Wearing black while sheep hunting

I watched three stone sheep this year blow off a mountain (one was a shooter too) because of a single wolverine which was walking 300 yards away. They ran up and over never to be seen by us again. I've been sheep hunting three times for a total of 50 days and based on my limited experience, I'd say the answer is yes, it does have an affect. I would personally try to avoid black or dark brown.
 
MosquitoCoast said:
I watched three stone sheep this year blow off a mountain (one was a shooter too) because of a single wolverine which was walking 300 yards away. They ran up and over never to be seen by us again. I've been sheep hunting three times for a total of 50 days and based on my limited experience, I'd say the answer is yes, it does have an affect. I would personally try to avoid black or dark brown.
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The first wolverine that I saw in the wild was one year when a friend an I were hunting sheep in one of Montana's Unlimited tag units. We were glassing form a ridge above timberline and there were 3 mule deer bucks bedded on a knob about 100 yds below us. They all were staring at something below them. As we watched them, a wolverine was working his way up to them. When the wolverine got about 30 yards from them, a forkhorn buck stood up and chased the wolverine away.

As for wearing black when sheep hunting, I can't remember wearing black on any of my Montana or Canadian sheep hunts, but I did find these pics from a couple of my New Zealand hunts.
My guide, girlfriend and I stalked to 310 yards of this Fallow deer when I shot him, and he didn't show any signs of seeing us before I shot.
q8tutGKl.jpg


And the 3 of us later snuck within 50 yards of about a dozen New Zealand Arapawa sheep and watched them for about 15 minutes before I shot this ram.
Awtpwt7l.jpg
 
medvedyt said:
last year i saw three hunters wearing kuiu camo clothing scaring a band of sheep and they were with a guide. the camo doesnt stop stupidity .... i doubt they ever saw me ...
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Ultimately, THIS! Camo gives you some ability to blend in but you can't fix dumb. If you are sheep hunting and want to close the distance, blending in matters especially when you have little cover. Most of the times we closed distance, we weren't in the sheep's view so its not like what you wear matters but there has also been times where to get just ten yards closer for a better set up mattered and you could be noticed because they could see you. I rather reduce the number of factors that blow a hunt than be limited.
 
Sheep will spot you 600 yards away, no matter what you have on. You're not hiding from a sheep.

Aoudad, we crawled through catus in TX. on our hands and knees.
CO Big Horn spotted us from the ridge, 600 yards below them. They watched us intently, and we shot from 580 yards.

Spanish sheep.
Ibex watched us from across a valley, but only 200 yards away. He's dead now. Even from across a valley, the guide had us crawling. The Ibex knew we weren't supposed to be there.

We saw Mouflon sheep 300 yards away. They didn't wait around. They skittished out before we set up the shot. We had to come back the next day, from up top. They generally look across mountains and down hill. Luckily, they never looked up hill. They are so skittish, I took 1 that was facing the other way.
 
Short Track said:
Sheep will spot you 600 yards away, no matter what you have on. You're not hiding from a sheep.

Aoudad, we crawled through catus in TX. on our hands and knees.
CO Big Horn spotted us from the ridge, 600 yards below them. They watched us intently, and we shot from 580 yards.

Spanish sheep.
Ibex watched us from across a valley, but only 200 yards away. He's dead now. Even from across a valley, the guide had us crawling. The Ibex knew we weren't supposed to be there.

We saw Mouflon sheep 300 yards away. They didn't wait around. They skittished out before we set up the shot. We had to come back the next day, from up top. They generally look across mountains and down hill. Luckily, they never looked up hill. They are so skittish, I took 1 that was facing the other way.
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i was told that too but it is really depending the experiences they had like hunting pressure, predator attacks or just hikers with dogs. the return of wolf like in europe have put moufflons (they are sheep too) and chamois more nervous than ever. here in the yukon older hunters were telling me that consider a sheep fitted with a 8x binoculars i will say that in some aeras in the yukon it is more a 16x while in some others with less human presence like in the richardsons where i climbed they were more curious than nervous even during hunting season as there is 2 tags issued and most of the time no harvest. another good example sheep mountain in kluane lake area (not open except by poachers) except during lambing season you can go close to them and they will not run away from you but will run from wolf or grizzly very fast and it is not the color that make run away but the body shape.

i was able to attract mountain (more an indication for the reader)/woodland and barrenground caribou in having a white cloth on a stick. some are saying they are dumb but its more an adaption or the group effect in area less hunted or less human presence it is even easier to demonstrate. so far i did not try with sheep so take with a few grain of salt my experiment with them lol.

but coming from the top is disturbing for mountain species up to the time they start to adapt.
 
Although I’ve accumulated quite a bit of it over the years I find camo highly overvalued. As folks have already said, staying out of sight, approaching from unseen angles (often involving some tough climbs) and staying downwind as much as possible are far more important. IMO, drab olive, brown or gray work just as well as camo. I have much less hesitation in wearing black pants on a mountain hunt as most often the shell I’m wearing covers through my hips, but there are better color choices for a jacket.

I was glad to not see anyone suggesting taking shots at 1k or farther so clothing and approach won’t matter as much. Personally, I think the over-reliance on technology is somewhat broadly eroding hunting skills. Was always inspired by watching old Fred Bear hunting videos and how effectively and close he could sneak in on game. The video production is horrible by today’s standards but watching Fred and company quickly close the distance across difficult terrain and up steep hills was truly inspiring - especially taking game with a recurve, wooden arrows, feathers, and file-sharpened broadheads. Stalking to within 40 yards on all manner of game (sometimes much closer) and instinctively shooting everything. As someone who bowhunted much of my life - I tip my hat!!! Fred and company were a huge inspiration.
 
Short Track said:
Sheep will spot you 600 yards away, no matter what you have on. You're not hiding from a sheep...
Click to expand...
Years ago on one of my Montana Unlimited Unit sheep hunts, as I was climbing up a mountain, just inside the timber on one side of an avalanche chute, and with my Golden Retriever next to me, I came upon two legal rams. I had killed a full curl ram in that unit the previous year (that was before the 7 year wait rule) so I didn't really want to shoot one of those rams.

They just stood there looking at me and were close enough that I picked up a ping pong size rock and threw it underhand and hit one of the rams, and they ran up the hill.

There was an outfitter with a guided hunter also hunting that mountain, and a few minutes after the rams ran up the avalanche chute I heard a shot, and a couple of minutes later both rams ran back down the hill, stopping about 30 yards above me.

I could see that one of the rams had been gut shot and it's small intestines were dragging on the ground. I didn't want to see it suffer, so I gave it a killing shot. I then went up the mountain and found the outfitter and his guide and hunter and took them down to the dead ram.

The next year I went back to that mountain and killed the other ram. That was the last year that that unit was Unlimited.

The ram that I had passed on the year before.
WgGp4MYl.jpg
 
rickyw said:
For all you veteran sheep hunters (dall sheep in particular), is wearing black on a sheep hunt a problem? It seems to me that if whites are helpful, black may be the opposite of helpful, and will stand out against the terrain. I have never been much of a camo guy, and just wear whatever is warm and comfortable, but I certainly don’t want to draw extra attention to myself even when I’m not moving. What has been your experience?

Thanks
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I guess I could be called a veteran as I have killed 7 of them. I would wear black over white for dang sure. Some of those rocks in Alaska are pretty dark and black would fade into them if you were at the bottom of a drainage. You could have the most adaptive camo for the terrain and if I sheep sees you move it’s over . Hell my first sheep was 37 years ago and I had on jeans and a green Remington fleece jacket. Point is if you have good gear then wear it….just keep out of sight as much as possible
 
Warm and dry is your first priority. That said, spend money on a color other than black. I have used solid colors before but I had found Arcteryx or other branded gear that was grey, stone or green. Sometimes, I wore both green and grey.

It all works just avoid lesser color options: Black, fluorescent or Chartreuse yellows etc.
 
TalusHunterCA said:
Warm and dry is your first priority. That said, spend money on a color other than black. I have used solid colors before but I had found Arcteryx or other branded gear that was grey, stone or green. Sometimes, I wore both green and grey.

It all works just avoid lesser color options: Black, fluorescent or Chartreuse yellows etc.
Click to expand...
i had my first chamois with dark black wool pants (bonneval one) and yellow bellay jacket but luckily for me they saw me after the shot ...
 
buffybr said:
Years ago on one of my Montana Unlimited Unit sheep hunts, as I was climbing up a mountain, just inside the timber on one side of an avalanche chute, and with my Golden Retriever next to me, I came upon two legal rams. I had killed a full curl ram in that unit the previous year (that was before the 7 year wait rule) so I didn't really want to shoot one of those rams.

They just stood there looking at me and were close enough that I picked up a ping pong size rock and threw it underhand and hit one of the rams, and they ran up the hill.

There was an outfitter with a guided hunter also hunting that mountain, and a few minutes after the rams ran up the avalanche chute I heard a shot, and a couple of minutes later both rams ran back down the hill, stopping about 30 yards above me.

I could see that one of the rams had been gut shot and it's small intestines were dragging on the ground. I didn't want to see it suffer, so I gave it a killing shot. I then went up the mountain and found the outfitter and his guide and hunter and took them down to the dead ram.

The next year I went back to that mountain and killed the other ram. That was the last year that that unit was Unlimited.

The ram that I had passed on the year before.
WgGp4MYl.jpg
Click to expand...
If you ain't huntin' with a dog, cowboy hat and a flannel are you even alive?
 
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