First time Sheep Hunter Questions...

[Jsanford0521]

I just drew my first sheep tag, the support and help from you guys on here with my S11 post has been overwhelming. After having a day to wrap my head around this opportunity. My mind is racing with thoughts and questions. I can't wait to get out to my unit and start scouting, driving around, start hiking up some steep shit with glass in hand. As a complete novice in the world of sheep hunting I have started gathering books, podcast, harvest data. Everything I can get my hands on to try to prepare. I have some general questions for everyone out there who has gone on a sheep hunt, whether it was a tag of your own or not. I realize there are a lot of questions, feel free to answer one, NONE, multiple, all, any insight you guys have would be amazing, and appreciated!

1) What is something NO one talks about, that you wish you would've known?

2) What if any regrets do you have about the hunt?

3) Favorite Moments of the hunt that surprised you?

4) Of course gear: what gear did you bring you didn't need, or wish you would've had.

5) If you could change anything about your hunt what would it be?

6) ANY media you can recommend, podcast, short films, BOOKS! Forums on here, anything you got!

7) Truck camp, Backpack, Basecamp, what style of hunt did you do? Do you wish you would've done anything different.

8) Calories/Meal ideas: My favorite backpacker meals are Chicken Pad Thai from backpackers pantry, Bs n Gs, and breakfast skillet from Peak Refuel. I have heard picking meals you can rehydrate cold (in a pinch, or if your a pyscho - by choice) is smart so stay away from beef fat meals. Any favorite meal ideas, snacks, high calorie lightweight ideas?

9) Taxidermist recommendations for a euro mount. Not trying to get ahead of myself, just want to be prepared! Sorry to all you full mount, shoulder mount peeps. To each their own! I just think euro mounts look BADASS. Even if you offered to full mount for free I would still want a bone white euro mount. I know that is wild to some folks. A guy likes what he likes, and a bonus my wife loves the look of euro mounts as well. I will have no issues putting it up anywhere in the house. I have done my own elk euro mounts for a while. They all come out good for a novice. But I would like to potentially find a PRO for this one. Any taxidermist reccs on the front range???

10) Judging horns! I think about this alot. I know myself, I am a pure breed meat hunter, and I have an itchy trigger finger. I know I am gonna see a herd of rams and want to immediately chase after them. This is my first "trophy hunt" I want a mature ram or bust. It doesnt have to be record breaking. I am realistic. I just want something I will be happy looking at on my wall the rest of my life. I feel like if there is a group of rams I will have no problem finding the biggest in the bunch. But if they are solo, or I am looking at them from an angle and not straight broadside. What are tips and tricks you look for. LONG Story boring, what do you look for in shooter rams?! Any resources you guys have to help me study up or bits of wisdom would be great.

Again the support on here has been amazing. YOU guys ******* rock! Thanks and good luck to everyone this season. Also anyone who helps out you can count on me for a post hunt recap, and any elk, mule deer sightings and pins if you happen to be hunting near or around s11.

 

[wyosteve]

I’ll throw out a few. Get an eye patch to use when glassing with the spotter. It lets you keep both eyes open to lessen eye fatigue. My first 2 were backpack hunts. The first one was a total novice and packed way too much. Pack weighed 75 pounds going in ! Personally I look for mass on a ram or broomed horns. Those attributes usually mean an older ram. Hope this helps.

 

[TaperPin]

Beware of minimum horn length. That gets a lot of guys in deep doo doo.

A friend was a tiny bit too short, like 1/4”, and he had to give up the ram, was fined $3,500 and lost hunting privledges for a spell. Turned a great experience into a bummer.

Look at a lot of sheep and sheep mounts and pretty soon you’ll get faster at picking out the minimum length shooters.

 

[adamkolesar]

My two cents. I'm sure you're tuned into the conditioning piece. Core is everything. The CrossFit Chad workout is your friend, and being able to bring heart rate down after a "sprint" is paramount to accuracy.

 

[7RemMag]

One sheep hunt under my belt here. Hopefully get to go on a couple more in my lifetime even if it’s not my tag.

Take LOTS of pictures. It was hot when I killed my ram and we were concerned about spoilage. We rushed the pictures a little. Got a lot of great ones, but I wish I had more. Take twice as many as you think you need.

Study up on judging sheep. Most people will tell you they shrink a lot when you get up to them. The flip side of that is that when you study, you’ll know “the one” when you see it.

I mentioned it to another fella, but take some friends, relatives, whoever is close to you. Don’t want an entourage but pick a few people. It makes it all the sweeter and they can help with the workload lol.

This one might be a little bit obvious, but take LOTS of water. The area I drew here in WY was pretty mild country compared to lots of places sheep are found. My Dad and I ran out of water on the “mountain” after my ram was down. We were about 2 miles from the pickup. Fortunately we had enough cell service to squeeze out a call to my two buddies who were back at camp from scouting after getting word we were onto a band of rams (and heard me shoot) and we were able to tell them to load their packs with water and come meet us. Dad and I were by no means in the danger zone, but we were definitely well into uncomfortable territory with our water situation. My(our) friends saved us a lot of grief.

That’s some advice in no particular order or priority. I didn’t hit on everything you asked, but I hope that helps a little.

 

[wildwilderness]

Sheep hunting is as much mental as physical so embrace the grind

 

[Coveyleader]

Keep these stats in mind……. You unit tends to kick out tight curled rams with so so bases, so don't have visions of Montana Breaks type rams in your head.

 

[Smoke10]

Congrats on your tag and good luck with your hunt.
I have been on one sheep hunt, and it was in AK(guided), so different conditions than your hunt.

I agree with taking a ton of pictures. I have a bunch of great pictures, but still wish I had taken more.

For food, we added bacon bits (think the 1 or 2 pound bulk package) with the freeze dried meals. I think that bulk package lasted us the whole hunt. And take hot sauce.
The first couple of days, we had summer sausage and cheese. I take summer sausage & cheese on my elk hunts. It is pretty much comfort food to me.
I also took homemade protein bars. I'm not a fan of most store bought energy bars.

I'm still new to judging sheep. A coworker of mine who has his North American sleep grand slam, told me that a ram with "deep" curl horns, the horn will curl at/below his lower jaw. The deeper curl usually means longer horn length.
If the horn curl is "tighter" the horns won't drop to the lower jaw and the total horn length is typically shorter.
And then as others have said look for mass and if the horns are broomed.

This same coworker recommended I journal every day so I will be able to look back at what happened every day, what I saw, thought about, etc. I took his advice and reading the story of the hunt while looking through the pictures is great

 

[khunter]

Congrats! Mark your calendar on June 21 for the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Society Sheep and Goat Hunter Meet & Greet. Registration opening soon at: https://www.bighornsheep.org/meet-greet/

We will have dozens of experienced Colo sheep a goat hunters on hand to provide unit specific info to help you hit the ground running with your scouting and hunt planning.
Last year we had close to 300 folks on hand for an incredible half day of hunters helping hunters!

We also have our annual RMBS Rendezvous on May 17th. Will be over 500 sherp nuts on hand.

Both are can’t miss events for new minted sheet tag holders!

 

[tstowater]

Besides fitness, confidence in the weapon of choice, footwear that is broken in on the same conditions that you will hunt that really fit your feet, the most important thing is a positive mental attitude. Too many things will happen that could crush your attitude to easily become negative. Missed shot, bad weather, other hunters and so on will occur. Keep positive and persevere. The challenges will define your experience and will be what you will remember most. I can mentally picture every sheep hunt that I have been on and weather is usually one of the most defining memories. Getting weathered in Anchorage and McGrath for 5 days before you can even get to base camp can tax whatever positive attitude you have. Ended up shooting a nice ram on the second day in the field. Good luck and have fun. BTW, be really nice to your wife.

 

[cbeard64]

I personally think way too much emphasis is put on becoming a wilderness athlete and gear/caliber while way too little emphasis is placed on the mental aspects of sheep hunting.
Folks put a ton of pressure on themselves because it’s a sheep hunt.

1)Relax, slow down, enjoy the experience.

2)Be mentally tough, decide ahead of time you will do whatever it takes, and never give up. There will be both physical and mental challenges, but you will be surprised what you can endure with a positive attitude.

My advice may seem contradictory but what I think is most important is mental balance. A relaxed attitude but a determination that doesn’t waver in the face of challenges.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[TW907]

Lucky you I always liked that unit. Put boots on the ground all summer long breaking in your gear first hand knowing what is worth using and what isn’t. learn that unit inside and out glassing every sheep you can find so when season opens you pull up hike in and shoot a ram no matter what competition is in there. Giebel's Taxidermy In Penrose does some nice euros

 

[Seth]

Enjoy every moment of the experience. When I drew in 2020, my then 10yo son and I made numerous trips to the unit over the summer. We glassed a lot of sheep, had great conversations on the drives, and had a memorable summer. During the season I spent 17 days on the mountain and though I never got in range of a legal ram, I still look back with fond memories of the experience. Keep notes, take pics, and don’t get so stressed trying to kill a ram that you don’t enjoy yourself.

 

[Dawg In Montana]

Consider getting replica horns made. My son shot a sheep a couple of years ago and I got replica horns made by Wyo Backcountry, and those horns will go on the shoulder mount. My son is only 15 but that mount will be his. I am keeping the original euro with me, so we both get a trophy.

Wyo Backcountry

 

[Lowell]

Scouting, make it a 5 month hunt.

 

[Grassymike]

Balance. Getting in Sheep shape. Eliminating everything unneeded from your pack. Shooting a lot and ensuring your weapon of choice is dialed and ready. Only taking truly vetted and proven gear. As was stated above the mental aspect is huge. Refuse to quit. Enjoy the rain .(this is esier if you have a tarp) . Hardest part for me was finding the perfect partner. Look for an easy to get along with guy with a strong back who laughs at the site of his own blood. Most of all take time to suck in the beauty of God's creation, I carry a digiscope adaptor and use it as much to get video of all the game we see that we are not hunting. It is also a very handy way to help judge legality of rams. Know the definition of legal sheep in your area by heart. take every oppurtunity to glass Rams just to practice juding if they would be legal where you hunt. Good luck, hope you enjoy the ride .

 

[Buckshotaz]

There is nothing like the excitement one gets from a hunt like this. Don’t stress. Enjoy the anticipation of the hunt, because that is half of your memories for years to come.
Enjoy e-scouting, shooting at different ranges and angles, and hiking for fitness.
My first bighorn hunt was for a desert ram, I spent so much time on google earth looking at my hunt area, I didn’t get much done at work.
I am so jealous of you and would love to experience the anticipation that you are experiencing right now.

 

[taxidermybycam]

To answer question number 9 . Once you got the sheep down ,skin it out and then clean as much of the skull as possible,eyes ,brain,jaws, roof of mouth out. Then of course you'll get it plugged by fish and game. But until you get it to the taxidermist;and it's "cleaned" and if you're getting a euro mount done for sure. Take the skull and let it sit in 3 garbage bags closed tightly and don't even bother refrigerating it,or freezing it. I know that sounds nasty,but it will make the next guys job easier. The horns need to "rot" off and slide off the cores. The easiest and nicest way is just to let it do its thing once it's bagged for a few days . Depending on the temperature. You can't hurt anything and the taxidermist will be doing the same thing. Saves him a headache.