Peter638,
I wish you luck on your quest for a ram but we're talking serious money here and I read things that concern me like, "will I have time to learn how to use a rifle before the hunt?...I've only ever hunted east coast whitetails. I've got two young kids and etc. etc."
I seriously wonder if maybe you're an experienced sheep hunter just trolling comments here to see how far you have to go before someone says WTF!!!
The following is opinion...take it or leave it;
1) Avoid an Alaska dall hunt for the foreseeable future. Yes some hunters will get their ram but harvesting a ram is hard, why go at a time when it's even harder due to population dynamics? Yes some areas in Alaska have better populations than others and the residents know that and are adjusting their plans for next season accordingly. It's unlikely you will get out in front of them.
2) In demand outfitters are booking trips +/- 3 years out. If you find a hunt opening sooner or at a great price it is probably NOT your lucky day. There are literally five thousand hunters doing exactly what you are doing and the marketplace is remarkably efficient. If an outfitter has a great price or an immediate opening there are, more likely than not, valid reasons why other hunters that started this quest before you have passed on that hunt. Outfitters are masters at sounding optimistic, proceed with discretion.
3) If you were 22 instead of 42 I would advise you to skip raffles and applying for Bighorn tags in the western US. I've done the $$ analysis and if you're a nonresident just starting in the application game you are better off taking what you would have spent on raffles/apps and create a dedicated sheep hunt investment account.
4) The sheep hunts with better chances of success cost more that the "harder" ones, it's just one of those supply and demand things. A NWT dall hunt will likely cost over $50k by the time you get there and back. The reason is because operating helicopters is expensive and healthy herd numbers are a desirable commodity. Sure you might get an AK dall hunt for half of that but the odds of success in NWT are 2x to 10x better. You get what you pay for.
5) The internet makes sheep hunting look awesome and it is but be aware that the hunters that came home empty-handed or got $crewed out of ten$ of thou$and$ do not go to hunting forums and brag about it. The disappointing stories are out there, they just don't get shared online like the success stories.
6) Hiking with a pack in the Adirondacks is good and necessary but you will get humbled on a backpack sheep hunt.
7) A caribou hunt as a way to test the waters for a northern sheep hunt is like saying I want to hunt elk so I'm going to go out West to hunt pronghorn antelope and see what it's like. If you're really serious I suggest you book a backpack mountain goat hunt with a northern BC, AK or Yukon outfitter that also outfits sheep hunts. It costs less than half of a dall hunt and you will get a genuine taste of mountain hunting in the North. See how you enjoy it, test your rifle, equipment, self. Plus you might get acquainted with the guide or outfit that you will be sheep hunting with...someday.
All this cautionary stuff aside, if you do it and do it right, you will love it. I don't know anyone that has been on a good sheep hunt that doesn't count the time spent as some of the greatest days of their life.
