Bighorn Sheep information?

[anthonyrmatthews]

Hello,

 

I found out that this is my lucky year! I drew the unit 9/10 sheep tag this year. I am just wanting to know what you guys would recommend as far as books to learn from. I have never had the opportunity to hunt bighorns before, and I want to prepare myself to the fullest extent for this once in a lifetime chance. It looks like this is a tough hunt, looks like in the last 5 years only 2 rams have been killed here.

 

I am not looking for a guide, just some input from guys that have experience on things I should do to prepare myself.

 

Thank You

[bowhunter4life]

that is one tough hunt!. plan to spend many days backpacking some awesome country, just to get into shooting situations.

[SilentButDeadly]

From someone who is infinitely jealous:

 

My advice: GET A GUIDE!!!! If only to tell you where they are or might be, you can leave him in camp once the hunt starts if you want to feel like you did it alone.

 

Remember, this is a ONCE IN A LIFETIME TAG!!!!

 

My father-in-law killed a desert bighorn, alone, with a bow over 15 years ago. It was the ONLY sheep, ram or ewe, he saw in 14 days of continuous hunting. The next year he got a phone call from a guy who had drawn that year's tag. When my father-in-law asked him what kind of binoculars he had, the guy said 'I think they're Tascos'. When he asked him how many days he planned on hunting, the guy said 'Every Friday I can get off and the weekends,"

 

At that point my father-in-law told him good luck, and hung up on the guy. You can guess what happened after that.

 

My advice: get the best binoculars and tripod money can buy, and if you don't know how to use them pay a guy to teach you. Get all your friends who have binoculars and tripods and know how to use them to come along. Buy as many trail cameras as you can afford and put them on any waterholes that the guide you've hired has told you to look for sheep on. Take an extended leave from work, plan on hunting all month if you have to. Scout every weekend from now until December.

 

If you're thinking of all the money you'll save in taxidermy fees by not hiring help, not getting better equipment, or doing an insane scouting season you won't have to worry -- there won't be a sheep to mount!!!

[DesertBull]

One of the toughest sheep hunts in the country, physically and mentally. Don Martin was looking for a hunter in this unit. Give him a call.

[anthonyrmatthews]

One of the toughest sheep hunts in the country, physically and mentally.quote]

 

I have heard that before, and that is one of the reasons I always wanted this hunt. Thank you!

 

 

 

[GameHauler]

First, if you are not a member of the sheep society join.

Plan on going to the seminar.

There is no substitute for the best glass.

Get a good map program and use your GPS to mark everything

and add the waypoints in the program.

You can draw tracks you traveled and show them there also

Really helps to learn the country that way.

Call the WM's in the unit.

They are very helpful to the sheep hunters.

I'll post some more stuff later.

Congratulations .

[Snapshot]

Congrats on your sheep tag. Even a tough hunt is better than none.

Here is a little slice of info from the G&F website.

 

Bighorn Sheep

Overview: An overview is exactly what you will have when you hunt desert bighorn sheep in Units 9 or 10. You will most likely be on the rim of Cataract Canyon looking down … a long ways down. Watch that first step.

 

There is a small permanent population of desert bighorn in the Cataract Canyon area. This is a naturally occurring population and not a transplant, although a supplemental transplant is being considered at this time.

 

Hunting sheep in Cataract Canyon is usually not a simple affair. A hunter should walk the rim of the canyon and look down. If sheep are above the rim the hunt could be over quickly. However, if they are below the rim, things get interesting. If they are on the middle bench, the hunt becomes more difficult, but they are still huntable. If the sheep are on the bottom talus slope or the bottom of the canyon, a lot of difficult hiking is in the hunter's future. This is "real" Grand Canyon sheep hunting.

 

Areas: Sheep are most commonly observed in the northern portion of the hunt area along Cataract Canyon. Driftwood Canyon, Disquiba Canyon, and the main stem of Cataract Canyon itself as far south as the area around the Carlson Pothole catchment are the best locations. Sheep do use the entire canyon area and have been observed all the way south to the Box K area. The Havasupai Reservation is off limits to sheep hunters.

 

 

[azryan]

Game and Fish made it helpful to you by having the season from Oct 1st till the end of December...you have plenty of time too make it happen

Congrats on the tag

[AZJR]

Like all the others who have posted, I offer a hearty "GOOD LUCK" to you on your adventure. Make no mistake, this hunt is no gimme and you're looking at long odds to kill a sheep, especially without the services of a guide/outfitter. You sound very enthusiastic so you're in the right frame of mind. Keep that enthusiasm and take as much of the long Unit 9/10 season off from your day job so you can be in the unit with a rifle in hand.

 

Here are a few photos of where you're going to be hunting and finding your sheep...

 

 

 

[AZJR]

I've seen harvest photos of a successful sheep hunt from unit 9/10. The sheep was in a cave! Last year's hunter suffered from a bad case of vertigo and just could not navigate the canyon country. It isn't for the faint-of-heart that's for certain.

[anthonyrmatthews]

Thank you so much! I did not expect so much help from you all. I am very excited about this, and I will do whatever it takes to be successful.

[NRS]

I helped a friend on the first sheep hunt in that unit, one word of advice is to learn to shoot straight down and at extremely steep angles down. As with any sheep hunt, good optics with a bunch of friends that have them and know how to use them are important to a successful hunt, especially when you are trying to hump one out of the Grand Canyon.

[GameHauler]

Thank you so much! I did not expect so much help from you all. I am very excited about this, and I will do whatever it takes to be successful.

 

You will find that when it comes to sheep hunting

the Brotherhood is very strong and devoted to it.

There is nothing else like it .

Most that have harvested their sheep are more than willing

to share as much info as they can.

They are done and have the fever.

All they can now do is help a new tag holder.

 

NRS is right and you need to spend allot of time shooting

and know your weapon as well as you know your gun

you may need to make a longer shoots than you currently

are comfortable with but that also means not taking a bad shot

and having a wounded Ram travel into country you just can not

follow it into.

One shot, one kill on the spot.

 

You can not have to many eyes behind GREAT glass in my honest opinion.

(Some will disagree)

But pick your crew with caution, You don't need to be angry or worried

about the type of folks in camp.

100% focused on the hunt.

A good crew will take care of everything for you except the paper work

when you have to go behind a tree.

In this case rock or cacti

 

Plan on the hunt costing you lots of money.

The crew you bring up means allot to your success

and getting it out of that canyon and you have to treat them like kings.

I had over a weeks supply of good food on hand to take care of my

8 man crew and the funds to restock as necessary.

 

Plan on the whole hunt off if possible.

I arranged with my employer for the month of Dec off

but was fortunate to harvest on the second day.

(because of a ton of scouting on my part)

 

This hunt will change your life starting now

 

[longshooter]

Congrats on the tag and good luck..

 

I would hire a guide and a handful of bird dogs for this hunt.

[GameHauler]

Congrats on the tag and good luck..

 

I would hire a guide and a handful of bird dogs for this hunt.

 

 

It may have been cheaper if I had