Sheep Hunting Advice for Traditional Archery

[bisblue]

Hey folks,
I drew a ewe bighorn tag for my local unit here in Southern Nevada. I've seen lots of sheep as a park ranger/ wilderness ranger. I'd like to take my traditional bow on this hunt.

Any tips or tricks for getting in close from other sheep hunters?

I was told they will give you more leeway coming in from the side or downhill as compared to coming from above.... I have them fairly patterned in a few spots and know the area very well.

Best,

 

[Bryceo29]

If the sheep are used to seeing humans, they can be approached but getting close enough with Trad equipment is difficult. Pattern them and wait as an ambush is more likely how you will get close enough to shoot one.

 

[lonedave]

As you know, they follow their well established trails quite a lot. If there are animals in the area, I'd probably set up an ambush along one or several. Otherwise, I'd try to spot them and stalk from behind a rock outcrop as you would a mulie. I had a tag for a ewe in Washington in 2019 and took the one in my avatar with my .45 T/C Seneca from about 40 - 45 yards. The season was during the rut though and this ewe was moving downhill being pushed by a ram. I took the shot when it felt right, but she would have kept coming closer and I probably could have had a 20 - 25 yard shot pretty easily. I was climbing up to them from the canyon bottom, so you may have something about coming from below rather than above. As you can see, other than the hat, I had no camo on either. Congrats on the tag!

 

[kaboku68]

Decoy em. You might be surprized what you can do with decoys.

 

[BAKPAKR]

Congrats on the tag and good luck on the hunt. You should hit up @Felix40 for some tips.

 

[Snyd]

 

[bisblue]

Got this method dialed!

 

[Felix40]

There’s no secrets. They aren’t very spooky but I do think they have good vision.

I’m a big fan of wrestling shoes for stalking in sharp rocks and cactus.

 

[Blockcaver]

Good luck! I've arrowed five rams over the years with my compound (Grand Slam plus an extra bighorn). All were taken on stalks from above. Some bighorn stalks put me within trad range. Takes the right terrain and upward thermals to get it done.

 

[Wrench]

I'd send Aron Snyder an email. He's a sneaky bastard and trad guy. I'd bet he'd be happy to tell you what has and hasn't worked to help you succeed.

 

[Coveyleader]

I shot my first ram with a longbow, 13 yds. As mentioned above, it takes the right winds, thermals, and the right cover to get in close. Ewes tend to be in large groups, so they can be harder to approach. I had a ram in between me and the one I shot (he was 10ish yds) but I had really high winds that let me sneak down on them. I can still remember that day standing alone in a steep avalanche slide, knowing I just arrowed my first sheep as he went full tilt down slope.

 

[DuckDogDr]

Tagging in on this as a fellow traditional archer

 

[Zackman]

Always interested in techniques for getting close to rams. I'll be following...

 

[Stave]

I know this is an old thread but . . . how did this hunt turn out?

Congrats to @lonedave! Great pic!

 

[bisblue]

I know this is an old thread but . . . how did this hunt turn out?

Congrats to @lonedave! Great pic!

I'm a bit embarrassed to say, I tagged out, with a rifle, at 25 yards.

I have lots of great excuses hunt was 13 hours one way, I had just moved from where I drew the tag to Idaho, only had 4 days to hunt, was borrowing a buddies truck, there was lots of rain and the sheep were staying really high that year away from the guzzlers that are normally really easy to hunt, etc....

I actually hit the brakes and did a U turn leaving Idaho to get my bow, thought better of it and did another U turn heading to Nevada. It was a good learning lesson of deciding what I want out of the experience and picking the weapon that will give me that. Next time I would have brought the bow, but I think as a newer traditional archer it still seemed undoable.

I was having a really hard time finding sheep, as were the other hunters. This unit is generally sheep road hunting. An acquaintance offered me a spot to check and it was great info, I headed out for that evening. I'm formally a rock climber and guide and spotted sheep on a fairly solitary mountain in the Mojave desert about an hour before dark. It wasn't super far, maybe a mile of arroyo/drainages, and a couple hundred feet up, but it was a really broken up ledgy limestone mountain. I had a perfect wind in my face the whole time, minus a couple swirls down low. I used the arroyos to my advantage but really started booking it. My buddy stayed back and watched me the sheep with the glass.

I got close to where I thought they were and was stemming up a 12' corner of so , imagine a 90 degree open book of rock and I have one leg and one arm pushing up either side. I was wearing approach shoes, that are like a tennis shoe with some stickier rubber for hiking in to climb. I stopped at a good spot to stand with hands and my chest sticking over the top of the corner. I was gingerly setting my rifle in a bush to mantle over (climbing out of a swimming pool), when a ewe came exploding out from under the rock in front of me. She was laying down about 1' in front and 2' below me. If I had been faster I could have grabbed her leg.

I mantled over, grabbed the rifle and chambered a round. She came around a big boulder at 25 yards and I stopped her with a GRRRR sound. She watched me as I off hand saw nothing but hair at 4x, found a spot and probably hammered more than squeezed the trigger. I think it would have been a perfect bow set up. My buddy said he was going crazy that I didn't look back for directions and he was watching us both through a 60x spotter.

After I shot, there were sheep everywhere, many giving me multiple long options to assess what they were and could have gotten shots at 20-60 yards. She went 20 yards or so. I was amazed how small she was when I went to pull her off the edge of a ledge and drag her to a flat spot, like moving a dog. Super fun hunt, chasing animals in the cliffs as a climber is a really unbeatable experience. I'm putting in for mountain goat as my draw option now in Idaho, and I want to try with my llamas and a stick bow.

This picture is looking back on the place I came from.

 

[Stave]

I love it! Beautiful photo, great hunt, thanks for sharing! God willing I draw a sheep tag one day I will bring a rifle if possible, but your story about coming over the ledge next to the sheep is a fantastic one. It takes me back to some of my own memories and lessons with coues deer. Bravo

 

[lonedave]

Awesome hunt, rifle or bow, still a nice close clean kill and some great meat. Did you get your ewe mounted? I had mine mounted to go along with the ram I shot one canyon over and 5 years earlier. I think they make a nice pair!

 

[bisblue]

Awesome hunt, rifle or bow, still a nice close clean kill and some great meat. Did you get your ewe mounted? I had mine mounted to go along with the ram I shot one canyon over and 5 years earlier. I think they make a nice pair!

I did a euro skull