Alaska dall sheep

[taxidermybycam]

I have a rental that would be available next year. Nice small unit. I’ll even show you on a map where you can fly in and get a ram with your old man. 2,000/month utilities included, min 1 year lease. 3000 deposit. Available April 2026.

That's cheaper than state college Pennsylvania in most parts .

 

[medvedyt]

That's cheaper than state college Pennsylvania in most parts .

there is no outfitter that will guarantee you a ram ... unless it is attached to the home lol

 

[OMB]

For what it's worth, when I got bit by the sheep bug several years ago, I talked to close to 100 references of outfitters and probably a third to half were tradesman that built a business, and most weren't over 50. Even today, I'm not from a state with mountains or sheep but when I look up the new WSF life members from my state, around half the time they're guys doing electrical, plumbing, or construction.

Might not be the easiest advice to hear, but you're going to have an easier path growing your income than you will finding a way to trade into a sheep hunt these days. Quality proven outfitters in any sector of hunting have plenty of repeat customers that pay cash, on time, and understand how to work the program, it's just simple demographics.

Edit: I seem to remember there was an Alaska outfitter in the last several years that hosted some different TV guys to get his business going and everyone managed to get one, one of them even being a big time "on your own, no guides" type. And then every year after nobody really got one. If it sounds too good to be true in sheep hunting, it probably is, or it's incredibly expensive (nothing wrong with that, but it usually doesn't carry that disclosure.)

 

[PORK]

Yeah man if I had the money! Most of the transporters I did speak with wouldn’t fly me in solo. I got to hunt sheep all for the price of a few tanks of gas.

yeah it can be spendy, but makes it a whole hell of a lot easier. I always found it odd that so many pilots will not fly someone in solo.

 

[PORK]

We have open calls right now for electricians where you will gross 3800/week just on the check not counting benefits. @Wireman07 come on up. 6 10s that will likely change to 7 10s. Sundays are double time so that’s 110/hr.

 

[BRWNBR]

Sheep hunting isn’t that great. Go camp in the mtns and be frustrated cause there’s no legal animals. No thsnks. Been there done that. Sheep success is so low right now I wouldn’t buy the camping trip.

 

[gbflyer]

Go get an alpine blacktail. Way better success rates and stunning county. It’s no less a trophy.

 

[AK Troutbum]

there are quite a few guides who dont live in ak right? Maybe there is a dude guiding up here who lives in SD and needs some stuff done. the electrical work wouldnt have to be in alaska. if this dude makes it up here, id have him check out the dumb trim tabs on my boat have a beer be friends and then go out fishing. i hate electrical stuff.

For some reason, while reading this post, trailer lights come to mind.

 

[ColeyG]

Sheep hunting isn’t that great. Go camp in the mtns and be frustrated cause there’s no legal animals. No thsnks. Been there done that. Sheep success is so low right now I wouldn’t buy the camping trip.

The success rate still hovers around 20% annually, which it pretty much always has. Just fewer people hunting right now due to low legal ram abundance.

This will be a really telling year re: the future of sheep hunting in Alaska. Hard to imagine that the number of animals harvested could dip much lower than the all-time low in 2024.

 

[PORK]

The success rate still hovers around 20% annually, which it pretty much always has. Just fewer people hunting right now due to low legal ram abundance.

This will be a really telling year re: the future of sheep hunting in Alaska. Hard to imagine that the number of animals harvested could dip much lower than the all-time low in 2024.

What makes this the telling year?

 

[BRWNBR]

The success rate still hovers around 20% annually, which it pretty much always has. Just fewer people hunting right now due to low legal ram abundance.

This will be a really telling year re: the future of sheep hunting in Alaska. Hard to imagine that the number of animals harvested could dip much lower than the all-time low in 2024.

Sheep success typically ran 60-70 percent for non resident hunters. Resident hunters usually maintained a pretty low success which has remained largely unchanged. I would never run a guide business off a 20 percent success rate. That would be rough! Lol
But sheep are in a bad way. We lost alot in 2000. It was about 14 years before the numbers were really huntable where I hunted.

 

[ColeyG]

Sheep success typically ran 60-70 percent for non resident hunters. Resident hunters usually maintained a pretty low success which has remained largely unchanged. I would never run a guide business off a 20 percent success rate. That would be rough! Lol
But sheep are in a bad way. We lost alot in 2000. It was about 14 years before the numbers were really huntable where I hunted.

20-ish % has been the rolling average for res+non-res for a while. Yes, non-res success rate has always been quite a bit higher for likely obvious reasons.

This year will be telling in that we will see whether or not we have hit rock bottom re: ram harvest, or we will yet again set an all-time record low for rams killed. Seems like most of the bios think things are going to get worse before they get better, whereas others are optimistic about the number of younger rams they have seen in some areas the past few years.

Personally, I think we will see just about the same number of rams killed this year as compared to last with a similar number of hunters and success rate. I didn't see anything last year in 4 different zones I visited during sheep season that would indicate a significant change one way or another.

I also think we will see a continued trend of 6-7 year-old rams making up a higher percentage of the total than has been the case in years gone by. In other words, a lower average age than has been the norm.

 

[AK4]

the average age of sheep harvest has changed very little on 20+ years. everyone says we are killing younger rams. I don't believe that is the case at all. I have the average age of harvest for every year since 2000. a high of 8.82 years old in 2020 and a low of 8.18 years old in 2015 (2000 = 8.57). 2024 was 8.27 years old. overall, we are not killing a significant number of young sheep. but there are less sheep so each sheep is more important. lets think about this for a second.... do you think any ewes are going un-breed after the rut? I think the rams that are around are doing the job. there are not enough ewes. ewes are not hunted in Alaska, therefore the issue is not shooting rams its weather or other natural causes. it takes a long time to "grow" a legal ram... its great when people tell me "I saw a ton of lambs and ewes" that's a great start but its still going to take years to dig out of this hole. weather and time.... weather and time...

 

[medvedyt]

predations on lambs is not to be forgotten and grizzlies and wolves are taking their share as well.

 

[Iceman82]

Do not listen to the nay-sayers. There are definitely ways to barter. I have been in the refrigeration business for decades have traded several hunts and items. I love your attitude of being creative and trying to make something happen. Screw the negative bullshit people throw out there. Most are jealous and don't have anything to offer but shitty advice.
You keep inquiring, asking, and searching, you'll be surprised.

 

[BRWNBR]

Ram harvest is also highly dependent on weather for the fall as well and not a great representation of actual available sheep

 

[ColeyG]

the average age of sheep harvest has changed very little on 20+ years. everyone says we are killing younger rams. I don't believe that is the case at all. I have the average age of harvest for every year since 2000. a high of 8.82 years old in 2020 and a low of 8.18 years old in 2015 (2000 = 8.57). 2024 was 8.27 years old. overall, we are not killing a significant number of young sheep. but there are less sheep so each sheep is more important. lets think about this for a second.... do you think any ewes are going un-breed after the rut? I think the rams that are around are doing the job. there are not enough ewes. ewes are not hunted in Alaska, therefore the issue is not shooting rams its weather or other natural causes. it takes a long time to "grow" a legal ram... its great when people tell me "I saw a ton of lambs and ewes" that's a great start but its still going to take years to dig out of this hole. weather and time.... weather and time...

I would call almost a full year swing fairly significant, having gone from an avg age of nearly 9 to nearly 8. Considering the narrow bandwidth of age these animals can be harvested in, that is a big swing. As noted, with such a small pool of data these days, bigger swings one way or another are less significant than when we were killing 1200 rams a year.

The avg age in 2023 was 8.06 based on the numbers I looked at.

In 2023 117 out of 340, or 35%, of rams were less than 8 y/o.

2019 = 8.65
2020 = 8.76
2021 = 8.25
2022 = 8.18
2023 = 8.06

I'm no statistician, but that seems like a trend to me.

So what?

Valid question. I don't think the long-term affects of killing younger rams has been looked closely, nor has the potential impact on younger rams survival in relation to not having mature rams on the mountain.

Perhaps killing 5-6-7 year old rams isn't a significant biological problem for herd maintenance. There are still human factors and concerns to consider as well. Those dead young rams won't turn into mature 9+ year-old rams that a significant number of the remaining hunters, non-res and res, are looking for, hoping for.

Yet another trend is the % of rams killed that are 40" or better. In the past, 40" rams have made up as much as 6.5% of the total. That number has dropped to 4.5 to 5% in the last handful of years. For whatever that is worth.

 

[ColeyG]

Ram harvest is also highly dependent on weather for the fall as well and not a great representation of actual available sheep

But that has always been the case. Sheep season is long and that gives motivated hunters a lot of opportunity to kill something. If weather was a significant variable in harvest from year to year, we'd see big peaks and valleys in the data, which we don't We see a consistent trend downwards in harvest.

I will say that weather for the opening 10 days of the season, when 70-80% of sheep get killed, affects harvest to a degree, but not significantly with regard to the total at seasons end. These days it seems more a matter of who gets to kill the legal ram and when, as opposed to whether or not the legal ram gets killed. Stories abound of multiple parties having the same ram picked out before opening day and the hunt is a foot chase to see who can get there first. No thanks.

 

[AK4]

I would call almost a full year swing fairly significant, having gone from an avg age of nearly 9 to nearly 8. Considering the narrow bandwidth of age these animals can be harvested in, that is a big swing. As noted, with such a small pool of data these days, bigger swings one way or another are less significant than when we were killing 1200 rams a year.

The avg age in 2023 was 8.06 based on the numbers I looked at.

In 2023 117 out of 340, or 35%, of rams were less than 8 y/o.

2019 = 8.65
2020 = 8.76
2021 = 8.25
2022 = 8.18
2023 = 8.06

I'm no statistician, but that seems like a trend to me.

So what?

Valid question. I don't think the long-term affects of killing younger rams has been looked closely, nor has the potential impact on younger rams survival in relation to not having mature rams on the mountain.

Perhaps killing 5-6-7 year old rams isn't a significant biological problem for herd maintenance. There are still human factors and concerns to consider as well. Those dead young rams won't turn into mature 9+ year-old rams that a significant number of the remaining hunters, non-res and res, are looking for, hoping for.

Yet another trend is the % of rams killed that are 40" or better. In the past, 40" rams have made up as much as 6.5% of the total. That number has dropped to 4.5 to 5% in the last handful of years. For whatever that is worth.

I do agree with alot of what your saying but if your look at trends like ages in.
2015 8.18
2014 8.26
2013 8.22

I believe what we are dealing with is a downturn that will come back and fix itself like it always has. Just takes time. (I hope)… the 40” trend can swing either way with a few big rams. Really not that many true trophy’s killed each year. Limited chugach / tok / delta permits probably have a lot to do with those numbers. Just 2 cents from a very uneducated guy that just likes walking through the mountains.

 

[BRWNBR]

Ahhh sheep threads. Numbers on top of numbers. And all that changes with a late spring or warm winter.