Barbary Sheep NM

[kylemcintyre67]

Well I got my tag in the mail last week and started my hunt for OTC Barbary Sheep/Audad. I spent my Saturday checking out a few of the canyons above Alamogordo in unit 34. I didn't find any sheep yet, and learned a lot about getting into those areas. I have a 3 day this weekend so I plan to expand my search down towards the southern end of the unit in the Timberon area. I did see a couple decent size groups of mule deer, some elk sign, and two squirrels. It was a nice cool day that started with some snow once I got up above 6000 feet. I have 11 more months and plenty of other areas I have e-scouted using onx, so I am in no rush. Along those lines, if anyone has any experience in the southeast portion of unit 38, I am curious about how much of that BLM checkerboard is accessible, or if there are gates on the road sections that pass through the private.

 

[duckhunt]

Looking forward to following along.

 

[bobbydean]

Good luck. Lot of up and down country there. There are barbary in those hills, may be hard to get to.

 

[HighDesertSage]

Very cool.I Lived in Las Cruces for awhile. Love that country. Hoping to chase elk up there this year.

 

[wheels]

awesome cant wait to follow

 

[Brian in Montana]

Seen the Solo Hntrs do hunt Audad in a couple episodes. Sure looks like fun as long as you can keep enough water in you. I saw some Audad years ago in the Palo Duro Canyon. Very cool animals. Good luck.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Following,Good luck!

 

[Desk Pop]

Congrats on the tag. My results still say pending.

 

[88man]

Good luck and enjoy. I hunted in there before and its steep!! Those sheep are there I didn't see any just sign.

 

[PeteD]

Best of luck! I put in for a tag myself and waiting for results.

 

[kylemcintyre67]

Congrats on the tag. My results still say pending.

I went with the over the counter option.

 

[Desk Pop]

Ok. That makes sense. I was thinking I had for sure not drawn thinking they had already sent tags and I had not gotten one.

So now I can find out I did not draw next week! Again!

Best of luck with the tag. They seem like a neat game species.

 

[Nick_CO]

Following as well. I hunted OTC Barbarys this winter in a different unit. Only saw 1 ram in an entire week of hunting and glassing, then I blew the stalk lol. Good luck!

 

[kylemcintyre67]

Well, no sheep this weekend. I did see my first ever elk in the wild. I was glassing a ridge and they just walked out about 80 yards away on the trail I was standing on. I am pretty optimistic about the area I was in, plan to go back there and attack it from some different angles now that I have a better lay of the land. Found some spots that are likely bedding, either sheep, deer, or elk. The amount of droppings made it seem like the mountain should be covered in animals. The lack of decay in the desert makes that stuff accumulate over time and seem like there is a ton of activity. Also got to experience my first bout of altitude flu. That was fun. The elk in the picture with his big ole but facing the camera had some pretty impressive velvet going on all ready.

 

[Brentc]

Do you guys eat these critters? I have a group of rams located, but I have a bit of an internal conflict. Most everyone I talk to says it's not worth bringing the meat home.

 

[bobbydean]

My last barbary hunt, I arranged to give the meat away before the hunt. Of course, I was going to shoot the big ram. I have heard they were nasty! I had a friend years ago had given me barbary roast from his big ram. Couldn't eat it. Both my nephew and myself ended up shooting young ewes. Was probably delicious. The pastor at my nephew's church was probably happy.

 

[kylemcintyre67]

Do you guys eat these critters? I have a group of rams located, but I have a bit of an internal conflict. Most everyone I talk to says it's not worth bringing the meat home.

I plan to regardless of the age. If I can't make the roasts any good I will grind it all up into sausage. I'm not out looking to find the biggest ram on the mountain either. Where did you say you found those rams at?

 

[Nm252525]

Well I got my tag in the mail last week and started my hunt for OTC Barbary Sheep/Audad. I spent my Saturday checking out a few of the canyons above Alamogordo in unit 34. I didn't find any sheep yet, and learned a lot about getting into those areas. I have a 3 day this weekend so I plan to expand my search down towards the southern end of the unit in the Timberon area. I did see a couple decent size groups of mule deer, some elk sign, and two squirrels. It was a nice cool day that started with some snow once I got up above 6000 feet. I have 11 more months and plenty of other areas I have e-scouted using onx, so I am in no rush. Along those lines, if anyone has any experience in the southeast portion of unit 38, I am curious about how much of that BLM checkerboard is accessible, or if there are gates on the road sections that pass through the private.

Make sure you know where you are as the southern end of the unit west of timberon is actually part of the draw unit..onx doesn’t show that

 

[dwatling]

You're in the right place, i harvested a ewe in feburary. Those sheep live in some incredible country. I had to pass up a couple of shots on other sheep because i couldn't figure out how to get above the cliffs they were on. The ewe i harvested fell off a 150ft cliff (not the plan) but made the packout a lot shorter. Ive heard stories about unit 38 and have heard about some canyons to check out but never been boots on the ground. Keep at it and you'll get one!

 

[NM34R]

Do you guys eat these critters? I have a group of rams located, but I have a bit of an internal conflict. Most everyone I talk to says it's not worth bringing the meat home.

I have heard good and bad, never tried it myself. One that liked it mentioned cooking in a crockpot and doing it like pulled pork.