Addicted to sheep hunting?
 

Hello my name is podman and I am addicted to sheep hunting. Ever since my first sheep hunt there is not one day that goes by that I do not read or think about sheep hunting. I know I am not the only one out there. Who else has caught the bug?

Is there a cure?

Nah, I can quit anytime! :-)

The day you die ;)

Just one more, just more then I'll quit ;)

Yup don't shoot one then you will not get that bug. Keep thinking I need to shoot one of them sheep before I get to old and fat, but for some reason just never seem to buy a tag. Of course thats when I see them, however I am sure if I had the tag I would not see them then.

Odd. I've been hooked on hunting as far back as I can remember. I've never been really excited about sheep hunting. I've hunted sheep quite a bit and had some success as well, but I went because my buddy was hooked on them. It was the same thing with goats. We killed sheep and goats, but I was happier hunting elk.

I hunted an area in B.C. that has California bighorns. I hunted by myself with horses and the sheep were a nuisance. The first time I took my buddy in there, he went goofy over the sheep.

We were using a F/W cabin and were unpacking our gear. He looked out the door as he was rolling out his bedroll and there was a full curl looking back from about 50 feet.
He got excited but season was closed. At that time it was possible to get a tag over the counter. We agreed to come back the next year. Of course it went to draw then.
It took us 5 or 6 years to draw, but we ended up getting drawn three times over the next 15 years or so.

There were lots of Rocky mtn. bighorns in our elk area as well, but we seemed to be there after sheep season closed.

We haven't hunted together with horses since I moved to Alberta, but I think we might go for RMBH next fall. I'll go for the hunt and hope I kill an elk:sHa_shakeshout:

different strokes.

That was my theory, so I bought a tag because I knew that if didn't I would see one and that would drive me nuts. But then I bought a tag and sure enough there he was. So much for theories. :)

im with red. seen lots of them while hunting other stuff, but never really too excited by them. one day i decided that since there is so much talk about changes coming up that i should go get one while i can....so i did. its strange to me to see guys get all starry eyed talking about sheep hunting and how addictive it is, and how sheep are the holy grail of hunting. i dont get it. i mean its fun to hunt them, but not more fun than anything else i didnt think. of course having said that......a dall is one of the things i want most on my wall. i think they are stunningly beautiful.

Yup.

I don't want to be cured, I hear ya Podman it's all I think about too. Looking at new areas to hunt or new equipment I just can't wait to get out looking around.

for me, it's the whole package, the mountains, the quiet , the scenery, the challenge. I know some guys seem to be able to just walk in one morning, and see a legal one and boom. But some of us aren't that lucky, i'm addicted, and the worst part is my daughter is thinking this is the greatest thing as well ! :sHa_shakeshout: I may have a partner, except when she's in school, but it's gonna cost me alot more now !:thinking-006:

X2! To me its all about being high in the mtns and having fun with the guys. Having hunted the prairies all my life mtn hunting was a welcome change. Ill never stop and everyday im planning my next trip haha.

Yep....I'm addicted. And I could stop anytime I wanted.....

Problem is, I dont WANT to stop...heh

Or end up in a wheelchair :sign0176:

addicted to sheep hunting....not so much....addicted to being out in the woods with friends doing something exciting and fun..be it mt biking, hunting, dirt biking, hiking, back packing, snowboarding etc....yup...addicted since I was a wee lad, and I don't want a cure!!

But I do want that sheep we left behind on my wall!!


oh wait, I mean...no, there are no other sheep there.

i can buy a tag this year... youll have to beat me to it! haha

My name is Jim and I have a problem. 1st it drives me crazy to hear you guys that can take it or leave it. Sorry to say that as a hunter from south of your border I have spent more money to come to your great province then I ever thought possible. I have been on three sheep hunts in Alberta and gotten two good respectable rams. 1st hunt, 21 days nothing, 2nd hunt 7 days and was successful and the third hunt got an 8 year ram on the 20th day of the hunt in two feet of snow. If you add up days going in and out I have over 50 days and would not give up a single one. In fact the two long hunts, 1 succcessful and the other not I always refer to as the best hunts I have ever been on.

I have also hunted B.C., NWT ,Alaska and Mexico. In December I went with a friend on his hunt to the Biosphere in Baja. My family wanted to have an intervention when they heard I was going "just to go along".

I met a fella from Minnesota once who had completed his Grand Slam. He had just come back from another hunt to the yukon. When I asked him if it is over when you complete your slam his answer was "not if you do it right". Took a while to figure out what he meant. My take on it is if you enjoy being out there, enjoy the experiance and are not just going to check something off a list, then you are doing it right.

I do check this sight almost daily as there is alot of great information and I see your struggles and concerns about your being able to continue your great tradition of being able to sheep hunt almost whenever you want. I will say that I am very appreciative of the time I have been able to spend there. Thanks::sHa_shakeshout:

No cure, till you admit you have a problem and I've never heard of anyone doing that.:lol:

Grizz

This is my angle as well. If they roamed freely around Hanna or Westlock, it just wouldn't be the same!

Im not addicted to hunting sheep. Im addicted to hunting the high valleys and high ridges. Climbing that mountain and feeling the burn in the back of the legs and saying " why the hell do I do this to myself", then breaking over the top and looking at the vastness of the next range or valley and then I remember exactly why I do that to myself.
A sheep at the end of the trail is just a bonus. Ive hunted sheep for 22 years killed 2 in the first 4 years and have been looking for the "One" dream ram ever since. Probably turned down 30+ rams since and some pretty decent ones(170+) but just havent found that one that gives my heart a jump.
And honestly dont really care when it happens as I will be out there tag or no tag looking for what is over that next high ridge for many years to come I hope.

Could I quit? Not a chance!
SG

Ya, I have to admit that it is the whole package being in the mountains; Climbing over the next ridge, scoping the next basin, it never seems to end. The awesome part is my son loves hunting and will be able to hunt rather than just come along with me sooner than later. He changed his dream job from being a health professional to a producer of hunting films.:)

Ya reading that I can tell you've been up there and done that! Good on you, your buddy has it right, "Not if you do it right." About the time everything heals you want to go back, but I could quit tomorrow if I wanted to!

My wife says I have a sheep hunting problem.
I deny it everytime......she say there's help for me.

yeah then if there is a god you get to sheep hunt for eternity! :47b20s0:

I have the wrong sheep hunting partners apparently lol, 30+ in 20 yeas is no small feat!

It works into alot of days in the field. Some years 30+ days.

With a dog like that you can only think about sheep hunting??? Beautiful dog you got there what kennel is it from? Pack up that dog take your bird hunting buddies down to South Dakota see how ya feel about 2 or 3 hundred wild pheasants bust out the end of a corn field you are pushing. Might be the cure

I have never experienced it... one day I would like too.

I have 2 dogs like that and I've enjoyed the crazy times pheasant hunting in SD and Nebraska, it ain't sheep hunting. LOL I'm just saying...

Ya I see what your saying for me personly I am more of a shooter then a hunter. I enjoy working with dogs more and wing shooting and the casual feel of a good bird hunt. I can defently see the attraction to sheep hunting and the work that Gose into it and the trophy of a life time. It's not for me sheep hunters are defiantly dead serious about there game