Hunter 47 on a sheep hunt ???

[hunter1947]

I just got some information from one of my old buddies on wear to go for a stone sheep hunt. He has taken 8 sheep over his hunting carrier ,I'm not into a sheep hunt but think if i did go on one this place sounds like the place to go for one. What would you do ???? ,i can't leave elk hunting behind ,I have to try and get another elk before i go on my journey to the happy land. I don't know if i can muster a sheep hunt at my age ,i will be 61 years old this year ????. I guess i have to talk to my buddy and see how hard of a hunt it would be for me ,I'm still in perty good shape for my age and could put it together if i started to work out now. Right now i am 5,10 185 pounds was down to 178 pounds after last years elk hunt ???.:?.

[Kechika]

Do it!!!!Dont take it the wrong way but ya aint getting any younger.

[dana]

Hunter,
You've killed numerous 'Big Stinky's' over the years, I'd say give them a rest for a year and go sheep hunting instead.

[daycort]

hunter1947,

I thought you just retired? Do both hunts there young feller, and don't look back.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

You're retired. Do both!! Aug Stone hunt. Sept elk hunt. You toughed it out for several consecutive weeks this past season. Do 2 weeks of each.
All good!:smile:

SSS

[Dirty]

What SSS said, you are retired after all aren't you? I remember a thread about Butchart Gardens.... sounds like you are growing tulips between your legs :D. Man up, you don't get reliable stone sheep tips very often. Most sheep hunters are very secretive and evasive.

[Krico]

If you have any interest at all in hunting them, I suggest you go. I've never regretted trying something. I have however regretted passing on opportunities...

If you have no interest in hunting them, pm me the details and I will check the area out for you this year;-).

[whitetailsheds]

Never met ya '47, but from what I've read here, sounds like you've had some experiences over the years. Sounds like you've done a bit (understatement?) of elk hunting? I'm sure you could handle chasing them sheep, nothing saying you have to run up those hills......a good, tolerable pace will get into some awesome country!

[Lil Buck]

You must go ...........I know a guy 72 years young just completed his 4th grand slam.
Just pace yourself and hunt smart.Running up and down mountains doesnt work .

Good luck LB:p

[mikek blacktail]

go for it wayne , you can get in great shape if yah start now.Sounds like a hunt most of us dream of.

[boxhitch]

Not sure I understand the ???. Are you looking for another challenge ? Are you looking for a reason to explore different country and terrain ? Do you have to kill a sheep to put another notch in the gunstock ? Are you looking to be an old geezer in what is generally considered a trying situation for ole geezers ?
Some day I may take up elk hunting, for these same reasons.

[tomahawk]

If your hearts into it do it!

[lip_ripper00]

This is what reetardment is all about:mrgreen:. You kill it and I will pack it out. Have at it!!

[BCrams]

My dad took his first Stone's ram at 60 yrs. Go for it.

[bruin]

Go for it, new country is always fun to explore. You definitely won't forget a sheep trip no matter what. If I am correct you were saying you need to try something new after this seasons bad luck right? Opportunity knocks!

[hunter1947]

Not sure I understand the ???. Are you looking for another challenge ? Are you looking for a reason to explore different country and terrain ? Do you have to kill a sheep to put another notch in the gunstock ? Are you looking to be an old geezer in what is generally considered a trying situation for ole geezers ?
Some day I may take up elk hunting, for these same reasons. Challenge ,maybe. I will see what unfolds hear in the next 2 months.

[calvin L]

Hunter 47 I think that you should go fishing and give me and sss the info about the sheep.:tongue:


just take your time slow and steady win's the race . you will see more also .


calvin L

[mwj]

hey wayne,
my dad was 60 when we flew in for dalls the first time. i could barely keep up with him. i was in my early 20"s then. i think you can do it! p.s. i saw 2 6_point bulls on my sheep trip last year.

[Kitimat Killer]

do don't miss out i have a good friend that is 66 and still going up for sheep and goats i can't keep up to him you'll kick your self for not going thats for sure and yes if your in Reg 7 you can look for elk at the same time

[Sitkaspruce]

Wayne

You need to go on at least one sheep hunt.

Take two weeks and go have some fun. It is not a race up the mountain, take your time and enjoy what life is offering up for you.

Warning, it is very addictive though, once is never enough:wink:

You are never "TOO OLD" to hunt, especially sheep.

The elk will still be around, they are not going anywhere.

[newhunterette]

Wayne,

from our conversations these past few months and the posts you have made to the site and from what I have watched and learned from you, my friend with your wealth of knowledge and your extreme motivation I think you could handle a sheep hunt as any other hunter/hunterette could. You show more perserverance and more passion than any person I have ever met. You face adversity head on and kick it's behind everytime. After everything you went through this past season with the leg injury, the mouth infection, the vehicle mishaps, etc you still came out of it all as a true woodsman and hunter - you are not aging my friend, you are living and in my opinion that is what retiring is all about "LIVING" - of all the people I know, I see you Wayne, up there on the ridges with the Stone Sheep - GO FOR IT - you only live your life once so live it to the fullest you possibly can - at almost 61 you have many many years left to enjoy our hunting grounds so take them all as you can.

Ali

[farside]

Wayne - DO BOTH. Your actually still a youngish man!!

[boxhitch]

The fact that you're asking us to talk you into going for sheep tells me your heart isn't in it. If you are 62, have had time to do hunting trips and haven't gone after sheep yet, I'd suspect there is a reason (you're an elkaholic).

My money says you'll be chasing elk again this year (and the year after.....).----------

[quadrakid]

go for it wayne,you,re a mountain man!

[Rob]

If your retired why not? Whether or you not you get a sheep doesnt matter, just being out in the mountains camping and hiking is well worth it. If you need to take a day to rest in camp Im sure your friend wouldnt mind.Rob

[ape]

Don't forget to take along a young guy to doo all your work for you.:roll::roll::grin::grin: I maybe available if you are looking for that person.

[Franko Manini]

Do it Wayne. I've met you and you are one tough mother. Take it slow and steady and you will succeed!

[4 point]

Go for it. I am the same age and you can't hunt or fish when your on the other side.

[ape]

Don't forget to take along a young guy to doo all your work for you.:roll::roll::grin::grin: I maybe available if you are looking for that person.


If you consider 40 younger.LOL

[abbyfireguy]

Three of the people I hunt with are 70 plus. Two of them can still pack a moose quarter with a bit of help ,the other one is a lady with eagle eyes and being the gentlemen us young guys(two 50 year olds) are, she never packs anything..
I now take my 14 year old with us and we have three generations sitting around the campfire every evening.
So, 60 and retired, man ,you can hunt for everything.
August- Sheep
September- Elk
October - Moose
November- Deer
Etc., Etc........
I hope to retire in 4 years at 55 and then the fun really starts...
Then I'll really put on the miles and hours on the 4x4 and jetboat!!
By then my son will be a strapping 19 year old pack mule.:biggrin:

GO ON THE SHEEP HUNT!!!!!:lol:

[hunter1947]

If i do go on a sheep hunt ,my partner will be blacktailstaker ,he is a young fit man ,i found on our elk hunts that i almost can keep up with him if it weren't for his long legs ,them darn legs i think i will hand cuff them http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon9.gif.

[Sitkaspruce]

If i do go on a sheep hunt ,my partner will be blacktailstaker ,he is a young fit man ,i found on our elk hunts that i almost can keep up with him if it weren't for his long legs ,them darn legs i think i will hand cuff them http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon9.gif.

To slow him down, get him to carry all the heavy stuff. Buy a small pack and then stuff it with a baggy warm sleeping bag, a thermarest and warm clothes, then say that you have no room for the food, stove, spotting scope and all the other stuff needed to go up the hill. He will have to carry all that and will slow him down a bit:-P;):smile:.

I think you NEED to go on this hunt, it will be a lot of fun as it is the partners who make or break the hunt, not the success.

[The Hermit]

take me and I'll carry your share, well I'll bring Frank and he can carry both of our! :p

[Caveman]

Wayne, What could be stopping you............certainly not work. I've been wanting to give it a try for awhile, just haven't around to it. Smallish kids at home, full time job, a wife that works and thinks I spend too much time hunting now and so on and so on. Don't go looking for reasons not to, I've already got that covered, look for reasons you should. I hope to do it soon.

[troutseeker]

I also say do it, if you want to! You will have another irreplaceable memory dn a hell of a story to tell. If you get a sheep great, if not you'll still enjoy yourself.


I'm 48 now and have never gone, too busy with life nad family I guess. I gave myself an ultimatum and will go for it before turnng 50. I just wish I had your friends and was told where to go (hunting that is...)!

Have a great hunting trip!

Troutseeker

[mark4]

People live to 110 these days- go sheep hunting - I doubt a year from now you will be sitting in your rocking chair saying to yourself " I really shouldn't have gone sheep hunting ". LOL

[alremkin]

Wayne, although I've never hunted Stone from what I've heard Elk are often fairly nearby so it may be possible to hunt both species on the same trip if not from the same camp.

Now about your age, the Chadwick Ram was taken by LS Cadwick in 1936 when it was a two week horseback ride from Fort St John to the hunting territory. I really like his choice of sheep rifle, a 404 with 300 grain bullets with approximated the ballistics of 180 grain out of an '06. Being in ultra-remote wilderness in those days with abundant griz...Oh I forgot to tell you he was 62 years old when he shot it, but according to the story he needed one of his TWO guides to finish the ram. Hm, that was 72 years ago he was a year older than you will be by next season I believe, but it will be tougher for you going unguided, but still look what that 62 year old got:

http://www.boone-crockett.org/bgrecords/images/imagesRecords/wr_shst_big.jpg

[mark4]

I would say that sheep is legal.

[porcupine]

Well said, and while you're' in Fort Nelson, Take a look at the full size statue of that ram and visit the local museum. I read Chadwick's story of the hunt and he said that he "exposed some film" before shooting it. Has anyone seen that film or pictures of the live ram anywhere?
________
hot box vaporizers (http://hotboxvaporizers.com)

[hunter1947]

Looking at this rams horns ,the rings years look like it is a 10 year old sheep ,correct me if I am wrong ??http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon5.gif??.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Hard to tell from that angle. Don't know for sure how old he was(from the records) but I would say 13yrs for sure maybe one more(??). Not exactly your typical thinhorn growth rate:shock:.

SSS

[bighornbob]

Well said, and while you're' in Fort Nelson, Take a look at the full size statue of that ram and visit the local museum. I read Chadwick's story of the hunt and he said that he "exposed some film" before shooting it. Has anyone seen that film or pictures of the live ram anywhere?

I have never seen a photo of the live sheep. A friend wrote an article about the sheep (same guy that did the Bronze in Fort Nelson). While doing his research he found some negatives of the hunt and a bunch of other stuff. He made me a picture from the original negative of the sheep horns back at camp. It was the same picture that was on the cover of outdoor canada a few years ago.

BHB

[hunter1947]

The pic shows the rings of the growth on this sheep pic are 10 years old ,thats what I am referring to ,the growth rings say it is 10 years old is this right ???.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

The pic shows the rings of the growth on this sheep pic are 10 years old ,thats what I am referring to ,the growth rings say it is 10 years old is this right ???.

Not right;-).


SSS

[hunter1947]

Not right;-).


SSS
Then whats right ??? :???:.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Maybe someone (like Big Whiteys) who is good at marking up a photo can help us out. Most likey you are mis-identifying the first easilly visible annuli at the bottom of the curl as the first. While this ram has exceptional horn growth, that's not the first annuli at the bottom of the curl.
You are, arguably, looking at the most impressive of all big game trophies. If he was only 10 years old I could not fathom how big he would be at 12-14 yrs of age:shock:.

SSS

[whitetailsheds]

I'm counting 12.5 to 13 years old. ?????

[bigwhiteys]

http://www.bchuntingblog.com/mypics/chadwickram.jpg

I know an old time bush pilot who swears on a stack of bibles that he's seen a ram while flying that could have come close to this if not beat it... Unfortunately it was over 30 years ago and the ram would be long dead now... Two different pilots spotted it... If it's going to be beaten it will most likely be a difference in mass and not length.

Carl

[BCrams]

I wonder if there is a Stone's ram out there right now that could break the Chadwick ram?

[bigwhiteys]

I wonder if there is a Stone's ram out there right now that could break the Chadwick ram?

Records were made to be broken... I would say most definitely YES - There is plenty of stones country that is virtually inaccessible to most hunters.

Carl

[Stone Sheep Steve]

I wonder if there is a Stone's ram out there right now that could break the Chadwick ram?

Someone posed that same question to Valerious Geist when he gave a presentation at the WSSBC a few years ago.

His answer was a resounding "YES! I believe so!":cool:

He recalled a story from years earlier when he had a permit to "collect" some Stone's Sheep specimens from Spatsizi Park.

At the time he "thought" he knew quite a bit about Stone's and hunting them....
It was late in the fall with deep snow and he saw a band of rams above camp. One was a real "Grand-daddy" along with some other nice rams. He attempted to get the big ram but was unable to and shot the second best ram. When he got the ram back to the cabin he put a tape on the ram and found it was 45" around the curl:shock:.

Rams are still dying out there of old age and the genetics are still kicking around.
Keeps a guy dreaming!:cool:

SSS

[boxhitch]

Good recall, SSS. Duncan Gilchrist also had good things to say of large rams in BC.
And yes there are populations, esp. in REG 6, that don't see hunting effort, resi- or non-resi-, due to access difficulties. Thats a good thing, for perpetuating a species.

[bighornbob]

Look at the Cali record that was just broken. The area the sheep was taken in has way more access and hunters probably moving through it then places up north. This sheep was killed not in a LEH area like the Kamloops lake but in a regular area open for 1.5 months.

Like others have said there are areas up north that rarely get touched as it is tough for the guides to get into. Plus you have marginal areas that may hold a few sheep but get looked over every year as not a good place to hunt.

I think the record will fall one day too.

BHB

[hunter1947]

well my friend told me were to go for sheep today ,he took a couple out of this spot a few years back that were 40 inch rams ,it took him 2 days to walk into it from his spike camp ???.

[guest]

Hunter 47,
I do not profess to be a great Ram hunter but have certainly spent many a day with Rams in the spotting scope and have bagged my share. That said, if your an elk hunter or Mulie hunter from the Kootenay your likely well disciplined on counting points before any shot. Rams do take some study, you do not want to be made an example of should you kill an illegal ram. Stones require full curl above the nose OR at least 8 years of age. You do this by counting the annuli, ( rings on the horn ) but watch out there are false ones. You are looking for annuli that continues to get farther a part from the previous as you count from the base to the lamb tip. Lamb tips are often broomed off creating a larger blunt horn tip rather then a point. They Must be viewed from the side, that said good luck on getting level with the critter to be sure of that. After you have spent many a day with Rams, the big boys are easier to judge or score to be sure it's legal. The larger Rams also appear to have a deeper curl past the lower portion of the jaw. They can and do live in some hard to access areas and can test your nerve like Goat but are often found in a more gentle part of the mountain. Some are Rams that live in the timbered higher area of the mountain while others live on the open grass slopes and again others can be found right in the ugly snarls of out crops and slides. Be in good shape, take your time and get as much info as you can before you go. If your buddy has killed 8, he knows what he's doing, follow his lead and good luck, they are great eating and a great reward when it all comes together for you. C/T

[bigwhiteys]

well my friend told me were to go for sheep today

If your friend was up at 4:00 am giving you sheep information I'd say yes... he just might be a sheep hunter lol....

Carl

[tuchodi]

well my friend told me were to go for sheep today ,he took a couple out of this spot a few years back that were 40 inch rams ,it took him 2 days to walk into it from his spike camp ???.
Go for it you will never regret it. 2 or 3 days to get there is just good memories later. I hope you go!!!!

[Will]

Right now i am 5,10 185 pounds was down to 178 pounds after last years elk hunt ???.:???:.
Then you're about right....you could be 5,10 and 285 pounds !.... :lol:

I'd say you ain't getting any younger.....Do it and Do it Now !

Better to give it a try....then to sit around later and wish that you had.:cool:

[hunter1947]

My friend said the best time to head in for sheep would be the last week of Sept or the first week of Oct. He said that is the best time to avoid the fog ,he said it is getting cooler at this time of the year and it would keep the fog away more so then ,then earlier ???. I also took the sheep horn test ,I got 10 out of 12 right ,the two I got wrong they were referring to 3/4 curl ,I said no not to shoot ,but they were allowable rams to take ,at least I wouldn't have taken an illegal ram if it was a real hunt.http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon12.gif.

[hunter1947]

I just want to take a moment and thank all the members for your support for a sheep hunt ,you real are a bunch of really good people on this site ,and very knolegable at that. THANKS VERY MUCH FROM ALL ,http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif Wayne.http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon6.gif.http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon7.gif.

[hunter1947]

Me and blacktailstalker when down to mill bay yesterday to go over the maps with this person that has been on lots of sheep hunts. We found out that most of the sheep hunters wind up in around the coal area or the lower post area ,then go from there for there sheep hunts ,This person showed us 6 places to hunt them with one being that he took being 40 inches and the other being 39. We could do the trip into these places by ether a river boat or fly in ??:-???.

[kennyj]

So are you going or what?
kenny

[hunter1947]

So are you going or what?
kenny
Still trying to decide Kenny ,I will think about it in the next two months them make my decision :? ????.

[hunter1947]

I made my decision on going on this sheep hunt. I talked to my wife and blacktailstalker . My wife and me decided that I should call off this idea on a sheep hunt http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon9.gif. Reason being is my back ,as some of you might know i blew my back out last fall when carrying in a quarter moose to the butchers cooler. I ended up at emergency and it took 6 weeks to recuperate. I have had a history in the last 15 years of having back problem'shttp://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon13.gif. I don't think it is fair to BTS for me to have this happen when we are back into a sheep area and I had a lower back problem. I also don't think it is fair for me to hold off not letting him know if I'm going or not. Now he knows what my planes are and has enough time to still find a partner and put this trip together. Sorry BTS about my decision. I thought about what might happen to me on this sheep hunt and its not worth it to you or others or myself to take that chance. :( THANKS all members that encouraged me to go ,I would have gone but what IF ,can't take that chance. I am still in good shape other parts of me anyways and now I will concentrate on getting in shape for elk. At least I will have 5 or 6 young people like Bosh and BTS etc to carry out a big portion of meat from an elk if I shoot one this year. And if I do blow out my back this year on an elk hunt I'm only 2 hr away from the cranbrook hospital to get the help I need. Once again I apologize to Blacktailestalker on my decision.http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon9.gif.

[Dirty]

Sorry to hear about your decision H '47 but it sounds like a honest one on your part. Hey BlacktailStalker you need a partner?:D