Hey just wanted to give a heads up on here to save someone some grief in 2020 sheep season. I was lucky enough to draw the Pavillion sheep tag in 2019, cancelled other hunts, did lots of prep work and was totally stoked to hunt rams. I had hunted the area years ago and found lots of quality rams during the full curl season.
This year we dropped in 2 weeks before the closure and glassed for 2 days. We then left and came back for the last 6 days of the season. There are some circumstances that I wanted to share so LEH applicants can make their best decision about which hunt to apply for.
To begin this area is largely covered by private land both above and below the Highway. In the past the ranch has allowed access to LEH holders to cross the Ag fields to access the Fraser breaks and also above the Highway along the railway line. The ranch has changed hands and is now owned by a company called Blue Goose Cattle Company. The ranch Manager “Carl” was approached for permission to cross a fence and a 20 metre strip of private land above the Highway and the railway to access the mountain side and he refused. He also refused access across their Ag fields to the River breaks. “Carl went on a 15 minute rant about First Nations (that can’t be repeated) and complained about the quality of LEH rams that had been shot there in the past. He did allow a single access point to the railway which I don’t think he owned regardless which would have meant a 4 km walk up or down the tracks before you hiked up the mountain. The only access was the Tiffen Road and Salus Ck. Rd. Besides this someone in the wildlife branch thought it would be cool to extend a wildfire vehicle closure along the River where fires had zero impact south to Salus Creek.
In speaking with “Carl” he shared they had removed 107 horses from Tiffen Rd area the past few years. We hiked the mountainside there and observed all grasses mowed down to nothing with horse trails and tack literally everywhere including sheep terrain, I couldn’t believe it. Very little if any grazing habitat left.
We glassed hard and hunted hard for 7 1/2 days and other than a small 3/4 curl and a dink ram together on day 1 we passed up we saw zero other sheep not even any lambs and ewes.
In talking with Lilloett residents they told us it was common knowledge there were no rams in Pavillion the past few years, they did say there were a couple nice rams behind Fountain but the wanted access fees so not an option for us.
We saw nice sheep across the Fraser and spoke to other full curl hunters who were seeing goo rams both above and below Pavillion. We also spoke with the hunter who had the draw for A and he was equally as discouraged as we were.
Make up your own mind but wanted to put this out there to save someone some grief in 2020.
I hunted for a mature ram the last 9 days of the season in the same areas and glassed probably 200 sheep.I didn't count them but 40 or 50 were rams.Not easy to see the sheep but they are around.Not one ram was what I was interested in.
While out glassing I heard a shot very close by.A native poked a young ram on Indian land.Hardly a legal ram for us but they are allowed to shoot what they want.
I thought for all the sheep we spotted there would be a couple of mature rams.
I saw a hunter stalking some sheep.I probably would not of seen him but I caught a glint of something.After carefully studying the area the guys rifle gave him away.Never did like SS rifles,even more reason not to like them now.In that bunch of sheep there were a few rams.The biggest one I saw was a little over 3/4 curl.Maybe he saw something I didn't see.Maybe there is a 3/4 draw.I don't know.The next day I located the sheep not all that far from the day before.Some more ewes joined up but the same rams were there.
It is tough to hunt sheep there and fairly competetive.I heard there were a couple of big rams taken earlier but never saw them myself.As for trying to get permission to cross any private property.Good Luck.
Not sure what to think with your comments but can say for sure you weren’t in my LEH area. The area is small and literally impossible not to notice, run into other hunters. We saw a black Ford diesel as the only other vehicle in 8 days hunting the same spot and like I said we pounded the area. I agree seemed to be lots of sheep in surrounding areas but not 3-17B.
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