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Sheep
Posted by Hoyt on Dec 27 2005
I love to hunt sheep, and I know a lot of people do! I am by no means an expert (in comparison I’m still playing pee-wee's while I know others are in the NHL), but through trial and tribulations, I seem to have an beautiful time every time I've sheep hunted (every year for the last few) I’m not always successful, but I love being in the mountains, seems to put life in perspective:
1. I have taken white with me once, didn’t use them, came to the conclusion that they weren’t worth the extra weight and have never taken them again.
2. Scent management hasn’t been too much of an issue for me on any of the hunts I’ve been on yet. However, I truly believe that you need to control your sent when hunting any game (especially when bow hunting). I’ve been on two sheep that were not where they were suppose to be on the end of stalks, and who knows sheep are sheep, but maybe scent could have been an issue (that’s why I said hasn’t been too much of an issue, because I don’t know if it was). I try to clean up after every day out sweating my butt off running around the hills. If its not possible, I change my inner clothing often to not get them too stinky, and I’ve even washed my under clothing and let it hang dry (no soap). Maybe it works, or maybe it just satisfies my obsessive compulsive disorder J
3. I have never crossed a glacier, nor do I intend on crossing one. I think that it’s just a little to dangerous for me, but then again I have yet to see a 40 incher just out of range across a glacier J
4. I have solo hunted once, and probably wouldn’t do it again unless I just had to. There is nothing like sharing a sheep hunt with someone. I also believe that it’s not the smartest thing to do. My one and only solo was a walk in that wasn’t far from the road, and I knew a couple good sheep were running around in there, and no one else could go. It was extremely hot and I was having problems locating water, so I ended up quitting the hunt early. On the way out I twisted my ankle about 300 yards from my truck (not bad at all but it hurt), and all I could think, was that if it would have been a bad twist and a few miles ago, that would have sucked being alone. One good thing though, was the fact that I didn’t hear or speak a single word for almost a week, pure silence except for what Mother Nature provided and the thoughts in my head. I do know one individual who has killed a sheep every year for the last 20 years, and goes alone every time, says he prefers it (not to just one spot). I have never asked to go with him, and never will, but have gotten lots of useful information from him (true expert).
5. Meat and trophy care! I am very careful with every cape I have touched. This is an area, which I truly believe that you can learn a lot by hanging out at your local taxidermist. I know people always say that, but it so true. I spent almost a week going over to a taxidermist shop (after work), and watching and asking questions. That guy showed me how to split lips, turn ears, skin out a cape, and just general care ideas. These guys handle hundreds of capes per year, and they will tell you what they want to see in their shop. Remember the better you do, the better your mount will look, and the more recommendations you will probably give to others about their work, so naturally they want to help you. I salt in base camp, because the salt to heavy to pack around. On hike in hunts, I will leave the salt in my vehicle, and on fly in hunts I leave it where the airplane dumps me. I have found that if you care for a cape properly, you don’t need salt right a way. I’m not saying you don’t need salt for weeks or anything, but you can earn yourself a day or two by properly fleshing and caring for the cape. I also use heavy-duty game bags, almost like a pillowcase, because flies can be a huge problem. There are tons of ways to keep the meat cool and clean, it’s up your own discretion. I personally care for the meat like it was gold, but in a simple clean, dry, non-airflow restrictive way.
I like the idea of the 5 gal buckets. That’s pretty crafty
Sight no less is important to sheep, but I have found in a few areas that aren’t hunted hard, the sheep almost tend to be cocky or curious like caribou, especially if you’re in full camo. I have pictures of a nice ram that was just short on the curl, from only 80 yards away. Once we determined that he wasn’t legal we stood up in plain view and walked to him. He never ran and curiously feed up the mountain, but never letting us get to close. At times he would stop, burp up his cud, and watch us, as we got closer he would move on a little more. Made for some great pics, and I know if he were living in a harder hunted area he wouldn’t have acted that way. But I have seen plenty of sheep not react to what they saw by running 20 miles out of the country. If I had to rate their senses based on how they use them for protection, I would say sight, scent, and sound in that order. CAMO is important.
Ryan
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