Sheep habits

[Gr8bawana]

As some of you may know I was awarded a much coveted desert bighorn sheep tag someone turned back in.
My hunt unit is about 20 minutes from my house and I plan to get an idea of the few roads there are, it's not a very big unit.
Hunt actually starts on the last day of my bull elk hunt, Nov. 20th so my scouting will have to be done before-hand.
My question is should I actually look for sheep this early or wait until early Oct.? I don't know how much they move around.
I have zero experience hunting sheep.
Any thoughts?

 

[perma]

As some of you may know I was awarded a much coveted desert bighorn sheep tag someone turned back in.
My hunt unit is about 20 minutes from my house and I plan to get an idea of the few roads there are, it's not a very big unit.
Hunt actually starts on the last day of my bull elk hunt, Nov. 20th so my scouting will have to be done before-hand.
My question is should I actually look for sheep this early or wait until early Oct.? I don't know how much they move around.
I have zero experience hunting sheep.
Any thoughts?

If/when I draw a sheep tag, id do what @MHMT does and spend every waking moment in that unit that I could. Pick a ram that you can’t live without and learn what he does.

 

[mevertsen]

Scout now. The rut is on. Get a look at the sheep that are there. They will still be there in November

 

[geetar]

Congrats on the tag. I hope to see a good write up with a nice ram.

 

[LuketheDog]

As some of you may know I was awarded a much coveted desert bighorn sheep tag someone turned back in.
My hunt unit is about 20 minutes from my house and I plan to get an idea of the few roads there are, it's not a very big unit.
Hunt actually starts on the last day of my bull elk hunt, Nov. 20th so my scouting will have to be done before-hand.
My question is should I actually look for sheep this early or wait until early Oct.? I don't know how much they move around.
I have zero experience hunting sheep.
Any thoughts?

Call the biologist for the unit and ask where the core ranges are, then get behind the glass in those spots.

 

[Gr8bawana]

Got out and did some scouting last weekend and we did find sheep. A few ewes and lambs, quite a few young rams 1/2 curl or so.
We did see 2 definite shooters out by themselves. I'm going to se if I can find them in the same general area again since I don't know how much they move around.
Does anyone know if the bigger rams stay away from the lambs with ewes?
The country looks so desolate it's amazing those animals can live out there. We still have a lot of country to look over though.
Hopefully next time I update I'll have some pics of sheep.

 

[p_ham]

Got out and did some scouting last weekend and we did find sheep. A few ewes and lambs, quite a few young rams 1/2 curl or so.
We did see 2 definite shooters out by themselves. I'm going to se if I can find them in the same general area again since I don't know how much they move around.
Does anyone know if the bigger rams stay away from the lambs with ewes?
The country looks so desolate it's amazing those animals can live out there. We still have a lot of country to look over though.
Hopefully next time I update I'll have some pics of sheep.

View attachment 295155View attachment 295156

From what I've seen the mature rams will group up together outside of the rut separate from the ewes and lambs.

I know it's probably obvious, but various organizations have done a great job installing guzzlers all over the state. Focusing near some of those areas may help.

 

[buffybr]

From what I've seen the mature rams will group up together outside of the rut separate from the ewes and lambs.

I know it's probably obvious, but various organizations have done a great job installing guzzlers all over the state. Focusing near some of those areas may help.

^^^^This^^^^
Most of the year, the mature rams will not be with the ewes and lambs.

Most of the rams that I have shot were in the months of August and September, and they were either alone or with just one or two other rams.

I live in Montana, but I have family in the Denver area. For the past 3 years I have visited my family in the Thanksgiving to March season and have seen up to 15 rams on the same hillside every time I go there looking for them. No ewes or lambs. This area is in the foothills outside of Denver and less than 5 minutes from the nearest city.

Have a great hunt!

 

[littlebighorn]

Nevada desert sheep most often wind down the rut in late summer and then they band up together. In general it seems that rams like to hang out with same age peers, but not always. Obviously the closer you are to the hunt when scouting, the more likely the sheep will be in the same general area. Depending on weather they will move long distances to water, but it really depends on what's available.
I agree you should get ahold of the biologist, study past harvest data and get to know the entire unit as well as you can.
You are super lucky to get a turn back tag, and you likely won't get another one, so I'd do everything you can to make it count.
Sheep hunting, especially in the desert is a glassing game. Good, high powered optics are almost a must. Find high vantage points you can glass lots of country and then make your eyes bleed.
A big old ram can lay on an open hillside and never be seen, unless you totally take the country apart but in the end, I don't think there is a greater reward. With the wide open terrain, it's also likely that shooting opportunities will be long range so make sure you practice as far as you can and learn to account for wind.
Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Gr8bawana]

Went out again and my son was able to get a pic of one ram we saw. We did see another very young ram though. So far we've seen sheep every time we've been out.
No monster rams yet but I'll keep looking.

 

[BAKPAKR]

That is a pretty cool ram. Good luck on the hunt!

 

[littlebighorn]

Went out again and my son was able to get a pic of one ram we saw. We did see another very young ram though. So far we've seen sheep every time we've been out.
No monster rams yet but I'll keep looking.
View attachment 297356View attachment 297357

That's some wide flare and looks like decent mass. Finding rams is very cool!

 

[rogerthat]

Went out again and my son was able to get a pic of one ram we saw. We did see another very young ram though. So far we've seen sheep every time we've been out.
No monster rams yet but I'll keep looking.
View attachment 297356View attachment 297357

That looks like a pretty damn big ram to me

 

[Gr8bawana]

Got a letter from NDOW today informing me that I've been approved to defer my sheep tag until next year.
Can't wait to start rehabbing this broken ankle. Doc said at least 1 more month till I can start putting any weight on it.

 

[kansasdad]

@Gr8bawana

XRays are fun, but show us the scar!!

Congratulations on the deferment of your tag.

Do the rehab and keep the flexibility of that joint.

 

[littlebighorn]

I guess I missed what happened but count your blessings you get another shot!
Knowing this far in advance is a blessing, and a curse. You have tons of time to plan and prepare, but I'm guesssing time will slow down for you between now and next November.
Good luck on healing quickly...and on passing the time.

 

[MaddH]

Good deal on the deferment . Now just more time to worry about every detail of the hunt next year . Best hunt you’ll ever go on. And if you don’t have alpha glass already, it gives you time to save for some

 

[MaddH]

Most of the rams I saw on my hunt in Nov were by themselves or banded with other rams. Did see a couple trying to mount some ewes but for the most part not.

 

[mevertsen]

Glad you got it deferred. At least ypu know you have the tag and can scout confidently all year amd look at a lot of rams.

 

[BrowningCitori]

What happened?