I have incredibly drawn Desert Bighorn Sheep hunt in California, Unit 9 - Cady Mountains. I thought it would never happen having one less than max points. Somehow I drew the 1 of 4 random tags! I already have a great Archery Elk hunt planned for September with Wagon Hound Outfitters in WY however the thoughts of my sheep hunt are already consuming me. Have been talking to everyone who will listen and my first impulse is to of course secure a new 'Sheep Rifle' the process of selecting, securing, working up loads for, practicing with and ultimately using is one of the greatest joys in life Trying to keep that process logical and practical is another matter.

I am also in the draw for Dall in the Chugach and fully expected that would be the one and only sheep I would take in my lifetime. Having a lightweight rifle for that expedition seems like a good idea. At least that weighs in on the 'justification thought process' The Cady Mountains top out at 4k feet, and while I'm not discounting the challenge, I do think I'm up for it, possibly with a rifle from my current battery.

One of the first things I did is to dust off my volume of Jack O'Connor's "Sheep and Sheep Hunting" which puts the modern day in some perspective. Mostly it makes you think 'what a WUSS am I'

For equipment he has 2 rifles, his pet rifle is a Winchester 70 Featherweight in .270 with a 4x Leupold scope, each whittled down to exactly 8 pounds.

"As practical, fast handling, and accurate sheep rifles the matched pair would be difficult to improve on" -Sheep & Sheep Hunting (p272)

So I went to weighing my current rifles scope and all:

Sako 85M Synthetic in .30-06 w Leupold VX3 4.5-14x40 = exactly 8 pounds
Cooper Custom Classic 270 w Leupold VX3 3-10x40 = 9 pounds
Browning X-Bolt Medallion w Leupold VX3 4.5-14x40 = exactly 7.8 pounds
Custom Rem 700 .270 w VX6 3-18x44 = 8.6 pounds

All of these are accurate rifles with CDS turrets and could probably do the job but nonetheless am compelled to get that 'Sheep Rifle' (save me from this sickness)

Starting narrowing down to Weatherby, Kimber, or Cooper Backcountry (don't talk to Kyler if you are on a budget).

Right now a Cooper Backcountry looks pretty cool. They have a 6 month wait so I would need to buy one available now. Of those the calibers that are available now and appealing are .270 (yes I love .270), 30-06 or possibly a .300WM.

Since it's CA they are saying we must use non-lead bullets on the hunt so that is factoring in to my thought process. We have Barnes TTSX and Hornady GMX. Have hunted many times with Barnes and took my first pig with Kyler and a 130gr .270 XLC (Remember the Blue Bullets). Hornady Superformance is interesting and have killed deer with their SST in my Sako that perform well and get close to .300WM velocity.

I'm leaning towards a Backcountry in .30-06 so I could do elk/bear with it on expedition type hunts. The whole rig if I put a VX3i 4.5-14 on it would be at 7 pounds.

Now it's 43 years since Jack wrote that book. So amusing is his other Gear travails and recommendations. Now with Sitka/Kuiu lightweight fabrics, backpacks, gore tex, optics, rangefinders you have to wonder what Jack would think. His desert clothing summary, 'I wear a wool sweater and am chilly in the mornings but then don't have to carry the jacket during the day' I started doing equipment inventory, my Crooked Horn day pack weighs 4.5 pounds, I could lose a pound easily with a Kuiu 1800 at a tenth of the cost of my Rifle obsession. But you have to love getting a new Rifle and if drawing Desert Bighorn isn't justification enough I don't know what is.

If I get a new rifle or not, I'll be attending the Kyler Hamann shooting school with the entire battery and probably I'll end up bringing whatever I can regularly hit 400 with. Frankly I'll be disappointed if they don't all do that. I'm not looking to shoot past 400 and not interested in something focused on doing that.

Anyway, thought I would share my obsessions with the AR gallery and save Kyler from 100 emails on the subject.

Sean

Congratulations!

That's a rare tag, enjoy it.

Also a hearty congratulations on your lucky tag!
Sheep hunting never gets old, but Sheep hunters...that's another story.

All of your current rifles mentioned would probably be just fine although I did not pick up what cartridge you run in the Browning?.
I killed my Sheep and Goat with a 30/06.
You may be able to restock one of your current rifles with a lighter stock and shave 3/4 of a pound or nearly that with a 16 ounce stock.

If it were me I would try to spend equal time scouting as shooting, get out there and see the Sheep you are going to kill and make a plan on how you'll do it on opening day!
Whatever rifle you take shoot it so much that 400 yards shot over a backpack becomes a gimme, a chip shot.
Good luck on your hunt! Tremendous tag.

Congrats on the tag. I wouldn't bother getting another rifle any of the ones you mentioned are fine. Save the money for the mount.

I wouldn't buy a Kimber unless you could buy them for nothing. I have had 2 Kimber rifles that were amazing, and I have friends that have had 2 that are great.

Out of those 4, another 2 have been purchased by us as a group and sold because they had accuracy or feeding problems.

50% problem rate. The worst one of mine was a 270 WSM that wouldn't group and wouldn't feed. The best has been the 7mm-08 ones.

Congrats on drawing your tag.

Like others have posted, your 270s and 30-06 are fine for sheep hunting.

In the 80s and 90s I could buy a Montana Unlimited Area Bighorn sheep tag every year for as little as $25. I also had horses then, so I would pack in for a long weekend hunt just about every year. I only killed 4 rams, but it was great to hunt the high country.

In the late 90s, I also did a fly in/backpack Dall ram hunt in the McKenzie Mountains in Canada's Northwest Territories.

For all of those hunts I used my 9 pound .257 Ackley shooting 117 grain Sierra GameKing bullets for one shot kills on all rams at under 250 yards.

In the last 7 years I have had very good results with Barnes 168 grain TSX and TTSX bullets on a variety of animals including a Texas Aoudad and a New Zealand Arapawa ram.

Have a great hunt!!!

Wow 4 Bighorns that is amazing. I do reload and have a box of TTSX 168s that I'll work up a load for. What's funny is after striking out on AK Dall I was thinking I would try and get an Aoudad in TX maybe in January, then I drew this tag. Definitely see a TX Aoudad in my future too. Thanks

Well, I'm certainly not going to get in on the gun / caliber suggestion - but only to say huge congrats to you on an awesome sheep tag, and I hope you get a great ram!

I have max points in CA for sheep, but as a non-resident that really doesn't mean much, but maybe someday.

Good luck!

I would look for a Forbes 24B in 270,30-06 or whatever.They are light.My 270 with a Minox Z5 scope ,full magazine and sling weighs just under 7 pounds.They all shoot great and even though they are out of biz Melvin Forbes will back them up %100.

congrats on the tag!

lots of guys over on rokslide that are all into their lightweight mountain rifles.

a tikka t3 lite, with a new mcmillan, manners, or wildcat composite stock would lighten that rifle a bit. throw on some talley lightweights and a lighter scope and you can easily get the weight down without waiting 6+months on a custom rifle.

Congratulations and hope you get a full curl.

I am maxed out in points, in fact, if they started the point system earlier, I'd have 29 points.

Any of your rifles will work. If you want new, it's hard to beat a NULA for a light weight. I would put a Leupold 6x36mm scope on it.

Line up some young packers with optics and that will be your weight and back saving grace.

You will get hounded with outfitters trying to guide you. I have heard they will for free just to get the publicity.
Safe hunting.

Skip buying a new rifle and spend your time and effort at the range and in the gym.

First, congratulations on drawing a great sheep tag. The Cady's are a great sheep hunt and some excellent rams come from that unit. Same unit I applied for.

Second, are you out of your freaking mind? Seriously, are you? You've already got some great sheep rifles in classic sheep calibers. Why are even even asking, unless you just want a new rifle? Take the rifle you shoot best, go out and practice shooting from practical field positions and go have a fantastic hunt. Take the money you'd waste on that rifle and spend it hiring either Terry Anderson or Tim Mercier to guide you. You can't go wrong with either of them. Having either of them guide you will do way more toward you killing a great ram than buying another rifle.

BTW, the Cadys are not a tough hunt, as sheep hunts go. You don't need a lightweight rifle. It's mostly Day hunts from a pickup or ATV accessing the areas you'll hunt, at least until you find the ram you want to stalk. You can make it as tough as you want, but it doesn't have to be. Two guys I know have killed rams in that unit, one guy in his 70's and the other in his 80's. They told me it wasn't too tough.

Thanks DLS.

Am I seriously out of my mind? Probably! Agree about hiring the outfitter, I hired Tim and Dry Creek Outfitters about 30min after I convinced myself i had actually drawn. The season is Dec-Feb and they are recommending a 14 day hunt in January after the rams are in bachelor groups again. Have heard of Terry Anderson and also Kika Worldwide, Jake Franklin who I guess used to guide for Terry. I had read so much over the years about Dry Creek (May Huntin Fool cover story this year) that I just called them right off.

I have also heard the Cady's are not a super tough hunt but will be prepared nonetheless. My idea of having a light sheep rifle is more for drawing Dall in the Chugach which I expect to do in time. Much more than I ever expected this. I've gone from thinking I'd never take a wild sheep to probably taking at least two in my lifetime. Have many points for ;rocky bighorn in several states. Would love to take a Stone Sheep although that's an expensive proposition too. Though not much more than my wife's last dressage horse. (already starting the justifications).

But as everyone is pointing out, my modern rifles are already pretty light and the most I'll probably shave off the rifle is a pound, maybe a little more. I am certainly doing everything else people are advising, shooting my rifles and getting in shape.

Thanks for your suggestions!

If your current gun is trustworthy and can hit a pie plate at 300 yards then you are good to go. The more you shoot a rifle the more it "breaks in" and becomes more predictable up to the point you shoot out the barrel.

Have good shooting scope glass. You will touch off perhaps one shot after looking through the scope on the rifle for less than 10 minutes. The spotter will be where you spend hours on a tough sheep hunt. The more you glass, the more you save your body breaking down from hours of unnecessary hiking.

Will you have cell phone service? If not, consider an emergency beacon or a sat phone. Things can go bad quickly in sheep country.

Get in shape. If hot used to carrying a lot of weight, start hiking with a few water bottles in your pack, perhaps 20# total pack weight. Hike 1-5 miles a few times a week then add 10# more and if your back can handle the weight keep adding until approach 100#. If you can keep your pack around 70# and your daypack at under 30# then by the time you head to your hunt the pack will fell light.

Hike stairs. Perhaps the local high school has a stadium. Hard to replicate the steep stuff but stairs help. If your hunt is at a higher altitude than you live then no really a way to train for that but will impact your scope's accuracy so rezero once arrive in the mountains as elevation and temperature can move your point of impact several inches at 300 yards.

Have a wonderful adventure!