Ranking Goat/Sheep

[Bambistew]

Those rocks around the tent look like are the soft variety. Did you find a spot where was flat under the sleeping bag? I was clearing rocks to get a soft spot on a portage in MN and with one rock left discovered it was merely the dome of a much larger rock that would not move. Started over and that rock became a foot stool for me.

It took about 45 min of stumbling round in the dark to to find a spot big enough for the tent with no rocks. There was no moving/kicking rocks out of the way, they were buried in concreted silt, most were about the size of a basketball.

 

[buffybr]

I am very fortunate to have lived at a time when Moose, Bighorn sheep, and Mountain goat tags were $25, and in a place where I filled those tags within 100 miles from my house. I am also fortunate to have grown up in Colorado and started hunting when Deer, Elk, and Bear tags were over the counter and I was able to fill them within 50 miles of my house. I am also fortunate enough to have gone on quite a few international hunts.

As a result I have hunted many different animals, in just about every type of terrain. By far, my favorite hunting terrain is the alpine at or just above timberline. My favorite animal the hunt there is Sheep, either Bighorn or Dall. And the meat from those sheep was by far my favorite wild meat. But like others have posted, sheep meat is hard to come by.

I've gone on two Mountain goat hunts, and because I consider their long winter hair almost as much of a trophy as their horns, I waited until late season to hunt them when the outside temperatures was below 0 and the snow was 2 or more feed deep. Of all of the game animals that I have hunted and eaten, goat meat was by far the worst tasting. Although its been over 40 years since I killed a mountain goat, I was reminded how bad goat meat was a couple of years ago when I shot a Dagestan Tur in Azerbaijan. Luckily I shot him on my last hunting day and the guides were anxious to get off the mountain and they took all of the meat home with them so I didn't have to eat any. It did have a very strong goat odor.

Hunting elk is some of my favorite hunting, especially when I had horses and I could pack a comfortable camp into the backcountry, and had the horses to pack out the several hundred pounds of excellent tasting meat. The old bulls can be a little tough chewing, but ground, they make the best tasting burgers.

I've eaten 3 black bears, and their meat was right up there with elk.

I hunted in Mozambique twice, and my Professional Hunter would cook Sable filets over an open fire that were some of the best tasting meat that I've ever eaten.

I've been able to hunt Pronghorn antelope most of the last 45 years, and I love hunting the wide open prairies of eastern Montana. These antelope can have a strong sage odor, but butchered and cooked properly, they make some very fine eating.

I've never killed a deer from a tree stand, but my spot and stalk mule and whitetail deer have fed me and my family for 50 years. The whitetails that had been eating in alfalfa fields don't have as strong a deer flavor as do old Muley bucks.

My first Shiras bull moose was an old "gummer" whose teeth were worn down to his gums. I processed him into burger, steaks, and roasts like I have always done with my elk, but he tasted like a very tough willow bush, and I ended up grinding all of the steaks and roasts into burger. I learned my lesson and although my second Shiras bull moose was younger, I ground all of his meat into burger.

I've hunted 4 different species of Caribou, and other that the Mountain caribou, hunting in the tundra is a lot like alpine hunting. I love being able to spot animals far away and then stalking in for the shot. I think caribou meat tastes a lot like deer venison.

 

[buffybr]

I think its pretty relative to the type of experiences you've had as to what your desires are. I used to think L48 bighorn (all of them) sheep, goats and moose were the coolest thing, I haven't applied for any in nearly a decade. I'd rather let my chance of draw go to someone who wants it more than me. The experience just isn't what I'm after, while I know that isn't true for all of the hunts, they just aren't "wild" enough for me. Knowing that so many others have had the exact same experience, just seems to cheapen the experience. Knowing that people have pictures of, have seen, or know of an animal I kill takes something away from the experience. Its hard to explain, and I don't expect others to understand. Hunting is personal to everyone. I'm perfectly content hunting dall sheep, and don't really have a desire to hunt any of the other sheep or goats.

For me, dall sheep hunting is pretty much the pinnacle of hunting in NA. There is a reason people are drawn to hunting Alaska, and it isn't just because the animals are different, its because its still wild. Same reason guys from the more metro areas are drawn to hunting the mountain west. Its hard to compete with views like these and know there are animals that may have never been seen by a human.

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Beautiful pics!! That's why I like to hunt the alpine.

 

[Oak]

It took about 45 min of stumbling round in the dark to to find a spot big enough for the tent with no rocks. There was no moving/kicking rocks out of the way, they were buried in concreted silt, most were about the size of a basketball.

That looks like a golf course.

 

[Bambistew]

That looks like a golf course.

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Those are nice flat rocks, if you were in better shape (or maybe worse?) you could have camped a the bottom in the grass out of the snow.

 

[Gerald Martin]

My number bucket list animal that I would love to hunt but will never pay market price for would be Stone Sheep.

Second would be a Dall Ram.

I am a sucker for mountain goats. Given the option of choosing a wilderness goat tag or a bighorn tag in a “tame” area where the sheep are used to humans, I would take the goat tag every time.
If the sheep tag was from a handful of MT units I would choose the ram tag over goat.
Bighorn sheep are cool, but on the three limited area hunts I accompanied other hunters on, I was underwhelmed by the difficulty. The one unlimited hunt I did was a completely different story.
So.... I guess it depends on the circumstances.

 

[appaloosa]

I've been fortunate to draw moose, sheep, goat and bison. All were bucket list hunts and I loved the experience of every one of them. If I never hunt another moose, bison, or goat in my life I would be perfectly content, but I might give up every hunt for the rest of my life just to go on one more RMB sheep hunt... That's how I would rank them.

 

[Mtnhunter1]

Given the choice between sheep and goat?

#1 Mtn Goat, I just love the country that they call home! I think that Bambistew said it best, truly wild places with critters that have had little or no human contact will always draw my interest. No alpine yoga classes being held were I have hunted goats,,that I know of anyway? Now eating them is a whole different story and would put them at the bottom of the list if that was the option of the survey.

BH sheep will always hold a place in my heart if hunted during the rut, they are an awful lot of fun to watch. Eating them ranks right up there towards the top of my favorites.

I never really had the bug to hunt any of the thin horned sheep. The thought of having to hire an outfitter just turns my stomach and that's probably the catalyst for my lackluster enthusiasm for these sheep.

At the end of the day I'd take a goat tag in an area that includes "Wilderness" in it's name every single time.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Funny how some people don’t like the taste of goat but like bighorn sheep.
Every goat I have eaten has been tough but tasty.
The bighorn rams on the other hand.... My buddy gave me some pepper sticks he made from his ram. I couldn’t eat them because the wool taste was so strong. My wife’s ram was pretty woolly too.

 

[406dn]

A big ram has always been the biggest item on my wish list. I did get to hunt the far northwestern corner of BC back in the day. I never laid eyes on a legal ram, sadly. I killed a goat and a nice bull caribou as consolation prizes,, I guess. The country was stunning, as is most of the Rocky Mountains.

I killed my second goat in Montana, a while ago now. There are many wonderful memories wrapped up in that hunt. I remember standing on a ridge looking around a full 360 degrees. The entire world appeared to be an ocean of mountains.

I read above that many found mountain goat meat to be poor tasting. The two I've gotten had good flavor but were tough beyond description. Their muscle fibers were extremely coarse. I forgave them for that, respecting that to live in their world,,, you better be tough.

 

[Panda Bear]

. Given the option of choosing a wilderness goat tag or a bighorn tag in a “tame” area where the sheep are used to humans, I would take the goat tag every time.
If the sheep tag was from a handful of MT units I would choose the ram tag over goat.

"tame area" ? a high fence area ?

Some of our sheep and goats have never seen a human, probably most of them.

As mentioned in my prior post both hunts are similar with the goat hunts being a bit more difficult. Although we are allowed to hunt both we dont always hunt Goat, as the sheep hide is easier to work with and the meat is better ( in my opinion ).

 

[2rocky]

"tame area" ? a high fence area ?

I interpret that as "Front Country". Roaded, albeit in the mountains. Animals see hikers frequently .

 

[FishN4Eyes]

At this point, I would give me left you-know-what for a RM bighorn tag.

I have killed a goat, two Dall sheep, a Stone and a Desert.

Loved the meat of all of them. The goat was a bit tough but I thought the flavor was excellent.

I am hoping and praying for a bighorn tag one day. I'm going to go broke trying to get one.

Unless I can get MTGomer to take me under his wing.

 

[Gerald Martin]

I interpret that as "Front Country". Roaded, albeit in the mountains. Animals see hikers frequently .

Yes. This^^^. Some units have sheep that live in close proximity to houses and people. Waiting for a rutted up ram to leave the neighbors’ back yard to be able to kill it doesn’t fulfill my idea of what a sheep should be. It’s all legal and fair chase, just not how I want to kill a ram.

I was helping a butcher part time one fall when a guide and a client brought in a ram that ended up scoring 193”. They were accompanied by a semi-well known sheep expert (not John Lewton) who came from several states away to help out. The client was from Florida. The hunt consisted of waiting for the ram and his ewes to clear the apple trees in from a lady’s back yard and climb a few yards into the broken terrain till a safe shot could be taken.

All totally legal and fine. Just not my cup of tea.
Although, I know I would have no problem pulling the trigger on a sheep that wasn’t fearful because it had never seen a human before. Being able to experience country and animals like that would be incredible.
I am envious of those of you who get to experience that each fall. Not envious enough to handle the cold, long winters and other challenges of living that remotely brings during the rest of the year. But when I know the leaves are changing and the first snows are dusting the north country..... I do feel that stirring in my soul.

 

[6mm Remington]

They are both beautiful creatures but from the small amount of goat and sheep I have eaten, bighorn was much better. Now having said that I have not had any sheep that was from a ram in the rut but from what I was told they get pretty stinky and gamey tasting. Even more so than a big old buck mule deer!

 

[VikingsGuy]

Waiting for a rutted up ram to leave the neighbors’ back yard

Can you PM GPS coordinates?

 

[Heavybullets]

Just as I have an order of preference and interest in the various deer, elk, antelope and bear hunting options, I assume folks have an order of preference amongst the various forms of huntable goat/sheep. I am interested in not just the ranking, but also the rationale for the preference. For example, I would rank elk ahead of whitetail because I prefer the type of hunt (walk and stalk vs tree stand), the taste of the meat, and the volume of the meat. I am totally clueless about all things goat/sheep so looking forward to learning from the responses.

As an registered guide/ Outfitter in AK. for many years seems like I've tasted most anything that walks in North America at one time or another. Never wasted any meat so my family was well fed and many sheep, moose etc. went to the villages over time. I still remember my son (then about 6 years old) sitting down at the dinner table one winter evening and saying "not old Goat, again!. In order of MY preference Sheep, Elk, Moose , Deer, caribou, Bears ( interior Grizzly and black bears, NOT fish eating Brownies) and bringing up the rear " old Goat"
Good Hunting
Lj

 

[Heavybullets]

I think its pretty relative to the type of experiences you've had as to what your desires are. I used to think L48 bighorn (all of them) sheep, goats and moose were the coolest thing, I haven't applied for any in nearly a decade. I'd rather let my chance of draw go to someone who wants it more than me. The experience just isn't what I'm after, while I know that isn't true for all of the hunts, they just aren't "wild" enough for me. Knowing that so many others have had the exact same experience, just seems to cheapen the experience. Knowing that people have pictures of, have seen, or know of an animal I kill takes something away from the experience. Its hard to explain, and I don't expect others to understand. Hunting is personal to everyone. I'm perfectly content hunting dall sheep, and don't really have a desire to hunt any of the other sheep or goats.

For me, dall sheep hunting is pretty much the pinnacle of hunting in NA. There is a reason people are drawn to hunting Alaska, and it isn't just because the animals are different, its because its still wild. Same reason guys from the more metro areas are drawn to hunting the mountain west. Its hard to compete with views like these and know there are animals that may have never been seen by a human.

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Dalls will always be my favorite for the exact reasons you have stated, thanks for reminding me, it's easy to take some things for granted.
Good Hunting
Lj

 

[Gerald Martin]

Can you PM GPS coordinates?

Sadly, the unit this happened in suffered from the consequences of bighorns living in proximity to humans. Most of the sheep all died from pneumonia and FWP stopped the hunt. Unit 122.

In a bitter ironic twist, or maybe par for the course, a local “constitutional freedoms advocate” started grazing a large herd of domestic sheep in the fields directly across the road from the majority of the bighorn habitat. It was a field the bighorns also frequented before the domestics were grazed there.
The guy’s sheep farm went broke and he sold the herd a few years after FWP shut down the hunt. Bighorn populations had fallen from @ 250-350 sheep to a couple dozen.



Can I tell you how I feel about it?

 

[Oak]

Sadly, the unit this happened in suffered from the consequences of bighorns living in proximity to domestic sheep. Most of the sheep all died from pneumonia and FWP stopped the hunt. Unit 122.

Fixed it for you.