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.

 

[41thunder]

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!

I know who you hunted with.

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

The problem doesn’t lie with the outfitters. They have been doing their same thing for decades. The problem lies with the entitled resident hunters, with poor predator management, zero habitat enhancement, poor regulations, and terrible biologists. I know who the op hunted with, without him even having to say their name. This spring the bios were patting themselves on the back for doing such an excellent job because the sheep harvest rates have been going up. That’s all that they care about. Every year they like to see x amount of rams killed. They don’t care if they are 150” or 190”. They just care about dead sheep. This year has been horrible for the outfitters, I don’t think I know 1 that went over 50%. That’s not from a lack of trying or a lack of sheep. One outfitters friend seen 44 different rams on a 6 day hunt. None were legal. All the mature rams they found were broomed short. Resident hunters weren’t much better. I only heard of a couple higher scoring rams. And numbers in general are way down. The only people that have had any luck are the ones who are friends with the biosb

Your comment about the ministers tag is pretty funny, who are you going to call that you don’t think has been called already lol. The current tag holder has bought it two years in a row. He turned down the second biggest ram that’s been killed in Alberta this year by a resident. Before the resident season even opened lol. He’s coming back in a couple weeks to try again.

I also have a friend that bought the resident guided hunt with Carter this year from the wsfab. He killed one after all the non residents had finished their hunts. So the rams are there

 

[FAAFO]

I know who you hunted with.

The problem doesn’t lie with the outfitters. They have been doing their same thing for decades. The problem lies with the entitled resident hunters, with poor predator management, zero habitat enhancement, poor regulations, and terrible biologists. I know who the op hunted with, without him even having to say their name. This spring the bios were patting themselves on the back for doing such an excellent job because the sheep harvest rates have been going up. That’s all that they care about. Every year they like to see x amount of rams killed. They don’t care if they are 150” or 190”. They just care about dead sheep. This year has been horrible for the outfitters, I don’t think I know 1 that went over 50%. That’s not from a lack of trying or a lack of sheep. One outfitters friend seen 44 different rams on a 6 day hunt. None were legal. All the mature rams they found were broomed short. Resident hunters weren’t much better. I only heard of a couple higher scoring rams. And numbers in general are way down. The only people that have had any luck are the ones who are friends with the biosb

Your comment about the ministers tag is pretty funny, who are you going to call that you don’t think has been called already lol. The current tag holder has bought it two years in a row. He turned down the second biggest ram that’s been killed in Alberta this year by a resident. Before the resident season even opened lol. He’s coming back in a couple weeks to try again.

I also have a friend that bought the resident guided hunt with Carter this year from the wsfab. He killed one after all the non residents had finished their hunts. So the rams are there

That all sounds nice but did you miss the part where he didn’t get a ram? You see if he would have got a ram there wouldn’t be an Alberta bighorn outfitter problem. Likely would have gave the outfitter high reviews. Would of got on here and told other unsuccessful hunters they just need to hunt harder.

This Alberta bighorn hunting sounds like a hunt not a gimmie!

 

[41thunder]

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”.

You’re complaining about reduced opportunities at killing females? Really?
Who do you think make the baby animals?
How they heck do you think a population is going to recover or be maintained if your killing all the females??

Same with the “slashed” draws?
Those are all in zones where they were eradicating animals in the name of cwd. Mostly mule deer. Tag numbers just went back to where they were before the cull. It will take a decade for the populations to recover to where it was before the culls started.

But it’s the typical Alberta resident response…
Me and my family can’t go shoot 20 deer a year anymore…. It’s the outfitters fault!

Give it a rest

 

[41thunder]

That all sounds nice but did you miss the part where he didn’t get a ram? You see if he would have got a ram there wouldn’t be an Alberta bighorn outfitter problem. Likely would have gave the outfitter high reviews. Would of got on here and told other unsuccessful hunters they just need to hunt harder.

This Alberta bighorn hunting sounds like a hunt not a gimmie!

The Alberta bighorn hunt is the hardest sheep hunt in North America. It’s more mentally draining than physical. And it’s an extremely physical hunt. There is a lot of luck involved too. There is a lot of places for them to hide

 

[41thunder]

That all sounds nice but did you miss the part where he didn’t get a ram? You see if he would have got a ram there wouldn’t be an Alberta bighorn outfitter problem. Likely would have gave the outfitter high reviews. Would of got on here and told other unsuccessful hunters they just need to hunt harder.

This Alberta bighorn hunting sounds like a hunt not a gimmie!

I know guys that have gone on 4 guided bighorn hunts before they killed one. Prices weren’t what they are now, and most of those years that outfitter was over 50%. He just couldn’t connect or he missed a shot. Which happens