Alberta Bighorn Outfitter Recommendation

[AlbertaFisher]

Good morning all,
I literally just got back from Rocky sheep in the Willmore Wilderness Park three days ago with an outfitter mentioned in this thread. I am pretty disappointed with the whole Alberta process and animals. DO NOT GO TO ALBERTA FOR ROCKY unless you want to go 2 to 3 times or more. That will be 3-400K. You are better off buying a governors tag if you can afford it. 15 days on horseback and everything that goes with it. No legal Ram only half curls. Huge issue as mentioned is residents being able to buy a Ram tag for 80 bucks over the counter then add Natives allowed to hunt all year no restrictions. Public hunting area so other outfitters are hunting the same Ram you are and not to mention the bears. Day 3 had a 9ft grizz charge us and saw 12 more huge bears after that. There is no Grizz hunting allowed in Alberta! The place is a bad place to hunt, period! The list goes on for me with one bad thing after another but I won’t go into detail. We all need to stop buying these hunts, the outfitters need to make this a trophy fee hunt so they have some skin in the game! 100K is absurd for a maybe kill. Make the hunt 40K and add a realistic trophy fee of 20-30K, which is still ridiculous. This would have completed my slam so the sales of the outfitter worked on me to sign! Bad decision. I’ll keep putting in for my points and take my chances there before Ram hunting in Alberta. I know that there were 8 hunters taken to this area this season and only 1 hunter got a Ram. Horrible kill percentage. The two guys before me in camp were also trying to finish their slam and no Ram for them either! Not sure if you can personal message me here but if you can I will give more details privately!

To be fair, that’s Alberta for you. Our land is a wild place, especially the Willmore… a place I am very fond of. The legal sheep are far and few between, and the outfitter pressure across Alberta pisses us residents off. It takes 5-10 years of annual effort from residents to shoot a ram out here (I know several), so it’s not like we’re laying in all the bushes sniping them out immediately. Additionally, usually residents just take one ram in their lives, rarely more.
Outfitter cover the mountains with their tents and lay claim to the land in July (season for residents opens Aug 25). This is Canada, where we have what is called crown (public) land. It doesn’t matter that I don’t like the outfitters (I haven’t done a trophy sheep hunt yet), and it doesn’t matter that they don’t like residents and our indigenous people. We all have to get along. The winters are long and harsh, so everything grows slowly out here. Management isn’t the best, but also the amount of outfitter tags they allow is absolutely ridiculous.
There’s always a truth in the middle. Sorry your hunt didn’t go the way you wanted it to. I went to Alaska fly in to do a DIY float down a remote river and I was told the coho salmon were closed the day I arrived on the river before the plane left me and my friends there. I know how you feel, but also, enjoy the journey. It’s not healthy to always focus on the kill and forget the path to the end goal — like everything in life.

 

[Rooferrich]

Good morning,
I agree with all you've said. You guys have a great thing there. Maybe what I am trying to point out will help you. I just want to point out how outfitters are misleading the foreign hunters, almost to the point of it being an unethical sales presentation. They all tell us the odds are 50% and that is no where true. I understand hunting and going home empty handed but a money grab is all these outfitters seem to be offering. One out of eight hunters taking a legal Ram this season is no where near 50%. I love Canada and have had some of my most favorite hunts there and I will be back but not for Sheep!

 

[AlbertaFisher]

Good morning,
I agree with all you've said. You guys have a great thing there. Maybe what I am trying to point out will help you. I just want to point out how outfitters are misleading the foreign hunters, almost to the point of it being an unethical sales presentation. They all tell us the odds are 50% and that is no where true. I understand hunting and going home empty handed but a money grab is all these outfitters seem to be offering. One out of eight hunters taking a legal Ram this season is no where near 50%. I love Canada and have had some of my most favorite hunts there and I will be back but not for Sheep!

Awesome response, thank you for the cordial conversation. I agree with everything you’ve said as well. Outfitters are saturating the landscape there. There needs to be a cut in tags or area allowance for them for everyone to be able to harvest a sheep. For residents, if we were to harvest a sheep, we are ineligible for a tag the following year — the outfitters get at least 8 tags every year.
This ultimately screws over you guys wanting a quality hunt, us residents, and ultimately, the sheep. Unable to grow to a legal “squeaker” size, I’m not sure why our province isn’t putting more effort into better management.
The reality is, sheep have moved into very very remote areas where they aren’t hunted, where they can the hunted (mine sites and parks), or live much of their lives in the timber during hunting season.
I agree that many of these outfitters are disingenuous about expectations. If you do buy the ministers tag, shoot me a DM I maybe able to point you in the right direction.
Cheers

 

[cuerro viejo]

Good morning all,
I literally just got back from Rocky sheep in the Willmore Wilderness Park three days ago with an outfitter mentioned in this thread. I am pretty disappointed with the whole Alberta process and animals. DO NOT GO TO ALBERTA FOR ROCKY unless you want to go 2 to 3 times or more. That will be 3-400K. You are better off buying a governors tag if you can afford it. 15 days on horseback and everything that goes with it. No legal Ram only half curls. Huge issue as mentioned is residents being able to buy a Ram tag for 80 bucks over the counter then add Natives allowed to hunt all year no restrictions. Public hunting area so other outfitters are hunting the same Ram you are and not to mention the bears. Day 3 had a 9ft grizz charge us and saw 12 more huge bears after that. There is no Grizz hunting allowed in Alberta! The place is a bad place to hunt, period! The list goes on for me with one bad thing after another but I won’t go into detail. We all need to stop buying these hunts, the outfitters need to make this a trophy fee hunt so they have some skin in the game! 100K is absurd for a maybe kill. Make the hunt 40K and add a realistic trophy fee of 20-30K, which is still ridiculous. This would have completed my slam so the sales of the outfitter worked on me to sign! Bad decision. I’ll keep putting in for my points and take my chances there before Ram hunting in Alberta. I know that there were 8 hunters taken to this area this season and only 1 hunter got a Ram. Horrible kill percentage. The two guys before me in camp were also trying to finish their slam and no Ram for them either! Not sure if you can personal message me here but if you can I will give more details privately!

CO is around 70-100k for LO sheep tags and you are looking at 160-180 rams, and 99% success if you have whole season

 

[AlbertaFisher]

CO is around 70-100k for LO sheep tags and you are looking at 160-180 rams, and 99% success if you have whole season

Better growing season and good management at its finest eh! Im glad you guys have that amazing resource

 

[dirtshooter]

A big issue with Alberta, Canada hunting in general, is the indigenous hunting. No rules no regs. Spotlighting, multi kill hunts, wastage, out of season hunting just to kill a cow with a calf still inside. They're the reason the AB goat season was closed for so long and why the aB bison season is closed again. It's worse in BC, they decide who can hunt what and have a say in the regulations yet don't regulate themselves.

 

[AlbertaFisher]

A big issue with Alberta, Canada hunting in general, is the indigenous hunting. No rules no regs. Spotlighting, multi kill hunts, wastage, out of season hunting just to kill a cow with a calf still inside. They're the reason the AB goat season was closed for so long and why the aB bison season is closed again. It's worse in BC, they decide who can hunt what and have a say in the regulations yet don't regulate themselves.

The primary reason the bison closed down is because of the ambiguous status of the heard up near the NWT boarder. There was an outfit that started up there and hunted the shit out of them (still in court) and that’s why they closed it up as a blanket statement from what I understand. I can’t speak about Zama. I don’t think we can fully blame the indigenous hunters as I know many and they respect the hell out of the rules. A few (if any group) can ruin it for many.

 

[Rooferrich]

CO is around 70-100k for LO sheep tags and you are looking at 160-180 rams, and 99% success if you have whole season

Hi I have never heard of a land owner tag in Colorado nor would I know how or who to contact. With guys buying governors tags for 500K you'd think that more people would know how to go down that road. Any info would be appreciated!

 

[cuerro viejo]

Hi I have never heard of a land owner tag in Colorado nor would I know how or who to contact. With guys buying governors tags for 500K you'd think that more people would know how to go down that road. Any info would be appreciated!

Gov tag is any unit, LO tags are specific ranch or a ranch cluster, you are bound to what lives inside those boundaries, Gov Tag you are basically only bound by private land permission

It’s not hard to figure which ranches have them. Just look at your CO sheep guide and look at ranching for Wildlife hunts.

Just don’t expect a huge ram, just a mature ram

 

[Doc Holliday]

Here is the list of Rocky tags. The first Utah tag is cheaper than many of the 1:8 success rate Canadian Rocky Mtn BH hunts. No brainer if you got the cash:

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Tag Auctions and Raffles | Huntin' Fool

Drawing a Rocky Mountain or California Bighorn Sheep permit is a difficult task. Learn about your opportunities to draw.

www.huntinfool.com

Interesting that Desert tags have gone down the last few years, and some of these US tags are cheaper than many of the Mexico hunts:

Desert Bighorn Sheep Tag Auctions and Raffles | Huntin' Fool

Still one of the most sought after big game species in the West, a Desert Bighorn sheep tag is tough to obtain no matter what! Learn about your opportunities.

www.huntinfool.com

 

[MountainWild]

Good morning all,
I literally just got back from Rocky sheep in the Willmore Wilderness Park three days ago with an outfitter mentioned in this thread. I am pretty disappointed with the whole Alberta process and animals. DO NOT GO TO ALBERTA FOR ROCKY unless you want to go 2 to 3 times or more. That will be 3-400K. You are better off buying a governors tag if you can afford it. 15 days on horseback and everything that goes with it. No legal Ram only half curls. Huge issue as mentioned is residents being able to buy a Ram tag for 80 bucks over the counter then add Natives allowed to hunt all year no restrictions. Public hunting area so other outfitters are hunting the same Ram you are and not to mention the bears. Day 3 had a 9ft grizz charge us and saw 12 more huge bears after that. There is no Grizz hunting allowed in Alberta! The place is a bad place to hunt, period! The list goes on for me with one bad thing after another but I won’t go into detail. We all need to stop buying these hunts, the outfitters need to make this a trophy fee hunt so they have some skin in the game! 100K is absurd for a maybe kill. Make the hunt 40K and add a realistic trophy fee of 20-30K, which is still ridiculous. This would have completed my slam so the sales of the outfitter worked on me to sign! Bad decision. I’ll keep putting in for my points and take my chances there before Ram hunting in Alberta. I know that there were 8 hunters taken to this area this season and only 1 hunter got a Ram. Horrible kill percentage. The two guys before me in camp were also trying to finish their slam and no Ram for them either! Not sure if you can personal message me here but if you can I will give more details privately!

Hey @Rooferrich I'm so sorry you had a bad time. If your outfitter was Scott (Carter Outfitting), I am so sorry for your experience. He is a supreme jerk. He read my post about him on this thread and sent me the following - "You are a poor excuse for a hunter and completely did not deserve the great ram you harvested. The cape was in perfect shape when shipped to you. Cant wait to see you in Salt Lake. I guarantee you wont come by my booth because you are a complete puss!" I guess now, Scott gets to charge his clients and then decides who "deserves" a ram. I have no idea what he means there. I found my ram, 100% spotted him on my own, when his guides were drunk at camp. The wrangler took me to a ridge to glass and I found him. I guess since I found him, I paid for the hunt, I shot him, and put my miles in on the mountain, I still don't "deserve" the ram. Sounds like he has plans for me when he sees me at the Salt Lake show. two words - CLASS ACT!

 

[TalusHunterCA]

Hey @Rooferrich I'm so sorry you had a bad time. If your outfitter was Scott (Carter Outfitting), I am so sorry for your experience. He is a supreme jerk. He read my post about him on this thread and sent me the following - "You are a poor excuse for a hunter and completely did not deserve the great ram you harvested. The cape was in perfect shape when shipped to you. Cant wait to see you in Salt Lake. I guarantee you wont come by my booth because you are a complete puss!" I guess now, Scott gets to charge his clients and then decides who "deserves" a ram. I have no idea what he means there. I found my ram, 100% spotted him on my own, when his guides were drunk at camp. The wrangler took me to a ridge to glass and I found him. I guess since I found him, I paid for the hunt, I shot him, and put my miles in on the mountain, I still don't "deserve" the ram. Sounds like he has plans for me when he sees me at the Salt Lake show. two words - CLASS ACT!

That's unfortunate but doesn't surprise me. I have met Scott Carter multiple times at the WHE and Sheep Show and I would never hunt with a guy like that. He also has his guides involved in shenanigans against the resident hunters. Enough said.

 

[Northern Safari]

That’s not the first time in recent months that I’ve read about how much of a crap shoot sheep hunting in Alberta is.

I wonder if the same issues carry over into the goat hunts? Think BC is a better sheep and goat destination than AB?

 

[dirtshooter]

That’s not the first time in recent months that I’ve read about how much of a crap shoot sheep hunting in Alberta is.

I wonder if the same issues carry over into the goat hunts? Think BC is a better sheep and goat destination than AB?

BC for goats for sure

 

[Ram94]

That’s not the first time in recent months that I’ve read about how much of a crap shoot sheep hunting in Alberta is.

I wonder if the same issues carry over into the goat hunts? Think BC is a better sheep and goat destination than AB?

You can’t buy a goat hunt in Alberta, so no need to worry about that. Even for residents, they only draw 5 tags for the whole province. Very low odds of ending up with a tag. If you are native or metis though, it’s open season. Hunt them all year long with no bag limit. Sweet system up here.

 

[dirtshooter]

You can’t buy a goat hunt in Alberta, so no need to worry about that. Even for residents, they only draw 5 tags for the whole province. Very low odds of ending up with a tag. If you are native or metis though, it’s open season. Hunt them all year long with no bag limit. Sweet system up here.

I can't like this post enough. Jesus.

 

[Northern Safari]

You can’t buy a goat hunt in Alberta, so no need to worry about that. Even for residents, they only draw 5 tags for the whole province. Very low odds of ending up with a tag. If you are native or metis though, it’s open season. Hunt them all year long with no bag limit. Sweet system up here.

Oh shit, I didn’t know tags were that slim.
I assumed one could easily hunt for goat through in Outfitter in AB.

Glad I’m going to BC for mine then.

 

[Rooferrich]

Hey @Rooferrich I'm so sorry you had a bad time. If your outfitter was Scott (Carter Outfitting), I am so sorry for your experience. He is a supreme jerk. He read my post about him on this thread and sent me the following - "You are a poor excuse for a hunter and completely did not deserve the great ram you harvested. The cape was in perfect shape when shipped to you. Cant wait to see you in Salt Lake. I guarantee you wont come by my booth because you are a complete puss!" I guess now, Scott gets to charge his clients and then decides who "deserves" a ram. I have no idea what he means there. I found my ram, 100% spotted him on my own, when his guides were drunk at camp. The wrangler took me to a ridge to glass and I found him. I guess since I found him, I paid for the hunt, I shot him, and put my miles in on the mountain, I still don't "deserve" the ram. Sounds like he has plans for me when he sees me at the Salt Lake show. two words - CLASS ACT!

When did you go and get your Ram. Congrats by the way!

 

[yycyak]

I hate our management system so much up here... Nice to see that 2024 resident allocations were cut, but outfitters stayed the same/increased.

Because reasons.

I can't like this post enough. Jesus.

 

[bowshot2]

A resident of Alberta here. I hunt sheep annually and have for 35 years. I have shot 2. This year out there we learned some things about our Outfitters. 4 of them pretty much control the Nonresident tags. When one of the US States cut there available tags, these guys got together and upped the prices huge. The demand is there, they all claim to be booked up. The Outfitters are also lobbying the government to limit resident pressure for Sheep Management reasons....right. More like limiting the pressure on them for their clients.

We have hard winters, we have lots of predators. The growing season is shorter than down south. Many of the sheep in the record books taken in the US, originated from here. The sheep population is close to the carrying capacity in many areas but legal or mature rams are really hard to find. This year in 20 days of hunting, we located over 100 different rams, 2 of which met the legal requirement of 4/5 curl, not 3/4 as stated by a guy above. Neither were shot. The legal requirement in the southern part of the Province is full curl, harvest rate is low.

Resident pressure is high but is mostly at the beginning and end of the season. There are people out there every day throughout the season. I will buy a tag every year just to go out there and hope to be able to introduce my grankids to the hunt. If we go to the draw system, the chances of them getting a tag in their lifetime is unbelievably low, and introducing new blood into the hunt is nonexistant. It will simply turn into a hunt that once drawn, drain your bank account so you are successfull, check the box and move on.