I spent several years down there hunting goats and helping friends with their goat hunts before I bought a sheep tag. The first year I had a tag I went in solo a week early and did find four rams, three of which were legal. They disappeared before the season started and I never saw them again. I did find another ram the second day of the season but some other hunters scared him off without even knowing he was there. I was bivy camping, traveling very light and somedays covering up to 12 miles and gaining 5000 feet a lot of it off trail on some pretty scary stuff. After 14 days I was beat, and with a midnight griz in my camp tearing up my pack less than 4 yards from my sack, I had enough and called it quits. No rams were killed in that unit that year.
I went back the next year with a few friends, one of which had a goat tag. I went in early and found him a nice billy. They showed up the day before the season and the next morning he had a boone and crocket billy on the ground. We were 12 miles in and took a few days to hike out taking time to glass the mornings and evenings for sheep. On the last day I spotted a ram way across a drainage. I left most of my gear with my friends and ran 2500' down the mountain waded the creek in the bottom and about killed myself getting 2400' up the other side. The ram had bedded down in some thick young timber. I tried to wait him out but by late afternoon I could see the rest of my crew had made it down to the valley bottom. We needed to get the goat out by that evening so I got down wind and started to sneak into where I hoped he was. I jumped him at less than 10 yards and managed to get two quick shots off dropping him about 20 yards from me. He is a 7 and 1/2 year old full curl ram but scores less than 160. That was one of the most difficult but rewarding experiences of my life. I am very proud of that ram and when I can get another tag I will be back until I get another or die trying.
Over the years in there I ran into the guys that guide the sheep hunts for the outfitter in that area. They are some great guys and hunters, one of which frequents this site occasionally. He decided not to guide the year after I got my ram and I was offered the opportunity to take his place. The other guide and I did everything we could to find rams that year but had no luck.
I went back in last year with a friend that had a tag. We checked out some new very beautiful country but had no luck finding any rams. This is a very difficult hunt in extremely difficult terrain. You must be in excellent shape and expect to not see any sheep whatsoever. If you even get a glimpse of a ram you have beaten the odds. Just to give you an idea of how tough it is, the sheep outfitters in these areas dont even see any rams many years. Oh yeah, expect to see plenty of grizzlies. I see them every year, have had three in my camp, and four others at less than 20 yards in the last few years in there. I do everything you are supposed to in griz country but they are so thick in that area that you are bound to bump into one or have one come through your camp eventually.
