I was thinking of putting in for the draw on the sheep or goat here in Colorado since I live here and it's cheap, relatively speaking, of course. Is the length of time to draw or the chance to draw about the same for these two species? Is the desert bighorn sheep even harder? I notice the desert bighorn sheep doesn't have preference points either.

First off, you will need to put in for 3 years before you even have a chance at a tag. Since they started to put an extra leverage point 2 years ago, you are 5 years behind. That is for sheep, goats, and moose. Desert sheep are an every man for himself deal since no points are required. I drew a sheep tag in 1986 and didn't fill and have not drawn one since. I drew a goat tag last year after 22 years of applying. I did fill that one. These tags are very had to get!!!

One thing to think about is trying to get a ewe tag for sheep. You can get one in area S-32 with one prefernce point. I helped a friend fill that tag 2 years ago. You get all the fun of sheep hunting, but not the trophy. Good meat though.

I wish you luck, but it will be years before you are really in the running for the tag. But then, you will never draw if you don't apply. Best of luck.

Mac

Parshal
Typically Mt Goat can be easier to draw than Sheep. My advice is to start building preference points on both. Once you get to 3 you have a chance.
I drew my sheep and my goat tags the year after I had 3 preference points. Some luck involved, but I also did research on the odds of drawing for a particular tag.
A person could go a whole lifetime without drawing a desert tag. Typically hundreds of people applying for a couple of tags. S62 has had a pretty substantial die off (probably Pasturella Hemolytica) and the number of tags offered is certain to go down.

If you just want to get your feet wet, then apply for a ewe license (I think one unit had ewe tags taken as a second choice). If you really want to have a sheep hunt then start building preference points.
Happy to help when you are ready to apply for a tag you can realistically get. Would love to help if you win lotto and get the desert tag.

My partner and i drew ram licenses last year, after only 6 years applying, but that was unusually lucky. I took a ram, but he didn't. The previous postings have covered the idiosyncracies of applying pretty well.

By the way Mac, I remember you said that antihunters ruined your sheep hunt several years ago. I think I remember hearing something about this before. Did you write this up for a magazine or something?

Okay guys here goes on the anti's ruining my hunt.

This was in 1986 which was before we had anything like the hunter harrasment law. I drew a ram tag for the area between Quanella Pass and Grant. If my memory is correct it was area 31 back then. Don't know if that is still what it is though. Anyway, I spent an entire summer scouting and found where 2 good rams were hanging out. One was pretty close to a full curl and the other a little smaller. Like I said, good rams. They stayed on the same ridge all summer including the weekend before season opener. I was certain the bigger one was mine.

I packed in a few days before season and pitched a small camp. On the day before the season I noticed a few other people coming in the area which was a little unusual since not many backpackers are around after Labor Day. When the sun came up opening day, there were people running around beating on things like pans, blowing whistles, and running up and down all the trails with dirt bikes. This was in an area closed to motorized vehicles. Needless to say, the rams blew out of there in a hurry!!! Never did find them again.

I went to the DOW to pitch a bitch after the season and found the other 3 people with tags had basically the same thing happen to them. Turns out a bunch of idiots from CSU in Boulder were the culprits. Since this area was close to Denver they concentrated on it and the area west of there. Nobody in either area tagged a sheep that year. DOW said they could not honor the tags for the next year, so we were just out of luck.

That is why I've been putting in for areas away from the Denver/Boulder area since. I wish I had the benifit of the hunter harrassment law back then I'll be honest and say I really wanted to fire a shot ata few of those clowns. One of the other fellows wrote about it, not me. I don't know if I'll ever beat the odds and draw again. I'm 40 this year and am starting to wonder how much longer I can backpack hunt. That may have been my only chance at a ram.

Mac

MAC
Keep on applying. I could show you the pictures of the ram I helped my 50-something year old Father-In-Law kill this year if that would help. Or don't apply since that will make the odds better for me!
I tend to stay away from the Denver area anyway. Quality of hunt goes up the farther you go in. With cell phones, OGT and the non-harrassment laws one would be foolish to mess with a hunter.
Also, you never know when you might meet a sheep nut with access to horses who likes to hunt vicariously through others when he can't draw.

Mac, sorry about the ram fiasco. I saw your comment about being 40 and having the "how much longer" blues. I know what you mean. I'm 45 and I was still able to get "up there" without much difficulty backpack style. In fact on the trip when I got the ram, if I hadn't run into them when I did I was ready to go in farther, and I was already 2.5-3 miles in as it was. I think I could've done it OK too, if I would have had some good help getting it out. As it was I had to haul it all out myself on my back--2 trips. The first 600 yds. to a trail was up about 30 degrees or so, and it took me over an hour to get it that far, but it was tolerable downhill on a trail the rest of the way. P.S.-- my partner was 53, but he wasn't prepared to go farther in.