How do I get any sleep ?
Wild Sheep
Contributors to this thread:
I finally drew the coveted Montana Missouri Breaks sheep tag (482-20 )after 30 years of putting in for it with 17 bonus points ! Lucky me, my problem is that sense I drew the tag I wake up exhausted every morning from hunting all night and the season does not start in till September 2nd. Night caps help but I am still hunting in my dreams under the influence and the rams are bigger. Recommendations for getting this once in a lifetime hunt out of my head until August ?
Enjoy the "Holy Grale" of hunting tags, but training should have you at least somewhat exhausted!! Lol
I sleep deeper after sex. Tell your wife you need her help with this medical issue. It's only 2 months.
Solid advice from a real doctor. Put that down on a prescription pad, Ike
Good advice ! Training shooting and seeexxxx. I can do that , but it's all I think about
I am only nervous as lay in bed that last night at home before the hunt wondering if forgot something as packed. I sleep great knowing a special adventure is soon upon me. Am an older guy so I cherish these experiences that few encounter and realize someday the memories will make me smile.
Excellent observation Dr. Ike. So.....what does he do with the other 29 nights of the month ? Hmmmm ?
Hmmmmm...... May take your legs out...... but I'd say it was worth a shot..... =D
get out and scout early. that will get the jitters out & also build confidence in the hunt.
Ike is on to something and I would draw from his medical expertise. Congrats on drawing the greatest tag known to mankind.
It took me a week before I could finally sleep. I would kill at least 8-10 sheep a night. I haven't got my tag in the mail yet but I've paid for it. Good luck with trying to sleep. There's nothing but time that will finally help.
That's where y'all are going wrong.... you're supposed to COUNT em.... not kill em..... =D
Congrats on the tag and good luck on the hunt!
Pray we don't get last year's rains. Best of luck.
Awesome tag! Congratulations!
Might need to talk the wife into bringing over help with that tag and it still might not be enough!
Hope to see pictures of a bomber ram this fall!
Stop counting sheep as you try to get to sleep
Fabulous tag, congrats. I have no advice nor sympathy for you. Sleep is a minor detail.
After you arrow a big one, be sure to report back here with your story.
The anticipation of a hunt can almost be as fun as the hunt itself. Embrace it! Your a lucky guy. Don't put pressure on yourself, just get out there and enjoy it. If you live close I would hit the ground running and scout like a madman. Good luck.
Tom,
Here's a solution: Have MT FW&P turn your tag over to me. Then you won't have to lie awake at night thinking about the hunt. I'll do that for you. ;^)
Used to not sleep the first night of trapping season.waiting to run the traps in the morning before school.
I had the same problem with my desert sheep hunt last year. There's a LOT of extra pressure that you feel on a hunt you will only get to do once in your lifetime (in my case the limitation was by state law). Things like Africa or other big trips to the West may "seem" like once in a lifetime to many, but the fact that you COULD go again makes them completely different from a hunt you have applied for in excess of 30 years and finally draw knowing it can never happen again. I woke-up almost nightly thinking about it for several weeks before I finally got used to the idea. Don't worry, a numbness will finally fall over you....
I always fall asleep immediately when I turn out the lights. But I usually have to get up in the middle of the night a time or two and then often times have trouble getting back to sleep.
What I've found that works best is to picture myself in an actual place and time where I was totally calm and relaxed.
Strangely enough, the past several months that time and place was when I was getting ready to shoot my WY ram last year. I was leaning over the edge of a cliff while lying on a backpack. My rifle was lying on three backpacks we'd used to build sort of a bench for it to rest on.
I was so calm and relaxed it was ridiculous. After all, I'd been on four consecutive Rocky hunts previously without even seeing a legal ram. Being this was a WY hunt also meant it would be my last WY sheep hunt. It was also a fairly long shot at a 45 degree angle.
The only reason I can think of for being so relaxed was that I was 100% focused on shooting the rifle correctly and never gave a thought to the ram, the years of effort nor the OIL tag.
So when I want to get back to sleep, I simply 'put' myself back to that place and time.
Good advice , but I keep head butting the walls when I get up at night to pee in the dark ! Not sure what that means
It means you have an awesome sheep tag in your pocket.
Accept it, be glad you drew it, then dream sweet dreams!
Congrats on the tag, a little sheep fever never hunt anyone!
Melatonin and a meal later in the day. Maybe a little Jagermeister
Avoid taking stool softener with your sleeping pill..
A huge congrats on the Breaks tag!!!
Melatonin works for me!
Mark