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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 483
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 483 |
Gents, thanks for the kind words! Appreciated! As per what Stone country is like: I have spotted them feeding on plateaus, but rough country was always a short distance away....cliffs, shale slides, etc. They are hard to bowhunt feeding on a plateau....easier in the rougher stuff. They like to bed in massive (shale) slides most of the time. Hard to stalk in that stuff.
Hunter numbers are variable. Some years walkin hunting is OK and the next you will be over-run with hunters. No way to know. Fly-in hunts, the air taxis try to manage the high lakes a bit by only booking one group at a time to a given lake. Doesn’t mean some other taxi won’t fly in there. Anyway, I know I have it good here!
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 20,884
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 20,884 |
The Texas Hill Country is my happy hunting ground. Plenty of exotics to be had at affordable Blue-Collar prices.
I have stopped watching 90% of the hunting shows I once enjoyed once I realized that people like me don’t have multi-thousand dollar sponsors, motor homes, trade show itineraries, ad nauseum.
Pappy348,
Lots of good sheep hunting here in Texas for us old fat hunters.
"I never thought I'd live to see the day that a U.S. president would raise an army to invade his own country."
Robert E. Lee
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Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 3,708
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Nov 2017
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Boy times sure have changed. I went on a mixed bag hunt back in the early 90's in the Pelly Mountain area of the Yukon. Everyone told me I was nuts to work and save the money for such an expensive hunt and was advised to wait and go when I retired. I was about 35 years old at the time. I had my mind made up and ignored the advice(?) I was given and went. It was great! Some of the best 2 weeks of my life. Success, yes. 37" very dark Fannin (classified as Stone), dandy 61" Moose, and B&C Mtn. Caribou. Now I'm retired and really don't think I'd be up for that hunt physically. Oh, and did I mention the cost to book that hunt. At the time the American dollar was real strong and the outfitter quoted me Canadian. With the exchange rate at the time my total to the outfitter was about $5900 U.S. Glad I went when I did.
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 19,179
Campfire Ranger
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OP
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 19,179 |
STEVE
I read this immediately after you posted it. I gave others time to chime in first.
Less than 30 yrs has made great changes and not all for the better. I wonder what the COST would be to hunt & KILL those
3 animals today on ONE hunt ?? $ 5900.oo. might not make a down payment.
I’m tickled for you. It’s DONE & PAID for. Fantastic.
I have done similar tho NOT hunting. Vehicles, Guns, Motorcycles etc.
KUDOS to you.
jwall- *** 3100 guy***
A Flat Trajectory is Never a Handicap
Speed is Trajectory's Friend !!
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Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 28,742
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 28,742 |
I watch the European driven hunts on YouTube and it always tickles me to see flocks of Mouflon skedaddling through the woods along with the stags and boars. Not my notion of sheep country, but they seem to be doing fine.
Texas is a maybe someday notion for me. I know I'll never be able to afford a hunt for the big whitetails, but a nilgai might be doable, and maybe a blackbuck, besides the pretty little rams.
What fresh Hell is this?
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Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 28,742
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 28,742 |
Looks like you did the right thing. Great story.
When in doubt, whip it out, as they say, in this case the cash and the effort.
What fresh Hell is this?
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 16,125
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 16,125 |
Glad I went when I did, couldn't swing it now.....![[Linked Image]](https://i.imgur.com/gkKeR2H.jpg)
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 13,649
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 13,649 |
Beautiful ram!! Well done!
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 19,179
Campfire Ranger
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OP
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 19,179 |
jwall- *** 3100 guy***
A Flat Trajectory is Never a Handicap
Speed is Trajectory's Friend !!
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 7,002
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 7,002 |
This is my Stone ram, taken a few years ago when a nonresident hunt cost only(!) around $14.5K. Shot it near the top of a peak in BC, not far from the Yukon Territory boundary. Not archery, but with my trusty Wby. .257. ![[Linked Image]](https://i.imgur.com/wN4koIa.jpg)
I'd rather be a free man in my grave, than living as a puppet or a slave....
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 19,179
Campfire Ranger
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OP
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 19,179 |
Bighorn
Not just a Gorgeous Ram
Gorgeous Scenery too.
jwall- *** 3100 guy***
A Flat Trajectory is Never a Handicap
Speed is Trajectory's Friend !!
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 16,125
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 16,125 |
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 19,179
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 19,179 |
Oh ! So Very Nice !
Congrats. aalf
jwall- *** 3100 guy***
A Flat Trajectory is Never a Handicap
Speed is Trajectory's Friend !!
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 21,167
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 21,167 |
Nice sheep guys!! I love em hopefully I draw one day....
Ping pong balls for the win.
Once you've wrestled everything else in life is easy. Dan Gable
I keep my circle small, I’d rather have 4 quarters than 100 pennies.
Ain’t easy havin pals.
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 3,841
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 3,841 |
Nice sheep!
Anyone know why it seems like Desert Bighorns are almost always broomed while it seems like Stone Sheep rarely are?
Quando omni flunkus moritati
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 16,125
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 16,125 |
I was lucky as heck to live in CO for 35 yrs and arrow two bighorns during that time frame (6 ram tags) without a guide! I also drew a NR tag for Desert bighorns in NV and arrowed one way back in '91. My buddy had drawn the year before and went along...again no guide but he knew the area, so as good as a guide.
I never dreamed of hunting Stones due to the cost...but ended up moving to BC for work in late 2009. After waiting the year, I could hunt Stones! I ended up hunting them for 6 seasons and 8 back pack trips. Finally arrowed a ram in 2016, again without a guide. I agree, they are gorgeous sheep.
After I had 3/4 of a sheep slam I just had to chase a Dall ASAP! We have Dalls in BC but a resident has to draw a tag and the odds are about 1 in 12 and getting worse by the year, so didn't want to wait on a tag here. I booked a 2017 NWT Dall hunt with Canol Outfitters and it turned out to be great! I arrowed a Dall on day 7 of a 12 hunt. Rough country with a lot of big loose boulders in the slides....glad I didn't wait to go on the hunt as retirement age legs only have so many more mountains left in them.
I'll keep putting in for the Dall draw in BC as I'd like an opportunity to hunt them without a guide. As a note, not many have a Grand Slam with the bow as there are 68 archery slams registered with Grand Slam the last time I looked...I was #66, and it took me 34 years from my first bighorn in '84 until the Dall last year. As a further note there are slightly more than 2000 Grand Slams registered in total.
I went with a young buddy this year on a Stone hunt (left my bow in the truck)...he arrowed a full curl 10-yr old ram on the 6th day! Took us 3 days to pack it out, but that is what its about!
In BC we can hunt Stones with over the counter tags every year in most of the Stone range. We do have a few draw areas. Bighorns (Rocky and California subspecies both live here) are over the counter for part of the range and draw for some others parts. So, if you want a cheap Stone, live in BC and buy a $60 license, good for one sheep...Stone, (or Bighorn or Dall, limited to one sheep per calendar year). Congratulations on an absolutely phenomenal accomplishment. To arrow one ram would be a dream, a slam is hard to even comprehend. Well done.
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 8,650
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 8,650 |
I was lucky as heck to live in CO for 35 yrs and arrow two bighorns during that time frame (6 ram tags) without a guide! I also drew a NR tag for Desert bighorns in NV and arrowed one way back in '91. My buddy had drawn the year before and went along...again no guide but he knew the area, so as good as a guide.
I never dreamed of hunting Stones due to the cost...but ended up moving to BC for work in late 2009. After waiting the year, I could hunt Stones! I ended up hunting them for 6 seasons and 8 back pack trips. Finally arrowed a ram in 2016, again without a guide. I agree, they are gorgeous sheep.
After I had 3/4 of a sheep slam I just had to chase a Dall ASAP! We have Dalls in BC but a resident has to draw a tag and the odds are about 1 in 12 and getting worse by the year, so didn't want to wait on a tag here. I booked a 2017 NWT Dall hunt with Canol Outfitters and it turned out to be great! I arrowed a Dall on day 7 of a 12 hunt. Rough country with a lot of big loose boulders in the slides....glad I didn't wait to go on the hunt as retirement age legs only have so many more mountains left in them.
I'll keep putting in for the Dall draw in BC as I'd like an opportunity to hunt them without a guide. As a note, not many have a Grand Slam with the bow as there are 68 archery slams registered with Grand Slam the last time I looked...I was #66, and it took me 34 years from my first bighorn in '84 until the Dall last year. As a further note there are slightly more than 2000 Grand Slams registered in total.
I went with a young buddy this year on a Stone hunt (left my bow in the truck)...he arrowed a full curl 10-yr old ram on the 6th day! Took us 3 days to pack it out, but that is what its about!
In BC we can hunt Stones with over the counter tags every year in most of the Stone range. We do have a few draw areas. Bighorns (Rocky and California subspecies both live here) are over the counter for part of the range and draw for some others parts. So, if you want a cheap Stone, live in BC and buy a $60 license, good for one sheep...Stone, (or Bighorn or Dall, limited to one sheep per calendar year).
We are not worthy. ![[Linked Image]](http://gifimage.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/were-not-worthy-animated-gif-10.gif) John
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 19,179
Campfire Ranger
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OP
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 19,179 |
jpb Let me join you with this quote: Man I’m almost speechless !!!!!! Archery Grand Slam Sheep !!!!!  HATS OFF to you.  I guess I’ll have to move to BC for 1 1/2 yr.  I’m SO jealous.  Not just getting a Stone but with Stick & String.  Will you adopt me ? I’ll come home. 
jwall- *** 3100 guy***
A Flat Trajectory is Never a Handicap
Speed is Trajectory's Friend !!
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Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 1,186
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 1,186 |
This is my Stone ram, taken a few years ago when a nonresident hunt cost only(!) around $14.5K. Shot it near the top of a peak in BC, not far from the Yukon Territory boundary. Not archery, but with my trusty Wby. .257. That's a stud of a ram right there. I did the same thing as stevevan1 pretty much. I'd dreamed about the NWT since I was a kid. My father always talked about and did go to Africa 8 times, but everything I wanted to hunt, and still want to hunt, was above the Canadian border. Sheep, Caribou, Mt. goat, mule deer, elk, moose, etc. I worked my tail off and finally was able to book a hunt with Gana River in 1995 at 36 years old. A 10 day backpack hunt for Dall sheep and caribou. It was the hunt of a lifetime because there is no way I can afford those prices now. It was half what it is now. It's crazy. I did take a nice 36-1/2 x 13 Dall, but never found the caribou I wanted. We only saw a few raghorns and I was determined to get one that scored over 400". For me, there is not a more beautiful animal than the wild sheep and the country they inhabit. My preference is Dall, Rocky Mountain bighorn, Stone sheep, and then Desert Bighorn. Alas, my days of sheep hunting are pretty much over having had a hip replacement this past summer. I don't imagine I'll ever get to goat hunt either, but I'm looking at trying to book a caribou hunt for probably 2020 so maybe I can at least get one off my bucket list. We have free ranging aoudad in west Texas. I had a mule deer lease north of Van Horn for about 30 years and we killed a bunch of them. Mainly because the TPWD biologist said to kill everyone of them you see since they compete with the mule deer for food. I'm not on that lease anymore, but my current lease has them in the area as well as free roaming barbado/mouflon cross roaming around. My .257 Roberts loves to eat them.
The lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part!
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 5,921
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 5,921 |
Stone sheep have always been at the top of my sheep bucket list, but the hunt will probably never happen for me.
Absolutely stunning animal IMO.
Arcus Venator
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