Reliable stone sheep pricing

[WCB]

NO Stone Sheep hunts will not be 3x Dall Sheep hunts....Reason is Dall Sheep hunts will probably double in the next 5 years or so. So more than likely just be around 2x.

I know my dad has two Stone Sheep from the mid 70s and the hunt was $2500 per person. I think 2 Alaskan Dall Sheep 2 Stones and his Bighorn shot in B.C. total cost less than $12,000. Grandpa has similar but add in his Desert he shot on a raffle tag him winning 1 of 2 given away at the White Sands range...(I want to say the first hunt they had for them there) cost him like $20. Yes $20.

 

[SDHNTR]

Can you find me someone who was predicting back at the height of the whitetail craze that it would die down someday? Or as someone posted earlier, African plains game?

Utah's tag numbers were intentionally cut to further a different goal, so its not really a good comparison. If a portion of the huntable Stone Sheep population is suddenly declared off limits by a government, then of course, that will affect things. But nobody can predict that, and its not what we're discussing here.

I'm not saying that Stone Sheep hunts will ever be cheap. But that is very different from saying that they will remain the same price as they are today relative to the US dollar.

Prices for whitetail hunts haven’t gotten less expensive. And Africa hunts have only gone down in price because traveling there has become such a nightmare, and expensive too. And I think also because the word has got out that many hunts over there are canned, so lots of hunters are uninterested.

 

[wind gypsy]

The whitetail craze has died down? Doesn't seem that way when a guy tries to buy or lease whitetail hunting property.

 

[WCB]

The whitetail craze has died down? Doesn't seem that way when a guy tries to buy or lease whitetail hunting property.

I agree....prices I think have "dropped" because it is so saturated. AND IMO some of these areas where the Big Buck Craze took hold in the late 90s early 2000s aren't producing the same as they were. Same with some areas in Canada. I think it seems to have "died down" because western hunting has gained popularity but it is still there for sure.

 

[wildwilderness]

So checking around on stone sheep hunts in bc - pricing seems absurdly high: under 6 figures but getting there. What is the consensus on what is happening? Is it really going to be almost 3x an Alaska dall sheep hunt to chase after stones?

I wouldn’t worry about price for a stone sheep, but would worry a lot more about actually shooting a sheep with whichever outfitter you choose….

 

[swarovskicoues]

I killed my Stone in 2021 with MacMillan River Adventures in the Yukon an can't say enough great things. I still keep up with the guides and they send photos of rams clients kill. Id 100% book with them an last I heard the stone sheep hunts are 60k for 2024 pricing.

 

[medvedyt]

i still do not get it about the stone thing while the fannin are still not that pricey maybe a hint there ...

 

[medvedyt]

i might add we do not have on the biological side any stone sheep in the yukon ....

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/yukon-stone-sheep-dall-1.4908206

 

[Grisha]

i might add we do not have on the biological side any stone sheep in the yukon ....

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/yukon-stone-sheep-dall-1.4908206

That's interesting - is that widely accepted?

 

[medvedyt]

That's interesting - is that widely accepted?

lol i imagine not the trophy books lol nor the outfitters but you can see what same are paying for what is not ... nothing new in that world ... even the wild sheep foundation of bc is talking about it ...

 

[WCB]

Also, I doubt the data exists, but I'd REALLY like to see the price of a stone sheep hunt over the last 30 years.

Not last 30 years but pretty neat to look at...

I am looking at a brochure from 1977 right now from Dalziel Hunting LTD in B.C. attached to letters back and forth from my grandpa and the outfitter.

Pricing:

Stone Ram & MT Goat 10days $3,500.00
Stone Ram, MT Goat, Moose, Caribou, Grizzly, Wolf, Wolverine 21day $5,000
Moose, Caribou $2,500
Moose $1,000
Grizzly and Black Bear $2,500

All inclusive but the travel to the charter.

Have another from Buzz Smith (Yukon) around the same time.

14 day hunt $2800

Trophy Fees
Grizzly $250
Dall Sheep $150
Moose $100
Cariou $100

 

[medvedyt]

i do not know what will be the today cost for a 21-28 days in the yukon with horse packs and multi species but i will way above 100k ... very rare are the outfitters still using horses up here. season is short and the horses are to be taken care for the whole year.

 

[mod7rem]

I’m a BC resident so I’m lucky enough to do DIY Stone Sheep hunts every year. This year, while we were being dropped off in the mountains by a small commercial bush plane, the pilot told us that it’s very common for guided Stone Sheep hunters to pay the air service to pick them up at big airports in the southern part of BC and fly them directly into outfitter camps to save time and the inconvenience of more commercial airline flights into northern BC. At upwards of $20,000 CDN on either end of their hunt.
Many people have a lot more disposable income than me ha ha.

 

[cbeard64]

I have a firm belief that more and more ultra wealthy folks have become interested in sheep hunting (hunting in general, actually) which is one reason prices have skyrocketed over the past 10 years.

When I say ultra wealthy I mean net worth in the tens of millions of dollars and up. The kind of wealthy for whom 20K or 200K is not much of a difference.

I have traditionally been a big fan of the WSF but I believe their focus on attracting wealthy folks into the organization to raise more $$$ for sheep has contributed significantly to this. I don’t think that is the goal but nonetheless it is the by-product. Sheep hunting is now more than ever seen as Ferrari/Gucci level hunting that is a “must-do” for the wealthy hunter.

 

[Scottf270]

Sadly, most everything in the world is about the "money".

 

[wyosteve]

Wealthy folks have always been a big part of sheep hunting. I started attending the sheep Show in 1988 and the Montana permit was in the $300k plus range even back then. Stone hunts and desert hunts were the most expensive then and still are.

 

[bojangles808]

Not last 30 years but pretty neat to look at...

I am looking at a brochure from 1977 right now from Dalziel Hunting LTD in B.C. attached to letters back and forth from my grandpa and the outfitter.

Pricing:

Stone Ram & MT Goat 10days $3,500.00

i looked it up 3500 in 1977 if it's USD its $17,700 in today's money

 

[cbeard64]

Wealthy folks have always been a big part of sheep hunting. I started attending the sheep Show in 1988 and the Montana permit was in the $300k plus range even back then. Stone hunts and desert hunts were the most expensive then and still are.

It’s not easy to research but as far as I can tell the first 300K auction tag sold for MT sheep was in 2012 - 24 years after 1988. I did find an article from 1987 that said the highest sheep tag ever auctioned up to that time was just over 100K for an Oregon tag. My point really was not about auction tags anyway. They have been the province of the well-off for a long time. It was about sheep hunt costs in general.

While northern sheep hunts have never been exactly cheap on a relative scale, they were much more affordable on even an inflation-adjusted basis years ago vs. today. (Well under 10K even up through much of the ‘90s). The first sheep hunt I went on was for Fannin sheep in the Yukon in 2006. Base hunt cost was $9500 plus $4500 trophy fee. The plane to Whitehorse was filled with sheep hunters and we spent a lot of time getting to know each other both in the plane and later at the local hotels/watering holes. Most of the hunters were regular working guys who grew up hunting. A few were well-off guys who also grew up hunting.

Fast forward to 2017 and my Yukon Dall hunt: almost every hunter I met was independently wealthy. Most had not grown up hunting, though some had. Maybe one or two regular working guys going on a OIL hunt.

From what the guides and others in the industry tell me, this trend has not only continued but accelerated. Even that 2017 Dall hunt has doubled in cost over the last 6 years. Very few “regular Joes” are going to pony up 90-110K for a Stone hunt or even 35-50K for a Dall hunt which are the going rates these days. I know there are some cheaper hunts in AK but I think the reality is those hunts are cheaper for a reason.

 

[NorthCountryAB]

i looked it up 3500 in 1977 if it's USD its $17,700 in today's money

$17K, id be booking a stone hunt today.

 

[ld2507]

Quick search:

Book Your Hunt: $75000
World Wide Trophy Adventures: “from $60000” through “from $95000”

I saw that the other day..... That is absolutely insane.