Can anyone recommend a quality outfitter with a high percentage of success on bighorn sheep? Thank you in advance for suggestions.

Join the FNAWS and you will know who to go with and who to stay away from. A very good organization if you are interested in sheep hunting. I was a member of the Eastern Chapter until a few years ago...when I realized sheep hunting was out of my league. The cost to hunt goes up 3x qicker than hunting any other specie...why I do not know. Go now because the price will be 20% higher in the next season...really. 10 years ago you could hunt Dall for 6,000.00, Stone for 10,000.00 and Bighorns for 9,500.00...wow, what a difference today with Dall at 12,000.00, Stone at 24,000.00 and Bighorns at 20,000.00 plus. Choose carefully.

Woodrow S, Thanks for the advice. I am a member of FNAWS and Grand Slam/OVIS. It is a shame sheep hunting has gotten so expensive. That's why I wanted a good recommendation on a quality outfitter, so I wouldn't have to go two or three times before connecting. Thanks again

Are you a bowhunter? I know a very quality outfitter that goes very high percentage on his bowhutning rams in the bowzone of Canmore, AB.

I think he's gone close to 100% for the past 4 or 5 years now.....

PM me if you'd like more info.

Rackmastr, Sorry, I'm not a bowhunter. I do appreciate the assistance just the same. Thank You

No worries.....

I have a friend who owns an outfit in Northern BC and runs a bighorn hunt. I know he is booked for 2009 and possibly 2010, but can pass you the info if you are interested.

Rackmastr, Can you tell me anything about Steven Leuenberger and Ram Creek Outfitters?? Thanks again for your help.

I have spoken with Steven and he impressed me as a fine young man and VERY honest. I have lived alone in the bush in his general area and have gone there off and on since 1965 and know the area fairly well. Canuck here probably knows it better than I do and has hunted BH rams there, IIRC.

Some G/Os here in B.C. tend to treat we residents rather poorly and this is a REAL "bone of contention" and has had a negative effect on the prospects for "non-res. aliens" as the BC Wildlife Act calls foreign hunters. However, Steven certainly did NOT do this to me on our phone call and quite openly told me the REAL status of his Elk hunting, etc., something I greatly appreciate and admire.

There ARE BH rams there, but, brother, you have to WORK for them and the country is STEEP and RUGGED as well as it can be pounding snow and sub-freezing or pushing 90*F on opening day. That said, this is perhaps the most beautiful part of North America and if you can drive to and through the Kootenays, it is the experience of a lifetime and one you will NEVER forget, whether you shoot a ram or not.

I know where the rams are there, but, it is one brutal climb, even using horses, so, if you go, get in GOOD shape!

Hey Mark,

I had a successful hunt last fall with Kendall Johnson, http://www.mountainsedgeoutfitting.com

That was my second Canadian bighorn hunt. The first was a waste of time and money.

The lesson I learned is to pick a quality outfitter that can and will produce rams. Kendall was up front with his success rates. Every hunter who can make it to the back country connects. Those that can't, won't. We rode 52 miles on horseback to spike camp. I connected on a FINE ram the first day we accessed the high alpine.

Kendall is pretty hard core, but his guides and wrangler were some of the finest men on the mountain. Would not hesitate to recommend KJ for a great Rocky hunt.

Send me a PM if you need more info.

Good luck!

PS - That ram is pictured to the left

Hi, since you chose not to post what GO your first BH hunt was with, I wonder if you would tell me by PM. With increasing restrictions on even resident sheep hunting here and being 62, I am seriously considering a guided hunt and do not want to choose the "wrong" outfitter.

I am somewhat familiar with where you shot your ram, fabulous country, but, getting pretty crowded now. Thanks, Dewey

quote:

Originally posted by Dewey:
Hi, since you chose not to post what GO your first BH hunt was with, I wonder if you would tell me by PM. With increasing restrictions on even resident sheep hunting here and being 62, I am seriously considering a guided hunt and do not want to choose the "wrong" outfitter.

I am somewhat familiar with where you shot your ram, fabulous country, but, getting pretty crowded now. Thanks, Dewey

Dewey,

Thanks for your interest. I did not bother posting the GO because frankly I forgot who it was. But in looking back, that hunt was with http://www.tatlowmtn.com/

In all fairness to Mike, he did tell me that there was a small, but huntable, population in his area. Since it was a full curl only area, we needed to sort through a few rams to find the right one. We spent 8 days looking, and did not even see a lamb, ewe, or even a track. Again in fairness to Mike, he did make his daily rate relatively inexpensive, with about half the hunt price due after the kill. So we were equally motivated to get a ram.

It just did not work out. The mountain we were on had no signs of sheep life, and we had no plan B. A tough hunt only because we saw NO target species.

The lesson for me it is worth paying a bit more to get it done properly. The "bargain" hunt can be costly.

Good luck!

Jack

Thank you gentlemen for your words of wisdom. I appreciate all the information.

My buddy and I were in one of the "best" areas of the Chilcotin in Sept. 2007 and in eight days of intense glassing and searching, we saw ONE Muley doe and zero Cali.BHs.

The local packer and a former guide plus their wives rode into camp and these boys ARE mountain men who live there. THEY had ridden for two weeks and saw only one Muley buck and a bigazz Grizzly like the grumpy old geezer that kept tracking up our waterhole....lots of bears, wolves, Indian "subsistence" hunters (yeah, sure) and fair res. pressure now, the once fabulous Chilcotin is not what it was, just like the Flathead where Steve Leuenberger outfits.

To get a decent BH ram in two trips to western Canada is doing pretty good, but, you are right, the low cost hunts are usually far less productive here and in AB.

I can highly recommend Selk's Alberta Bighorns.I have hunted with Skip Selk as an Alberta resident and took a 9-1/2 year old ram.He knows his bighorns,has great horses,and is a great guy to hunt with.
The fact that he has been chosen as an outfitter by several holders of the ministers bighorn tags shows how well he is respected.

http://www.selksoutfitting.com/

quote:

Originally posted by Dewey:
I have spoken with Steven and he impressed me as a fine young man and VERY honest. I have lived alone in the bush in his general area and have gone there off and on since 1965 and know the area fairly well. Canuck here probably knows it better than I do and has hunted BH rams there, IIRC.

Some G/Os here in B.C. tend to treat we residents rather poorly and this is a REAL "bone of contention" and has had a negative effect on the prospects for "non-res. aliens" as the BC Wildlife Act calls foreign hunters. However, Steven certainly did NOT do this to me on our phone call and quite openly told me the REAL status of his Elk hunting, etc., something I greatly appreciate and admire.

There ARE BH rams there, but, brother, you have to WORK for them and the country is STEEP and RUGGED as well as it can be pounding snow and sub-freezing or pushing 90*F on opening day. That said, this is perhaps the most beautiful part of North America and if you can drive to and through the Kootenays, it is the experience of a lifetime and one you will NEVER forget, whether you shoot a ram or not.

I know where the rams are there, but, it is one brutal climb, even using horses, so, if you go, get in GOOD shape!

What Dewey says above is all true. Steven's a good guy. I don't know his stats offhand, but he does OK on bighorns. Not the best territory for it, but there is a decent population and Steven knows where to find them.

Harry Leuenberger is also a great guy. His territory is a better one for BH, odds-wise, IMHO, but it has its downside (lots of resident pressure). Harry still does well though.

In SE BC, Elk Valley Bighorn Outfitters is probably your best bet for BHs, from a probablility of success point of view. The hunting style is not necessarily for everyone though (waiting on a boundary), and is $$$$'ive.

Marty Lightburn (Rocky Mt High) runs a good operation, IMHO and has some good sheep habitat.

There are a few others that offer bighorns in the Kootenays. Success rates are pretty low generally...its tough hunting and the full curl regulation means few rams are legal. I can't speak to their operations at all, but here are a few names you can look into:

Whiteswan Lake Outfitters (Jordan Aasland)
Sheep Creek Outfitters (Joe Conroy)
Total Outdoor Adventures (Vince Cocciolo and Nathan Kelly)
Packhorse Creek Outfitters (Dave Beranek)
Pilgrim's Bighorn Outfitting (David Carreau)
Shadow Mountain Outfitters (Tim and Astrid Faiers)
Robertson's Bighorn Outfitting (John Niddrie)
MVP Outfitters (Dean Roe)

Cheers
Canuck

Canuck mentions the major factors in contemporary B.C. sheep hunting of ALL species; these are vastly increased resident demand and much greater access to sheep country by res. hunters. The harsh facts of contemporary sheep hunting are simply that "the good old days" are LONG over and it will continue to decline for non-res. hunters here, without question.

I would be inclined to seriously consider an Albertan hunt now, over B.C. and the two Albertan outfits suggested seem like good choices to me. I have spent time in the "Eastern Slopes" living alone in the bush and am familiar with the areas concerned.

Even the best guides now in the Kootenays will not always succeed in finding a legal ram and you may well NOT be able to fill your tag in one or two hunts. The costs of this can get pretty high and will only increase, much as Desert Bighorn has, simple supply and demand.

A few days ago, there was a full page ad. in the major B.C. daily newspaper and over the signature of a foreigner from India, DEMANDING a total end to Grizzly hunting here. This will happen and various other foreigners now stage longrange backpacking treks here to "publicise" B.C.s environmental "issues" and also presume to tell us how we must manage OUR resources.

Two of these, both young Americans, came into my friend's mineral exploration camp in northwestern B.C. in 2007 and gobbled his food, used his propane showers and also his satellite phone. They are "protesting" mining and logging by CANADIANS here in CANADA....but, bumming food, etc. from the nasty old miners is "cool".......

Another, an Oregonian school teacher,is going to hike across POW Island, to enlighten we ignorant B.C. residents about how we are supposed to preserve OUR Kermode Bears, etc. Now, all of this is highly publicized here and the government tends to make decisions based on such shenanigans....the opposition is far to the left of POTUS "Bam-Bam" and when last in office, they responded to such arrogant interference in B.C. politics by BANNING hunts.

All of this is by way of pointing out that B.C. hunting for the rare species is under consistent, well-financed and relentless attack and the opportunities now and in the forseeable future demonstrate that. So, do VERY thorough RESEARCH before sending your deposit.

I sincerely appreciate the comments/advice from everyone. It is very valuable information before laying down your cold hard cash for a hunt of this nature. Thank you

Robertsons in B.C. as all ready mentioned, also alan douglas in alberta (google alan douglas outfitters) can get you phone #s if needed.

Just returned from the Grand Slam/OVIS Convention. Ran into Lorne Hindbo of South Ram Outfitters. Any info on this outfitter?? Thanks in advance.

Out of curiosity, what does a quality mountain BH sheep hunt cost these days? Are there lotteries for the tags in Canada or are these over the counter tags you guys are talking about (for nonresidents)?

quote:

Originally posted by JustinL01:
Out of curiosity, what does a quality mountain BH sheep hunt cost these days? Are there lotteries for the tags in Canada or are these over the counter tags you guys are talking about (for nonresidents)?

Justin,

The Alberta hunts start at around 25k and go to 35+. I got my tag at the local convenience store if you can believe it.

Good luck to you.

I have never hunted sheep before, but I just received a very nice directory (2009 edition) from the Alberta's Professional Outifitter Society.

I would highly suggest you obtain a copy.

Their telephone # is 780-414-0249.

Thanks to everyone for all of the helpful information. I appreciate all of the advice/suggestions.

You can find the Alberta outfitters directory online as well.

http://www.apos.ab.ca/

I've hunted with Steven at Ram Creek and Anna Fontana at Elk Valley and seen a lot of sheep at both places. I'll be going back to Steven's this fall for moose and deer and hope to go back to Anna's for goat and elk in a year or two.

I haven't hunted sheep with either, can't afford it, but if I could I'd be giving Anna a call. Last fall I saw 8 rams while hunting goat, 2 full curl.

Here are the sheep from Ram Creek for 2008. I don't know what they scored but they were around 15/34 inches.










I'm pretty sure this is one of Anna's rams on page 7. Also a nice article on sheep hunting with Harry Leuenberger (Baldy Mountain) on page 64.
Mountain Hunter Magazine



.

That ram was killed on the BC "Premiers tag" raffled off through BC fish and game. It was taken legally at a time of year when non residents would not be allowed to hunt. I am also not sure if the Fontana's guiding concession covers the area where this ram was taken. Ram scored 193. Kind of a funny looking hunter though.

ie the ram on page seven of Mountain Hunter

The reason I think it was from Anna's area is I know three of the guys in the group picture guide for her and remember her talking about taking a premier tag a few years ago late in the season. Either way, if it was killed near Elkford, it's pretty close to her area.

Some very nice rams live there, I am pretty familiar with Fontana's concession and spent a lot of time living and working there in the bush from '65-'67. Fontana's now have a big base camp near the mouth of Abruzzi Cr. and this tends to keep resident hunters out of that drainage, leaving it for her clients; this is NOT very popular with guys like me.

Elkford didn't exist when I first went there and I spent my 21st birthday, long ago, swinging a Pulaski in the blazing sun just west of the Kanaskis Summit on the Calgary Power road, now gated off.

In the "good old days", a party of four hunters would come home from a week's hunt, with several deer, an Elk, a Moose and sometimes a Sheep or Goat. Antlers were usually left in the bush and everybody fed their kids on organic game meat, kinda miss those days.

I might wander over there this year, again, and backpack into the Abruzzi for the hell of it, take my Grizzly gun, licence, tags and a fishing setup and see what I can harvest.

quote:

Originally posted by kodiakisland:
The reason I think it was from Anna's area is I know three of the guys in the group picture guide for her and remember her talking about taking a premier tag a few years ago late in the season. Either way, if it was killed near Elkford, it's pretty close to her area.

Its "near" her territory, but its a completely different population of sheep. They do not travel into her territory, save for the odd dispersing ram trying to get some action.

quote:

Originally posted by Dewey:
Some very nice rams live there, I am pretty familiar with Fontana's concession and spent a lot of time living and working there in the bush from '65-'67. Fontana's now have a big base camp near the mouth of Abruzzi Cr. and this tends to keep resident hunters out of that drainage, leaving it for her clients; this is NOT very popular with guys like me.

Its easy enough to walk or ride your horse by.

Its fantastic back there.