Differences in Dall, Stone, RM Bighorn, D Bighorn hunts

[jmart5687]

It’s hard to go wrong with any of the Yukon or NWT Dall outfits. I went with Tim Mervyn in 2017 and had a great hunt. They say populations are down in that area now. Lancasters seems like great guys. Arctic Red, Tombstone, Nahanni Butte, and several others all seem to get high marks. Really depends on the type of hunt you want (backpack, horseback, helicopter use or not, etc., etc….). Each outfit does things a little differently. I love the traditional horseback style of hunting. Alaska is a complex puzzle I would not be willing to try and solve at this point.

I took my California Bighorn with Bruce Ambler in BC. It was a mountain hunt with low odds of success but he and another outfitter have hunts on the Fraser River that are very high success hunts. But they are very expensive.

I get what you say about the desert hunts. They are a different experience for sure. Would not be my first choice either but I drew an AZ tag and really came to love the desert environment when I hunted them.

I would second Mervyn's for Dall. I hunted there last year and had a great hunt and great experience. While I was in Whitehorse, I spoke with a group that hunted with Bonet Plume and had great success as well.

 

[KUDU1]

This is excellent as are other responses. Thanks to all. I have been doing some research and reached out to some contacts. To answer your first question, harvesting a ram is the most important to me. I am not proud of that response, but it is an honest one. I have had many adventures in my life, but never sheep hunted.

I am meeting with someone regarding a Dall sheep next week. It would be in BC in September. That is certainly an option. However, I am really starting to lean toward a Stone as being my preferred choice only because I don’t think there are a lot of California or Rocky Big Horn options. I have someone close checking on those for me currently. If that chip fell into place that would be my preferred choice, but honestly I am blessed to even be in a position to consider any sheep hunt. So any of those three should be taken if it is the right opportunity.

Couple questions for all: 1. I am having a hard time understanding why Dall’s in NWT are preferred over BC, so why the preference for NWT? 2. What area is preferred for Stone? BC????

what did you learn on the Dall in BC?

 

[Short Track]

I was hearing about a Stone Outfitter who gets 5 tags annually. He sells 10 hunts at $60,000 each, because he knows the success rate is 50%. So he's basically scouting every hunt for the next guy, and the next guy.

 

[Mojave]

I was hearing about a Stone Outfitter who gets 5 tags annually. He sells 10 hunts at $60,000 each, because he knows the success rate is 50%. So he's basically scouting every hunt for the next guy, and the next guy.

I thought these days were over, but I guess old tricks on new hunters.

 

[Short Track]

It gets worse. If he fills all 5 tags, he still has 5 hunts to give. So he takes them to an area without sheep. Heard alot of good stuff at the SCI show.

 

[adamkolesar]

I'm sure the phrase "Well, that's hunting" is a a favorite with that outfit.

 

[Short Track]

I learned alot at the SCI. I recommend you go and just talk to Sheet & Goat outfitters. and talk to others as well. DSC SCI and a few others. I also learned a bit about custom rifles. A very good experience overall.

I also learned getting to Yukon or BC from the East coast is ridiculous. Like 3 connections.
It's 1 flight for IBEX in Spain or Turkey. Much more doable for us East Coasters.

 

[WVELK]

what did you learn on the Dall in BC?

I went ahead and booked the Dall hunt in BC. It is in the north west corner. Going with Logan at Last Frontier Hunting. He comes recommended and I am hunting goats with him and his brother Todagan this year as well. Fingers crossed.

 

[medvedyt]

just a little note. do not pay a fannin sheep hunt as a stone sheep. i know the record books recognized them as both but in the yukon our fannins are dall pure and simple ...

it is a shame that trophy hunters pushed themselves into it.

now for the decline of sheep population the weather is part of the equation as not enough cold and snow and rain freezing is not helping the sheep to feed and over hunting is another issue will it be from non resident visitors and of course local pressure as well. the closest you are from whitehorse the more chance you will not be alone even if you do not see any hunters around ...

up to the time we are on quotas and way more limitations are happening i do not see a clear sky. hunt the northern sheep while you can.

 

[robertpaulsen]

just a little note. do not pay a fannin sheep hunt as a stone sheep. i know the record books recognized them as both but in the yukon our fannins are dall pure and simple ...

it is a shame that trophy hunters pushed themselves into it.

now for the decline of sheep population the weather is part of the equation as not enough cold and snow and rain freezing is not helping the sheep to feed and over hunting is another issue will it be from non resident visitors and of course local pressure as well. the closest you are from whitehorse the more chance you will not be alone even if you do not see any hunters around ...

up to the time we are on quotas and way more limitations are happening i do not see a clear sky. hunt the northern sheep while you can.

Weird hill to stand on. Why do you care if someone wants to hunt a fannin to get their slam? Who cares?

You have to be ray charles or likely a Helen Keller to not know that those sheep up there are different. How are they spreading those dark colors if it’s not genetic? Go ahead and tell me about the 1 “study”.

 

[medvedyt]

Weird hill to stand on. Why do you care if someone wants to hunt a fannin to get their slam? Who cares?

You have to be ray charles or likely a Helen Keller to not know that those sheep up there are different. How are they spreading those dark colors if it’s not genetic? Go ahead and tell me about the 1 “study”.

well i posted few times the studies here ... but it is your money and if you want to pay a stone price for a dall be my guest ....

 

[OMB]

What outfitter is charging stone prices for fannins?

Midnight Sun is showing $70k and Tombstone $75k for hunts today, but I would take a gander that when they actually have hunts available in 2028 or 2029 or 2057 those numbers are actually more like $85k or $90k.

So what's that, a 10-20% discount for a white sheep with 5-100 black hairs that you can "count" as a Stone instead of hunting in BC? Not sure what your point is, because those outfitters certainly aren't charging Dall rates.

 

[Steve O]

FWIW, there are no Stone sheep within 300 miles of the Ogilvies. I don’t care what any study says, I’m counting my Fannin from as far north as an American can hunt in the Yukon as a Stone. The rams from Blackstone and Renoylds are true Fannins.



Sure wish I could go back in time and gone back the next year to take the monster broomed Dall that was my ram’s attaché. He is 10 and that Dall had to be older. So much mass. Great memories. All before the days of the Phoneskope sadly.

A Dall from BC is something very few people have and that will be an awesome hunt. I’m jealous.

 

[CHL]

FWIW, there are no Stone sheep within 300 miles of the Ogilvies. I don’t care what any study says, I’m counting my Fannin from as far north as an American can hunt in the Yukon as a Stone. The rams from Blackstone and Renoylds are true Fannins.

View attachment 837257

Sure wish I could go back in time and gone back the next year to take the monster broomed Dall that was my ram’s attaché. He is 10 and that Dall had to be older. So much mass. Great memories. All before the days of the Phoneskope sadly.

A Dall from BC is something very few people have and that will be an awesome hunt. I’m jealous.

Agree with ya brotha. I killed my Fannin with Reynolds in 2018, and I’ll be back up there August 1st hoping for the same.

 

[Tilzbow]

I need a Rocky for all four but if I could only do one more sheep hunt it’d be another archery Stone’s hunt in Northern BC with moose, caribou and goat as options if successful on sheep early on. The country, the horses, the guide, the challenge and last day success after a couple close calls all made the 2014 hunt I went on the top of all hunts I’ve ever done. I hunted with Tuchodi but they’ve since changed hands at least once so I have no idea what their current situation is nor have I kept up to speed on the other outfitters in BC. My guide had several years in the NWT and BC and agreed with my impression that the country in Northern BC was more rugged and beautiful than the more worn down mountains of NWT, that said NWT mountains are no joke!

Dall would be second and I’d likely book with Gana River in the NWT since he does more traditional hunts. That said don’t discount helicopter hunts as easy. Many can be but on mine in 2010 with Ramshead, we got dropped off by helicopter and then covered 10-15 miles some days with backpacks while we moved around looking for sheep to stalk.

 

[WVELK]

FWIW, there are no Stone sheep within 300 miles of the Ogilvies. I don’t care what any study says, I’m counting my Fannin from as far north as an American can hunt in the Yukon as a Stone. The rams from Blackstone and Renoylds are true Fannins.

View attachment 837257

Sure wish I could go back in time and gone back the next year to take the monster broomed Dall that was my ram’s attaché. He is 10 and that Dall had to be older. So much mass. Great memories. All before the days of the Phoneskope sadly.

A Dall from BC is something very few people have and that will be an awesome hunt. I’m jealous.

Thank you VERY much for the words of encouragement. I have a lot of faith in my outfitter. At the risk of blowing this thing up again, would that be a “Fannin”? Oh I feel like the new kid on the block who is asking how to play marbles. Then not knowing there are three former world champion marble players arguing over who has the best jar of marbles.

 

[Steve O]

Conventional wisdom is a Fannin is a cross between a Dall and a Stone. I’ve seen studies showing this as well as them actually having bighorn dna. They are referenced in various Jack O’Connor books and “The Great Arc of the Wild Sheep”

Boone & Crockett allows any Dall sheep with black hairs other than on the tail to be entered as a Stone so there are quite a few very very white Stones claimed. Seems a little sketchy to me.

 

[tstowater]

My choice today would be Prophet Muskwa for a Stone or Reynolds for either Dall or Fannin. Both are going to be expensive but have the sheep to hunt and the quality to go with it. Book now if you want to hunt in several years.

 

[Kodiak Special]

Greetings, each one of these hunts is unique, for different reasons. Recommend first one with a Dall sheep hunt. NWT would be phenomenal, Stan Stevens or Gana River. I like Gana River for this one, they reached priced it at $40-45k at the sheep show last year. I also like Alaska for Dall sheep, there are plenty of good outfitters there, especially in Tok and the Wrangells, with pricing in the $20-30k

The bighorn in Alberta and the Stone in BC are amazing horseback hunts, but they vary on legal rams. Spoke with a guy who saw over 100 rams, only 2 legal. I personally only saw 11 rams, 2 legal, on 12 days. The Stone is a next level hunt, but the pricing is a tulip bulb craze. I spotted 8 rams, 3 legal, on 8 days, with a lot of bear and wolf activity.

Would save Desert for last, unless you want Tiburon Island, which I think has insane pricing. There are other great options for Mexico, but none of them are like the far north. Hope that helps.