Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Interesting Sheep Conversation

This is true. I put in for the tags though. Never know. Have heard the same I"ve heard about cranes though.

OTOH some prefer caribou over moose? Never understood that at all. But we do have different tastes for sure.

Ambiance often provides the greatest flavor. A sheep camp surely has it. Blind tasting off the mountain proves it.

I've had musk ox a couple times - never had opportunity to hunt them tho. Excellent eating. I still think the Dall are better tho.


By the way, musk-ox ARE sheep! Biggest ones in the world, I think.

The Caribou in NW Arctic have reindeer blood and have a great layer of fat on them. They are better eating than the moose up there that have a bit of a aspirin taste to them. Moose switch in most of the other parts of the state and are tastier.

Goats processed without touching glands are pretty good eating too if you make almost the entire critter into Korean BBQ.

Tiny sample size, but the two goats I've eaten were both excellent. Neither was tough at all, and they were both mature billys.

Some folks that pile boned out sheep meat into an airtight bag and leave it there for 5 days don't think it's good to eat. To be clear, im not accusing anyone here of such, but I know a couple guys like that. Sorta blows my mind.

Aside from Musk ox that freezes while in rigor it has been universally good to great. Sometimes it is tough as can be.

Sorry! Musk ox are not sheep nor goats, but they are between antelope on the early side and sheep and goats on the newer side.

I'm a "lumper" vs. "splitter".. Sue me. . But technically, you are correct.

"Musk oxen are members of the Bovidae family, which includes domestic cattle, sheep, goats, bison, antelopes, and wildebeest. Cattle, bison and buffalos are in the subfamily Boninae, while the musk ox is in the subfamily Caprinae, which also includes ibex, sheep, and goats. Therefore, the musk ox is more closely related to the species in the Caprinae family, such as sheep and goats than it is to cows."

Therefore "ox" is more incorrect than correct. It's a fuggin "sheep".

Conversely, the musk ox I have eated seemed to be the least lean wild meat I've had, more akin to beef, with intra-muscular fat. At least the roasts I've fixed. Donations the giver no doubt labeled "friends".

Hell- I wouldn't have even given those "least cuts" away, so I'm not complaining.

I’ve done it.

Submerged in glacial runoff.

Interesting info. To me, though I need fat, I don't care for fat on much of anything. Even beef. Probably why I have a disdain for wagyu that people don't get.

I will have to remember all of that and hopefully sample.

Had a discussion with a old sheep hunter here in Fairbanks today, he was not keen on the full curl requirement, for reason others have stated and he also felt that more sheep are killed then recorded if they are less full. I know this happens, and I would venture to say its going to be a resident 90% of the time, just because most guides wouldn't take that chance.
I am sure there are some unscrupulous guides. Pretty hard for a client to brag on a less than full curl Dall sheep.

100% draw hunts are the only way to limit the take, I dont like it none, but lotsa of hunters and X amount of sheep.
The state does allow for more permits for residents over nonresidents, if that remained in place it should help.

NR have a leg up in my opinion, they are hiring a guide and that's his job, they have time and resources to devote to knowing where the sheep are that most residents dont have, even if they are a pilot.

We left a goat for 12 days in a glacier overhang, against ice, sitting on rocks and covered with rocks. It was great.

{ Most of the very best areas where guides use charters to get in the charters and transporters have agreements with the guides not to take hunters to traditional spots. You can't get Wrights to take you up to upper Wood Canyon or Wrangell Mt. Air to fly you into McColl Ridge. It is this way all over the state. There are places Mike Meekin or Wiederkehr Air Inc that won't take you to spots either. I don't what you could do about that but that is what it is.} Quote

Pretty hard for resident to compete with this and its been going on forever, very few flight services are going to fly you into a guide area, and privete pilots have a hard time leaving there plane due to weather or plane damage by others!!!!

Been buzzed by planes on final stalks many times, the cost of a sheep hunt brings out competition, just tired of some guides claiming the resource as there own and residents getting the left overs.

Elmer and Fudd out!!