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

[CHL]

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.

Agreed. I’m headed back up to Reynolds (Spencer’s now) August 1st for my second time and can’t wait. He’s still very reasonable as it pertains to the current state of “sheep pricing” for his Dall/Fannin hunt. But not sure what the future year’s pricing is and how far out bookings are. If ya wanna do it, like others have stated, better do it and get on the books.

 

[OMB]

This past week, I heard a quote of $50,000 base for a nonresident, guided Alaska Dall Sheep hunt in 2028 from a very established long-term outfitter.

What are you hearing for current bids on the other three species? I remain curious.

Prices are starting to get salty in these sheep hunts…happy hunting to all, TheGrayRider a/k/a Tom.

There's only one outfitter in Alaska that has a sheep worth that much and last I heard their waiting list has been closed for several years. That's on par or more than the non-heli outfits in the NWT.

 

[Kodiak Special]

I am trying to decide what sheep hunt to book. I may need outfitter selection help in the future, but for now I have a good reliable set of options for each - Desert in Mexico, Dall in BC or Alaska, RM Bighorn in Alberta and Stone Sheep in BC. I have a few friends that have competed the slam, but every time I try to get advice from them they are so sheep crazy the conversations go sideways. I am nearly certain that I would not try to get a slam. Two of the four is probably the max for me, and it may only be one. So that is why I want opinions as to which you would do if you only did one. Until recently, no sheep hunt interested me even though I have killed a lot of North American big game. Admittedly, I know very little about sheep. Will you please give me your thoughts as to the advantages and disadvantages of hunting the four and which is you favorite to hunt and why? That should get us started. Thanks in advance.

That is a fun time to decide! I would say the Dall sheep in the NWT - check with Gana River Outfitters. They quoted me $45k all-in. Had the same quote from Stan Stevens.

Now if you want to have an amazing hunt, go with a horseback hunt in Canada. Nothing like it. Stone or Bighorn, two very different terrains. One issue with those is resident pressure, which may thin out the numbers a bit. They are priced a bit higher than the Dall hunt.

The last one is typically Mexico, and there are some prime choices down there.

 

[Northern Safari]

The most notable difference:

$45,000 v $90,000 v $115,000 v $150,000.

 

[Short Track]

How do you guys feel about spending $100,000 on a hunt? I know it's done every day.. Not sure how, but there are waiting lists.. It's rather astonishing to me.

 

[Marine4life]

Cannot do it, but that is because my life choices and circumstances have not resulted in having that kind of expendable income. If I could I probably would. What else would I use expendable income on? I don’t think nothing of spending $1k on new hunting or fishing gear every year. I know people who have no issues dropping $20k a year on an elk hunt. I can’t say I personally know anyone who drops $100k+ on a hunt but they are out there. Some can do that with the same ease as me spending $1k.
It’s the world I live in.


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[Dragonfish]

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.

Hunted with Tim's outfit last year. If the populations are down, I wish I'd have seen them when they were up! No shortage of sheep, and the 4 of us that were there all tagged out quickly- the other three were on horseback I was on a backpack hunt- I tagged out on day 5, the other three all tagged within three days. Maybe the populations are down, but we couldn't tell! great outfit!.

 

[Kodiak Special]

How do you guys feel about spending $100,000 on a hunt? I know it's done every day.. Not sure how, but there are waiting lists.. It's rather astonishing to me.

I have mixed feelings on this one. It seems unreasonable to spend that amount on a 2 week trip anywhere, but these are far more than vacation trips. Keeps you young and dialed in, doing something you think about all year long, and greatly enjoy. Nothing else is like it.

 

[TheGrayRider]

I have mixed feelings on this one. It seems unreasonable to spend that amount on a 2 week trip anywhere, but these are far more than vacation trips. Keeps you young and dialed in, doing something you think about all year long, and greatly enjoy. Nothing else is like it.

If you really want to do something, then do it now. You never know how much time you have.

Happy hunting to all, TheGrayRider a/k/a Tom.

 

[idelkslayer]

How do you guys feel about spending $100,000 on a hunt? I know it's done every day.. Not sure how, but there are waiting lists.. It's rather astonishing to me.

I don't think I could do it. Even if I suddenly inherited that amount from a rich uncle, I don't think I could spend that much money on single hunt. Maybe if $200,000 fell in my lap I could throw half of it at a hunt, but even then it would be difficult to square up in my mind. The other scenario is I spend a decade saving that amount and even then after all the effort to accumulate the money for that purpose, I wouldn't be able to do it. I've got nothing but jealousy for those who can, but I couldn't.