Colorado Ram tag!!- Scouting questions

[resident vs nonresident]

Hey guys,
so i was very lucky and drew CO Ram tag in the San Juan Mountains. September - Rifle hunt.
Between work/life/young child - my schedule should allow for 2 trips in July and 2 trips in August. + 5th trip of last days in Aug leading into Sept season opener. i was thinking of going every other weekend in July / August - these would be 3 days trip.
For those of you that have hunted Sheep or just happen to be subject matter experts, please weigh in.
few questions i have:
-When is best time to scout? (is there such thing as Best time to scount?) is going in July too early/irrelevant to where sheep will be early September?
-what to focus on when scouting: Water / Feed / Bedding areas? i plan on covering few different drainages and to put on many many miles.
-scouting tips? any tips you have, i'm open to suggestions.

thanks in advance.

 

[30338]

Congrats on the tag. I'd spend as much time just before your hunt starts vs mid summer stuff. Hope you are successful!

 

[Hnthrdr]

I think right before your hunt is most important, but sheep tend to be pretty territorial, so if you find one in August likely will be around, I know it would suck to end early… but your life sounds a lot like mine right now with a lot going on. If you can find a good sheep a day before the open make sure you are on him with shooting light hits, had a buddy lose a shot at a stud ram cause he thought he could wait till the next morning to hike from 10-13k where the ram was. 3 am rolled around and there were 4 other head lights moving in on the ram…

 

[Steve O]

Many years ago I had a CO ram tag. I had friends out there that scouted all summer for me. They had a ridiculous number of rams patterned. Two days before season they had some incredible thunderstorms. We did not find one ram till day two of the season.

Enjoy your tag and the whole experience.

 

[Coveyleader]

I’d start in August if I was on a tough time schedule .Also, when scouting be set up at day break if possible, not after. Evenings just the opposite a couple hours prior to sunset. Bedded sheep are incredibly hard to pick up when they’re not moving.


The perfect situation for glassing is right after a late afternoon thunderstorm/rain. They just pop, when the sun comes out.


Good luck

 

[Poser]

Seeing how the Spring timeline is basically a full month ahead of schedule this year in the SJs -its effectively early June out there in the high country, I think that July scouting could be particularly insightful this season. If you were limited to either a July or Aug scouting trip, I would say August, however,
you have 4 scouting trips which is 3x more than most people get, so I think having 2 in July will be productive. Animals are by far the most visible in the high country during the month of July.

I'm regularly out in S71, S28, S33 with a little bit of S21 and S16 in the summer.

 

[wildwilderness]

Not sure how well you know the unit, but early scouting for me is learning the lay of the land. Access roads, trails, glassing points all are very useful earlier than later.

Early Ram sightings can give you an idea what’s available (or not) and to form an idea for a realistic harvest goal for the hunt.

Also physical fitness is tested and improved so you’ll be ready to hit the ground running opener

Confidence is built during scouting season and any time you spend before the hunt will help. Sheep hunts are as much mental as physical imo so seems like you’ll be well prepared.

 

[resident vs nonresident]

Seeing how the Spring timeline is basically a full month ahead of schedule this year in the SJs -its effectively early June out there in the high country, I think that July scouting could be particularly insightful this season. If you were limited to either a July or Aug scouting trip, I would say August, however,
you have 4 scouting trips which is 3x more than most people get, so I think having 2 in July will be productive. Animals are by far the most visible in the high country during the month of July.

I'm regularly out in S71, S28, S33 with a little bit of S21 and S16 in the summer.

Thanks good to know. It has been a very dry year so as you said high country will be open and I’ll be out there.
Would

Not sure how well you know the unit, but early scouting for me is learning the lay of the land. Access roads, trails, glassing points all are very useful earlier than later.

Early Ram sightings can give you an idea what’s available (or not) and to form an idea for a realistic harvest goal for the hunt.

Also physical fitness is tested and improved so you’ll be ready to hit the ground running opener

Confidence is built during scouting season and any time you spend before the hunt will help. Sheep hunts are as much mental as physical imo so seems like you’ll be well prepared.

agree. There are many drainages in this unit that have past harvests so I plan on covering all of them. Just to familiarise myself with all the access points and trails.

 

[jdmaxwell]

PM me. I may have a info for you