First sheep hunt. Advice and tips please!

[Cabled]

Hey everyone,
This coming August will be my first sheep hunt, despite being a lifetime member of the WSSBC I’ve never been. Weird…I know, but they seemed to be the best group to put my support behind, so now I’m a life member that has never hunted a sheep in his life����.
Anyways, I’ve hunted the alpine a fair amount, Muleys, bears, killed my first mountain goat last year etc, and I’m hooked! I put in for the early sheep draw this year….and drew 6-29. I’m still in disbelief, I views this as a draw you put in for every year and maybe 10 plus years later you get lucky.
I’d love to hear any tips or tricks some of you experienced guys have, I’ve read a lot about stone sheep hunting, are Dalls much different?
I do have some guys that have some info on the draw area itself, but of course I’d like to hear from anyone else who is in the know. So far I’ve heard I need to decide pretty quick wether to fly in of hike off the highway, any insight into the pros and cons would be great.
Anyways, just thought I better put this out there and try every avenue for this once in a lifetime opportunity. Thank you in advance.
Also if this post offends you…..sorry ��
Thanks, Mitch.

[Imdone]

Congrats on your draw that's terrific.

Best thing you could have done was joining the WSSBC. Lots of great people there putting more sheep on the Mountain as they say. Dig deep for your hunt. Start getting in shape now. Expect to travel far, get extra time off, go as long as you can. Your likely to never draw again. Be extra prepared in good shelter as fire can be limited to almost nothing available to burn. Take great optics, glass glass and glass more ! Go get one!
If I recall Kenny J on here did a Solo Dall . Great thread, great Dall.

[SR80]

I would recommend learning as much as you can about identifying a mature and full curl ram before heading in as well. Lots of great info online these days.

[ryanb]

We hunted 6-29 a few years back for the opener. The bugs were terrible and there was simply too many people there for the opener. I can't stand combat hunting, I go to get away from people not to be in a crowd. I would strongly recommend avoiding at least the first two weeks of August. It's a nice area, sheep numbers are fair, access is reasonable off the highway. You can fly into the airstrip or lake but these same areas aren't that hard to hike to from the highway anyways

[digger dogger]

We hunted 6-29 a few years back for the opener. The bugs were terrible and there was simply too many people there for the opener. I can't stand combat hunting, I go to get away from people not to be in a crowd. I would strongly recommend avoiding at least the first two weeks of August. It's a nice area, sheep numbers are fair, access is reasonable off the highway. You can fly into the airstrip or lake but these same areas aren't that hard to hike to from the highway anyways

Good info here^^^

The opener is bizy for sure.

[Weatherby Fan]

We hunted 6-29 a few years back for the opener. The bugs were terrible and there was simply too many people there for the opener. I can't stand combat hunting, I go to get away from people not to be in a crowd. I would strongly recommend avoiding at least the first two weeks of August. It's a nice area, sheep numbers are fair, access is reasonable off the highway. You can fly into the airstrip or lake but these same areas aren't that hard to hike to from the highway anyways

Good info here^^^

The opener is bizy for sure.

As digger dogger points out ryanb info is spot on, can you say bug spray, early season bugs are brutal

[ryanb]

Oh and Dall sheep are way easier to spot than stones lol.

[LBM]

As others have mentioned I would save the money and hike in off the highway, and go later in the year.
Also as mentioned learn whats legal and be 100% before you pull the trigger if your trying to talk
your self into it much better to leave it alone and go look for another.

[Linksman313]

Congrats on your lifetime draw, cant wait to hear your story on here later in the year!

[kitnayakwa77]

My advice..... Less focus on gear, clothing, and gadgets, more time spent on physical fitness and time in the mountains prior to your trip.
Physical fitness and time in the mountains equates to mental toughness, which is your most important asset in mountain hunting.
Little things to boost mental toughness can help, whether that's an extra instant coffee to start your day, a quote, a photo, or cozy socks at night.