Bighorn Sheep often referred to as the monarch of the mountain resides in the most rugged yet beautiful terrain found in the Americas. Sheep spend their lives feeding on high alpine slopes in remote basins and escaping to the higher cliffs for security. A hunt like this requires physical conditioning but also mental, the hunt is much more enjoyable is in prime hunting shape. The greatest key to success while sheep hunting is persistence pays off, you could go the whole 8 days without harvesting a ram till the last day or could harvest one on the ride into our high elevation camp.
Total Outdoor Adventures only use the highest quality gear when it comes to sheep hunting, that’s why our sheep camps high on the mountains consists of Hilleberg tents. A successful Bighorn sheep hunt requires plenty of preparation from the hunter, whether its his GEAR or physically. That’s why our guides a week prior to the hunt dates are in the mountains locating and keeping tabs on legal rams.
Total Outdoor Adventures has two sheep hunting areas, one nestled in the mountains of southeastern BC and the other in Alberta. In BC, a legal ram must be a full curl, for a ram to grow to such a size they must weery and extremely knowledgeable of the area. Whereas in Alberta a legal ram must be a “Trophy Sheep” which is around 7/8th of a full curl ram. A hunt in BC can be paired with Mountain Goat, Elk, Black Bear, Wolf, Shiras Moose, Mule Deer and Whitetail. In Alberta the hunt is restricted to only Bighorn and Wolf. In BC we have two herds of sheep that reside in our area, therefore hunters can expect to see up to 25 plus sheep a day.
Due to the regulations hunter and guide might have to look over several dozen sheep and several immature rams before a legal ram is found. In Alberta there is a high density of sheep in the area and with limited tags there is an increased opportunity at a trophy ram. A mature Bighorn averages 165” but several clients in the past harvest Boone Crockett rams.
A typical Bighorn hunt consists of staying in the mountains for the duration of the hunt. This provides two primary advantages, one is less travel time to hunting location and your trophy ram, while the other is it decreases hunter fatigue over the duration of the hunt. On the first day of the hunt, all the gear is packed up to our alpine sheep camp where sheep were previously located, once camp is set up then the focus is on the sheep. Bighorn hunting is exclusively spot and stalk only, you can expect to spend hours behind a spotting scope before a legal ram is found. Once the legal ram is found then the stalk begins, hunters can expect to hike everyday and distances of up to 10 miles. Throughout the duration of the hunt, guide and hunter will continue the hunt for a trophy Bighorn hunt.
