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Folks:
I recently re-read the two-volume set, "Hunting on Three Continents" by JOC. The first section of the first volume deals with sheep and goats. I've watched a number of youtube and tv sheep hunts where all of the sheep and goats are taken at ranges in the 350-450 yard range, if not more. JOC, though, talks about almost all of his sheep being taken at 200 yards or less. Obviously there weren't any laser range finders then, but most hunters were also more practiced at estimating yardage, so my question: Are sheep more wary today (which I can't imagine) or have shooting distances increased by choice? It just seems that - on video, at least - the less than 200 yard shots at sheep and goats are few and far between.
Thanks
RM
"An archer sees how far he can be from a target and still hit it, a bowhunter sees how close he can get before he shoots." It is certainly easy to use that same line of thinking with firearms. -- Unknown
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I have shot 28 North American Rams in my 33 years of sheep hunting. 26 with a rifle and 2 with a bow. I can tell you with certainty that way more of them were under 200 yards than over. Like Elvin Hawkins, the great Oregon sheep guide said: "Travel light, Get close, Shoot straight." Truer words have never been spoken when it comes to sheep hunting.
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My experience is limited to one goat and one sheep. The goat was taken at 125 yards verified by a laser RF. The Dall ram was between 150 and 200, estimated as I left my RF on the tent floor that day. My guide in the Yukon told me up front he wants shots under 250 because a ram is too valuable to be slinging Hail Mary shots at. His experience has been that under pressure after a mountain hike most guys struggle to make a clean 200 yard shot. The year before I hunted, a guy missed a 95 yard shot, steep down hill, hit a near by rock he couldn't see through the scope.
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I have shot 28 North American Rams in my 33 years of sheep hunting. 26 with a rifle and 2 with a bow. I can tell you with certainty that way more of them were under 200 yards than over. Like Elvin Hawkins, the great Oregon sheep guide said: "Travel light, Get close, Shoot straight." Truer words have never been spoken when it comes to sheep hunting. Too bad about those other 5 years....... Only know one other guy who had close to that many rams. Sounds like if you aren't trying to sell long range rifles that most shots are shorter. I shot my one and only with a bow at 32 yards.
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I taken 4 Northern American wild sheep. Farthest was maybe 250 yds.
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I have shot 28 North American Rams in my 33 years of sheep hunting. 26 with a rifle and 2 with a bow. I can tell you with certainty that way more of them were under 200 yards than over. Like Elvin Hawkins, the great Oregon sheep guide said: "Travel light, Get close, Shoot straight." Truer words have never been spoken when it comes to sheep hunting. wow that's awesome.28 rams ! Most were obviously dalls, you should write a book!
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10 Dalls, 7 Deserts, 6 Rockies, 5 Stones. Maybe someday we'll see. Still after it at this point.
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I've taken 3 Rocky Mountain Bighorn rams, 1 Dall ram, and 1 Mountain goat. The longest shot was the Dall at 206 lasered yards.
SAVE 200 ELK, KILL A WOLF
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I guided sheep hunters for 5 years and still guide for goat. The vast majority of all the sheep I've guided for, or taken myself were killed at 200-yards or under. I've often wondered if the long range shooting trend thats so popular right now is just a marketing ploy to sell new rifles and all the gear that goes with it, or if those guys just never learned to hunt. I do know that in 30-plus years of guiding I've never had a hunter have to take those long shots, and I've seen very few that were capable of it anyway.
I've always found it interesting that so many of the long range rifles built today are marketed to the sheep hunting crowd, and the fact is that most guys are going to need a guide to hunt these species, and very few guides are going to let you shoot at extreme ranges anyway.
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Campfire Kahuna
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Laser rangefinders have greatly increased the accurate ranges of hunters. Way out there where bullets are dropping 6" or a foot for every 100 yds, nobody can accurately guess the range across a valley even though the gun is capable of putting it right on target. The problem is that many hunters aren't as capable as their guns, laser aided or not. We never read about the wounded animals that are never found.
βIn a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.β β George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
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Itβs like when wifey goes to Vegas, I only hear about what she wins, never what she lost. I bet there a lot of wounded animals we never hear about. I canβt recall even one.
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Impressive folks on this thread. Lots of experience. My lone ram, an fine Rocky Mountain Bighorn (Montana) was 200 horizontal yards, but at a very extreme angle, so almost 400 yards through the air (down). I was much closer to many, many rams during my hunts through the season. I would say 300 yards would be a great maximum range for most hunters to effective at, with further shots requiring more skills and time behind the trigger than many possess.
One important factor that is not discussed a lot - I had to battle a severe case of the shakes (BIG time RAM FEVER) once I knew this ram was "the one". That was a first for me, and I can still feel my pulse quicken when i look at my ram mounted on its pedestal.
βI am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love, and itβs difficult to analyze love when youβre in it.β John Steinbeck
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2 dalls...1 desert...1 goat......2-250 ......bob
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30 feet to 450 yards.
Iβm betting the hunter from 300 years ago would say that we βnever learned how to huntβ because we are willing to take shots beyond 50 yards. In range of the shooter/rifle system, is in range β a variable distance depending on situational conditions. Once the animal is in range, there is no point to sneaking within 50 feet to prove that βyou learned how to huntβ, unless you just want to for kicks and giggles.
I have seen more animals wounded (some recovered, some not) at under 200 yards, then over. But you donβt hear about those because they donβt make a good story. Just like you donβt tell the stories from your glory days about the football games that you almost won. IME, typically when guys miss the mark beyond 300 yards due to inability or a lack of preparation, they miss the animal entirely.
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I guided sheep hunters for 5 years and still guide for goat. The vast majority of all the sheep I've guided for, or taken myself were killed at 200-yards or under. I've often wondered if the long range shooting trend thats so popular right now is just a marketing ploy to sell new rifles and all the gear that goes with it, or if those guys just never learned to hunt. I do know that in 30-plus years of guiding I've never had a hunter have to take those long shots, and I've seen very few that were capable of it anyway.
I've always found it interesting that so many of the long range rifles built today are marketed to the sheep hunting crowd, and the fact is that most guys are going to need a guide to hunt these species, and very few guides are going to let you shoot at extreme ranges anyway. I also think that most of the long range shooting on TV is just a marketing ploy for the sponsors products. Almost every time I see one of those "across canyon" shots, I think to myself that I could easily sneak to half or less distance to the animal. I am also proud that all 3 of my Montana Bighorn rams and my Montana goat were taken on DIY solo hunts.
SAVE 200 ELK, KILL A WOLF
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Of my 4 North American wild sheep three of them were taken at ranges between 100 and 150 yards. The Dall was taken at a range of around 200.
I'd rather be a free man in my grave, than living as a puppet or a slave....
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Lots of good honest hunters giving great honest advice and commentary.....
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
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Itβs like when wifey goes to Vegas, I only hear about what she wins, never what she lost. I bet there a lot of wounded animals we never hear about. I canβt recall even one. Thanks for adding to the thread, like usual....
- Greg
Success is found at the intersection of planning, hard work, and stubbornness.
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Campfire Ranger
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Lots of good honest hunters giving great honest advice and commentary..... I agree, love sheep threads...
- Greg
Success is found at the intersection of planning, hard work, and stubbornness.
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1 dall at 367 and 1 goat at 360 with a rifle redneck made me, his guns shoot lights out! Ho ho ho
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