Which Sheep?

[KB90]

I am not sure what kind of a response I will get, but I know nothing about sheep hunting, and in a couple of years it is something I am going to give a try. So here are my Questions.

This is a two part poll, multiple choices so you can choose more than one answer.

My Question is which species of Sheep is the hardest to harvest in BC? and why?
Location? LEH? Access? Numbers? General Challenge? money?

Which Sheep is the easiest to harvest in BC? and why?
Location? LEH? Access? Numbers? General Challenge? money?

Now I know no sheep hunting is easy, but I hope you know what I am getting at.

[ryanb]

Stones are harder to access, but legal rams are more plentiful and therefore easier to harvest once in the area than a bighorn on GOS.

If you're throwing LEH in, then there are several bighorn draws that are not too difficult to fill a tag (ie. Kamloops Lake)...

[bighornbob]

Thats a real toss up.

The hardest sheep I would say is either a dall or a rocky. The dalls as its LEH and the good area has odds of 6:1 so it may take many years to get a tag. And once you get a tag the area is pretty remote and just getting there is a challenge and there are not too many of them either. Easy spotting though once you are there.

The Rocky could also be right up there with being the toughest as most of the hunting is done in the koots and finding them is tough as its alot of country to be looking in and the rams could spend most of the time in or very near the timber. When you do find them there be already 5 different guys glassing them. Also there may not be a legal ram in the bunch.

The cali could be easier if you get one of the many draws. Without a draw you are limited to a full curl in the GOS season which is real tough as many will never be a full curl. They are also alot easier to spot as they are genrally in the open (Fraser River area).

I would say the stones are probably the easiest of the bunch. Seasons start in august so you can get away in the summer. They also have the largest range of any of the sheep. Alot of guys first sheep is a stone and you find a few rookies getting one on their first hunt if they go with a experienced guy. You dont see this with Rockies.

Hope this helps you out.

BHB

[KB90]

Thanks Rob. Thats great information. Just what I was looking for.

[Sitkaspruce]

I say they are all about the same, but due to LEH, the Dall and some areas for Cali/BH will be tougher. I have hunted for 3 of the 4 species and other than the access, they are have their hardness factor.

I also said screw it and go hunt goats. Goats are tougher to judge, tougher to get to and tougher to kill. They can be easier to spot though...... But for sheer excitment, go climb where the goats go and have some fun.

They say that a Mt Goat hunt is a poor mans sheep hunt......maybe that why I love to chase them so much.

Cheers

SS

[bridger]

Thats a real toss up.

The hardest sheep I would say is either a dall or a rocky. The dalls as its LEH and the good area has odds of 6:1 so it may take many years to get a tag. And once you get a tag the area is pretty remote and just getting there is a challenge and there are not too many of them either. Easy spotting though once you are there.

The Rocky could also be right up there with being the toughest as most of the hunting is done in the koots and finding them is tough as its alot of country to be looking in and the rams could spend most of the time in or very near the timber. When you do find them there be already 5 different guys glassing them. Also there may not be a legal ram in the bunch.

The cali could be easier if you get one of the many draws. Without a draw you are limited to a full curl in the GOS season which is real tough as many will never be a full curl. They are also alot easier to spot as they are genrally in the open (Fraser River area).

I would say the stones are probably the easiest of the bunch. Seasons start in august so you can get away in the summer. They also have the largest range of any of the sheep. Alot of guys first sheep is a stone and you find a few rookies getting one on their first hunt if they go with a experienced guy. You dont see this with Rockies.

Hope this helps you out.

BHB


x2 all sheep hunting is tough, but with more numbers and bigger range stones are probably the easiest for an in experienced hunter to harvest.

[yukon john]

I have only hunted dalls and stones, of those the stones were far more difficult to see (bloody obvious for 100 please) but they seem to forgive a lot more then the dalls. I have seen dalls bust just because your in the same valley they seem to have a stronger 6th sense. The stones in my experience trust their camo to a degree. Dalls in the snow now are a different story if you can find them they think they are invisible. I have been scouting bighorns for 2 years now out of the season and I am hoping to get in a hunt next fall on the Fraser and all the timber adds a degree of difficulty. They all have their own challenges and any ram taken in fair chase is a great acheivment. Love hunting goats to though.

[bridger]

I been on dozens of stone hunts and three dall hunts. my dall experience is not as extensive as yukon john's but in my limited experience with dall's I agree it seems they move around more than stones. Our last trip for dall's was in the yukon which produced two 160+ rams and I found the rams were always moving from one mt to the next for no apparent reason. which made them hard to corral. the nice thing about dall's if they are around they are pretty easy to find sans snow. with stone's it is just the opposite. both are fun to hunt.

[KB90]

The bottom line is, it all depends on how old you are. Sorry about that.

Chris could you elaborate a bit more on the age issue. I am 19 soon to be 20.

Thanks Kyle!

[bighornbob]

Chris could you elaborate a bit more on the age issue. I am 19 soon to be 20.

Thanks Kyle!

He means the younger you are the more you are most likely able to hike etc. So you being as young as you are could easily hike 3-4 days from, say the alaskan highwayto get into sheep country. Once you get older you are less likely to hike that far looking foir areas that are easier to hunt.

BHB

[KB90]

Ooookay gotcha. I am definitely ready to hike:)

[hunter1947]

I am no sheep hunting but with my exsperence in the hunting field I checked the box that said they all offer the same challenge..

[jml11]

Considering all the variables, LEH, access, etc. the easiest sheep for you to go after is a Stone's. They are pretty much all GOS, access is relatively easy (just takes a days drive to get into sheep country), have a large range and a good majority of the rams are legal size relative to other sheep GOS areas. I would like to say they are the most abundant sheep species in BC but I am not sure if that is true.

Obvioulsy if you are lucky enough to get a coveted bighorn LEH, then it would be easier to get than animal based on access alone, but getting the draw is harder than any stone's ram. Finding a legal bighorn in a GOS area is quite a feat as well.

Bighorn mountains tend to be bigger and more treed than the stone's mountains (not always true I know). , which also makes hunting the stone's a bit easier IMO...they are frequently out in the open alpine and rock wherease bighorns are not shy about hiding in the timber.

I think if you polled the sheep hunters on this site, most would say they have shot a Stone's and I imagine for many it was also their first. IF you are going to plan a sheep hunt and not rely on an LEH to do so, Stone's sheep is the way to go IMO.

[KB90]

Thanks Jml11! Great info.

From what you have said and the others I do believe the Stone sheep will be the first sheep i go after :)