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[BigHornRam]

Thank you all for this thread. You would think with such a limited resource, hunters would be tight lipped and unwilling to help. You guys are the opposite, and it speaks to your character. I hope to someday have the gear and grit to do an unlimited hunt.

I think everyone that has hunted the unlimiteds understand that it is a low odds, high energy endeavor. It's not everyone's cup of tea. Right place, right time is what it all boils down to, and the right place will never be sitting on the couch.

 

[TrumpkinTheDwarf]

All it takes is one summer scouting trip 10 miles deep in the Beartooths to understand what you're up against. I want to hunt the UL's badly. But I can't justify the non resident cost right now. This thread always gets me fired up to go back and remind myself just how big the mountains are.

 

[Bluffgruff]

Found this proposal from 1974. I think it may add to the experience for some people to read through it.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/downloads/j6731501k&ved=2ahUKEwiBt52VuvXuAhXNKM0KHVQODvMQFjAGegQIDRAC&usg=AOvVaw3-EuG-0-2ThPfmqFz5YXwO&cshid=1613720877573

 

[EYJONAS!]

That's pretty awesome read there @Bluffgruff I'll have to check that out when I get some time. Thanks for sharing

 

[Bluffgruff]

What I found most interesting were the letters in the 2nd half from various agencies, local government, etc. Establishment of the wilderness had its detractors, and it looks like we almost ended up with a road from Cooke City down the boulder river.

 

[BigHornRam]

What I found most interesting were the letters in the 2nd half from various agencies, local government, etc. Establishment of the wilderness had its detractors, and it looks like we almost ended up with a road from Cooke City down the boulder river.

True. Glad it didn't happen. Would have been one hell of a rough road if it did!

 

[shines@times]

It's a tricky subject. I want enough interest to keep the unlimited hunts viable into the future, maybe even adding additional units in Montana or other states. But at the same time I reeeeeally hate seeing people 10+ miles back during my hunts. So its a bit of a conundrum.

I'm happy that folks on here seem to be on the same page; providing general info but not burning spots, etc. I think if that happened the MT Unlimited hit squad would show up at their house late one night to break some kneecaps.

But then again, these rams are so hard to pattern that you can have the best intel in the world and you can still get skunked. I guess that's why its been viable thus far (yes 501 in 2020 was an anomaly).

That's a pretty cogent assessment of the situation.

I've mentioned in previous comments that I would like to see unlimited units added elsewhere, especially in other states. I think it would be good for sheep hunting in general and wake up more hunters and potential hunters to issues of habitat preservation, wilderness status and public access, game/domestic stock conflict issues and the like. The more dedicated hunters among the ranks of outdoor enthusiasts, the better chance that initiatives might succeed. We can't expect much from anti-hunter PETA types; but the more that fence-sitters are exposed to the challenges, including exceptionally long odds, that avid wilderness hunters are willing to tackle by reading postings in forums such as this one, the better it reflects upon hunters in general in my opinion. Thus, the more favorably future proposal for similar hunting opportunities might be received.

 

[bsmith]

2021 sheep tag purchased! Chasing something other than bear in the Unlimiteds this year finally!

 

[recurveman]

Don't worry. You will still be on a bear hunt. The bears chase you in the UL units!!!!!!

 

[bsmith]

Definitely beyond excited. 10 days in the Beartooths and 14 days off the job! Hiking the mountains with a rifle and camp on your back is much better than sitting in VA dreaming about hunts. May never see another sheep now that I’ll have a tag but just seeing my name on the tag today sealed it as a success already.

 

[shines@times]

May never see another sheep now that I’ll have a tag but just seeing my name on the tag today sealed it as a success already.

That's a good attitude for any unlimited sheep unit hunter or prospective hunter to adopt. Not a bad one for any hunter anywhere for that matter.

If I can offer one piece of advice to make your hunt even more of a success, assuming that you are not already a competitive marathon runner, work diligently on building your cardiovascular efficiency.

 

[bsmith]

That's a good attitude for any unlimited sheep unit hunter or prospective hunter to adopt. Not a bad one for any hunter anywhere for that matter.

If I can offer one piece of advice to make your hunt even more of a success, assuming that you are not already a competitive marathon runner, work diligently on building your cardiovascular efficiency.

Thank you, I really need all the advice I can get! I’ve been doing well on the work outs but for out there it’s never enough! Hitting the gym in the firehouse at work 3x a week and we do a lot of mountain hikes here but unfortunately our highest hikes only lead to 3-4K feet.
I’ve done maybe 30 nights in the Beartooths camping and hiking in the last few years but they always seem to have a way of hurting you with that thin air and reminding me how easy these VA “mountains” are. The only hiking I do that gets me to around the 9-10k mark is my annual trip out there in the Fall.
I tend to read all of this thread a couple times a year and really appreciate all the advice and information within this. There’s no doubt it’s pushed me to spend that non-resident tag cost and actually get in those mountains with a sheep tag in my pocket.

 

[EYJONAS!]

Welcome to the game what district are you doing? Are you going to be able to scout? Good luck to you

 

[shines@times]

Thank you, I really need all the advice I can get! I’ve been doing well on the work outs but for out there it’s never enough! Hitting the gym in the firehouse at work 3x a week and we do a lot of mountain hikes here but unfortunately our highest hikes only lead to 3-4K feet.
I’ve done maybe 30 nights in the Beartooths camping and hiking in the last few years but they always seem to have a way of hurting you with that thin air and reminding me how easy these VA “mountains” are. The only hiking I do that gets me to around the 9-10k mark is my annual trip out there in the Fall.
I tend to read all of this thread a couple times a year and really appreciate all the advice and information within this. There’s no doubt it’s pushed me to spend that non-resident tag cost and actually get in those mountains with a sheep tag in my pocket.

If you work as a firefighter, then I assume you have a jump on most Unlimited Sheep participants given the fitness requirements of your job. But yes, there's a big difference between strolling around at 4000' and gasping for air at 10,000 +.

Probably anyone interested in backcountry hunting these days, at least those a generation or two younger than I am, know who Cam Hanes is. On the off-chance that you do not, check out Cameron Hanes channel on YouTube. If you have half the work ethic and devotion to the hunt that Cam has applied to bow-hunting, then you should fare well hunting Bighorns in the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness.

Disclaimer: At my best, I could not even come close. I got lucky with genes in regards cardio efficiency and stamina for sustained travel, but I never had the strength that Cam has developed, nor the discipline he applies to the sport. Few people do. That said, there is much good training and conditioning information contained in Cameron Hanes videos.

 

[bsmith]

Welcome to the game what district are you doing? Are you going to be able to scout? Good luck to you

Thank you! If all goes right with work vacation time I’ll be out to scout and do some fishing in July. I’ve been thinking about this tag for a while so I’ve been using my Fall trips to scout and familiarize myself with the country the last few years. Most of my time hiking and camping has been in 501 and 502. I ran into the pack string going to pack the first 2 501 rams out last year but was I was off trail long before they got loaded and back out. I have a few potential campsites marked from that trip. I would’ve loved to see those rams in person. Guess that’s two less legal rams in the area I was planning on going into this year but I’m still planning on hunting and camping in the same area I was in last year. 502 is beautiful, like all of it there, but hunting the opener I’m going to hit 501. I’ve encountered sign but never a sheep in 502, but my time there has been August and September so that seems to make sense.

 

[BirdManMike]

Good luck!

I am out again this year. Starting a new bird yet again this year - one of these years I am going to have a made falcon going into the season so I dont need to be training in September.

Hopefully Ill get a pic of a sheep this year, at least, during one of my many summer walks. Never got one last season - saw plenty of goats, as ever.

 

[buffybr]

Don't worry. You will still be on a bear hunt. The bears chase you in the UL units!!!!!!

I hunted the unlimiteds in the '80s and '90s probably 10 times for sheep and another 10+ times for elk and moose. The only grizzly that we actually encountered was one year when we were camped at the end of a road on a moose and elk hunt.

He ran away after I bounced a rock off of him.

 

[shines@times]

He ran away after I bounced a rock off of him.

I wager you had something more persuasive than additional rocks for backup.

By the way, how did you do in those sheep hunts? (I realize the answer might be somewhere in the almost 100 pages of this thread that I have already read, but I hope you'll indulge me in view of memory issues attending my advanced age and expanding tasks list.)

 

[buffybr]

I wager you had something more persuasive than additional rocks for backup.

By the way, how did you do in those sheep hunts? (I realize the answer might be somewhere in the almost 100 pages of this thread that I have already read, but I hope you'll indulge me in view of memory issues attending my advanced age and expanding tasks list.)

Yes, both stories are buried somewhere in this Forum.

Short story on the grizz is a couple of friends and I were camped at the end of a logging road north of West Yellowstone, MT hunting moose and elk. We had the quarters of a moose and 2 elk hanging in the back of my pickup.

Just before going to bed one night I went put of the tent to check my horses. I first stopped on the side if the road to water a bush, and about 30' above me on the top of the cutbank, a grizzly woofed and clicked his teeth at me.

I had a flashlight in my left hand and drew my Ruger SBH .44 mag with me right. I shot once over the bear's head and no reaction. I fired again into a tree next to him. Again no reaction, so I holstered my pistol and picked up a golf size rock and threw and hit him, and he ran off.

He wore a neck radio collar and an ear tag. He had been a problem bear near Cooke City and had been trapped and relocated where we were camped.

As for my unlimited sheep hunts, I hunted 4 or 5 of the units about 10 times in the '80s and '90s and killed 3 of my own rams and finished off another ram that another hunter had wounded and lost. There are pics of my rams somewhere in this thread, their mounts in my thread "48 years of Memories" in the Trophy Rooms section of this Forum.

 

[shines@times]

Yes, both stories are buried somewhere in this Forum.

Short story on the grizz is a couple of friends and I were camped at the end of a logging road north of West Yellowstone, MT hunting moose and elk. We had the quarters of a moose and 2 elk hanging in the back of my pickup.

Just before going to bed one night I went put of the tent to check my horses. I first stopped on the side if the road to water a bush, and about 30' above me on the top of the cutbank, a grizzly woofed and clicked his teeth at me.

I had a flashlight in my left hand and drew my Ruger SBH .44 mag with me right. I shot once over the bear's head and no reaction. I fired again into a tree next to him. Again no reaction, so I holstered my pistol and picked up a golf size rock and threw and hit him, and he ran off.

He wore a neck radio collar and an ear tag. He had been a problem bear near Cooke City and had been trapped and relocated where we were camped.

As for my unlimited sheep hunts, I hunted 4 or 5 of the units about 10 times in the '80s and '90s and killed 3 of my own rams and finished off another ram that another hunter had wounded and lost. There are pics of my rams somewhere in this thread, their mounts in my thread "48 years of Memories" in the Taxidermy section of this Forum.

Thanks for the reply. I'll check out the mounts.