Progress of my preparations for my Colorado sheep hunt?

[deerhunt1988]

Not even a sheep hunter but very much enjoy this thread! Look forward to future updates.

 

[Rosey]

Great thread. Thank you for taking the time to do regular updates. Excellent way for those of us out of the game this year to live and learn through others.

 

[coloradohoyt]

RnnHntr, I pulled my sheep tag here in CO as well this year. Mine is for S19 which is up by RMNP. I live in Black Hawk right now but moving to Montrose in July (Of course I have to be moving farther away). Anyway, It's my first sheep hunt as well. I did get an archery tag back in 2012 but had to have foot surgery so I turned it back in. I was just trying to scout S19 the last couple days but there's still a lot of snow and we didn't see any sheep. Lots of moose and deer so it was fun anyway. I'll be checking in on here to see how you're doing. Good luck to you!

 

[RnnHntr]

I was able to get out and scout on Sunday. The sheep have moved up into their summer range, and I saw three on a hillside at a distance of a mile or so. I did not have my spotting scope along, so could not tell for sure whether they were rams or ewes. I think they were rams, but that may have been wishful thinking. The sheep were located on the edge of what CPW has mapped as the core sheep summer range. I was unable to get to the heart of that area. I carried my new Seek Outside Lannar pack with about 30 pounds in it for a test ride. The pack was quite comfortable, but the accessory pocket I put on the hip belt gets in my way, so will go away. The pack has really large and deep side pockets and one worked well for carrying my hydration pack. This was also my first serious mountain trip with a load wearing my new boots, and they worked well. There was lots of snow and frequent stream crossings, and they stayed dry and comfortable inside. The snow was an issue for hiking, and I was not able to get all the way to where I wanted to get in the time I had available. One awe-inspiring thing I found was an area where a snow slide came down this winter. It looked like someone had dropped a bomb on the area, with broken trees and tree debris everywhere. There was one part of the area where the slide had obviously become airborne after launching off of a ridge and toppled trees by hitting the tops. Looking at the affects from within the debris field, it gives me a whole new level of respect for the power of these events, and makes me wonder how often wildlife is caught by these things. There were a bunch of marmots in the area, and in one place there were five all together having a marmot-fest. Much of the snow was in the valleys, while the peaks were mostly clear of snow. I will try to post some photos from the scout later in the week.

 

[chasewild]

Your cook set seems a bit much. I may have missed this part, but why do you need a spatula?

1 cannister, 1 spork (titanium), one aluminum cup for boiling water, one stove. Anything more than that is unnecessary, but maybe I missed something.

 

[RnnHntr]

I do like to cook real food to the extent practical, but your point is well taken and I have reduced my cooking outfit. I will still bring a small billy to boil water in, rather than my cup, though.

 

[RnnHntr]

Here are some photos from my Sunday scout. The first is the mountainside where I say the three sheep. The other photo shows the snow slide debris area. The rocks where the waterfall is located is where the slide went airborne.

 

[RnnHntr]

You can end up scouting from some unexpected places. I had to fly to Reno for work this week and we flew just north of my sheep unit. The photo shows the snow conditions in the area.

 

[Ariettabob]

Great stuff!!! I’m enjoying the hell out of it. Can’t wait for the hunt.

 

[RnnHntr]

I have been tied up with family and work the past couple of weeks, so have not made a lot of progress. However, I have a couple of guys who are doing some scouting for me, and this is what they saw a couple of weeks ago. I have a 50-mile trail marathon next week in Ouray, and I will be back to scouting the week after.

 

[5 shot group]

That's the kind of motivation that will make you fly up the mountain, no matter how heavy your pack is.

Looks like it's going to be a great hunt

 

[rlmmarine]

Great stuff keep it coming

 

[AlleghenyMountain]

Wow, I got a little "ram fever" from 2,000 miles away. I've been fascinated by sheep hunting ever since I stumbled across a Jack O'Connor story (The Ram and the Silver Bullet) in an 15 year old copy of Outdoor Life I found. Good luck, I'll be following along!

 

[geoman99]

I’ve never been that “buy a tikka” guy but in this case, if you got a tikka rather than the cooper backcountry you’d save ~ 1800.00 and not give up anything in the weight/accuracy/reliability department and you’d have that much extra cash for a tent or whatever else you wanted to buy....maybe that new spotting scope you’re drooling over.

Just saying.

Totally agree. There are much less expensive ways to save a couple of pounds than buying a new rifle at those costs. My 300 wsm with scope is 8.5 pounds and I feel that’s fairly resonable for my first sheep hunt as well as all my other deer and elk hunts.

 

[RnnHntr]

I went on a scouting trip this weekend, which I also used as a shakedown for the new gear I have acquired for the hunt. I left from work Friday and hiked a couple of miles in before stopping to camp. On Saturday I hiked about 10 miles, with a bit over 4,000 feet of climbing. My pack with all of my gear, food, etc., but without the rifle was right at 50 pounds. I was feeling it at the end of the day and I am going to see if I can trim about 10 pounds from the load. The pack itself is a Seek Outside Lanner, and worked out well, but I need to tweek the fit a bit more to better distribute the weight between my hips and shoulders. The upside and the downside of the pack is that it has a ton of room, so it is tempting to fill it.

My TarpTent Stratospire 1 tent was relatively fast and easy to set up, even though this was only the second time doing so. The down side of the tent is that the supplied stakes, which are tubular aluminium are fragile, so I will be replacing them. I also need to make the floor of the tent a bit more slide-proof.

There was no flat ground where I ended up camping, so I pitched the tent perpendicular to the slope, made a shelf of sorts for my but to rest against, and slept on my back. It wasn't great, but it worked and basically kept me, my sleeping pad, and sleeping bag all where they belonged, rather than in a lump at the bottom end. I was awoken out of a sound sleep at about 4:00 AM by a snuffling next to me and with me roaring at the top my lungs "GET OUT OF HERE YOU SON-OF-A-B!+#H, GET, GET, AND DON'T COME BACK." The SOB (I would guess a bear by the sound) in question ran, probably thinking "That crazy human must be rabid!" I almost immediately fell back asleep for a couple more hours. Lest you think me more unflappable than I am, I did have my 10mm Glock under my hand at the time. The Glock will stay home for the hunt, since I never could see the use of the handgun when I had a rifle.

The Lowe Tibet GTX boots that I have already mentioned in earlier posts were rock stars! The traction was great, my feet stayed comfortable, and they are very stable and had great ankle support. The support was especially important on this trip since I sprained my ankle two days before the trip and almost did not go.

The one thing I forgot was insect repellent, so there are now a bunch more well-fed mosquitoes in the area. I also almost forgot toilet paper or wet wipes, but remembered as I passed the last store. Having done the vegetation thing on a few occasions, I prefer other methods of personal sanitation.

So I am sure you are all at the enough of the small talk stage, and want to know about the sheep. Well, that part was disappointing in that I did not see hide nor hair of one. I did see a bunch of sheep trails that looked recent in one of the drainages I scouted, but no critters. Worse yet, the guy who will be with me for the first four days of the hunt was scouting an adjacent drainage for me where we have typically seen sheep, and they were not visible there either. Oh well, that is why it is called "hunting." I do have a couple of ideas and will be scouting them the week after next. You guys who are experienced at this game have counciled patience and persistence, so I am not worried (yet). I will say that the area where I will be hunting has incredible scenery, and the wildflowers are amazing. Enjoy the pictures, the first two are my campsite.


I have been doing a fair amount of shooting with my Cooper, and have found a load with 165-grain Accubonds that will consistently shoot sub-MOA at 200 yards. My one criticism of the Cooper is that their magazines are very poorly designed. Specifically, the follower spring is flimsy, the follower itself is not well retained in the magazine box and can ride forward with the last round jamming the rifle, and they suggest that the individual magazines need to be hand-fitted to the individual rifle. That is not what one would expect for the price, especially since quality interchangeable magazines have been around for well over 100 years. The round in the chamber and first two in the magazine had better be all I need, and I guess I better make sure I don't need the fourth round to kill my sheep. The Tikka T3 at a half-pound heavier, but $2,000 cheaper is looking better all of the time.

I do still have nothing but good to say about the Swarovski Z3 scope on the rifle, and the more I play with the .300 WInchester Magnum as a cartridge, the better I like it. I have always been a .30-06 fan (and always will be), but I am finding the .300 just as shootable, easy to reload, and accurate, with the benefit of a few hundred feet per second more velocity.

Since my season starts on September 3, the next few weeks will be spent trimming the load, practicing my long range shooting, and with at least one more scouting trip. I am also planning to pick up a pocket camera and leave the phone in the truck.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I have been doing a fair amount of shooting with my Cooper, and have found a load with 165-grain Accubonds that will consistently shoot sub-MOA at 200 yards. My one criticism of the Cooper is that their magazines are very poorly designed. Specifically, the follower spring is flimsy, the follower itself is not well retained in the magazine box and can ride forward with the last round jamming the rifle, and they suggest that the individual magazines need to be hand-fitted to the individual rifle. That is not what one would expect for the price, especially since quality interchangeable magazines have been around for well over 100 years. The round in the chamber and first two in the magazine had better be all I need, and I guess I better make sure I don't need the fourth round to kill my sheep. The Tikka T3 at a half-pound heavier, but $2,000 cheaper is looking better all of the time.

I was having a very similar issue with my Cooper 300 Win Mag M52 Excalibur last year before my sheep hunt, except my second round would not feed after firing the first shot, so I basically had a single shot. They sent me 2 more magazines to try, and neither of those would seat properly into the rifle, so I called them to explain and then sent it in per their instructions. Within 3 weeks of the day I shipped it to them from Florida, I had it back in my hands, and working flawlessly every since. It's the most accurate rifle I have ever owned, and plan to have it for the rest of my life, hopefully on many more adventures. It is frustrating when you spend so much to have to go have re-work done, but I wouldn't trade the rifle for anything.

And for the record, I have had 2 other Coopers, both M54 short actions, and had no issues with them at all.

 

[Silvereagle50]

I just found this thread. Loved every post. And even the small talk doesn’t get boring. Since I’ve never even put in for a sheep tag in the 48, I’m sure at 53 I wouldn’t if I tried now. So planning on taking a guided trip to Alaska or the NWT in hopefully 2021.
Have started getting some equipment and learn all I can at this point. And living through guys like you.

Keep up these awesome reports. Will be looking forward to every last one, but especially that one with you holding your sheep.

 

[Rock-o]

I recently came across a PDF on the Internet from Atomic Athlete LLC - usage granted to Exo Mountain Gear - that lays out a 4-week backcountry hunting training program. From the PDF...

PROGRAM PURPOSE
Preparing for a mountain-based endeavor, such as backcountry hunting, while residing in a non-mountainous environment presents a unique set of challenges for the athlete. The primary goal of this 4-week (20-session) program is to improve the athlete’s aerobic capacity, lower body strength endurance, and connective tissue resilience, so that the hunter can successfully operate in mountainous terrain for an extended period of time, while under external load.

It's not my material to distribute so I can't post the document itself and the download URL is no longer in my history. The original filename is "Backcountry-Hunting-Training-Plan.pdf". I'm sure searching for the filename and/or the company names will quickly find it. Or maybe I'm late to the game and many are already aware of it.

Hopefully others will benefit from it like I'm sure to.

== Edit ==
Found the URL: https://exomtngear.com/pages/free-backcountry-hunting-training-program

 

[RnnHntr]

I went on my last scouting trip before the season starts yesterday. A bit over 22 miles, with about 5,000 feet of climbing in one long day, but I feel fine today, so I guess I am in sheep-shape. I unfortunately did not see any sheep, but at least I know where they aren't! The up-side is that the wild flowers are still in bloom, and the area is amazing.




The guys who are hunting with me said that they have time to do some scouting this week still, so hopefully they will find the sheep. Failing that, I still have a few ideas of places to look based on the information I have been able to gather regarding past years. I have hunted big game for 44 years with more than my share of success, but this sheep stuff makes me feel like a rank beginner. It is both an exhilarating and nerve-racking feeling. The good thing is that I have my gear squared away though I would still like to trim my load by five pounds, I have a good load for the rifle, and I am reasonably confident in my ability to hit a sheep out to about 500 yards.

 

[recurveman]

I talked to a sheep biologist that gave me some advice. "your butt should be more sore than your legs if you are hunting sheep properly. Your eyes should be tired not your legs" He knows sheep better than anyone I know and has been in sheep country since the 70's. I would look for that awesome group of rams in about the same spot that your buddies found them. Sit, glass, repeat.