Lets talk sheep

If a person wanted to hunt some sheep, what would be the most economical hunt (ecomonical being a relative term)?

Before anyone brings it up, I'm talking real sheep in their native range, not a $150 Corsican at Thompson temples

For instance, from my research, it's alot cheaper to go shoot a mouflon in Hungary than it is to shoot a bighorn in Mexico

Draw hunts can be considered to although I'm more interested in pay to play hunts

OTC bighorn in Montana. It's a quota hunt and probably not worth it, but that's your cheapest hunt.

By the time you factor in putting in for draw hunts for years, a dall in Alaska probably isn't too bad. If you want a decent chance to draw, go through a draw service and have them put you in for several states. Otherwise, it's what, about 20 grand, give or take, when it's all said and done to do a dall hunt?

What are some sheep prices like abroad?

To do a mouflon hunt in Hungary it was $10k last time I checked, and you shoot some monsters

I would me slightly more inclined to fly over there and do that then pay $30k here in the states. Lots of other sheep available for that, hell I can get a Marco Polo for $20k thru an outfitter hookup

You could probably find a decent Dall hunt for $20k in the Brooks Range. Also, look in the NWT and Yukon.

Stone sheep.....$40k
Rocky Mnt Bighorn.....$35k
Desert Bighorn.....$50-60k in Mexico.

Supply and demand has skewed these hunts to incredible levels. If you're flexible, a cancellation hunt could pop up and save you some money.

Id be more tempted to spend my dollars abroad and put in for draw tags here in the states

20k for Marco Polo is a really good deal, especially for such a big ram.

If you can really go on a legitimate MP hunt for 20K, you should go ASAP. Last I checked that hunt was 45-55 grand.

Of course, travel costs and shipping of your ram will run several thousand also.

I believe the biggest sheep hunting bargain today is an Alaska Dall hunt. I plan on a Brooks Range hunt within the next few years. Total cost is around 20K.

Well, guess I'll never go on a sheep hunt. Geez!

I got to shoot one with my bow at Devils River SNA last year for $130 bucks. That was a draw hunt, but they didn't do stand-by's. Only 5 of us did the hunt. Other than that, I got nothing!!!

I am excluding drawn tag hunts because they cannot be counted on with any degree of certainty. I have put in every state for every available tag for 13 years (that's 12 states for 15-16 tags) and drew for the first time this year. And the odds of drawing that tag were only slightly better than getting struck by lightning.

To take a ram out of the Montana Unlimited unit will confer near legendary status on you immediately. The country is unbelievably rough and the sheep are unbelievably scarce.

Sheep hunting today is nothing like the days of Jack O'Conner and his mighty .270.

I can beat that price, there is a locker plant east of Rowena that slaughters them, it may not be a trophy, but it will be a sheep, or if you want he might even throw in a goat a few dollars more.

I am rambling but if the sheep bug is biting you, you should begin applying in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Nevada and Idaho immediately. WY at least if nothing else-put in for Areas 1,2,3,4 or 5 and your odds for a random draw tag are somewhere in the 1-3% range. Which is dang good compared to other states.

Darn, back to Roswell and looking for UFO aliens. Odds seem to be the same with a bigger payoff/reward for the UFO alien.

Actually the hunting is similar to it. All but the money part. And the travel to the hunting area is much easier. But (unless you dishonor the hunt by helicoptering to the top of the mountain-as some do) the mountains still have to be climbed.

I killed my Yukon ram on a mountain not too far from where O'Connor hunted and exactly the way he hunted-long packstring trip in and spike camp tents for 10 days. My rifle was a Pre-64 Winchester with a 2.5-8x scope.

Have you considered free range aoudad?

Nog, do you know any particulars on that Montana hunt? Like, do they usually meet quota? How many people attempt it? Etc.

I would pay $20k to go on the Marco Polo sheep hunt right now. Hook me up!!!!

Not a bad deal if you can get someone to fly it and scout for you so you're on legal sheep when the season starts.

One buddy got a cancelation Stone's for $17k 3yrs ago. Was then lucky enough to draw an Escalante tag to finish up his grand slam.

Another lucked into killing a Fannin on a Dall hunt to finish his grand slam. Rumored he was a wee bit emotional when he figured it out.

Dont really want to go rifle kill livestock. But thanks though.

This is a great idea. I found that my aoudad hunt in the Chinati Mnts a few years back was every bit as challenging as any of my Grand Slam hunts. Check with Muley Mike or Bubba Glosson.

Just make sure you don't spring for a HF hunt where you sit in a blind watching a feeder, at least if you want to experience the essence of true sheep hunting....glassing, stalking, climbing, earning your trophy. Now before I get flamed, there's nothing wrong with watching a feeder, but it's not a sheep hunt in the classic style!

Many hunters look to the unlimited entry hunts in Montana every year. But you have to understand how it works. The Fish and Game Dept sets a quota for the unit....lets say that quota is 3 rams. And lets say that there are 200 hunters in that unit on opening day. As soon as the 3 rams are killed--usually on Day One--the hunt is over for everyone. Each hunter must check in periodically by radio or cell phone to determine when the third sheep is killed.

Thus, the successful hunters in the unlimited units are the guys who scout thoroughly pre-season and know where ther rams are for opening morning. Then they hike in and set up on their ram and generally shoot at first light. Accordingly, it is almost impossible for a Texas hunter to do enough scouting to get the jump on a resident Montanan who does his homework. Your best bet would be to pay or coerce a local guy to find a ram for you. Then you would need to be lucky enough to get your ram before the others do.

It is the hunting equivalent of the Oklahoma Land Rush.

There are several unlimited units. It is my understanding some are killed out at first light and in some no sheep are taken all season. Read some blogs on them-they are brutal. The vast majority with an unlimited tag either turn around and go home or quit after a few days of tough terrain and zero sheep.

Coincidentally, my guide on the AZ sheep hunt was born and raised in Montana and is the only man to ever take a record book ram out of an unlimited unit.

I'm really getting into the sheep hunting. I imagine within 5 years I will consider myself a sheep hunter that dabbles in Elk & Deer. I think the remote mountain hunting is the pinnacle challenge for me.

Aoudad - I will never get snobby about the Grand Slam sheep, I will ALLWAYS say that Aoudad hunting is the most fun and challenging for me. You can walk up on a Bighorn and stick it with an arrow, try that with an Aoudad! You also get more of a Sheep experience for 10% of the cost!

Dall Sheep - I personally find Dall the most beautiful and maybe most challenging of the Grand Slam. Also a bonus they are the least expensive to hunt! Dall populations in Alaska have reduced over 50% in last few years because of winter kill, but there are still areas with good numbers. You can get Dall hunts between $10-15k with Outfitter. The $15k hunts are very good quality hunts great areas with great rams. I have had a hunt booked for next fall for 2 years and they tagged out some awesome rams this year.





Rocky Mountain Bighorns - Opportunity is mostly to draw in states, which I recommend a subscription service that does all the headaches for you. I pay someone a small fee and they submit my application in 8 different states, they even pay for the tag for small interest rate so no money out of my pocket and then state refunds them. Out of 8 states I don't expect to start having a better chance with luck for 10 more years. However, this application services has clients draw every year with less than 10 years. There are some good Over the Counter opportunities in Canada. There are actually some outfitter hunts starting $20k or so, but sometimes the quality is minimal.

Desert Bighorns - There are several state draws or go to Mexico. Not counting the cheap high fence hunts, there are some free range opportunities around $30k with the high quality hunts closer to $60k.

Stone Sheep - I think Stone sheep have reputation for being more expensive and one of the harder to tag. There are some Canadian outfitters in the $40-50k range.

Anyone who confines a Desert bighorn behind a HF should be flogged. I am very saddened to hear that even takes place.

very common in Mexico, of course your largest Desert Bighorns come off Mexican islands, but that's another story and they are still B&C eligible. Island was God made.

never hunted HF, from what ive read on THF its a tough hunt, not pudden it down, just couldn't't aford it.

awsome pics & info on de hunt

All sheep are on an "island" of the mountain range they inhabit-so I have no problem with the Tiburon, etc. island hunts.

I've hunted aoudad several times in the hill country ( no feeders) just never took one personally

I've guided hunters to a few of them

From what I've been told its quite common, although the ranches I have been told about are like 200k
Acres.

From what I've been told those are the most expensive hunts

I'm not knowledgeable on this. Wish I had not heard of it.
That said, doesn't seem to make sense to HF 200K acres in Mexico....Africa where poaching wars are rampant maybe. Like I said, IDK though.

I don't know why they HF over there either.

I was saddened when I heard about how they are operating in South Africa....HFing, breeding in captivity Cape buffalo among other animals, etc.



I compare it like this:

I have no problem at all with catching bass out of a stock pond but catching redfish out of one just doesn't feel right

Kinda the way I feel about hunting deer vs other animals behind a HF.

When I was elk hunting in Colorado/Wyoming or Montana every year I would see Bighorn and Mt Goats on most hunts. I always wanted to hunt either of them and would always apply but never drew a NR tag for either one.
Now for the guys that don't have or aren't willing to spend 20K for a sheep hunt let me share a few thoughts on Sheep hunting in Texas. I've spent several days Auodad hunting on the Ox ranch near Uvalde Texas and I can tell you they have a hell of a herd of Irianian Red Sheep (200+). The ranch manager said they are pure red sheep that aren't crossed with anything else and from looking at photos posted on the net of other trophy red sheep I can only assume this is a problem. The ranch is 18,000+ acres and contains some very rough country that the Sheep and Goats disappear in very easily. I spent several days in those hills looking for a monster Auodad that we saw twice and never got within range. It's very much of a (true hunt) and you will earn your Ram if you connect. I will post a few poor quality long range photos that I took while hunting Auodad. I've never been a Texas Sheep guy and will probably never hunt one but if I did that is how I'd do it. They are wild as hell and will haul [censored] if they see you from a mile away!!! Good Luck with your quest, Baker

It is certainly true that these days that Africa and Texas exotic hunts are all over the spectrum-from basically "canned" hunts to true free-range hunts for wild and wary animals. Pics with nice animals alone do not tell the story of the hunt itself.

I was blissfully unaware that this was the case with any native North American bighorn or thinhorn sheep.

Sorry, I don't/didn't mean to go off topic on the HF deal.....

As for the draws, if you get into it in a big way the services are the way to go. The three I am aware of are Hunter Appication Service run by Larry Altimus, Cabela's TAGS, and Huntin' Fool.

I have used HAS since 2001 and cannot say enough good things. Larry knows the units that are truly NR eligible, the terrain/accessibility of each unit, and the actual odds-all of which changes from year to year. I could never keep up with all of that myself. And reading the state websites, Eastmans', Huntin' Fool, etc. is largely useless for actual odds information-lets just say it is complicated and leave it at that. For example, many units that show to be NR units in the previous year will not issue NR tags the following year, issue them only to NRs in the highest bonus point pool, etc. MANY folks spend thousands of dollars each year applying for tags they have zero chance of drawing. Plus many NRs put in for tags where access and terrain make it an impossible hunt for them, etc.

Larry knows all these ins and outs in each state. At about $50 fee per application with him fronting the thousands of $$$ for the up front tag application fees, it is a bargain. IDK if the Cabela's or HF folks have this level of knowledge or not.

Also bear in mind that most states have wised up and now make you purchase a hunting license in their state just to apply. This ranges from about $80-200 each. Thus, my yearly out-of-pocket costs to apply in 12 or so states is around $1500. It is not a cheap game to play. I do my own apps in WY, CO and ID since I am familiar with those states.

Again, WY is by far the state with the best odds to draw a tag.

Apparently some of the unlimited sheep units don't even hold resident sheep. You have to get lucky for them to even be there from being spooked from another area. Talk about a tough hunt.

Larry is my guy too, I am only 2 years in. I hope to get a Dall and Canada Big Horn in next 10 years before I can even start getting hopes up about drawing.

Epic Outdoors is another one.

I put in for my own hunts out west and have been doing so since at least 1990. Each year, I put in for around 25-30 hunts in most western states. I no longer apply in Washington, Oregon, or California due to the high cost and terrible odds.

That said, the odds are heavily slanted against non-residents these days in every state except Wyoming, perhaps. I had 15 preference points for sheep when I was finally drawn in Wyoming; I had 12 points for Shiras moose. If I were starting from scratch today, I think I would put in applications for my kids and grandkids......they might ultimately draw a tag. As for myself, I would concentrate heavily on New Mexico and Idaho; those states don't grant bonus or preference points, and each year, every applicant starts anew on a level playing field.

Miracles can happen. I am living proof. 13 years in, I got the dream "Are you sitting down?" call from Larry on July 23rd. Drew Unit 43B Arizona Desert Ram tag. Larry will be guiding me on my hunt in December-assisted by another renowned sheep hunter Harry Weeks. Larry's wife Stephanie will be our camp cook-she has taken the Grand Slam and a Montana Unlimited ram herself. I joked with Larry if he doesn't pan out the "cook" and I will give it a go. I feel like a utility infielder going to Spring Training with Ruth, Gehrig, and DiMaggio.

I also drew the only WY NR random draw Area 1 moose tag in 2005. Took a beautiful bull with my bow. Like I said, miracles happen-and you can't draw if you don't put in.

What about an island

Confining or HF'ing any wild big sheep is a losing battle and straight role of the dice if you don't have the range. Like trying to herd cats. If they want out they are getting out.

You got to respect that about sheep. Pretty cool when you think about it.

Yes. See above post. All wild mountain sheep are on "islands" of the mountain ranges they inhabit. So I have no issue with the island hunts. But, again, don't want to take this great thread off topic.....

Larry is hard core. Example: he will not put you in for the Montana "Breaks" unit 680 unless you make him. Although it has the biggest rams in North America, the terrain is not mountains but small rolling hills with shallow canyons-piece of cake to get a huge ram with minimal effort. Larry says "I don't care how big the da** rams are, that ain't sheep huntin'!"

that is just awesome!

some in these post's my pic Tis on a wantta post in a different thread

Thank you. I am excited beyond words.

As has already been stated, none of your free range wild sheep hunts are not cheap.

For free range Mouflon Hungary and possibly Spain are your two best values, but I think you may get better quality hunting in Hungary. I also read up on Mouflons in Hungary, and some places have them in a high fence to ensure they are pure Mouflons (you probably already know that sheep wild breed with any other sheep) NOT to make the hunting easier.

If you stay in the states, a Dall Sheep hunt is probably the most realistic to get a tag and also be affordable.

I recall reading once that "Sheep hunting is for a young man's legs and an old man's wallet."

That's a true statement. If I had not gotten my Fannin when I did, any hope for a Grand Slam would have been gone. That hunt is 3X what I paid back in 2006.

A mouflon in Hungary or the Czech Republic is a dream thst i hope to realize. Would be fantastic to be able to hunt the motherland and get to see that country

If those in Hungary are as wild as the ones I have good luck. I have 3 ewes and 2 rams on a 360 acre pasture. Maybe half thick brush and half cleared. I had not seen them for over 3 weeks. I was getting a little worried if I still had them. Finally this afternoon I found them at about 300 yards from me and they were gone. I have never seen any exotic Sheep, Deer or whatever as wild as Mouflon are.

Get a time machine...... 1985 & 86 Two hunts 15 and 14 days respectively... Alaskan Range backpack hunt Dall, Caribou, Grizzly , then Pack in with horses in BC. Stone Sheep & Mountain goat .... all Total less than 20K.....

not up on sheep hunten like ya'll. isn't the Mouflon range the higher ground, & HF is put up by owners of sheep ta keep free range mouflon pure?

Yeah but what is the equivalent in today's dollars?

No, you don't understand. If you pay 10K and travel to a foreign land where the sheep were introduced and then you get off an airplane, stay in a 5 star lodge, have 3 guides plus an interrupter lead you to a sheep. Then once there ,have them Set up their shooting sticks, range the animal with a laser rangefinder... You pull the trigger.... then "You are a Hunter". You fit the true mold of a hunter (in their eyes).... Hunting is never about memories, new friendships, new lands explored, adventure. It's about feeling better and being better. These people ignore the reality of facts that they hired a pack of top notch sheep guides, they had no clue where to even start except on the internet, or hire a tag and draw company, they never pre-scouted, BUT they take the credit of being a true hunter. In reality they showed up with 10K shook hands with their guide and said "Have you seen any Rams"

These holy hunters place themselves higher on a pedestal in order to look down on those scum ranchers that tried to preserve the species by bringing them to Texas. They lump all ranchers into one catagory "slaughter hunts" weather 100 acres or 10,000 acres. Therefore beating their chest as they climb higher on the pedestal. Looking further down upon Ranchers that should have stuck to cattle and should have said to hell with the Aoudad, mouflon... let them go extinct in their foreign land.

You know the type Lewis and Clark of the 21st century.

In closing let's all just enjoy the outdoors and be thankful for the blessings. If you're doing something illegal the Game Warden will pay you a visit.

That's why I did it when I was young.
Nothing has gotten cheaper.

You mean the ranchers who had habitat more suited for sheep & goats than cattle....wouldn't say back then they were thinking conservation, more like "this cattle biz ain't working and we can't grow nuthin'", but to heck with the current low density wildlife.

Says the man with all his "trophies" on display as his sig line.

If the popcorn is served I will eat it.

I thought it was a hunting forum. You just condemned all those other THF who sig line has photos. I am hoping you're not getting dizzy on the pedestal.

Nogalus Prairie is an unincorporated community and farming community in Trinity County, Texas, United States.[1] It is located on Farm Road 357, just west of Centralia, and 13 miles northeast of Groveton. In 2000, the estimated population was 41 residents.

same here with leases. told by credit advisor bad invest ment. our bills were, car repairs, couldn't aford new ones, higher insurance, bought house, toredown old roof, had to replace, insulate, sheet rock, plumbing, all new wires. we just walked out payed off bills no help from them, & other bills. seen other hunters, 5yr lease, put lot of time, work, money, & fueden over who shot what, legal is legal. then loose every thing at end of
the 5 years, cause land owner double price of lease.

Yeah, we don't know from exotic animals, high fences or lodges in Hungary. And shooting sticks are what the boys play "Cowboys and Indians" with.

They know how to shoot out there...there's the story of John Wesley Hardin and the locals who took care of a cpl who shot up a school play.

i get dizzy wearen cowboy boots, theropest said they cause back proublems. it is open discussion hunting Form nothing wrong with posting legal game.

they say he once killed a man for snoring

Not to throw any cold water on the parties fueding but I have a question. I know that Corsican and those type sheep will not jump a LF. I know that unless pushed a Mouflon will not normally. Will any of the Bighorn types jump say a 5' fence under normal circumstances?

grass is always greener on de udder side. if its got plenty ta eat, don't think it will try jumping a 5 foot fence, 3 foot maybe. good post Don

They'll jump it, but would rather go under or through it. Through it is a prob just because of horn characteristics, so folks are advised to leave a good gap at the bottom. Bighorn are more mountain mule deer-like in their mannerism.

SheepHunter,
Were you directing your comment to my post? If so, I think you miss read it. First off, I was responding to the original post about opportunities/cost of sheep hunts (and he implied he was not looking for a Texas ranch HF or LF hunt). Second, and to be clear, I have absolutely no issue with ranchers in Texas (or elsewhere) raising exotics and selling hunts.

TonyinVA we're good Sir

think it got started whin asked a question bout a post on Moulfon in Hungary

I hunted Ft Peck area of Montana for awhile last year for mule deer and seen big horns most days and most were well within range and 3 would have been legal with one very large and the irony is I couldn't find a big mule deer but found big horns everyday. I haven't looked into the draw for the units I was in but probably should.

didn't know they had big horns in Montana

So you would recommend Hunter Application Service over HuntinFool?

I am about to start putting in for elk/mule deer tags/points as well as sheep