All 4

[Marine4life]

No desire for a slam, but I do want 1 of the NAWS species in my lifetime. Don’t care which or where, but I want 1 of them. My dad started applying for the desert sheep in Utah in his early 30’s, thinking he would one day kill all 4. Now he’s just hoping he draws the one desert tag and will MAYBE pay for a dall, but he’s all but written it off at this point. He’s still relatively young (54), but as much as he loves hunting, he knows he can do lots of other hunts for the cost of one stone sheep hunt. Hard to justify there’s any value anymore.

But we do both really want an aoudad…

I read this thinking your dad was in his 70s. Damn he is younger than I am



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[buffybr]

You've been on some great hunts and taken some amazing animals. Congratulations on your entries in the books!
I suppose I came across a little wrong on my previous post. But it's hard for me to not be a little soured over the direction hunting as a whole seems to have taken these days. There's way to many "pose" hunts with a whole tribe of scouters scouring the woods to find one tag holders claim to fame trophy.

You mean like the $1.3 Million that the NM Bighorn tag sold for this year?

Great for conservation, but way beyond the reach for most of us.

 

[HornPorn]

You mean like the $1.3 Million that the NM Bighorn tag sold for this year?

Great for conservation, but way beyond the reach for most of us.

That’s a tired refrain from jealous or ignorant people who obviously don’t have an open enough mind to do the math of how many tags are sold annually for each big game species, and the dollars those tags generate.

If you have a better way to raise that kind of money that goes directly back to the sheep, then let everyone know. You or someone else paying your $3000 fee for the tag you draw doesn’t do squat by comparison. Hard to get past your emotions to think logically I’m sure, but thats the truth. A state adding a single tag for this purpose does not take a tag away from blue collar Billy no matter how much you want that to be the case.

 

[buffybr]

That’s a tired refrain from jealous or ignorant people who obviously don’t have an open enough mind to do the math of how many tags are sold annually for each big game species, and the dollars those tags generate.

If you have a better way to raise that kind of money that goes directly back to the sheep, then let everyone know. You or someone else paying your $3000 fee for the tag you draw doesn’t do squat by comparison. Hard to get past your emotions to think logically I’m sure, but thats the truth. A state adding a single tag for this purpose does not take a tag away from blue collar Billy no matter how much you want that to be the case.

Did you even read the second sentence of my post?

How could I have said it any clearer that the $1.3 Million tag was "Great for conservation!"

I know that the money raised from those tags goes back to the state and to FNAWS for sheep management, and I also know that those "Governor" tags don't affect the number of tags that are available to the hunting public in the drawings. I'm 100% in favor of those tags.

And in the second part of my second sentence, I just said that I and many other hunters don't have the $1.3 Million to be able to bid on that tag. I also don't have $70,000 plus for a Stone sheep tag that I couldn't afford for $11,000 25 years ago'

Also, where did you come up with "your $3000 fee for the tag you draw [that] doesn’t do squat by comparison." I don't apply for tags outside of my home state of Montana, and if I would be lucky enough to draw a Montana sheep tag would cost me a whopping $125, which really doesn't do squat compared to that NM $1.3 million tag.

And as for your " holier than thou" comment of "Hard to get past your emotions to think logically I’m sure, but thats the truth." Maybe you should look into a mirror before you write such slander.

But long as you mentioned "the truth", the cost of the Montana bighorn ram tags back when I shot my 3 rams was $25 each.

 

[idelkslayer]

If you have a better way to raise that kind of money that goes directly back to the sheep, then let everyone know. You or someone else paying your $3000 fee for the tag you draw doesn’t do squat by comparison. Hard to get past your emotions to think logically I’m sure, but thats the truth. A state adding a single tag for this purpose does not take a tag away from blue collar Billy no matter how much you want that to be the case.

New Mexico has about 100,000 hunting license holders. A mandatory $10 "conservation stamp" would just about cover it. If the majority of New Mexico hunters are willing to pay $10 per year then it is pretty simple to justify turning the auction tag into an additional tag in the draws. If the majority of New Mexico hunters aren't willing to pay $10 per year for sheep conservation then I guess keep auctioning it off.

 

[Grassymike]

Been a dream of mine since about 12 years old. I grew up in the Yukon and have a real good Dall sheep that I shot when I was 19. Two years ago I finally got a great Bighorn here in Alberta. Both of my rams are DIY as a resident with general tags. Trying to figure out a possible move to BC to try for a Stone as that would be the only way short of a raffle tag that I will get a chance. No way I can spend the money to hunt a guided hunt. I will keep on helping my partner trying for his first Sheep and maybe it will be my turn again someday. I hunt Sheep because I love being in the Mountains just enjoying everything about God's creation. From the incredible views to Grizzly's ,weather, all of it. Some of my best memories are sitting under a tarp with a fire for most of a day waiting for rain to lift. The phisical effort of climbing and decending all of it. You can't truly call yourself a real sheep hunter until you can laugh at the sight of your own blood.

 

[Steve O]

I’ve hunted all 4, only was successful on two. Best month of my life was chasing rams in the high country of Colorado with my recurve. Came so very close. That and what Wyoming did going to 90/10 has probably sealed my fate. Even Dall hunts are to the point I cannot justify spending that kind money on something for myself. I’ll keep applying and buying raffle tickets but I’m good with not having all 4. I’ve attempted it and lived with them all. Most of my future sheep hunting will just be helping friends with any tag they have been blessed enough to draw.

 

[Ridgerunner]

How important is the slam of all 4 to me? Not very to be 100% honest. I'm halfway there with a bighorn and dall that I enjoy looking at every day and young enough to believe that at some point I'll draw a desert somewhere to get to 3/4. If I don't draw that tag then it wasn't meant to be. The stone, no way would I pay what they are asking for those hunts. Too many other amazing things I could do with that kind of money including other hunts or vacations with my wife and kids.

I am highly interested in completing a slam of NA deer with mature bucks from each species and am currently working on that, even doing that will take a guy to some amazing parts of the country if done right. Is sheep country beautiful and remote? It sure is but there are plenty of other cool critters that reside in similar country.

I think the slam concept of any species is pretty cool, deer, elk, moose, sheep, caribou, whatever gets you excited for the adventures those species take you. Sheep is cool but unfortunately the slam of sheep has become an elite status symbol and a primarily an achievement of those with the most money, perhaps why my interest in completing my slam as faded over the years. To those who pursue it more power to you, but to those who don't have the means or the $$ to make it happen there are plenty of other "slams" you could pursue that would leave you with a mountain of memories when you can't climb the hills anymore.

 

[Renegade14]

More than all 4, I just want one Dall. When I was little I loved seeing the white sheep on the wall at Sportsmans, and that's been the dream ever since. Not sure I'll ever have the money for it though. I've been very fortunate to draw a couple rocky/california tags, and am just grateful to have the opportunity to have hunted any sheep.