My Sister's CO S9 Rifle Hunt

[AMann]

My very fortunate sister drew the S9 ram rifle tag with three preference points/zero weighted. After the initial excitement subsided, the realization of one of the most intense hunts of our lives is beginning to set in. We have a group of five that will be participating on this hunt and are all in our late twenties to early thirties. Collectively, our hunting group spends nearly 40 days each year chasing elk, deer, bear, antelope and turkey and we consider ourselves proficient hunters and outdoorsmen/women. None of us have set foot in the Sangre de Cristo range previously but we are/will be in "sheep shape" by season as we have already hiked over 100 miles this spring between shed hunting and turkey hunting. We understand the physical aspect involved with this type of hunt and have acquired/heavily used the necessary gear involved including alpha glass and precision rifles. This, combined with our 20 years of individual experience, we believe will enable us to safely and effectively (hopefully) hunt this range. This will be the first sheep hunt for our group, we plan on attending the sheep forum hosted by the CPW, discussing our plans with the regional biologist and thoroughly reviewing our plans on OnX and Google Earth. As of right now we have scheduled six scouting trips from July through August.

Our research thus far has only led us to minimal information, most of which we already knew or assumed. Being an extremely limited hunting opportunity, we are hoping to gather as much information/intel as possible. That being said, we would like to discuss appropriate tactics and techniques for locating rams with anyone that has held this tag in the past or participated in a similar style hunt. The specific information we are seeking is in regards to scouting techniques that have contributed to success, online sources of information we may have overlooked (excluding hiking forums), unorthodox hunting strategies, and things you wish you knew prior to embarking on your first sheep hunt, especially in S9. Please feel free to DM me if you do not wish to share information publicly. I understand few people have been fortunate enough to draw this tag and realize any applicable information is extremely valuable. Appreciate the help in advance and best of luck to everyone on their hunts this year!

 

[ahlgringo]

“We will be in sheep shape”

Love that line. The Sangres will test that- especially going in from the west. Congratulations on the tag- been trying to pull that archery tag for 9 yrs now.


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[npm352]

I lived at 10,000 feet in the Sangres for a semester. Amazing country. You will need to be in better than sheep shape and be mentally prepared for a tough hunt. They are high and steep and nasty in places. You will be hunting in a cluster of five 14ers that are pretty spectacular. I have the PDFs from CPW when they used to list sheep kill drainages and gps coordinates. If you do not have them I can send them to you.

That is a great tag, but will be intense. Make sure the weakest link in the group is not that weak. You don't want to have to coddle a group member around those mountains so they can be a 5th set of binos.

Best of luck.

 

[Blockcaver]

“We will be in sheep shape”

Love that line. The Sangres will test that- especially going in from the west. Congratulations on the tag- been trying to pull that archery tag for 9 yrs now."


Ahlgringo... 9 years of trying to draw a Sangres ARCHERY tag?? Things have really changed as I pulled it a second choice archery ram tag there a couple times back when I first started sheep hunting in the 1980s!

To the original poster and his sister...good luck! Magnificent country, hope you find a nice ram!

 

[KU_Geo]

Be prepared. It’s big country but the sheep are there for the taking. Hunted it last year with a friend, be ready cover lots of ground to find them. Good thing is you have a whole month so be sure to enjoy it!

 

[alexanderg23]

If it was me with a once in a lifetime tag, I’d hire a guide.

 

[dkime]

I think I speak for @AMann when I say that we recognize that we will never be in good enough shape for what we're about to get ourselves into. I appreciate everyone echoing the concerns over the physicality over the Sangres, it seems like that is the first thing (only*) that get's talked about when this unit is brought up, so we understand. Secondly, being where we are all at in our lives and the fortune of having his sister draw this tag so early in life I think it is understandable as to why she won't be able to afford a guide on this hunt. Like most of you, we would love to have that luxury but going DIY isn't necessarily a matter of pride at this point but more so a necessity. Appreciate all the insight so far, we're doing our best to fake it until we make it in the sheep hunting world this fall.

 

[AMann]

“We will be in sheep shape”

Love that line. The Sangres will test that- especially going in from the west. Congratulations on the tag- been trying to pull that archery tag for 9 yrs now.


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Thanks! I'm sure we'll have lots of good info for you when you draw the tag!

 

[AMann]

I lived at 10,000 feet in the Sangres for a semester. Amazing country. You will need to be in better than sheep shape and be mentally prepared for a tough hunt. They are high and steep and nasty in places. You will be hunting in a cluster of five 14ers that are pretty spectacular. I have the PDFs from CPW when they used to list sheep kill drainages and gps coordinates. If you do not have them I can send them to you.

That is a great tag, but will be intense. Make sure the weakest link in the group is not that weak. You don't want to have to coddle a group member around those mountains so they can be a 5th set of binos.

Best of luck.

That would be a huge help! I appreciate the reply and will send a PM. My sister and her fiance live in Old Snowmass so they have some pretty decent hills to train on. My girlfriend and I will have to settle for the Rawah's and Zirkel's. I spent a summer at CSU's mountain campus in Pingree Park. Not quite 10k but was a fun time... other than the school part.

 

[AMann]

Thanks to all who have replyed so far! I hate asking for specific information on an open forum as others could apply it to their OTC elk tags etc. so please PM me if you feel like responding. But thus far in our research, the Hermit Pass jeep trail keeps popping up. For those of you that are familiar with the unit during hunting season, is that road heavily used by hikers/hunters? How do the sheep react to the side x sides and Jeeps cruising up and down? We're not necessarily thinking of driving up it, and realize west of the summit is wilderness, just don't want to hike in from the west side only to find ourselves surrounded by billy bob and his cousins with badass lifted toys on top of the mountain. No offense to billy bob

 

[KU_Geo]

You can access some good country from Hermit pass, heading west, south or north from there. It’s a slow long drive up it if you have a rig to get up there. You’ll see folks in the east side on the way up, less so once you start hiking from the dead end. You’ll see people almost anywhere. Saw an Amish archery elk hunter walking around with an arrow nocked, 7 miles from the trailhead, way off trail, hunting in blue jeans and flannel...so you never know where you’ll see people in that country.

 

[ahlgringo]

You can access some good country from Hermit pass, heading west, south or north from there. It’s a slow long drive up it if you have a rig to get up there. You’ll see folks in the east side on the way up, less so once you start hiking from the dead end. You’ll see people almost anywhere. Saw an Amish archery elk hunter walking around with an arrow nocked, 7 miles from the trailhead, way off trail, hunting in blue jeans and flannel...so you never know where you’ll see people in that country.

There will be in amish elk camp in most drainages during elk season. I actually ran into an amish couple in the middle of a super nasty drainage, they were heading up to start packin a bull out. She was in a full length dress- which I thought was pretty awesome.

Feel free to pm me and I can give ya a couple ideas.


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[bcrow3]

I had the above timberline rifle deer tag last year. I spent a week in a couple different drainages and saw more bighorn sheep than bucks. I live in the SLV and have had friends with the S9 tag. One of the biggest sheep killed in the state last year came out of S9. I have been an onlooker on these forums for awhile but never felt I could contribute with useful info until now. Let me know if you have any specific questions. We get up in the Sangres every summer.

 

[kscowboy01]

If you do go the guided route, Sangre de Cristo Outfitters has a darn good guide for that unit. They will get you an opportunity at a ram.