So the clear consensus is at 57, You’re not old enough to ask if your too old.
I’m a newer to sheep hunting, having always possessed a desire for mountain hunting, just fallen from out of shape to grossly out of shape between grad school, family, ensuing years of sedentary work. Always got out and hunted, with great success, but was always way harder than it should have been and certainly wasn’t like an extended backpack sheep hunt. Albeit packing big Alaskan moose quarters when out of shape sucks whether flat ground or not, and it’s never flat, only seem to kill em downhill of camp.
Sheep hunting changed my life in the most amazing ways. It was and continues to be my main carrot in racing towards a better stronger, fitter self. At 46 I’m in way better shape than I was in my early 20’s and plan is to chase sheep every chance I get till my knees give out beyond repair or some other catastrophic physical failure. Crossing my fingers that won’t be for many years. Would love to chase sheep in my 70’s, better yet 80’s. One of my favorite folks to hIke with now sadly lives in AZ and UT, but when we get into the backcountry, that man is simply hard to keep up with since he got his new knees a couple years ago—at 76. He can still carry a heavy pack and has zero difficulty in putting down 15+ miles a day. And has the most intriguing stories of sheep hunts and teaching in rural Alaska. Think age brings a level of patience and experienced temperament allowing a proper pace for the long hauls.
Go for it. And my only additional suggestion is if you have the funds to easily book a good quality guided hunt, spend a little more, and do some amazing backpacking trips as often as you can between now and then. Best training for backpacking hunts at elevation is well, backpacking at elevation. California between Yosemite and Mt. Whitney is gorgeous and perfect up and down with steep climbs through passes in the 11k-13.5k feet range. Of course anywhere in the Rockies will get you to elevation. Here in Ak, I haven’t hunted sheep over 6’500 feet, and often they are much lower than that. But, we also often start packing down a trail at or only few hundred feet above sea level, and grades can be steep. My favorite training trails close to the house climb over 3000’ in 2.5 miles.
So my baby brother coming up for sheep this year from Tulsa OK, he’s got a lot of stadium climbs and stairwells in his future to get ready for August—and we will likely do another trip to the high sierras as we have past few years, such makes the hunt feel less brutal. Good luck and so, so hope you do it.
