#5 works, but it aint no road hunt...
I’m not a WY resident, I am still working, and I don’t know the areas like many do.
It would be crazy for me to not use the services of an outfitter when I draw. I would do it anyway just for the access to some great areas I would probably want to hunt when I am able to draw a tag.
On my hunt we road in horse & mule over 6 hours straight. We saw lots of sheep and I got it done in 6 days. Like stated, this will most likely be a once in a lifetime hunt.
My outfitter stated when the snow comes in October it usually pushes the sheep down their easier to hunt.
If you'd like his name PM me.
That said I drew a premium Vermont moose tag and hunted the entire season every minute of daylight HARD. I never saw or heard a moose. I would like to harvest every species possible diy and it is unlikely I will ever get to go after Canadian moose again. Last day I met a hard core local when mentioned a guide who was $200 or $300 a day and is nearly 100% in a couple days.
I really regretted not getting a guide. I would have been happy with a cow moose. Success came from guys driving roads until they saw a moose. I refused to do this and with no outfitter had low odds of getting a decent bull. I was over confident and did not listen to guys who said it was not going to be as easy as I expected and the success rates were deceiving if you did not road hunt or go guided or be a local.
I will NOT make that mistake again.
It’s not like you won’t still be able to take advantage of the fact that you have time and are well-conditioned just because a hunt is outfitted. You will still be able to go farther, harder, and longer. I’ve not yet met a sheep guide who would hold anyone back.
BTW, Don and I are barbary sheep hunting in NM this week. Please pray for me... Last time we hunted NM he almost killed me...lol
I drew a MAX POINT tag with just 16 points.
317 guys had more points than I had and 402 more guys had the same number of points I had.
NONE of the 317 guys applied for my unit and only five with the same number of points I had applied. Actually, I looked the physical challenge as a bonus, because I knew that meant lots of guy would not apply for the unit for that very reason.
That meant there were just six of us in the draw for three NR tags.
I not only drew, I took the best ram taken in that unit all year and I shot him on Day Two.
Why didn't more people apply? Because it's a VERY physical unit and therefore success rates were a bit over 60% as a result.
The physical challenge was of no concern to me and as a result, I drew and tagged out.
Us greybeards do just fine when we keep in year round training.
Thanks for sharing that pic again---- Robb
I am looking at every units and get very mixed reviews.
Lets here some suggestions. I do not mind waiting a few years but at 48 I am not getting any younger. I am in the best shape of my life so sooner is better.
What units do you like for a DIY NR?????
Thanks!
I have no experiance with lamas but from reading here they seem a lot easier for a newbie like me.
Not bragging but I am confident in my backpacking camping skills. I can head in with 75#'s of gear for 10 days. I have great gear and I know how to use it and have no problem carving out a "bed" on a cliff edge and staying 2 weeks alone. No problem at all.
Taking horses or llamas 10 miles to a ridgetop overlooking a few basins solo sounds like a blast to me (and a good plan if I could pull it off) - but again no experience with either animal.
I am in great shape at my perfect weight and work out 5-6 days a week including some serious free weights.
I really do not want to hire a guide. I want to diy. I would rather take a 140" ram solo then 165 guided. After looking for the 5th time this year at points required and point creep it really seems like I MIGHT need to wait 5 years.
What about hunting unit 5 starting October 1st? I have had 2 elk tags in that area and hunted those dates before. Rams will be picked over but that is ok. When does weather start to move them down? Is there potential for weather to move some big rams out of hiding in the back country? When does the rut start?
Also our diy barbery hunt was a bust - they were tough to find and when we did we did not capitalize. I probably could have taken an ewe early on but it was quick and I decided not to shoot - big mistake. It was tough and I learned a lot. Things like having smarba with me increases my success 10 fold.
The units that may be available for you to draw with 20 points may require hunting the wilderness to get to the rams and therefore require an outfitter or a non-compensated resident to accompany you. Besides being physical, the necessity to hire an outfitter is another reason that the units like the one Kyle drew takes fewer points. $12K for an outfitter is a big expense to most people.
Since you indicated money was not an issue, if I was in your position I would hire an outfitter and draw the best unit available to you at your points level. Another consideration for you is there have been several pushes in the past few years to cut the NR sheep quota in half. If this ever passes, it may take you another 20 years to draw the units you can draw now.
Good luck this year in the draws!
Horniac
I really want to do this diy
I can vouch for this. Don has all the right gear as well as the physical and hard headedness ,,,, errrrr I mean mental toughness to pull it off alone......lol
Horniac
The question you should be asking yourself is would you rather hunt your tail off DIY knowing you gave it your all and eat your tag, or hire an outfitter and shoot a mature ram?
I remember on the subject of sheep tags Craig Boddington once saying something to the effect that 1) Don’t screw around-hire a great outfitter and 2) You don’t bring your friends.
Solid advice I think, unless you care more about the trip than the destination.
Bottom line, your tag. No going back once the season ends.
That said I research a lot. I am in great shape and prepared to give it 3 weeks if needed, and come back if possible. If I choose my unit correctly and rifle hunt I should be able to tag out. Sheep are not the most difficult animals to hunt. I have hunted 17 or 18 different species of big game diy. I now what my limitations are and where I can fail. That said if I draw a good tag and give 110% I know I can punch my tag. Even an outfitter does guarantee punching a tag. What if by bad luck the area he is licensed to guide in has a lot of hunters, a fire or some other problem that means there are no sheep where he can hunt - but there are sheep in my unit where he cannot go?
I have been in your shoes before with a primo tag and a good buddy put it this way. “How do you make your money?...you have to work. Sure, you can spend 2-3 weeks out there and fill your tag but you won’t make any money. Pay the outfitter, get it done in a week or so and get back to work so you can do it again!” Not as much pressure on you, no scouting, just enjoy the experience. Your biggest decision is lifesized or shoulder.
Dogman good points.
Also I "appear" to be close to unit 5 but there is a catch. by bad luck I graduated college and started applying when they stopped making NR front tag costs and dropped app fees to $7. There are 350 guys in my point pool. Once apps ahead clear out I will be alongside a lot of other guys. Likely it is 10 years before I draw.........
If I was willing to hunt with a firearm it would be a no brainer, I would be talking to several outfitters about hunting in the units with the highest chance of drawing a permit. By my math even with 20 pts there are 486 possible applicants chassing roughly 40 permits a year. It is possible that you are the last guy in that pool to draw 12 years from now.
I would rather have the chance to hunt sheep while I could controll as many variables as possible rather than wait for someday to come OR have G&F restructure the system.
In my case it is not a decision based on outfitter or not or wilderness or not it is that I need an area that is bowhunter friendly and A LOT of luck because that math gets ugly in my pool. Im still over 20 years away from that " Guarnteed " pool
Nothing stays the same and you can count on change of some kind
I agree about WY restructuring. They have a history of doing whatever makes the most money, and taking surveys to figure out what that was/is! IMO they will keep max points tag but could drop down to 50% or less. I would still draw eventually. Bailing altogether. Yikes that would crunch me and turn a sure thing into highly unlikely - unless they square points (then just very unlikey).
I did break down and call an outfitter and I plan to call more. I am checking to see how far out they are booked and what the recommend. I am slowly leaning that way.
I did my once in a lifetime sheep hunt DIY with no regrets. Also just saw a 4 yr old ram a local guy took on an outfitted sheep hunt, guide pressed him to shoot it . Guided does not mean a guarantee by any means. You have the time and skills to DIY if wanted. Good luck. Our friends were 2 for 2 on decent rams in 5 but did have grizz issues. They hunted by foot , not horses.
Most if not all of the sheep guides with a better reputations have over a 99% success rate. The last one I just talked to is 166 sheep for 167 Hunters. Very Old Gentleman went recently and passed add several Rams and was not able to get to the better ones he wanted. I would have to say in my opinion that's a guaranteed hunt.
I guess it comes down to what satisfies you more, Don, filling a tag, or giving a hunt all you got regardless of outcome?
Matt
Be careful that the outfitter is not going to wait until the sheep are driven down by the road at the end of the season. A number of outfitters have a near 100% success record because they have their hunters shoot less than mature rams at low elevations at the end of the season. In 2018 there was a well know outfitter that was 5 for 8 on the first 8 10 day hunts. He had at least 4 more hunts booked. I am not sure how he ended the season but I heard that he filled all but 1 tag for the hunters that returned later in the season and 2 did not return. I suspect that he did not include the 2 hunters that did not return in his success ratio because they quit him. His website for 2018 rams did not include all of the rams and there was at least one < 6 1/2 yr old ram there. Some of the rams may have been pretty small. I had talked to an older gentlemen who shot a 3 1/2 or so ram with him in 2017 by the road. The guy was elated because he had been on several unsuccessful hunts and needed a RMB to finish his slam and after not scoring on a horse back hunt he thought that his quest for the slam was over. He was in too rough of shape to do another sheep hunt. I was happy for him.
If you hunt with an outfitter after the first 2 or 3 weeks it is pretty certain that you will not be hunting a previously scouted ram. By that time most of the areas will already have been hunted and they will have to go out an find a ram for you with you getting to experience it all. They will pick the areas and get you in and out. They will probably glass up a ram before you do. However you will get to experience a true , horse back sheep hunt. If they are agreeable you can make the hunt as challenging as you want by setting the age of the ram you want to kill. If you decide to not shoot a ram younger than 8 1/2 years old IMO it will not be a slam dunk.
