For rams similar to the ones pictured-
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$58,000 for 15 days, 1 hunter, with Bighorn sheep included
Who is offering this hunt Mexico Response rate: 87 % Response time: within a day Contact outfitter
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I am not in a financial zone that could afford anything like that. I can not imagine spending a fraction of that money and experiencing fundamental problems.
I think it had to do with Covid, etc- but at the end of 2021 they were discounting that hunt or a guy cancelled from the usual $60k.
The Government sets the number of tags for the privates ranches based on how many free range sheep they have.
Also why you can find High Fence hunts for about half price.
First I’ve heard of that. Kind of takes some of the allure away from the kill or am I missing something?
Hunting has made it work since the big land owners see value in putting sheep on the mountain (capitalism at work for wildlife). They also improve habitat and do predator control.
In turn this has increased supply of available sheep tags and why the prices haven’t changed much as compared to Stone/Dalls/Rockys
One big rancher who I spoke with spearheaded the sheep introduction in his area said it took 12 years to finally get free range hunt permits and a court petition to get it done.
He said they usually release ewes and rams at about 3 yrs old. Of course they want them to stay on their property (1 million acres) so they have water improvements, mineral licks, feeders that also help the deer etc. Ranches with breeding programs generally have bigger rams due to better genetics, health of the herds, but at a higher price.
Now the “ethical” side of things come with trophy hunting- they hold many rams to sell and exchange with other breeders. If one gets particularly big they may even sell it to a hunter- release as “free range” a day or two early then go shoot it, price based on size….
It would be impossible for most animals (other than the trophy kill ones) to tell if they were born wild or born captive and released at a younger age- there are no tags, tattoos, chips etc.
Estimado juez del estado de Sonora. ¡No sé si estés al tanto de los precios que los gringos pagan para poder matar un borrego, pero le juro que están locos! ¡Este mercado es mejor que drogas porque no es necesario traficar dicho producto a los estados unidos! Con su aprobación, me gustaría criarlos en mi finca de 50 acres y después de 8 años le los vendo por 500 pesos incluyendo transporte de mi finca a su rancho de 10 mil acres sin costo adicional. Ya he contratado 2 peruanos que van alimentar y vigilar los borregos durante los veranos, y ellos deberían llevar los borregos a su rancho sin perdidas. Si patrón, por el precio de un taco, podríamos vender un borrego por 50 mil dólares.
Espero sus comentarios
Juan de Fuca
""Dear judge of the state of Sonora. I don't know if you are aware of the prices that the gringos pay to be able to kill a sheep, but I swear they are crazy! This market is better than drugs because it is not necessary to traffic such a product to the United States! With your approval, I would like to raise them on my 50-acre farm and after 8 years I sell them to you for 500 pesos including transportation from my farm to your 10,000-acre ranch at no additional cost. I have already hired 2 Peruvians who will feed and watch the sheep during the summers, and they should take the sheep to their ranch without losses. If skipper, for the price of a taco, we could sell a sheep for 50 thousand dollars. I look forward to your comments Juan de Fuca""
In the mid 90s I was flying to work over in SA and Namibia, and was sitting next to a giant of a man. We struck up a conversation and he ended being a fighter, and also worked on a ranch. He said they bought old “has been”lions from zoos, game parks, etc and dropped them on their ranch. They’d the. Take Europeans as well as Americans all over to hell and back, and then day 3-4 drive over to where the “lion was” and make the shot.
I couldn't believe what he was telling me. The more and more you learn about the hunting industry, it just makes your stomach turn. So many lies, hidden truths etc.
There are legit free range herds though.
With the other questionable outfits Tiburon and “Indian Reservation” lands are notorious. The government tries to counter act that and the locking tags are now issued with the hunters name from the gov printed on them.
However, within the past decade or so there are now some high-fenced breeding/hunting operations for both sheep and mule deer in Mexico. Mature HF Sheep fetch quite a bit less $ than a free-range ram. With that, some unscrupulous outfitters have cropped up with some unsavory practices. So, beware of bargain or sketchy sheep hunts in Mexico. Do some research and target known free-range operations. There are some fantastic free-range sheep hunting operations throughout Mexico.
Cabela's has 1 listed in the new hunt catalogue for $55k.
I don't have a BassPro/Cabela's C-card anymore so I don't know if I would be eligible for this hunt via them?
They definitely have had a good reputation on these hunts in the past------>Fair Chase
Good luck, Robb
The first transplants came with 20 sheep to Tiburon Island. The numbers grew and That herd was used to re establish other herds. Enough so to allow hunting again.
The ability for private landowners to make a profit off the sheep is huge in the on going conservation efforts.
It is a bright spot in the hunting world with increased availability. I do foresee a trend where prices may continue to go down….
How low do you think desert sheep prices will go? What will it be in 5? 10 years?
I really don’t see the prices on desert sheep dipping all that much, even though they are probably doing better than any other North American Sheep Species. Prices are fairly stable right now due to herd health and continued permit management. Alternatively, some diminished availability / issues with Stone and Dall populations over the past few years have those outfitters seemingly unable to keep up with demand (some are already booked into 2025 and beyond). Hopefully Desert prices will remain stable or even trickle down a bit. Trouble is once most guys get into hunting sheep, that’s where their focus stays. Always amazes me when someone at GSCO or WSF is congratulated for completing their 3rd or 4th Grand Slam. That’s probably the #1 obstacle for the guys currently chasing their 1st GS - all of the other guys who keep rebooking all of the quality outfitters ahead of him. It’s really all about supply and demand - sheep are in ever-increasing, ultra-high demand, and outside of Mexico there really isn’t much good news on supply - bad winters, disease, predators, cuts in NR tags, etc.
