How smart are sheep?

[[insertspecies]Slayer]

Just an off season question that's been on my mind, and I don't really have any experience hunting bighorns, much less the thinhorns up north. It just seems whenever you look at an outfitter's website all the archery kills for dalls and stones are just on open faces with not a bush in sight. The idea of killing, say, a mule deer that was bedded down in that country just seems impossible with all that shale and lack of cover. But obvisouly those sheep hardly ever see humans, and pressure is way less, so they're not as 'hunt smart' or whatever like elk and deer in the lower 48. The videos that I have seen of archery sheep hunts don't really give rams that much credit to their intelligence. I've also seen some videos where they shoot a ram and the rest in the herd just kind of walk away more confused than anything. It reminds me of when I shot my turkey, and that's not helping their case either. And I'm sure it depends, like sheep in the UL's are going to be more skittish than the ones in the breaks, but the sheep of north America just seem stupid. Wondering if anyone here who has actual hunting experience thinks the same thing. How would you say they compare to a mule deer or elk in a pressured unit out west?

 

[Outwest]

I think you're on the right track. My opinion is that most sheep have experienced a fraction of the harassment a mule deer of the same age has experienced, and thus much more tolerant of human presence.

As a good example, I live in a tourist heavy mountain town. We have a huge population of deer and elk that live in town and they are more tame than most cattle. They very rarely hunted and only if they happen to wander onto FS/BLM. Some really mature bucks and bulls are photographed every year, eating out of someone's hand while just a few miles away, other mature bucks and bulls are nearly impossible to find outside of the rut. So most of it is probably life experience dependent.

As far as my sheep experience in only one sheep unit, the older and more savvy rams tended to be pretty reclusive even when the other sheep in the area seem fairly comfortable with human presence. I have snuck in close on sheep with younger rams being a bit weary but hanging around while other more mature rams absolutely make tracks to get out of there. I know some sheep in other units don't see as many hikers/climbers and are much more weary of humans.

 

[Coveyleader]

No tags, heavy human pressure where sheep see people all day everyday = tolerant sheep

Unit with hunting seasons multiple tags, weapons, get ready for a mule deer hunt as they will be very hard to get close to, I mean sheep running from 300 yds away on the first glimpse of a person, or errant backdraft and not stopping until they crest the next distant peak.

Go archery hunt Colorado S32, S12, S9, it is not easy, far from it and the harvest reports verify that. Go hunt S34, tame sheep.

To answer your question, "it depends"

 

[Blockcaver]

Coveyleader has it right. I will add that Bighorn rams get dumber during the rut (November) and during the winter and spring than they are in August and September (typical sheep season) in my experience.

Thinhorns (Dalls) in the Mackenzies (NWT) never see people and were not as wary as the Stones in a BC unit I hunted 8 times to arrow a ram. And about half our Stones get taken opening day...showing they wise up pretty fast when the pressure is on.

 

[cuttingedge]

I heard in WV they aren't real smart, but they sure are nervous!

 

[Grassymike]

I have yet to find a "dumb" big game animal. Sheep do remind me of Antelope in that they are pretty dependent on their eyes as the first line of defence. Do not doubt that they also use their other senses. If I had to rate the order it would be 1. sight 2. smell 3. sound. However all three will give you away if you hunt sheep long enough. Sheep are very challenging to hunt in areas hunted every year. The predator population level in given areas can also make Rams more alert.

 

[cbeard64]

If wariness is the only factor considered, even the most wary mountain sheep is not anywhere close to as wary as a mature whitetail buck. Or a mature bull elk. I have killed several rams (rifle) and my guess is I could probably have still killed most of them even had I stood up and revealed myself just prior to the shot. That isn’t the case with most NA big game animals.

Their main defenses are 1)where they live, 2)their eyes and 3) their “spread out” densities. The challenges in sheep hunting mainly relate to getting to where they live and finding them. Especially with a rifle.

No doubt stalking to within bow range of a ram is still no easy task. But you’re basically not going to spot and stalk a mature whitetail or bull elk (without setting up and calling) with a bow except in very rare circumstances.

IMO it’s not fair to compare the difficulty of hunting the various species based on one factor alone. They all have unique strengths and weaknesses. Overcoming their strengths and exploiting their weaknesses is the key to success.

 

[justin davis]

I bowhunted sheep In a unit in colorado. Man we’re the sheep wild. If they spooked they would literally run 5 miles as the crow flies without stopping. They didn’t act like deer where they would go a ways and stop. They would spook and be on the next mtn. I was kind of blown away at how wild they were. I know that some units they see people and aren’t as spooky. But the ones I hunted were wild suckers

 

[squirrel]

I've hunted archery where they paying not much attention until you were inside 150 yards then they would move away a bit.

And Ive hunted archery where they smelled me and a bachelor group of 7 left the mountain crossed a large gulley, went over the next mountain, crossed the next valley and a big river and were on top of the next mountain on a huge rock face when I found them purely by accident late the next day (36 HRS)

Both of these were archery only units with only 1-2 tags offered over a very long history. They should have been tolerant sheep.

The last tag I had (only tag holder archery new unit) I had sheep about a mile away and wasn't going to close in in time before the day heated up and they timbered up so I thinks to myself... lets see what kind of sheep THESE ones are...

So I stand up and boom, 9 rams sprint into the timber never to be seen again, well, question is answered!

 

[[insertspecies]Slayer]

https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Hunting/BigGame/Statistics/RockyMountainBighornSheep/2022StatewideRockyMtnBighornSheepHarvest.pdf

I was looking at these harvest odds, and I was surprised how many people don't fill their tags. I'm assuming most of the hunts were archery hunts though. Is there a reason the bighorns in 32 are so dang hard to kill? And if so why would they give out archery tags? Is it so they can double the amount of tags in the draw knowing guys won't kill?

Like S59 had 1 ram tag, which was a rifle tag, and the dude hunted for 23 days and didn't get a sheep

 

[Coveyleader]

As I mentioned, S32 sheep know what hunting is, and they are a long way from being "the dumb sheep" you see standing on the side of the road licking salt in the dead of winter or in early spring. Sadly, S32 used to be archery only. Now its archery, and rifle. At one time there were 3 archery seasons and 2 rfiles seasons in there so trust me, those sheep know what elmer fudd looks and smells like. It used to be a sheep factory, and a wonderfull hunt.

 

[Bambistew]

People want sheep hunting to be hard for some reason. To make it more prestigious? I think a lot of it stems from the fact that most people who hunt sheep have never hunted that hard for anything. I've been on a lot of hunts for both sheep and other animals. A back country, backpacking elk/mule deer hunt is every bit as "hard" as a sheep hunt. IMO. They are not some cunning animal, IMO, none of them are including deer, elk, et al. If they were hard to hunt, the success rates wouldn't be so high. Bow hunting has its own limitations, but many states have rifle success rates that hover around 100% for sheep.

Bow hunting dall/stone sheep in the open may seem difficult or easy. There is a lot of cover to hide behind usually in the form of terrain vs vegetation. I'm not much of bow hunter, but have been close to a lot of sheep over the years.

Sheep can see well, and can see movement at a mile or more if its obvious. They will stare you down intently if they see something, but will usually give up after about 10-15 min of staring. They can smell pretty well. I've had them blow out when winded at 1000 yards or more.

IMO the hardest part of sheep hunting is finding the sheep and finding the right one. It usually takes dozens and dozens of miles on foot. I had a friend come up a last year to hunt sheep, and he remarked at how many sheep he'd seen when the population was supposedly so bad. When I told him he saw 1/2 of what he should have, and none were legal rams, he changed his perception.

I think like anything, the challenge is dictated by the amount of experience, and the location. Most people that draw sheep tags here in AK have very little to no sheep hunting experience. The success rates, for the most part are lower than OTC hunts. There is arguably 2-3x as many legal rams in the draw areas as OTC units, so its not for lack of legal rams.

 

[Ramhunter85]

Sheep are smart and have keen senses but that being said if you can get into a position where they don't usually feel threatened from predators than they may let their guard down. this is also dependent on high vs low pressure areas.

 

[venado mula]

Sheep will be where their preferred food source is. We don't have large numbers of sheep hunters per season plus the tags are so low it's only a few hunters and the season is really long in most districts so there isn't any pressure on them. Being in the open gives them the advantage with their eyesight. I've observed them in open country but the biggest rams I've seen are in the timber/aspen mix. They are intelligent and have excellent eye sight, that being said I don't believe they are very difficult to hunt and they are more curious than anything. I watch Bighorns a lot while I'm scouting and hunting mule deer. I've stalked a few rams (to test their abilities) that would have made the books and I was shocked how close I got. I don't hunt elk anymore, elk aren't comparable to anything, they are a circus of noise, smells and destruction, most other species seem to avoid them. Any mule deer buck that's 170" or bigger won't be in the open country during the seasons in my state.

 

[Snyd]

Define "smart" or "intelligent". We tend to confuse intelligence with instinct, wariness, learned behavior, etc. A ram doesn't know that the stick figure he just saw on a ridge is packing the latest ubermag or a recurve and is coming for him. Fight or flee kicks in. Safe or not safe, friend or foe, to put it in human terms. Instinct, not intelligence kicks in. Don't anthropomorphize. Various activity, human or otherwise will make these critters more wary and will influence their behavior but they do not have deductive reasoning, etc. that would make them smart or intelligent.

 

[Mykolaivka887]

One thing I've noticed about Dall Sheep in Alaska, is that they've become very much conditioned to humans the past 30 years. With the thousands of college kids roaming the backcountry of Alaska every summer - Brooks Range, Alaska Range, Wrangell Mountains, Chugach Range, Talkeetna Mountains, etcetera - sheep have become extremely tolerant of humans. Heck, you can practically walk right up to them in a lot of places, in early August.

 

[venado mula]

Define "smart" or "intelligent". We tend to confuse intelligence with instinct, wariness, learned behavior, etc. A ram doesn't know that the stick figure he just saw on a ridge is packing the latest ubermag or a recurve and is coming for him. Fight or flee kicks in. Safe or not safe, friend or foe, to put it in human terms. Instinct, not intelligence kicks in. Don't anthropomorphize. Various activity, human or otherwise will make these critters more wary and will influence their behavior but they do not have deductive reasoning, etc. that would make them smart or intelligent.

I somewhat disagree. Mountain game can differentiate between two legged vibrations in the ground to four legged vibrations in the ground without seeing what is causing the disturbance, that exhibits known intelligence and developed intelligence. They also have exhibited the ability to differentiate silhouettes to evade danger. There is a level of intelligence that exists in all creatures. To displant instinct and learned behavior alone and not accept a level of intelligence would be naive.

 

[Snyd]

So define intelligence. I would argue that these animals do not have deductive reasoning. But rather that they are reactionary. There are things in their environment that will invoke fight or flee. But in a sheep‘s brain is he actually determining that a biped is as dangerous or more dangerous than a four footed critter? No, But they both can trigger the fear response. It is a reaction not an intelligent thought process that includes deductive reasoning, leading to a decision and a response based on that reasoning. When a ram sees a stick figure on the ridge from a mile away across the drainage, I guarantee you he is not sensing the bipeds vibrations on the train. He is seeing some thing out of the ordinary, which gets his attention, instinct kicks in, and he reacts.

 

[venado mula]

So define intelligence. I would argue that these animals do not have deductive reasoning. But rather that they are reactionary. There are things in their environment that will invoke fight or flee. But in a sheep‘s brain is he actually determining that a biped is as dangerous or more dangerous than a four footed critter? No, But they both can trigger the fear response. It is a reaction not an intelligent thought process that includes deductive reasoning, leading to a decision and a response based on that reasoning. When a ram sees a stick figure on the ridge from a mile away across the drainage, I guarantee you he is not sensing the bipeds vibrations on the train. He is seeing some thing out of the ordinary, which gets his attention, instinct kicks in, and he reacts.

With my experience with mountain game I still disagree. But I appreciate the dissent.

 

[greatbasinhunter]

There’s videos of them turning on water faucets to get water out in the deserts of Nevada. Pretty damn smart if you ask me.