm gonna have a real chance. I am intrigued by the 'long day' trips and can see that i'm gonna need good legs for it....and also that i'm gonna have to buy Sheep Hunter some beer and see about getting a couple good starting points for those day trips . And maybe the gun thing is a good idea to start? I got a serious wood for wolves so i'd be cussin a bit if i was draggin my bow around and couldn't call them close enough for a shot but their would be an open reed call handy at all times just in case... and so i digress(btw...do sheep hunters see wolves?).

I can also see serious appeal to the week long trip...and i'll bet after a few one day hunts etc. that will be something i'll plan for each year.

It must be amazing just to be in that type of country. Dunno what the hell has sparked this sudden interest in sheep hunting but its real. And yall sure are making it very appealing!

Thanks.

Blake

I gots a new tikka t3 laminate stainless .270 that shoots good, would this be a decent sheep gun? I run a ballistic plex reticle 3-9x40 burris fullfield 2 and i would real world learn it to probably 600 yrds and i have the leica geovid rangefinding bino's(8x42) so i could probably shoot reasonably to pretty decent ranges. I've only got one range day on it and punched out a fairly tiny group with cheapy federal fusion 130 grain and then shot at 400 yrds a few times using the reticle and quickly found where i could basically call my shot once i figured out where it hit...so it seems like a real good shooter?

Also, whats minimum i'd need for a spotting scope. Lets say 500 buck budget? Can i get decent enough for that? My wife is going to kill me. Its a good thing she likes hiking as i think we can do some summer scouting....i think. I'll start working on her right away.

Blake

I second you on the Wilmore idea Nube-I plan on heading in there with a bow this year. That country is amazing. Connecting with a sheep would just be icing on the cake!

"I gots a new tikka t3 laminate stainless .270 that shoots good, would this be a decent sheep gun?"

That would be a fine sheep rifle. From what i've seen the most important thing is the guns comfortable to carry and a high quality sling is as important as anything else. Of course it must be able to drop a ram when the occasion rises. I was considering drawing a ewe tag this year so i culd go get an easier sheep but i am going to hold off and go for a ram first, i'll have more time for sheep with less other tags. I was reading some old boone-crocket publications and a few sheep hunting articles yesterday evening, this is why i generally try not to think about sheep hunting till at least August. Oh, i can't wait. I'm thinking of doing the spike camp thing late October up by Cadomin, would be cold but the hunters sure seemed to thin out after opening week last year.

A few of the rams in the willow valley pic supposebly came from areas not too far from you blake. There up there.

Dang, went to sleep thinking about this and it took me a good long while to fall asleep! Woke up thinking about it too and pretty sure i had a dream or two about it. I'm all over this like a duck on a june bug. Thanks for the help guys. Lots of learning left to do.

The uncle i asked about hunter hosting in a post just down from this one has guided nwt etc. for stones/dalls alot so i'm going to pick his brain a bunch on gear as he's the king of minimalism. I don't talk to him enough so i'll be nagging him quite a bit in the months to come.

Hell, maybe he'll wanna join me and i can hunter host him on this too? He lives for the mountains and knows our mountains very well, ice climbs all over etc. etc. So maybe he knows about some sheep country in our part of the world too? Anyhow, i'm well under way now. Thanks a bunch.

Blake

Blake,
Get your nose in the regs and you'll start to learn some more....lots of stuff out there to understand about draws, areas, legal requirements, etc...

Your uncle couldnt be hosted on a sheep tag.....they need to draw for that hunt...very low percentage but worth starting the priority....

Sheep hunting is addictive no doubt....

Yeah i talked to him today, he knew that i couldn't hunter host him but he said he'd love to go with me. In fact we're gonna start some day hikes in May...he can't get enough of the mountains and said thats where his heart is. He's taking up bowhunting so i'm going to get him into some of my spots this fall for deer.

Yeah, i gotta dig out my regs and start pokin. Uncle said he'd dig out a few of his favorite sheep hunting books and bring em in for me to start reading on also.

Its on. I'm jumpin in with both feet.

Sorry to anyone if i got you pumped a little too early. Oh well, at least i'm not alone now. :lol

Nube and JRS, thanks for the sheep porn! What neat animals...looking forward to the challenge.

Blake

Heres some more sheep porn for ya.......















Enjoy the journey.....

Bah, me too:

You guys are killing me... Heres some more pics... I was hoping to avoid the sheep bug till atleast June.. way to go Blake!!! ha ha ha









I started two years ago... first post on this board was info on sheep hunting actually... I've spent a bit of time in the hills, never as much as I would like. You'll know when I get mine cause I'll re-register as GOTASHEEP, ha ha

Here is some pics of a Ram that I watched for days and could not decide whether he was legal? I still don't know... but I think he would be now (2 years later)! haha





The final picture is the Ram I shot last year, which means no tag for me this year! I don't know how I will survive!

Rackmastr,

How big is the ram in the top photo? Looks decent. Are some of your other photos from Waterton? I have seen some beauties in the park. Not as big as the pick up i posted but probably middle of the book. Now you guys have really got me going though, i'm looking at another spotting scope already.

I'd say no he isn't Swarovski but he is damn close.....good one to walk away from though I'd say. Congrats on a nice ram though!

I was waiting for you to post the pics of the ram you watched! Congrats again on the sheep and you will get ZERO sympathy from me for not having a tag next year, ha ha ha.

Trav

Wow man....great pics!

The ram on the top photo is from the FNAWS booth at Willow Valley.....big ram but I cant remember the score on him....

All the other sheep are from north of Waterton....lol. Actually most of them are up further north a ways....

Lovin the sheep pics guys... keep 'em comin...

No doubt! My favorite so far is the one of Swarovskioptik
with his ram. Great picture, very clear, lighting good, cool backdrop...and most definitely one very happy hunter! But i'm sure lovin the other pics too, some great pics of sheep and the scenery pics are awesome too....loving them all but if i had to pic a favorite pic right now it'd be Swaro with his ram...nice job man, hope i can post one like that next year.

And what Davey said...keep em coming!

Blake

Swarovskioptik, From what I can see I would be about 75% certain that it would have been legal. It is hard to tell because of not having a side view but there are things on that ram that tell me there is a very good chance it was. The best thing is to not shoot it if you don't know and if you do shoot it and it is close make sure you don't cape the animal out. I know a guy that lost a ram because the fish cop was being a *****. The horn was said to be 1/16 of an inch short of the eye socket, not the eyeball the eye socket. If the cape was left on they wouldn't be able to measure the eye socket. In the reg's it says that it is measured to the eyeball but I guess this fish cop was Mr. know it all. Even a very good wildlife lawyer looked at the case and said he could beat it easily but it wasn't worth the money to fight it. The sheep head got taken away and the meat wasallowed to be kept by the hunter. The hunter did not get a fine and it was like he shot a ram and was not allowed to have a tag the next year for sheep which proves he wasn't illegal or there would have been a fine.
Moral of the story is don't cape a sqeeker ram or it will be easier for the fish cops to take your ram if they want.

Here's some more porn!
All Jasper National Park rams
(and the first one remains in Parks Canada custody!)

Here's some more - first two are more Jasper rams, then Canmore rams, then Radium rams.

Here is some pics of Rams I took in the spring of 2006. These rams were in legal hunting territory. The pic is not that great, but there are two real brusers. The next photo'sarer of rams which I have got over the last couple of years. Have postsed them before but thought some of you may not have seen them. Swarovskioptik nice pics and congrats on a nice ram.


My 1st ram ever

2005 Dall


My 2006 Bighorn

Thanks for the kind words guys! Blake, the photo did turn out alright considering the camera was on a tripod and a timer was used as the sun was going down...
Once you are bit buy the sheep hunting bug you are hooked for life!

GRTWHT - nice rams!, those 2 bighorns are hogs! I hope to go on a Dall hunt one day... Who did you book your hunt with?

nube - Great advice and in the end it is better to be safe than sorry. I have also heard of similar heart break stories of guys loosing squeaker rams. I can't think of anything worse!
Also you mentioned that "there are things on that ram that tell me there is a very good chance it was." If you don't mind sharing some of the things you look for I am sure we would all benefit. I know he is slightly tipping up and therefore that is sometimes a good indicator but he drops pretty low to his jawbone (not very tight) so I was second guessing myself.

SWOROVSKI, I actually didn't think he was very loopy in the horns. one thig that helps him get that little bit more length is that he doesn't grow his horns up much. They grow back and then come foreward instead of going up high looping around and comming in low forming a big loop instead of the tight curl. It is hard to explain in words exactly but the tighter curled rams are easier the make leagal sometimes. I have one ram that only went 29 inches in the horn and usually they are around 31or 32 before they are legal. It was a very tight young ram. I find sheep hard to judge when they are squeekers but after seeing a bunch of dead ones it makes it a lot easier. It's like any animal you have to look at a bunch before you get good at judging them. Sometimes you can see the last big growth ring at the tip of the horn. I have noticed the usually when the horn is another 1-2 inches past that you are usually right on the line. Then you have to start looking at horn structure.
I don't think I helped much but it is hard to describe all the signs to look at.

Thanks nube! That does help. You right about the more rams you see and the more you study em' the easier it is to judge. I have never heard of the last big growth ring trick I will have too look for that.

Thanks again.

Now this is a good thread! Lots of great stories and pics and a bit of advice thrown in as well. Definately the best thing about this site.

Here's a bit of a story and some pics from my 2006 sheep hunt. I posted a couple of the pics last fall so you might recognize some of them but I'll add some more and some details. I shrunk them down quite a bit so they don't take all day to load.

After packing in to our chosen area on horses for two days, my buddy and I left our pals at base camp where they would hunt with the horses and we packed our backpacks for 8 days of hiking and hunting where the horses couldn't go. We camped where ever we happened to be at the end of each day. Not always the most comfortable but who cares - it's a sheep hunt. Here's one of our high camps:



We found a nice band of Rams and after a few days of pursuing them and waiting for the right opportunity I made a decent shot on the largest Ram of the group. My extremely unselfish partner chose to video the stalk and shot instead of shooting the other legal Ram in the band. This decision was also to my favour when it was time to pack the Ram out as we were able to split the load and do it in one trip. My buddy has over 20 minutes of footage with me locked on the Ram with my 300 Weatherby, waiting for it to clear the other Rams as they all stared in our direction. It was a VERY long 20 minutes. The kill shot is pretty clear on the video.





We were able to skin and quarter the Ram and set up camp prior to darkness that evening. In the morning my buddy deboned meat while I caped the head out. The next morning we loaded up and started back to base camp.



We were two days hiking back to base camp. The best route was summit to summit on a series of several peaks.





We made it back to base camp and met up with our horseback hunting pals. They weren't as lucky as us but they had a great time. We loaded up the horses on the next morning and did the two day trip out.



I got my mount back a couple weeks ago and every time I look at it, and these pictures, I can feel the weight of my pack on hips and remember the sweet taste of success.




Keep those pics and stories coming... and good luck to those of you who decide to give sheep hunting a go for yourself. Getting a Ram is great but if you're like me you'll probably find a lot of satisfaction in your unsuccessful sheep hunts as well. Its a great experience.

Chet

All i gotta say is this is one inspiring thread!!! Wow!

Awesome story and pics Chet. Congrats once again.

Thanks Duk Dog.