Blogging My sheep hunt!

[MontanaRifleman]

gliecthy, sounds like you are all over it, keep us posted on your rifle, I sure am interested in what you pick and how it performs. Awesome if your wife to be is up to some sheep hunting, now that would be more rare than a B&C ram. Hope you can handle both

Slopehunter, I'll dig up some pictures of that ram and scan them on to the computer. I'll start another thread so we dont Hijack gliechty's thread

 

[ramshot]

Ramshot, wow, seven rams, I am envious. Are they both Rocky Mountian and Stone? Are you guaranteed a tag if you apply? Hope you get that Doll.

Actually three Rocky Mtn Bighorns,two California bighorns and two stones! Very lucky here in B.C. too have four species of sheep too hunt. Merely go to the sporting goods store buy a sheep tag and pick your spot. Our Dall sheep are in the extreme Northwest corner of B.C. and are on draw only. When I do pull that tag it will be a party! Then I got too start putting down for a Desert bighorn in your guys neck of the woods. Send me a PM with your e-mail address MR and can send you some pics of our sheep hunts. RAMSHOT.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Wow

Ramshot, got the pics. Those are some dandy rams. The second one titled "Dan's Sheep Hunt", looks like a monster. Maybe it's the camera perspective, but he looks like a 200+

What are the stats on those guys?

 

[goodgrouper]

George,

Here is that ram I was telling you about on the phone. This was Thanksgiving day right up Rock Canyon. This ram has not been shot or chased off. He seems to like to hang around north of Y mountain although he could have easily gone for a little stroll south of there.

 

[Stormrider]

Great pictures. How far away were you? I'd wager you weren't very far.

 

[goodgrouper]

Great pictures. How far away were you? I'd wager you weren't very far.

Oh about 25 yards I'd guess. Close enough I could hear one of the ewes had gas!

 

[gliechty]

Oh about 25 yards I'd guess. Close enough I could hear one of the ewes had gas!

No, the ram was just blamming it on the ewe!!!

 

[Stormrider]

 

[Sendero_Man]

any sheep rifle build updates ?

 

[Sendero_Man]

when is the wedding ? this week ?

 

[gliechty]

I have been way lame the last couple of months. Life just keep getting in the way! Doin my best to get rifles done for customers and still trying to figure out what to take sheep hunting. I am going down to the unit to take a look around next week, and hope to have some good pictures to post. Maybe all of the pet sheep are still in Sunnyside so I can pick out my ram and tag him so the other hunters will leave him alone until I get a shot. Is it legal to pre-tag your game?

Hope everyone hasn't lost interest yet!

More to come:

 

[Michael Eichele]

I may just skip the first week of the hunt to avoid the other hunters, as they typically have a lot of people with them.

I used to play that game as well. Then I realized that it is often that the best rams are taken early (1st day or 2) by pre season scouters. That is when I started doing my hunting before the season and the shooting on opening day. I would learn the rams habits and after I had them patterned I would get in position on the back side of the nearest ridge, get up at 0330 am, eat, pack, climb to the ridge top and wait for 1st light. At 1st light, bang! This typically beats all other competition. Not trying to tell you how to hunt your sheep, just that if you do find a toad, you might concider camping on him till 1st light of opening day. Competetive sheep hunters are relentless.

Also as a side tip never ever violate sheeps space untill you go for the shot. They have beyond exceptional eye sight and can spot you moving over 2 miles away. They almost always have the advantage of being higher in elevation than you which makes you easy to spot and smell in the daytime thermals. They are also very quick to pick up on sun light reflecting off of your optics. If the sun is anywhere near in front of you DO NOT look at them no matter how bad you want to unless a partner provides your optics with adequete shade by his body or other object. When a mature ram sees these glints, you may never see him again or he may go in to inaccesible terrain for days or even a week. Lesser rams may not but they are not old enough to have seen the routine often enough to know the potential outcome.

Happy hunting!

 

[gliechty]

My wife and I spent saturday in Nine mile/Range creek looking for sheep. I know it is all just blah blah blah without pictures, but my camera is missing at the moment and I have to track it down.

First thoughts were: I was crazy to think that this will be a walk in the park! This is some big country with steep cliffs, side canyons and miles upon miles of area to look over. I am not taking it for granted any longer. I will be spending every chance I can get down there getting to know the area.

We spent the first part of the day looking for the rams that hang out around Sunnyside. We didnt have any luck finding them, and were wondering if they had started to move into the rutting areas. I went and talked to a guy that was running the liquor store, and he stated they were around a few days ago, so we went back at sundown to look again. One thing that I noticed was that the sheep in the pictures he showed me were "exactly" the same color as most of the dirt and rocks in the area. Unless they were on the move, they will be hard to see. Praying for an early snow!

We then went to the southern half of the unit where the ewes and lambs tend to hang out, as that is where the rams should be during the season (Nov. 1st to the 30th). We used mountain bikes to see as much of the area as possible and stopped periodically to glass for sheep. We didnt see any ewes or lambs either, but found a set of lone tracks with fresh droppings on the trail. I am guessing that this was a ram, as the ewes tend to stay in herds. The bad part was that there was a set of lion tracks following the sheep tracks. I will puchasing a lion tag if they are available.

All in all, it was a very productive trip. I got to spend a day with my new wife, who by the loved every minute of it and was more disappointed than I was not to be able to see a sheep. She wants to go back with me, and is getting excited to try hunting next year. As long as I clean the animals. Now I know better where to concentrait my time on the next trip.

I will post some pictures later tonight if I locate the camera.

 

[Michael Eichele]

First thoughts were: I was crazy to think that this will be a walk in the park! This is some big country with steep cliffs, side canyons and miles upon miles of area to look over. I am not taking it for granted any longer. I will be spending every chance I can get down there getting to know the area.

LOL!!

Welcome to the great world of sheep hunting. I learned very quickly that in sheep country, nothing is ever what it appears to be untill you are neck deep in it.

One thing that I noticed was that the sheep in the pictures he showed me were "exactly" the same color as most of the dirt and rocks in the area. Unless they were on the move, they will be hard to see. Praying for an early snow!

This is also classic sheep hunting. Even for dall sheep which are white and you would think they would be easy to spot. The one thing they will do often is roll around in the dirt and gravel and they become the same color as the rock around them. They can be near impossible at times to find escpescially when it is only their head overlooking from their perch that is visible. The solution I have found to solving this is 3 things. Use the VERY best optics available. The Swarovski 15X56's and the EL 10x42's and the Lieca Ultravids have been among the best sheep finders (IMHO). The second key is no matter what the glass you decide to use is to mount them on a tripod with a pistol grip style "ball head" (Click here for a quality head). The 3rd key is to be comfortable while you glass. This ensures you hang out on your vantage long enough to find success in finding them. Get comfortable, use steady glassing tequniques and use good glass and you will find them. Once you find them you can almost always formulate a plan. The key to success is finding them. Dont underestimate a good map either.