I just had to share this with my hunting friends .It is in a old book i bought overthe weekend by jack o conner.I really liked it...enjoy
Another reason the true sheep hunter never tires of his sport as long as his legs and his wind hold out is that stalking sheep sustains the thrill and excitement longer than most other types of hunting. A man may see his ram feeding not long after sunup.He may then watch it until it beds down.His stalk may take hours and cover miles of territory.It maybe eight or nine hours from the time he gets his glass on a trophy ram until he gets a shot-if indeed he does get a shot.
And all that time he is in a high pitch of excitement,living a month in every 5 minutes.A real -gone sheep hunter will pass up the biggest grizzly that ever walked if he thinks shooting itwill spook a fourty-inch ram.A real sheep hunter would rather take a fourty-five-inch ram than a ten-foot tiger,an elephant with hundred pound tusks,a moose with a sixty-five-inch spread.
Some try sheep hunting and dont like the brutal climbing,the long tearing effort,the hours of uncertainy while the stalk is in progress.But once a hunter is hooked on sheep,the only things that can stop him are wobbly legs,a bum heart,or broken bones.There is no other hunting quite like it!
Makes me want to go!Ihope everyone enjoyed it,I allways enjoy reading papa 270 Jacks -stories!!

Can a sheep hunter and his guide be landed by plane in some locations up on top of the mountains,so they can hike down to hunt sheep,instead of all ways climbing strieght up?Do older hunters have a chance of getting a sheep also or does one have to be a marathon runner and younger age say under 40?Never heard this discussed,but sheep hunting looks extremly demanding and tough.Are all sheep high or are there areas that are semi flat rolling landscape,can some one describe the differances in terrain for the different species?Are the desert ram the easiest to walk/hike hunt with less steep mountains?

quote:

Originally posted by blackbearhunter:
does one have to be a marathon runner and younger age say under 40?Never heard this discussed,but sheep hunting looks extremly demanding and tough.

I started sheep hunting at 40. I'm by no means a marathon runner, actually I can't run at all, because the tissue in my knees that is supposed to cushion the pounding (meniscus) has suffered too much in the past. At age 40 I had to admit defeat after three days. Blood in the shoes kinda kills the fun, and frankly I wasn't up to the climbing (in my defense I was born 15 feet below sea level and moved to the mountains only 6 months before start of sheep season).

Last year I started training in February. Training consisted for a long time in walking uphill, about 1/2 mile flat, followed by 1/2 moderately steep climb, and back again. Every day, for two months or so. Then I took to a steeper hill, and hiked up that every day. About a 10 minute climb. Every day for another two months. When the knees started protesting, I'd switch back to the less steep walk. Then I started doing the hill twice a day, three times, and a few good days even five or six times in succession. I also bought a mountain bike and started cycling, slow, short strectches at first, steeper more intense stretches later. Came summer I started scouting in ernest and hiked quite a few mountains and drainages. At the start of season I was in shape. Not in "running" shape, but good enough to walk and climb most of the day. Pacing yourself is the trick. My mantra is "just keep putting one foot in front of the other". Even if you do that slowly, you still cover lots of height in a relatively short time.

Some of the mountains in Alberta (the few that I've climbed) can be challenging in another aspect though, and that is sheer nastiness. Steep, nasty, dangerous, one-slip-and-you're-dead type of climbs. Mental astuteness is more important than marathon fitness on those climbs.

In the end I shot my ram only a 1 1/2 hour hike away from where I parked the truck... go figure.

Frans

Thanks frans for the input and very nice site you have!Where are the stone sheep located?I really think they are my favorite,do they live in the sheer cliffs?I have climbed all my life and worked high walking steel at nose bleed/dizzy heights and just wondered if there were some areas that were no as steep/hard as it does wear on you after awhile and is no fun day in day out.I figure i will be about 57years old before i can go.I would like to combine the hunt with a grizzly and moose,possibly wolf and do a week to 2 weeks flyin drop camp kinda hunt were you sorta just live with the animals for a while,not rush time and shoot several trophys while iam in the area,sorta northern safari.I saw a show on tv where some guys did just that and it looked like what i would want to do.It did really look cold though.All the folks i have talked to in the past that have done a hunt like that had real good luck and highly recommened it.mountain goat doable at the same time also,do all the animals inhabit the same turf?I just figure it would be expensive but i may as well enjoy myself sometime,the ram would be priority.I saw one fulled mounted in a local gunshop years ago and it was a full curl,very nice trophy.also a wolverine would be on top of my list as well.Thanks again and keep in shape for those hunts! P.S. what alaska/canada animals have you taken?Also i sure bet its pretty up there High on top of the world!

I'm not real knowledgable about stone sheep, we should ask Canuck to tell us all his secrets!

In general sheep prefer mountain meadows with escape routes. The area that I hunted for bighorn were necessarily all that high, but usually far away from motorized access. The times I got in the steep and dangerous stuff was when I decided not to take the 10 mile "easy" hike in, but just "pop" over that one mountain to reach the valleys on the other side. My ram was actually very low, and close to a track that runs off a dry river bed, that runs off, well etc. All do-able with an average truck. But I've seen bedding places in spots that'll make your heart stop.

As for your age, a while back I read about two guys of 70+ years old doing a drop-off hunt for sheep, so you still have some time!

Most places require that you bring in all the meat (not bears, but you must bring in the fur) so you are well-advised to start scouting for one or two youngster to carry all that meat and horns back to camp while you are out there slaying the wild beasts. Most places (in Western Canada) however also require that you go guided, or get a local to guide you so you are rather restricted in your options. Don't know what you can do in Alaska. The upside of a guided hunt is that you don't need to find the young burros to pack the meat, the downside is the cost obviously. A guided multi-species hunt like you describe (sheep, grizzly, moose, mountain goat) is going to set you back quite a bit, if it is do-able at all. I don't know enough of all the various areas and the co-habitation of the various species there to be of much assistance. I think you'll first need to figure out where you can hunt unguided, or unaccompanied (and Alberta/BC/Yukon/NWT are not on that list), and start narrowing it down from there. Find the sheep areas, and see what else is feasible.

As for my records up north here, they are limited. I have two seasons in, and got extremely lucky twice: I shot a nice wolf the first spring, and a bighorn the second fall. A whitetail doe for the freezer completes my NA game. I could have shot a cougar when I was accompanying an outfitter, but didn't like the price tag. It's almost spring bear time, so that's next on the list. Don't know about the fall yet. So much to do so little time. I can draw for moose in a couple of reasonably good areas, there are over the counter tags for moose as well, elk, deer, etc... And I'm looking at a drop-off hunt for stones in BC, provided I can get my 61 year old buddy, a BC resident to accompany me.

Frans

quote:

Another reason the true sheep hunter never tires of his sport as long as his legs and his wind hold out is that stalking sheep sustains the thrill and excitement longer than most other types of hunting. A man may see his ram feeding not long after sunup.He may then watch it until it beds down.His stalk may take hours and cover miles of territory.It maybe eight or nine hours from the time he gets his glass on a trophy ram until he gets a shot-if indeed he does get a shot.
And all that time he is in a high pitch of excitement,living a month in every 5 minutes.A real -gone sheep hunter will pass up the biggest grizzly that ever walked if he thinks shooting itwill spook a fourty-inch ram.A real sheep hunter would rather take a fourty-five-inch ram than a ten-foot tiger,an elephant with hundred pound tusks,a moose with a sixty-five-inch spread.
Some try sheep hunting and dont like the brutal climbing,the long tearing effort,the hours of uncertainy while the stalk is in progress.But once a hunter is hooked on sheep,the only things that can stop him are wobbly legs,a bum heart,or broken bones.There is no other hunting quite like it!
Makes me want to go!Ihope everyone enjoyed it,I allways enjoy reading papa 270 Jacks -stories!!

Love it! And I agree 100%.

On the hunt for my biggest stone sheep, I had to watch it for 3 days before we could finally set a trap to ambush it within rifle range. Whenever I'd close my eyes to take a break from watching it through the spotter, I could see the shape of the sheep burned in my retina. When that big ole ram fed its way, 600 yards across a high grassy basin, to within 100 yards of where my buddy and I lay in wait.....well, words don't describe the feeling.

Thanks for posting this excerpt from JOC.

Cheers,
Canuck

quote:

Originally posted by blackbearhunter:
Do older hunters have a chance of getting a sheep also or does one have to be a marathon runner and younger age say under 40?

There are lots of outfitters that can tailor a hunt to your needs.

If you can sit on a horse, you can kill a ram. It limits your options, but its very doable.

Friends of mine guide backpack hunts in the territories where they will fly you into a remote area and land you on the top of long ridges. Again, if you can't climb up and down them well it will limit your options, but you will still have a decent chance at finding a ram.

JOC hunted sheep into his 70's. I think his last ram (from Colt Lake) was taken in his 72nd year.

Cheers,
Canuck

I can relate to the "broken bones" part of it...3 surgeries over 14 months + lots and lots of therapy ....next time I'm going to call in an air-strike and have them mail me the pieces.

Mark that damn sheep down as "earned but not collected" and I never felt bad about an "easy" hunt since that awful day in August in the Chugach.

I was 38 and in great shape until that rock turned under me and as Jackie Gleason used to say "and away we go"!

Canuck
Every time I look at the picture of you and your
ram I can't help but smile for you.You must
just about need a cigarette after looking at it.
That is THE RAM OF 10 LIFETIMES.

quote:

You must just about need a cigarette after looking at it.
That is THE RAM OF 10 LIFETIMES.

It's true. 6 years later I still look at it every single day with awe. No matter what happens in my sheep hunting in the future, i'll still be a "lucky bastard". Thanks!

Cheers,
Canuck

quote:

Originally posted by DB Bill:
I can relate to the "broken bones" part of it...3 surgeries over 14 months + lots and lots of therapy ....next time I'm going to call in an air-strike and have them mail me the pieces.

Mark that damn sheep down as "earned but not collected" and I never felt bad about an "easy" hunt since that awful day in August in the Chugach.

I was 38 and in great shape until that rock turned under me and as Jackie Gleason used to say "and away we go"!

Bill,
I agree with you about not feeling bad since that injury. However, I've never had an easy sheep hunt. Some are just more difficult than others!

quote:

I've never had an easy sheep hunt. Some are just more difficult than others!

So true!

Canuck

In response to Blackbearhunter on the question of the Desert Sheep, I live in Nevada and have hunted the Deserts. I haven't drawn a tag myself, but I've helped others scout, spot and harvest sheep. The terrain they live in is nasty. It is usually straight uphill and the rocks are sharp, unstable and unforgiving. Having said that, it is usually possible to spot sheep relatively close to a road by glassing with spotting scopes. Then it's only a matter of staking for a few miles to within range. As as result you typically do not need to have 10 days worth of gear on your back as you hike. generally, you can camp in pretty nice conditions, and hunt different areas each day.

The tags are tremendously difficult to draw. I would suggest you start applying in every state so you can accumulate points to eventually draw that tag.

canuck; that is one serious sheep.

what did it score?

who was the outfitter... just kidding.

congrats, that is a work of art.