I have a friend who is working on his sheep grand slam. Anyone have any recommendations for a quality Dall Sheep guide? Thanks!

alaska trophy adventures. near 100% success rate year in and out.

quote:

Originally posted by medium:
I have a friend who is working on his sheep grand slam. Anyone have any recommendations for a quality Dall Sheep guide? Thanks!

Might want to give Mackenzie Mountain Outfitters a shout. Possible to take Dall and Fannin (stone) in NWT.

Here's a guide with a great reputation.
http://www.outdoorsdirectory.com/akpages/akhunting/index.htm

matt snyder is a good choice if you draw a tag for the T.M.A. or want to hunt the alaska range.

count me as a thrid vote for reccomending Matt. If oyu search this forum you can find a write up of a hunt with them and see some pics from '04

I talked with Matt a month or so ago, sounds like a real good guy if (as was stated) one draws the TMA. Note however that his schedule is tight and he has two family members that guide for him (Sue mother and Frank step-father IIRC???). With the low-probability draw, may be hard getting a hunt and with Matt as the guide if important. He has some permits available as CZ said, but one needs to book a year + early (they were sold for 07 when we spoke).

In the NWT, Stan Simpson and Kelly Hougen have good reputations with some quality guides, email me if you'd like some contacts. More costly then AK though.

I hunted with Pioneer Outfitters in 2003, Terry Overly's outfit; he's got a beautiful area in the Wrangells of Alaska, I'm likely going back in 2008.... In 2003, IIRC 25 of 27 hunters got their sheep, I was one of the two that did not ,.... It's largely horseback, until you get to the bottom of the mountain, that is , pricing is reasonable also....

Regards,
Craig Nolan

AAA Alaksan Outfitters. My cousin's husband was a partner for years until he retired. Here is their link: http://www.aaaalaskanoutfitters.com/page/page/1856159.htm

I just checked their web site. They must now only concentrate on bears. Sorry...

quote:

Originally posted by Craig Nolan:
I hunted with Pioneer Outfitters in 2003, Terry Overly's outfit; he's got a beautiful area in the Wrangells of Alaska, I'm likely going back in 2008.... In 2003, IIRC 25 of 27 hunters got their sheep, I was one of the two that did not ,.... It's largely horseback, until you get to the bottom of the mountain, that is , pricing is reasonable also....

Regards,
Craig Nolan

Good god thats a lot of sheep, he actually takes that many rams in one season?? How in the world does he continue to hunt there without shooting them out??

M70 Nut, his area is something like 55 miles long x 65 miles wide and borders Wrangell St. Elias National Park, the storyline is that the sheep continue to filter into his area from the "hard park" all year long, that is the portion of the park that you can not hunt, thus maintaining a large population of rams at all times... I'm not a biologist, but 3500+ square miles seems sufficient to support a shitload of sheep....With that being said, I agree that it sounds like a huge number shot each year, I probably wouldn't have believed it had I not hunted with him, during my hunt there were 9 total hunters in base camp, 8 got their sheep....

Regards,
Craig Nolan

That area may not get shot out. But, i will bet that the quality of animals taken from year to year will start to decline. that is a herd of sheep per year.

No, that is a herd of RAMS per year........ouch!

25 sheep out of one guide area is too dang many. Residents can hunt the same area which also adds pressure. Sounds like the money is more impotant than the resource.

I think we will all agree that it takes at least 9+ years to grow a nice ram.

anyone want to bet a ham sandwich that the quality of ram taken by clients is about to take a nose dive?

i prefer a small operation taking few rams each year, or few animals each year for that matter.

if they are in it for the money in the short term and pound the area hard, do you think they will care about customer satisifaction? they probably will not be around in the long term.

RE Matt vs. family

I actually hunted with his mom Sue. His step father Frank also guides. There is no need to worry about which guide you hunt with, as all are equals on the hill. Flip a coin-they are of totally equal quality.

But they are booked up for a while. That is because they are all such good guides! Check out their web site and look at the rams on the photo pages. There are some mighty big rams brought in by that trio every season.

yes, matt is a family operation with a good reputation. i spoke with him was he was still one of the top guides at r and r. i don't know that i would want to hunt with sue, but that is just me.

I'd like to point out, as I've said in the past, that a nice website w/lots of great pics is no slam dunk on booking a memorable sheep hunt......I was asked to help an outfit several years ago and the RG had booked a lot of hunters for an area that was marginal, at best....when asked about ruining the area altogether, he stated that he would just move to another one and in fact had another one already picked out. The outfit I've worked w/the last five years has an area comparable, in size, to the one mentioned above, not in the Wrangells, but limits his take to 5 hunters a year......quality hunts.....memorable hunts.

I believe that one of the most important aspects in booking a hunt in Alaska is who you'll be hunting with....in most cases, you'll be paired with an assistant guide....yup, who is the guide you'll be paired with......what's his or her name.....get a phone # and talk to them.....not hard to figure out if they know their stuff.....what's their mountain game experience?......I know of a RG who hasn't been on a mountain in years yet books a lot of sheep hunts......one of his assistants had only hunted whitetail and turkey back east....but he had "Alaska experience?"......he had been a fishing guide on the AK Pen.....if you know an air service pretty well, ask them about the guide you're looking at......those guys know a lot about what's going on.....if they're hesitant, beware and look some more.

I don't like to recommend guides to others for others' hunts.....I don't know you or your expectations......researching your hunt to the Nth degree is a satisfying part of a successful
hunt.

My only recommendation would be to think small and stick w/guys that live in Alaska year 'round.....not just during hunting season.

Joe

All, I'm not sure that they shoot that many rams per year, but I do know that they average close to 100%, and I think that they do 2-3 sheep hunts per year with about 8-9 hunters per hunt period... Again, I'm not a biologist but this outfitter has been in business for a LONG time, something like 30 years + IIRC; there was a 39" x 14" ram taken during my hunt, but I'd say the average is more like 35" or so and generally not as large as some I've seen in pics of Yukon and NWT sheep.... FWIW

Regards,
Craig Nolan

o.k. we have established that Dan "The Sheep Terminator" Montgomery and Matt Snyder would be good choices.

f.y.i.:
as of 2008 dan will also be hunting T.M.A.. hopefully will me...

but, who is the outfitter shooting the rams by the herd?

edited; nevermind, i see it now.

i did not see who that was...

cz,
You are hereby banned from entering anymore Alaska drawing hunts. You are just too dang lucky!!!


Just teasing, of course.

D.P.:

if it makes you feel any better, i have never had any luck with anything else my whole life.

looking forward to next season in ak. i may do 2 of the following; grizzly, adak caribou, wolf in the peninsula, kodiak for deer.

merry x mas.

I'd pick the "Sheep Terminator" for his areas.. If the "Hit Man" was booked I'd give Don Schwandt a ring...
AK

Thanks again for all of your replies (and commentary)....I'll pass the needed information along.