BeartoothFront
Well-known member
Math never was my strong point so I'm probably wrong. Either way they all have a very low success rate.
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- Thread starter BigHornRam
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Math never was my strong point so I'm probably wrong. Either way they all have a very low success rate.
fowl_minded
New member
2016 in the works
Well,
Sitting at my desk in the slow winter months my mind cant help but wander and wonder what the 2016 season will bring. Maybe a tag of a lifetime or trip. Last year my brother-in-law and I hunted the first year in the unlimiteds . Through the couple trips we did we learned a ton and saw a lot of great country. (Also got our asses kicked by the tooths and mother nature. Saw some sheep along the way and tons of goats, which are my favorite! Even accompanied a lucky tag holder get in on a goat and connect. After it was all said and done I thought to myself that I might do the hunt every other year and hunt archery elk or do something different but, I HAVE COME DOWN WITH THE RAM SICKNESS. BAD! I cant stop thinking about it. I have pretty much committed myself to doing another unlimited hunt if I'm not successful in any other tags. (Goat I apply in same district for as unlimited sheep.) Just in case
This year Ill be a little bit better prepared gear wise and have a little bit more knowledge, I've been just trying to better my "sheep shape" from last year. I cant wait to get back up into that country and chase them ghosts again! Good luck to all in the draws and the upcoming year.
Well,
Sitting at my desk in the slow winter months my mind cant help but wander and wonder what the 2016 season will bring. Maybe a tag of a lifetime or trip. Last year my brother-in-law and I hunted the first year in the unlimiteds . Through the couple trips we did we learned a ton and saw a lot of great country. (Also got our asses kicked by the tooths and mother nature. Saw some sheep along the way and tons of goats, which are my favorite! Even accompanied a lucky tag holder get in on a goat and connect. After it was all said and done I thought to myself that I might do the hunt every other year and hunt archery elk or do something different but, I HAVE COME DOWN WITH THE RAM SICKNESS. BAD! I cant stop thinking about it. I have pretty much committed myself to doing another unlimited hunt if I'm not successful in any other tags. (Goat I apply in same district for as unlimited sheep.) Just in case
This year Ill be a little bit better prepared gear wise and have a little bit more knowledge, I've been just trying to better my "sheep shape" from last year. I cant wait to get back up into that country and chase them ghosts again! Good luck to all in the draws and the upcoming year.
Gerald Martin
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2009
- Messages
- 8,643
You are looking for a moving needle in a haystack of timber. Keep your concentration and positive mental attitude at all times. If you have to kill a sheep to have fun, don't go.
mdunc8
Well-known member
Gerald summed it up well. I went into our hunt this year more with the mindset that we we're going on a hike with guns. If we saw some sheep (let alone kill one), great. If not, enjoy the country and don't stress over filling the tag. I wasn't mentally prepared the first time around when I had a goat tag in that same country and it was a miserable experience.
psinclair
Well-known member
Don't look too high.....rams will be about 8500-9000ft. and never very far from heavy timber, or water. I've hunted all of the unlimited units and found this rule applies in all of them. When you find the right looking terrain, don't give it up without being 100% sure there's nothing there. One time, about six years ago, I glasses from the same vantage point for five straight days when two giant full curl rams appeared in an open chute in the late afternoon. My pal thought they might have moved in there....I think they were there all along....
theat
Well-known member
Listen to Pat, he knows more about the unlimiteds than just about anyone.
mdunc8
Well-known member
The only person I've met in person that has shot a sheep in the unlimited units did so at about the elevation Pat mentioned in thick timber with an army of pumpkins a 1,000 ft higher looking for sheep above treeline.
fowl_minded
New member
Psinclair summed it up perfectly. Another thing that theat said in a different thread is you gotta go in to it expecting not to see one. To me that was huge. It's a huge tough mental game and I will be the first to tell you that I'm not the greatest in sitting still......At all! .....I'm working on it though. The only way to sheep hunt is to find a good spot sit and glass and glass and glass some more. It is real tough after a few days of doing that but that is sheep hunting. I learned a lot in my readings and talking to other guys but I feel like the 10 days or so I was in I learned stuff you can only learn by first hand experience. Also there's a lot of discussion about ewes and lambs being in a area and the rams aren't with them if your finding lambs and ewes early then you are not in the rams. They aren't too fast away sometimes the next drainage over. Which might not sound like much but in the Beartooths that next drainage could take you all day to get to. Good luck it's a fun hunt but it can definitely be humbling to some of the best hunter out there.
fowl_minded
New member
I think it is one of those deals that the old saying applies "they are where they are. " I know it sounds kind of smart ass but the sheep we got into this year were on every kind of face. North south east west, it's also kinda weather and precip dependent also.
BigHornRam
Well-known member
To see 2015 harvest data including unlimited units, click on this link. Click on January 2016 news letter, then scroll down to page 15.
http://www.montanawsf.org/
http://www.montanawsf.org/
Some intern sure did bungle that. A 35" four-year-old ram? How about the two-year-old ram 502?
I like the 5.75" long Petty Creek ram with 16.5" bases.
BigHornRam
Well-known member
Human error often occurs when dealing with people. A friend brought his sheep head in to get plugged, and the blond biologist was having a heck of a time with the drill. I said, "Excuse me ma'am. The drill works better on forward." True story.
BigHornRam
Well-known member
Bought my unlimited tag today. Going to do it again this year. Anyone else?
LopeHunter
Well-known member
Good luck on your hunt! I spend too much time driving an office chair to be in the required shape though love reading about those of you that go on this particular adventure. I have vivid dreams but need the reports from the field, ha ha.
Would love to try this hunt but I'm sure I'm a bit to old and beat up to have a realistic chance.Is there an early archery season for the hunt or just rifle hunting?I know very little about it.Is it illegal to hire a pilot and scout it thru the air before season?I'd at least want to know I'm heading in the right direction.Still doubt I could make it back into them since all I hear is how tough it is just to get to the sheep in those units
Good luck to all trying
Good luck to all trying
Schaaf
Well-known member
teej89
Well-known member
wow... never heard of this hunt but reading this thread and other articles online, good grief it seems INTENSE. Sounds like it'd be fun tho. How's this work? The tags are not drawn or are they?
And am I right with they only allow a certain amount of sheep to be killed and when that quota is filled the unit is shut down? How is that information transmitted?
And am I right with they only allow a certain amount of sheep to be killed and when that quota is filled the unit is shut down? How is that information transmitted?
Yes you must draw the tag but they are unlimited. If you pony up the money, you get the tag.
Unlimited sheep areas close on a 48 hour notice. Hunter is responsible to check status by calling a 1-800 number. MT FWP posts news release and place notices at trailheads.
These tags make for some great hikes.
Unlimited sheep areas close on a 48 hour notice. Hunter is responsible to check status by calling a 1-800 number. MT FWP posts news release and place notices at trailheads.
These tags make for some great hikes.
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Unless I draw something extra special in another state that hasn't drawn yet, my entire season or until quota is filled is dedicated to it. Best of luck to you.
