Ranking Goat/Sheep

[cedahm]

Can you PM GPS coordinates?

No need for PM. In CO's unit S42 - this is where the 2017 Ram was killed: 39.479782,-105.131634

WHen I read 'tame', this is the hunt I thought of. Sheep need to be 200 yards from the road (which is a trail and any given day sees hundreds of cyclists, hikers. fishermen, etc). I am 100% confident if I took the 20 minutes to drive over there right this minute and walk up the road, I'd see sheep.

 

[Panda Bear]

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.

thanks guys. We have to float plane in, no roads. We set up base camp and then spike camp as we hunt. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, there are not a lot of roads, in The Territories.

and you are correct. We are not able to enjoy a lot of the conveniences you fellows enjoy, plus it is cold and dont forget it is dark--a lot--during the winter. So all things being equal you guys have many more modern day conveniences

 

[Gerald Martin]

thanks guys. We have to float plane in, no roads. We set up base camp and then spike camp as we hunt. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, there are not a lot of roads, in The Territories.

and you are correct. We are not able to enjoy a lot of the conveniences you fellows enjoy, plus it is cold and dont forget it is dark--a lot--during the winter. So all things being equal you guys have many more modern day conveniences

Yes, but you have Stone Sheep.....

 

[BigHornRam]

Yes, but you have Stone Sheep.....

Yes, if you call a dirty dall a stone sheep.

 

[Panda Bear]

some have asked privately so I thought I would address the Fannin on this thread

Is it just a different colored Stone or a separate breed ? The short answer is I dont know. We ( my family) refer to Stone and Dall. We consider the Fannin to be a Stone.

As an example, one study done several years ago indicated that the Yukon Stones were not related to the B.C. Stones but a cross between the Rocky Mtn big horns and Siberia snow sheep. and the Fannins were related to the Dall from the Mackenzie mtns I have read about those who have Grand Slam inspirations wondering if they will need to add one more. Also, if anyone really cares, the book " The Wilderness of the upper Yukon" might be of interest to you. I also understand that Jack O'Conner 's book, "Sheep and Sheep Hunting" has information about this in it as well.

So if you like sheep hunting and have taken the Dall and Stone, you might just have an opportunity and/or reason to hunt them again

 

[406dn]

Jack O'Connor's book "Sheep and Sheep Hunting" does go into the subject of the various sheep and their ranges.

My sheep hunt occurred in the Atlin BC area. While I did not get to scrutinize any rams, the lambs and ewes showed a lot of variety in their coloration. Some appeared to have no dark hair and others next to them would be charcoal gray across the back.

 

[Steve O]

I took my dream animal, a beautiful Fannin ram from absolutely as far north as a non resident could take one in September 2002. Not a day goes by that I don’t want to go back and do it again. I had the opportunity to hunt Bighorns in Colorado with my recurve for a month in August of 2007. Not a day goes by that I don’t want to go back again. I’d love to do something just a little different so one of my many stalks ended up with a ram.

I drew a Utah Mountain Goat tag in 2018. I’m happy to have done it but I am good with one goat (and he was delicious btw).



All I do is try to figure out how to draw another Bighorn tag. Best shot is I’ve got 21 points in Wyoming and whatever the max points are in Montana...those MT points are going to turn into a ewe tag in a couple more years when my kids are done with college if I can’t pull a ram tag in the meantime. Someday I will find a way to hunt Dall in the NWT and a great friend of mine in AZ drew a Desert tag this year and has asked me to come out to help; so I will have 90% of a Desert

I’ve hunted 18 of the NA29. If I had the means I would hunt any/all of the sheep over all the other.

 

[Mtnhunter1]

I took my dream animal, a beautiful Fannin ram from absolutely as far north as a non resident could take one in September 2002. Not a day goes by that I don’t want to go back and do it again. I had the opportunity to hunt Bighorns in Colorado with my recurve for a month in August of 2007. Not a day goes by that I don’t want to go back again. I’d love to do something just a little different so one of my many stalks ended up with a ram.

I drew a Utah Mountain Goat tag in 2018. I’m happy to have done it but I am good with one goat (and he was delicious btw).

View attachment 147690

All I do is try to figure out how to draw another Bighorn tag. Best shot is I’ve got 21 points in Wyoming and whatever the max points are in Montana...those MT points are going to turn into a ewe tag in a couple more years when my kids are done with college if I can’t pull a ram tag in the meantime. Someday I will find a way to hunt Dall in the NWT and a great friend of mine in AZ drew a Desert tag this year and has asked me to come out to help; so I will have 90% of a Desert

I’ve hunted 18 of the NA29. If I had the means I would hunt any/all of the sheep over all the other.

.....and I thought that I was fortunate to have a few goats fall in good spots! Beautiful goat!

 

[Steve O]

Hah. Yes I am thankful for the flattest 12.000 mountain top in the lower 48 there. Still sucked getting to that point. They do like the steep stuff!

 

[sacountry]

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.

You and your family will be receiving a invite to a wild game feast this winter. Hoping all the varieties taste amazing considering the amount of effort that's going into them. Who knows perhaps the taste improves with a dose of "I hunted this animal" bias on the taste buds.

 

[sacountry]

I took my dream animal, a beautiful Fannin ram from absolutely as far north as a non resident could take one in September 2002. Not a day goes by that I don’t want to go back and do it again. I had the opportunity to hunt Bighorns in Colorado with my recurve for a month in August of 2007. Not a day goes by that I don’t want to go back again. I’d love to do something just a little different so one of my many stalks ended up with a ram.

I drew a Utah Mountain Goat tag in 2018. I’m happy to have done it but I am good with one goat (and he was delicious btw).

View attachment 147690

All I do is try to figure out how to draw another Bighorn tag. Best shot is I’ve got 21 points in Wyoming and whatever the max points are in Montana...those MT points are going to turn into a ewe tag in a couple more years when my kids are done with college if I can’t pull a ram tag in the meantime. Someday I will find a way to hunt Dall in the NWT and a great friend of mine in AZ drew a Desert tag this year and has asked me to come out to help; so I will have 90% of a Desert

I’ve hunted 18 of the NA29. If I had the means I would hunt any/all of the sheep over all the other.

Nice goat. No fear of anchoring that guy....or so it appears from that pic.

 

[Bambistew]

As an example, one study done several years ago indicated that the Yukon Stones were not related to the B.C. Stones but a cross between the Rocky Mtn big horns and Siberia snow sheep. and the Fannins were related to the Dall from the Mackenzie mtns

Do you by chance know who did the study, or have a copy?

This is an interesting article.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/yukon-stone-sheep-dall-1.4908206#:~:text=Dall%20(or%20Dall's)%20sheep%20are,to%20be%20a%20darker%20brown.&text=Researchers%20from%20the%20University%20of,been%20classified%20as%20Stone's%20sheep

.

 

[Panda Bear]

We are in Nunavut but will check further when we return. The book I referred to was a study by Charles Sheldon in the early 1900's. There have been several others including the one you posted and they are all interesting. The common thought among most here, is it is a "color" determination ( Dall, Stone, Fannin ) more than anything else. We have hunted them in both Yukon and B.C. and visually I can not see a difference between the Yukon Stone sheep and B.C. Stone sheep and I doubt they know where the border is. And my personal thought is if a Ram runs into a Ewe that is interested he doesn't check to see if she is a Dall, Stone, or Fannin, so who the hell knows. All three provide an excellent hunt, good hides, great scenery, excellent meat and an opportunity to eat something beside Caribou and Moose

p.s. I think the O"Conner book used Sheldons "color" theory/findings in his book. He may have also made the same determination that Sheldon made after hunting them ?

 

[Oak]

Do you by chance know who did the study, or have a copy?

This is an interesting article.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/yukon-stone-sheep-dall-1.4908206#:~:text=Dall%20(or%20Dall's)%20sheep%20are,to%20be%20a%20darker%20brown.&text=Researchers%20from%20the%20University%20of,been%20classified%20as%20Stone's%20sheep

.

Did BC outfitters underwrite that study? I'm jesting, of course.

 

[Steve O]

Yeah, I don’t give a rip what any study says. There are no Stone sheep within 300 miles of where I took my Fannin. If I had the money I’d have a proper slam...Fannin, Dall, Stone, Rocky, Cali, Nelsoni, and Mexicana.

As far as eats go, axis deer and my DIY muskox In AK are the only thing that has compared to my ram ribs over the open alder fire. That may have had something to do with how hard I worked for him as it was over 50 miles of backpacking before we found him to kill and a long night spent on the mountain in some crappy weather spent with nothing but my raincoat for protection after we go him in the packs.



This was the next morning when we stumbled into camp. I think that dog packing a little bit of meat was the only thing that got me back to camp.

Lookibg back it’s amazing how much better the gear is today!

 

[Yellowknife]

Since Bambistew so eloquently espoused the virtues of dall sheep, I'll do the same for Alaska Mt Goat.

Dall sheep hunts are amazing, with long miles, long views, and wild country. I'm a fan and will be doing it again this year.

Coastal AK mountains goats are a different variety of mountain hunt. Usually shorter, steeper, and far more hazardous to your health, for me the draw to mountain goat hunting is the skill level required. You aren't so much matching wits with the game as you are with the matching yourself against the mountain. Pulling it off consistently required a solid judgment of the terrain and weather, as well as the ability to rapidly adapt when conditions change. I've done three goat hunts in three different places, and screwed something up and questioned my own judgment on every single one. Despite packing back several goats, I feel it's a challenge that I haven't bested and probably never really will. Sheep country is just... easier.

Also, when the sun finally breaks through that crystal clear rain washed air and the sun lights up the mountains across the bay... there is nothing like it.

Sheep are the aesthetic choice, but mountain goats have a different type of thrill.