Alberta Bighorn Outfitter Recommendation

[AlbertaFisher]

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.

Couldn’t agree more. Outfitters are a huge problem, and many of us are resentful for seeing quotas cut in half (supplemental tags 2 to 1, zones slashed for draws, etc.) and yet…. No change to outfitters. Especially the huge outfits. Something MUST change. Outfitters are not bringing much to the table for wildlife management and conservation, and if they are I have no idea what they do other than “stimulate the local economy”.

 

[Rooferrich]

I hope you all get to hunt them forever. The word needs to be out about these outfitters as I said at the beginning of this post. The states down here are screwed when it comes to tags for sheep. I have been putting in for over ten years and I probably will not see a tag before I am 75 and I am 55 right now! Hopefully that does not happen to you! The outfitters have put a snow job on any non resident in Alberta hunting sheep and everyone needs to tell anyone with ears about it. I have spoken to way too many people that are saying the same thing. the odds are bad for someone to hunt 10-12 days and shoot a Ram. If I had all season or year to scout such as the residents I could get it done but outfitters are robbing people and nothing will change my mind. Even the good outfitters who do the right thing aren't honest about the odds. It is not 50% like they all say!

 

[Ram94]

I hope you all get to hunt them forever. The word needs to be out about these outfitters as I said at the beginning of this post. The states down here are screwed when it comes to tags for sheep. I have been putting in for over ten years and I probably will not see a tag before I am 75 and I am 55 right now! Hopefully that does not happen to you! The outfitters have put a snow job on any non resident in Alberta hunting sheep and everyone needs to tell anyone with ears about it. I have spoken to way too many people that are saying the same thing. the odds are bad for someone to hunt 10-12 days and shoot a Ram. If I had all season or year to scout such as the residents I could get it done but outfitters are robbing people and nothing will change my mind. Even the good outfitters who do the right thing aren't honest about the odds. It is not 50% like they all say!

Sure it is.

Either you get one, or you don’t. 50/50

 

[Rooferrich]

That’s the issue! It is not 50/50 but that is what is being told to all the hunters coming from out of country! The outfitters need to be honest about the odds! It’s about 8% over the last two years of the outfitter I went with!

 

[cbeard64]

There is no better example for doing thorough research BEFORE your hunt than the Alberta bighorn situation. All this information has been pretty readily available for several years now. No one should ever book a hunt at a show or otherwise just based on what an outfitter is telling you. No sane person would knowingly pay $$$ approaching 6 figures to go on what is likely going to be a 10-14 day camping trip.

 

[Northern Safari]

I assume there will be some interesting conversations at SCI this winter regarding Alberta sheep hunts.

 

[Rooferrich]

There is no better example for doing thorough research BEFORE your hunt than the Alberta bighorn situation. All this information has been pretty readily available for several years now. No one should ever book a hunt at a show or otherwise just based on what an outfitter is telling you. No sane person would knowingly pay $$$ approaching 6 figures to go on what is likely going to be a 10-14 day camping trip.

So I did extensive in person research and spoke to people who have hunted in that area with the outfitter that owned the tags before the outfitter that I went with. Both got sheep and raved about the area. All the outfitters at the shows boast about their kill rate being 50% five years I have been talking to outfitters and it was always 50%. OK I can handle that. No outfitter is going to give you a name of a hunter who had a bad time. Yes it is 100% on me that I booked this trip without finding a blog such as this. But there isn't anyone out there talking about it in person. Anyone that knows someone wanting to hunt Alberta or BC for sheep need to know and its all of our jobs to make sure they know that their odds are slim to none. Yes I know guys will get sheep but that's a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of hunters that are going to get scammed next hunting season! It's a money grab like I had mentioned in earlier posts. Yes SCI and sheep shows coming up are gonna be fun informing people standing at these booths of the true adds of spending 110K on a dude ranch trip!

 

[Rooferrich]

I assume there will be some interesting conversations at SCI this winter regarding Alberta sheep hunts.

Yes I am going to make sure of it. Thinking about getting a shirt made, "Ask me about my sheep hunt in Alberta"

 

[FAAFO]

There is no better example for doing thorough research BEFORE your hunt than the Alberta bighorn situation. All this information has been pretty readily available for several years now. No one should ever book a hunt at a show or otherwise just based on what an outfitter is telling you. No sane person would knowingly pay $$$ approaching 6 figures to go on what is likely going to be a 10-14 day camping trip.

 

[TheGrayRider]

Alberta and BC sheep hunting sounds like a mess. Probably much better hunts in other locations to book out there.

Thanks for the honest information. I enjoy reading these posts.

Happy Veterans Day and Happy Remembrance Day, TheGrayRider a/k/a Tom.