I drew a sheep tag here in Colorado. I have done a fair amount of mountain hunting, but no sheep hunting so I am looking for suggestions that will help improve my chances of killing a ram. I have two suitable rifles, a .280 Remington and a .300 Winchester Magnum. I have good boots and am buying a good pack (I am looking at Exo, Stone Glacier, and Seek Outside). I am already in sheep shape. I have hiked the area I drew and will be doing lots of scouting. Help me fill in the blanks.

Congratulations! I'm envious.

It looks like you're on the right track. Sheep shape is VERY IMPORTANT, as is scouting, being comfortable with your rifle out to at least 300 yards, and having well broken in boots.

Either rifle you listed is fine for sheep. They are not that hard to kill. I killed all of mine (4) with my .257 Ackley at distances under 250 yards. Pick the rifle that you shoot best.

Sheep are creatures of habit. Talk to the FWP biologist for your area. If possible, check the previous kill reports for your area. Early in the season the rams will usually not be with the ewes and lambs.

Take a lot of pictures, have a great hunt, and IMO wild sheep meat is the best of all wild game.

Can’t help, but wanted to congratulate you.

I'm very envious. Can't wait to read the successful report this year

Congrats on the tag.
Where you going to hunt 'em?

George

wow!
congrats.
invest in a good spotting scope,,, and make friends with 1-2 guys that are handy at carrying heavy packs.

quote:

Originally posted by loud-n-boomer:
I drew a sheep tag here in Colorado. I have done a fair amount of mountain hunting, but no sheep hunting so I am looking for suggestions that will help improve my chances of killing a ram. I have two suitable rifles, a .280 Remington and a .300 Winchester Magnum. I have good boots and am buying a good pack (I am looking at Exo, Stone Glacier, and Seek Outside). I am already in sheep shape. I have hiked the area I drew and will be doing lots of scouting. Help me fill in the blanks.

Congratulations on drawing the tag in the first place, i'm very exited for you and do sincerely hope that you are successful.

Be safe, have fun, and fill that tag!

BH63

Spend as much time in the unit as you can. Get a topo map of the unit & mark the sites of all the past kills. See if you can find an area where the most kill sites are-----probably will be a good spot to look at.

I did this on my mtn goat tag. I actually went to the DOW office in Salida. The lady at the desked helped me on marking my map. She actually threw out a few red herrings----this one is from an outfitter----"They're no goats there."

Good Luck, Enjoy the hunt, take lots of photos. But becareful---Sheep hunting is addictive !!

Bob

quote:

Originally posted by Colorado Bob:
Spend as much time in the unit as you can. Get a topo map of the unit & mark the sites of all the past kills. See if you can find an area where the most kill sites are-----probably will be a good spot to look at.

I did this on my mtn goat tag. I actually went to the DOW office in Salida. The lady at the desked helped me on marking my map. She actually threw out a few red herrings----this one is from an outfitter----"They're no goats there."

Good Luck, Enjoy the hunt, take lots of photos. But becareful---Sheep hunting is addictive !!

Bob

As far as which rifle. Either will be fine. I would take the lightest one. I killed my Colorado bighorn ram & mtn goat with a 30/06.

Congrats man!

For a pack I would go to kifaru near denver and have them fit you and pick one there. They make them to order so you will not be taking it home that day most likely. They are great packs/frames and the folks there are really helpful.

You got the hardest part done already, drawing the tag.

What Unit?

I've used a 270 Win, 280 Rem, 300 Win Mag and a 280 AI on several sheep and they're all very adequate so this is the least important to me.

Sheep shape is the most critical and that's just ahead of great well used boots and just behind the right attitude and mental toughness.

The VERY most important thing is getting the damn tag which you've just done. Huge congratulations!

DIY? learn all you can about the unit and speak with previous hunters then spend all the time it takes to get really familiar with the area.

Take all the time needed during the hunt for a successful conclusion.

Above all, take the damn pressure off and enjoy the relatively rare experience.

Zeke

First thing I would do is hire a guide; after all, how many years did it take to draw the tag?

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:
First thing I would do is hire a guide; after all, how many years did it take to draw the tag?

It's more rewarding to me DIY. As a resident that's what I've done on all my home state hunts. Mtn Lion I hired a guide & his dogs to kill my cat. As a resident I spent lots of weekends on the mtn looking for rams & billies when I had the tag.

As a NR, I would seriously think about hiring a guide. Nothing beats time on the mtn. Most NR can't get enough.

Congratulations on drawing the tag, as many have said that is the hardest part, I would say it is just one of the hard parts that gets you started.
Personally I wouldn't hire a Guide, many times we have found Sheep that outfitters don't know anything about.
Check the previous kill sites in your area but they are not always to be the sole point of focus, helpful yes but not gospel as some people fudge locations and usually there are Sheep in other parts of your unit.
Use whichever rifle is lightest and that you shoot really well.
Good shape is great, great optics is a must, great binos like a 10x42 you can spend ALL DAY looking through and a spotter good enough to make out details.
Get out early in the year and start sorting Rams and do it all summer long, the more Rams you look at the faster you will be able to tell if a Ram is what you are after or just something to look past.
Get as much experience as possible looking at Sheep, being in sheep country and finding them repeatedly.
Good luck and enjoy the scouting, hunt and the whole experience.

Thanks all. I am actually contemplating a morph of DYI and guided. I plan to scout and plan like it is DYI and potentially use a guide who will supplement my scouting and act as a hunting partner for the actual hunt.

I drew a ram tag in 2016. I scouted my Unit numerous times before the season started, and did not even see a sheep.

I saw tracks and droppings, and goats, spoke with the other guy who had a tag for the same season, and he did not see a sheep either, during scouting or the season.

Opening morning for me had me looking at 17 rams at about 700yds, as they walked out of view. Several hours later, 16 rams came back, and stood directly upwind from me, at between 147 and 160yds, for about 6-7 minutes.

The story is longer than that, but I did not shoot and I did not see another sheep the rest of the season.

As Snellstrom suggested, check the kill sites and you will most likely see a pattern.

I drew a Colorado Bighorn tag in 1990.

I scouted a couple times from my out-of-State- home and saw sheep every time but no rams. I spoke with the local fish-cop and the biologist and requested the hunter reports from several past years (I have no idea if you can still do that).

All this helped but I soon discovered, and was told by many, that rams were scarce in the unit because they "summer" just out of the unit and the warden often cautioned me to "not look out of the unit".

This was frustrating but we made it work and I finally took a nice ram (one year to the day after the passing of my father) on a backpack trip with my brother.

We sad rattlesnakes, bears, deer and sheep and had a glorious time!

Oh, I love sheep hunting!

Zeke

Congrats on the sheep tag!!

I drew one last year and decided to do it DIY. Ended up taking a 188 2/8" ram that isn't known for big rams, or high numbers.

My biggest suggestion is to use every possible moment on the mountain, even if it means just a couple hours after work before dark. The more rams you're able to look at will help you judge those you should pay more attention to versus "he's just another ram".

Good luck and enjoy the adventure.

You might be surprised how much you can learn about your hunting area from Google Earth. GREAT scouting tool.

There is a Video about Judging the size of Sheep. I think a Professor at WSU made it. I would highly recommend it.I have a copy.It really helped me in learning how to judge Rams.