One piece of advice

[Huntinfool590]

At one point or another we were all new to sheep hunting. What is the one piece of advice you wish you had from the beginning? I look forward to reading these.

[Erik in AK]

Your boots are the single most important piece of gear. DO NOT SKIMP

[AK Ray]

Learn to field judge sheep.
Rams will seldom give you a proper look at their horns up the spiral from the side. This view, I learned the hard way, rarely appears in a natural setting. When it does appear it most likely will only last for a second as the ram turns its head. If your eye is not on the scope at that second you will miss it.
Learn how to judge from above and behind. Hunting from above you will almost never see the curl, so how do you tell it's FC? You need to look at a lot of sheep and talk to a lot of sheep hunters to learn what to look for. (Lots of this info is already posted so search it out.)
Sheep will be resting on a cliff or out eating and walking around with their heads down in the grass. They might pick their head up every 10 minutes when grinding out chow. With their horn tips buried in grass how do you tell if its FC?
Learn all you can about field judging a legal ram. You will see many rams that are "is he or ain't he" than you will see rams that are "shoot him!"

[stid2677]

+1 on good boots, only time I ever had to quit on a hunt, was because of boot stretch.

Get the best glass you can, hunt with your eyes and not your feet.

Don't walk past sheep to find sheep.

Always keep your pack and items to spend the night and buck up game with you at all times and don't be afraid to stop at dark in place and continue the hunt when it gets light or the weather improves. Don't waste energy just to get back to "CAMP"

Stay in the game until you unload your weapon, never know when you might have an opportunity.

Practice to become the best you can be with your weapon of choice.

Become a student of sheep horn growth, study how each mountain range grows horn. Get your hands on as many sets of horns as you can and listen to any sheep hunter that will share any info with you.

Good luck Steve

[northway]

Buy the best gear you can. Quality rain gear is a must along with a sleeping pad and sleeping bag. You can hunt in tennis shoes, but once you get wet, bad things can happen.

[stid2677]

Because all sheep threads need photos...

[Yellowknife]

....Don't walk past sheep to find sheep.

Screwed up that one this year. Good advice Steve.

[4merguide]

Don't walk past sheep to find sheep.

I'd have to say that this is a big one. One year me a friend of mine killed 2 rams in a pretty small area on the 13th day of the season. If I recall there were 8 camps up on top on opening day. Sometimes I think some sheep "hunters" think that all you have to do is stand around the top of a mountain and the sheep will be running all over. Needless to say, after that first day, the sheep we killed were halfway down the mountain....

[Bear]

+1 on good boots, only time I ever had to quit on a hunt, was because of boot stretch.

Get the best glass you can, hunt with your eyes and not your feet.

Don't walk past sheep to find sheep.

Always keep your pack and items to spend the night and buck up game with you at all times and don't be afraid to stop at dark in place and continue the hunt when it gets light or the weather improves. Don't waste energy just to get back to "CAMP"

Stay in the game until you unload your weapon, never know when you might have an opportunity.

Practice to become the best you can be with your weapon of choice.

Become a student of sheep horn growth, study how each mountain range grows horn. Get your hands on as many sets of horns as you can and listen to any sheep hunter that will share any info with you.

Good luck Steve

this is about the best advice so I will quote it so it gets read again..

to add to it I never leave camp or let my hunters leave camp without a sleeping bag and a space blanket in my pack, no matter what you can make it through the night any where if you are warm..

1. throw all those sheephunting books and videos from the "experts" in the fire' sheep cant read and they follow thier own set of rules. Spend time in sheep country whether hunting or not and let the sheep teach you..

2. dont walk up the center of a valley, sheep have 10x eyes and you are a preditor and they are watching you.
3. spot well, single big rams usually have a perch where they are almost invisible from the valley floor, sometimes all you will get is a view of a horn.
4. lots of big rams are solitary so dont look for them in groups
5. ignore #4 big rams will sometime surprise you, I know of a 43" taken out of a group of ewes at 1000' in a open area
6. dont hunt sheep from the bottom, get above them preditors hunt from below
7. dont be afraid to think outside the box..
8 always try to come down the way you went up. shortcuts are generally not so short..
9 you will want to quit I promise,, when you do just take a break and visualize why you are there,if needed set up a tent and take a nap and you will be refreshed...
10 take care of your feet they are the most important piece of gear you have..

[spoiled one]

Buy the best gear you can. Quality rain gear is a must along with a sleeping pad and sleeping bag. You can hunt in tennis shoes, but once you get wet, bad things can happen.

But only if they are old school Jordan's, right? :whistle:

[Bear]

this is about the best advice so I will quote it so it gets read again..

to add to it I never leave camp or let my hunters leave camp without a sleeping bag and a space blanket in my pack, no matter what you can make it through the night any where if you are warm..

1. throw all those sheephunting books and videos from the "experts" in the fire' sheep cant read and they follow thier own set of rules. Spend time in sheep country whether hunting or not and let the sheep teach you..

..

Wanted to clarify something so I am not misunderstood , I have heard nothing but good from hunters I trust about fullcurls video...

[SkinnyD]

Fresh off my first time... here's my advice:

There are no practice sheep hunts. One is either sheep hunting or he is not. I took the gear required to hike and camp in the mountains for a few days, and I took a rifle, but once the sheep was dead on the ground, I had no idea what to do. Talk to as many people as you can about taking animals apart in the field, caring for meat, capes, horns, etc.

[Fullcurl]

1. Throw all those sheephunting books and videos from the "experts" in the fire' sheep cant read and they follow thier own set of rules.

what!!!????

[Fullcurl]

Wanted to clarify something so I am not misunderstood , I have heard nothing but good from hunters I trust about fullcurls video...

Whew......:-)

[Fullcurl]

Actually I don't understand what you guys are saying about walking past sheep. I walk past them all the time. See some sheep, none legal, keep walking. What's the problem? Can you clarify?

My advice that hasn't been covered yet:
Trekking poles are mandatory. Two, not one.
Tie a little piece of orange flagging to your binos and spotting scope. That way when you leave them on the ground and walk off you can more easily find your oops.
Try everything before taking on a sheep hunt. Even a new pair of socks.
Learn to take quality photos, especially kill scene or hero shots.