Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Let's discuss sheep and goat hunts.....

Ive been trying to figure out a way to do a goat or sheep hunt for a long time. Watching Randy's Nevada sheep video re-kindled that desire. I usually come away from researching goat and sheep hunts that I dont have enough money and/or am not lucky enough to draw a tag. I've looked at Montanas unlimited sheep tag areas but think the low odds in combination with the fact that I've never set foot in any of those units makes the odds of success rather abysmal.

What are your experiences with sheep or goat hunting? I'd prefer DIY mainly because I'm cheap and really want to retire some day. My other thought is to simply save for an outfitted hunt but I'm 55 now, can't see a hunt before age 60 - if I want to continue to hunt elk in 2 states every year.

Mr. B

I'm ready! Since you live in Tn and I in SW Ark, you can pick me up in L R on the way.


Seriously I'd love to hunt sheep or goats if the terrain isn't too rugged. My health won't allow me to hunt under RIGOROUS circumstances.
Dessert Sheep or Goats in lower altitudes would be GREAT. I wish I had experience to share with you but unfortunately I'm in the same boat you are.

In years past I always wanted to hunt Stone Sheep. I like their coats/colors better than the others.
However, since you hunt Elk in 2 States I don't think "I" would give that up to sheep/goats.

Good Luck in you quest.

Jerry

DIY in the lower 48? Depending on your point situation and application methods, A sheep hunt takes large amounts of luck, both in drawing and then hunting successfully that far from home. Goat hunts generally don't have the insane drawing odds that Sheep do, Nor are they as expensive if guided.

You have two choices, pay the money for guided Alaska or Canada,

Or pray for a draw hunt down here.

Sheep is by far more expensive than goat regardless of where.

At your age (and being cheap) skip one or two Elk hunts one year and go guided in Ca for goat.....

Seems like we're just talking about this, and that's half the fun of it, otherwise you'd be more committed to the cause.

I've been lucky enough to have been on 3 sheep hunts, proof it can happen to anyone, so never lose the dream......

But the fact of the matter is, if you really to want go, it will require time (as in an unknown number of years) or money,

Your choice........

tic toc tic toc..........................

b.c and alaska have large populations of sheep and goats, if u are a non-resident you have to be guided.
you may need 10-20 years of preference points in the lower 48.
i did dall in alaska and mtn goat in b.c as i would have been way to old if i waited to accumulate the necessary points.
good luck on finding the right hunt!

I don’t guess I realized goats were easier to draw. I was planning on applying for a sheep point but will probably change it to goat in that case.



I’ve heard those units are extremely rugged on top of it all. If it was a little less expensive I’d go just with the hopes of spotting some sheep. But for the price they’re asking combined with the stories I’ve heard about long sheepless hunts, I’ll pass.

+1 what Anie said.. He would of been waaay to old to get enough points in the lower 48. He he...

I was in the same boat as you concerning sheep. Last year the sheep hunting gods smiled upon me and I drew a NR tag in Oregon, pure luck as there are no preference points there for sheep. I put a fair bit of effort into scouting and killed a nice ram opening day. To be honest, the hunt itself wasn't particularly demanding, but incredibly rewarding, definitely the highlight of my hunting career!

Anyway, if I were in your shoes, I'd keep applying for tags here in the lower 48 but start saving for a guided hunt in AK or Canada. Goats are less expensive than sheep from what I understand so you might start there. You say you hunt elk out of state in 2 states. That's a fair chunk of change you could be putting towards a sheep/goat hunt. By prioritizing your wants, saving the money shouldn't be too difficult. Another option for a mountain hunt without spending your entire retirement savings would be a tahr/chamois hunt in New Zealand.

You can't win if you don't play... Good luck!

I was lucky enough to have moved to within 100 miles or so of Montana's unlimited sheep tag areas back when those tags were not a big deal, and very few bought them. I bought my first unlimited ram tag in 1979 for $25, and did a solo, DIY hunt in the Absaroka Wilderness east of Gardiner. I didn't see any sheep, but I did shoot one of my best 6x6 bull elk. I continued to buy an unlimited ram tag most years until the late 90s when FWP changed the rules to that an unlimited tag had to be your first choice in the sheep drawings. During that time I did DIY (many of which were solo) hunts in at least 6 of the unlimited units, and hunted multiple years in some of the units. I end up killing 3 of my own rams and finished another ram that another hunter had wounded and lost. I used my horses on most of those hunts.

On my last unlimited ram hunt, I saw a great ram the afternoon before the season opened. When the sun rose on opening morning, the basin that I had seen the ram in was literally crawling with other hunters, their camps, an outfitter with his hunters, horses, and packer, a Montana Game Warden, and Yellowstone Park rangers. I never saw that big ram again.

In 1975 and 1978 I also drew 2 Montana mountain goat tags. On both hunts, although the seasons opened in early September, but I waited until November to hunt because their hair is much longer and thicker then. I went DIY, solo on both hunts. On the first hunt, I blew a stalk on a billy, then got snowed out, and didn't go back. My second goat tag was in one of the unlimited sheep areas, so I carried my sheep tag in September and October more in case I saw a ram while I was scouting goats rather than actually hunting a ram. I didn't see any sheep. I went back in for my goat on the 14th on November. The temperature was -15* F when I started up the mountain, and the snow was crotch deep when I got up to my billy. That was another DIY, solo hunt. I completely skinned out my billy where I shot him, and drug the whole carcass down off the mountain. I have applied for another Montana goat tag for every year since then (40 years) without drawing one.

Your mentioned Randy Newberg in your original post. I talked to him a couple of weeks ago when he was preparing for an Alaskan Dall sheep hunt. A day or two ago, he posted a picture of his ram that "was the end of his 44 year quest."

What are you saying about anie ? Nodick !

Oh! That’s noduck !




Jerry

This.

DIY would be cheapest, but with pretty crappy odds of getting to go in the first place. Goat or Dall in AK would be within the realm of "saving-up-for." People older than us have made it up those mountains, so keep eatin' right & keep your body in motion while you save.

Is your work/family situation flexible enough to throw your name in the ring for cancellation hunts with several outfitters? I've heard of some significant discounts offered on these hunts.

FWIW, a while back I mentioned to Ready that I'd like to do a bighorn hunt before I lose my cartilage & motivation, but I'd need to tell 2 or 3 offspring that they'd be taking a couple semesters off from college because I'd appropriated their schooling funds. He suggested that every time I'm tempted to buy something on the classifieds here, that I, instead, take those funds immediately to the bank and deposit them into a new savings account called, "Sheep Hunt, 20_ _". I'm getting a little closer to that hunt now.

I'm sure we could have a whole 'nother (and interesting, at that) thread about what we might sell/forego to save for a dream hunt. Or, have we flogged Dave Ramsey enough in the Hunters Campfire section?

I can't wait to read your hunt write-up in a couple years. You can do this!

FC

I bit the bullet and went guided in Alaska. Didn't hunt elk that year for the first time in many years. But it was well worth that tradeoff, you can hunt elk every year. Do it before you get too old, a sheep guide will wear you out.

Incidental to the 270/280 AI thread, we found ourselves looking at spending the night down on the river waiting for our pickup in an area fairly covered with bear tracks and sh**. With two bloody packs stuffed with sheep meat and a cape. I was carrying a .260 loaded with 123 grain bullets but found myself wishing I had my .280 AI instead, loaded with some of those 175 partitions that "no one shoots." It would have been perfect for that kind of hunt loaded with light, flat-shooting bullets for sheep and heavy bullets for anything else.

Luckily for us our ride got there before dark and we didn't have to camp there.

DIY sheep and goat hunts are quite the memorable experiences. I've been on two sheep and one goat hunt with a pard, but I never had a tag. Great time and memories. That said, it takes a lot of planning (points) in most state and luck (all states). If you can stomach the $150 license fee, ID is a complete random draw and in some units the odds aren't horrible, yet far from good. My suggestion would be that if a sheep or goat hunt is high on the priority list, I'd put in for ID while saving as for a guided hunt elsewhere.

This is my understanding as well.....you’d best bring your “A” game in those areas!

Very interesting comments guys. I think it confirms what I found as well - bring a boatload of luck for DIY draw hunt in lower 48 or a cash for a guided AK/CN trip. I was hoping someone had solved the riddle <G>

FC - I put 3.5 kids through college (one is still playing around) so doing a guided hunt wasn't in the cards till they were finished. I'm starting to look harder at a couple of guided hunts but am having a hard time swallowing $20k for some of the sheep hunts. I have a little side Fidelity account that has significant cash in it and is invested well. My default plan is to use that account for a couple of hunts I would struggle to do DIY. I've looked at the early withdrawal penalty and that sucks unless you wait until your old/decrepit. Plus there's the significant other factor. It will likely cost me a 2 week stint touring around Europe. I'll pay that price for a chance to do a good sheep hunt.

I had the chance to do an Alaskan Dall sheep hunt when I was in college for the cost of airfare. My room mate family moved to AK a couple years before we met in college. Wish I would have done that trip.......

Looks like I'm dong the "save for sheep/goat hunt in 20__". I thought that is where we'd get to but thought I'd ask and discuss.

Smoke - I'm with you on the grizzly thing. I just got back from Glacier and we ran into a sow with 2 sub-adult cubs at ~ 50 yards. Two things. First she reacted interestingly. The 2 cubs actually came a bit closer to is but she stood staring at us for several minutes. I could tell she was trying to decide if we posed a threat. We backed on out slowly and did the exit stage left from the old Yogi Bear cartoon (see what I did there Second, she was a lot bigger than I'd imagined a sow grizzly to be. A couple days previous we saw a big boar in the same area as another sow and 2 cubs. He was significantly bigger than the sow. I was impressed with the size of them. We also ran into various piles of grizzly residue. Some of it was big enough to be furniture.......

All this said, my 280 AI is my main LR weapon. Looking at the grizzlys I dont think I'll be over-gunned.

i will give my 2 cents......1st sheep...desert, 1st time i put in so it can happen....mid twenties.....2 different hunts brooks range, 2 sheep..2 grizzles..1 moose...could have had another but same size as 1st one, so passed.....1 hunt out of cold bay ak brown bear

took me 23 years to draw mt moose....13 years goat.....going on 28 years no bighorn............worked my ass off to go to ak, but was younger, now going on 59.......worked weekends, all i did was work to pay for it.......so dave ramsey wont like this......borrow the money and go while you can......get a credit card and go....work and pay it off.

dont wait till you are getting to old to go ....or you are old enough to where it is hard to get around......you live once....bob

I think that is actually a decent idea. I don't have much debt - a little bit left on my mortgage. Hmmmm.....

HELOC!

You can borrow enough for a sheep hunt AND a trip to Europe.

See - aren’t you glad you came to us?

FC

also work out a deal with the outfitter, that you can take , say a grizzly or a moose.....if you want.....on a trophy fee only, that way if you see something, you know what it will cost up front. wolves should be free..

it will be money well spent.....spend the time and get the right outfit....i still think of my hunts....bob