Sheep Hunting

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"Sheep hunters are Romantics, who love high places and solitude. To them the wild ram embodies the mystery and magic of the mountains, the rocky canyons, the snowy peaks, the fragrant alpine meadows, the gray slide rock, the icy dancing rills fed by snowbank and glacier, the sweet clean air of the high places, and the sense of being alone on the top of the world with the eagles, the marmots, and the wild sheep themselves. The sheep hunter is willing to climb until his lungs are bursting, to walk until his legs are dead and weary, to grow hungry and thirsty for great rewards. There is no half way.” -Jack O'Connor

http://vimeo.com/71101999

 

[deer_shooter]

Ol' Jack sure had a way with words.

 

[Lawnboy]

Road hunting the big rams of the Bitteroot. Looks like an incredible tag for those who might have mobility issues. Doesn't get any easier than that. Lots of rams to choose from. The guide looked like he was about to choke the flatlander though.

I hope someday I can have a chance at a Bighorn. I'm getting my kicks on the Dall Sheep at the moment....no regrets.

 

[Dinkshooter]

Sweet product placement in the first two minutes of advermersials. I hate hunting in general.

 

[Lawnboy]

Sweet product placement in the first two minutes of advermersials. I hate hunting in general.

I admit I fast forwarded through the crap.

 

[Dinkshooter]

I just can't make it through that stuff

 

[Dinkshooter]

Add?

 

[Bambistew]

I've never done meth, but I presume it's similar to sheep fever...

 

[Gerald Martin]

Excellent material for hunter's safety class. At least get a video editor who knows to cut the segments showing the road you are about to shoot over.

Some of Montana's sheep hunts aren't the same as others.

 

[havgunwilltravel]

Thanks for the link randy, that was an 'epic sheep hunt' damn I wish guys wouldn't get so down and all depressed at missing an animal, heck it wasn't an unlimited unit ram, maintaining a positive strong mental attitude goes a long way towards consistently being a successful hunter. Heck how did he smoke the ram so cleanly with his second shot on the run to finish it off when he struggled so badly with his efforts and close calls prior to the finale. Roller coaster of a ride for the guide. When I did a few seasons in the west in the end I was pretty much selecting a good rest for the hunters, lining up the rifle barrel with the animal so they could find it quicker as many struggled to locate animals in crosshairs and doing everything possible to ensure they didn't miss...which oh so many did...

 

[Bambistew]

I think I'd rather hunt antelope in Montana than a sheep. About as difficult... a ram , whole in the back a of a pickup. How is road hunting sheep a challenge and the most difficult hunt of his life? I know there is a reason I let 13 points laps.

 

[The Hedgehog]

I think I'd rather hunt antelope in Montana than a sheep. About as difficult... a ram , whole in the back a of a pickup. How is road hunting sheep a challenge and the most difficult hunt of his life? I know there is a reason I let 13 points laps.

I wish I could have taken your points. Not all the MT units are road hunts.

 

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My favorite part is that even though he's obviously having "accuracy issues", he's willing to zip a shot about three inches in front of that ewe's face.

 

[Bugle 'Em In]

Some funny stuff in that video. The sheep fever must've really hit him hard...a couple of times. I wouldn't have been surprised had he hit the ewe in the head when he actually did connect on his ram. The frustration from the guide was priceless...! LOL

 

[bonedogg]

This guy shouldn't be hunting let alone filming it! We leave these sort of guys back at camp to feed the crew when they get back from a hard days hunt. stay home and shoot squirrells out of the trees with a 12 guage, more his style of hunt.

 

[tjones]

He does have nice hair.

 

[Dinkshooter]

He does have nice hair.

Now I have to watch it.

 

[genesis273]

Maybe those first two attempts were actually warning shots to put some kind of fear in them so it would be an actual hunt, and not a road sheep shoot!

Nah, if I were the guide, I would have got in my truck and drove away. Can you image how far he would have missed if he had to go further than a mile from the road!

 

[tjones]

This is everything wrong with TV hunting shows.

 

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I don't think my intent of this thread was to mock these guys, although obviously they're kind of making themselves easy targets.

The video, and a lot of experiences I have with sheep in Western MT, have me often scratching my head and wondering just what in the heck we're doing with sheep here in MT. Yeah, we've got a monopoly on the record books, but at what cost? These hunts and our management strategy don't exactly make for the greatest of experiences, and don't create the greatest image of trophy hunters for the public's eye.

I will say, that I used to poke fun at the breaks sheep hunts as 'shooting rams out of a cattle pasture'. After spending time over there this fall watching where those rams rut, compared to where our Western rams rut, I was about as ass-backwards as I could have been.