NWT vs Yukon

[LonghairDontcare]

Hello all. I’m in the very early stages of planning a sheep hunt and have narrowed my destination to either the Yukon or NWT. I’m wondering what everyone’s general consensus of one versus the other. A few questions I have are:
1) are logistics tougher with one or the other?
2) are the terrains similar?
3) are there areas of either to avoid (weather issues, population. Issues etc).

I’m leaning towards a helicopter based outfitter as this will likely be my only shot at doing this and opportunity is at the higher end of my checklist. Thanks for your help.

 

[MtnW]

If you want to use a helicopter you immediately rule out the Yukon.

 

[LonghairDontcare]

If you want to use a helicopter you immediately rule out the Yukon.

You are totally right. I don’t know how I didn’t notice that. I have a handful of outfitters bookmarked in both provinces and didn’t catch that. Curious, do you know why that is?

Side note I don’t “want” to use a helicopter. It just seems like their opportunity rates are higher than horseback/backpack hunts. If it were a level playing field, I could care less either way. I’m open to anything.

 

[StupidLightweight]

I'd go with NWT. When I hunted moose in the Yukon in 2019, the guides said NWT is the place to hunt. As for the ban on helicopters, the purpose is to protect the game populations with difficult access. It's far easier to land on a ridge with a helo than to find a meadow, river, or lake for landing a fixed-wing.

 

[LonghairDontcare]

Gotcha. Did not know there is a ban on helicopters in the Yukon. Thanks for the clarification

 

[kybuck1]

NWT without a doubt. Like others mentioned the heli is the big difference. Unless you are opposed to using one for one reason or another it opens up so many more opportunities for hunting areas. Most outfits over there seem to be targeting 10 plus year old rams too which I'm not sure if that is the case in the Yukon but IMO keeps the trophy quality superb while enjoying the access of the helicopter. All about the hunt experience you are after.

 

[MattB]

NWT. Even though helicopters are legal, not all use them. I’ve hunted sheep with Gana River twice and cannot recommend Harold and his crew highly enough.

 

[MDM23]

NWT is the place to go, lots of sheep and amazing country. Hunted with Canol last year can’t recommend them enough. Even if you book now it will be 2-3 years out with most all the Outfits in the NWT.

 

[Wyoming Hart]

Sounds like the NWT is what you are looking for. All of the outfitters there are top notch and there are plenty of sheep. I think some places in the Yukon are seeing the same issues that Alaska is currently experiencing. Also as was mentioned above, no helicopters in the Yukon.

 

[cbeard64]

Funny how attitudes have changed on the helicopters. Not too many years ago NWT hunts were pretty universally looked down on because of the helicopter use. Seems like now it’s considered a plus.

 

[kybuck1]

Funny how attitudes have changed on the helicopters. Not too many years ago NWT hunts were pretty universally looked down on because of the helicopter use. Seems like now it’s considered a plus.

Yea, not really sure how its a negative

 

[OMB]

Yea, not really sure how its a negative

ehh, there's some outfits up there where they make it more of a shoot than it is a hunt because of the helicopter.

 

[MDR]

Sounds like the NWT is what you are looking for. All of the outfitters there are top notch and there are plenty of sheep. I think some places in the Yukon are seeing the same issues that Alaska is currently experiencing. Also as was mentioned above, no helicopters in the Yukon.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/dall-sheep-survey-kluane-region-decline-concerning-1.7024101

You're not wrong. Kluane permit was cancelled due to low sheep populations. The last couple winters have had a super high snow load.

 

[kybuck1]

ehh, there's some outfits up there where they make it more of a shoot than it is a hunt because of the helicopter.

I hear where you are coming from. I don't know all the outfits but my limited experience is that most if not all outfits will tailor the hunt to you. I do believe that they all stick to the harvest criteria with age on the sheep, so in the end the population should be fine from a hunter harvest standpoint. If you wanna hike 10-12 miles a day looking for sheep they will for sure drop you off and pick you up later. Likewise if you wanna chance to shoot within the time limitations of the helicopter it's available as well. It's up to you as a hunter to let em know what you want. They all want you to be successful as it's their livelihood at stake. It just makes so much more of their area accessible to hunters.

 

[wyosteve]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/dall-sheep-survey-kluane-region-decline-concerning-1.7024101

You're not wrong. Kluane permit was cancelled due to low sheep populations. The last couple winters have had a super high snow load.

Thanks, I was wondering why there has not been a Kluane permit at the recent Sheep Shows.

 

[wind gypsy]

I hear where you are coming from. I don't know all the outfits but my limited experience is that most if not all outfits will tailor the hunt to you. I do believe that they all stick to the harvest criteria with age on the sheep, so in the end the population should be fine from a hunter harvest standpoint. If you wanna hike 10-12 miles a day looking for sheep they will for sure drop you off and pick you up later. Likewise if you wanna chance to shoot within the time limitations of the helicopter it's available as well. It's up to you as a hunter to let em know what you want. They all want you to be successful as it's their livelihood at stake. It just makes so much more of their area accessible to hunters.

Kind of hard to spend $50k on a hunt and then ask to make it harder.

Just kind of a buzz kill when part of the allure to sheep hunting is the perceived physical/mental strains to make it happen in wild places. When it's just the matter of writing a check, getting dropped in a heli, and making a shot, well it's not that interesting. Sad that it's what hunting has come to and i'm not saying that i'm above any of it, just that it's sad.

 

[kybuck1]

Kind of hard to spend $50k on a hunt and then ask to make it harder.

Just kind of a buzz kill when part of the allure to sheep hunting is the perceived physical/mental strains to make it happen in wild places. When it's just the matter of writing a check, getting dropped in a heli, and making a shot, well it's not that interesting. Sad that it's what hunting has come to and i'm not saying that i'm above any of it, just that it's sad.

Not to belabor this topic but so many ways to think about the scenario. My trip had 6 sheep hunters (three archery) they had helicopters and 2 sheep killed that week. Both of those sheep were 9 day kills. We hiked our butts off every day, but did enjoy the drop off and pickup. The vast majority of the population I think would have a hard time spending 40K or so to not have a reasonable chance at a ram, but to each their own. I'm sure the 4 guys in camp were a bit upset but you'd never know it. I personally could care less about walking all the way in, horseback in etc. More access to the entire area and getting there quicker. Not every camp is the same and I don't think the helicopters should tarnish the idea or expectations of how a sheep hunt will go. I had a great experience.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I don’t think on average the gap between the super cub/float plane dropped hunter and the helicopter hunter is as significant as many are thinking, unless you are dropped on the other side of a hill from a band of rams seen from the air and then get your ram as soon as enough time has passed. That happens with planes too. Sure you might get dropped off and picked up 2000 ft higher, and that is obviously worth a few hours of hiking with a weighted pack on the front and back end, but if you are hunting for a week plus after getting dropped off, the differences begin to fade a bit. I think the gap (physical difficulty) between a backpack hunt and a horseback hunt is much more significant on a daily basis.

The concessions are so huge, there are many areas with sheep where you don’t have a lake/strip/gravel bar, and there are other productive drainages you would have to hike through or ride through with a horse team to get to them, whereas as the helicopter can get a hunter and guide in there and creates the access, allowing the outfitter to use more of his concession