Big Horn Sheep

Bucksnort1 · April 27, 2016, 08:52 AM

Many years ago, I began applying for my Rocky Mountain Goat license. In seven years, I drew and shot a goat opening day. After drawing my license I wished I had begun applying for my sheep licenses at the same time I started the goat applications because I knew where I could shoot a sheep - Waterton Canyon. I can't count the number of times I've ridden my bicycle up Waterton for a day of fly fishing and I can safely say that on about 3/4s of those trips, we would see sheep either on the road or higher up in the canyon.

A friend obtained a left over buck license for Waterton Canyon for 2015. He modified a child carrying device to attach to his bicycle to use as a game cart, which he used to haul out a small buck. I don't recall if the buck is on the cart in this photo but I don't think it is. There are only three ways to access Waterton: bicycle, run/walk, horse.

I'm the one on the bicycle petting the ewe.

dahermit · April 27, 2016, 09:22 AM

"Fair chase", of tame game animals?

Art Eatman · April 27, 2016, 09:41 AM

Not tame in the sense of house pets. Acclimated to people from non-threat contact. I've seen it with deer and quail. And road-runners.

dahermit · April 27, 2016, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Not tame in the sense of house pets. Acclimated to people from non-threat contact. I've seen it with deer and quail. And road-runners.

O.K., then..."Fair chase"? Shooting a game animal that have been so "acclimated" to man that they do not present any challenge? What is the point...just cut their throats, it makes for a cleaner butchering job.

doofus47 · April 27, 2016, 10:37 AM

Arrgh! Bike and sheep flashback!!
I once ran into a sheep while descending Mt. Evans on a bike. Much less enjoyable.

Some days I can't tell if they are acclimatized to people or just don't care.

Nice rig. I went with a BOB trailer/single speed to pack in my elk camp for archery. I probably wouldn't do that with a rifle season, too many bleary-eyed low landers out there.

Bucksnort1 · April 27, 2016, 03:24 PM

Regarding being too close to humans to be afraid. In the years preceding my goat hunt, I scouted the area while on fishing trips. The goats in this area rarely saw people. In spite of this, they would come to within a few yards of me.

dahermit · April 27, 2016, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Regarding being too close to humans to be afraid.

No one said that. The question is: Would shooting one of these animals so conditioned, be an ethical "hunt"?

Bucksnort1 · April 27, 2016, 05:26 PM

dahermit,

Apparently, CPW has no qualms about hunting them in Waterton Canyon so perhaps fair chase isn't an issue.

lefteye · April 27, 2016, 05:34 PM

I have never thought about hunting sheep with a Ruger LCR .38.

dahermit · April 27, 2016, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Apparently, CPW has no qualms about hunting them in Waterton Canyon so perhaps fair chase isn't an issue.

Explain please, how a person could hunt one of those sheep in the posted pictures. Walk up next to one and shoot it between the eyes? Get back one hundred yards and pretend that it is on a mountain top? Exactly how could someone turn that into a "hunt"? It is not a matter of some government body deciding what is "fair chase", it is a personal matter of ethics. Myself, if I was so inclined, wanted the meat (it is my understanding that it is some of the very best), and drew a permit, I would use a handgun to shoot it from the front, point blank between the eyes and harvest it. But, I would certainly not consider it hunting by any stretch of the imagination.

So, the question remains...if you get a permit, what are you going to do?

jmr40 · April 27, 2016, 06:30 PM

Wild animals have a pretty good sense of danger. I've seen deer locally that would approach or allow humans to approach pretty close during the summer months. Put a rifle in your hands and go back in the fall and they are completely different animals.

You see the same around farms and ranches. The animals are certainly wild, but so accustomed to seeing farmers wearing jeans and plaid shirts walking around they pay them no attention. Walk onto the property wearing camo and they disappear.

Bucksnort1 · April 27, 2016, 08:05 PM

dahermit, calm down a bit dude.

I want to explain something about hunting in Waterton Canyon. Much of the six mile canyon, on either side of the road and including the road, is owned by the Denver Water Board. Some of the lower part is owned by Lockheed Martin. Neither the Water Board nor Lockheed allow hunting their property; therefore, you must hunt on Pike National Forest property. There are places where you can access public land but not within 2.2miles from the Waterton parking lot and there are no places where you can shoot from just a few yards off the road.

So, the first thing you do is walk the 2.2 miles on a good dirt road, then climb the steep canyon walls to find sheep. I've included two photos which show the steepness of the canyon. I've hunted deer there; it isn't easy walking.

dahermit · April 27, 2016, 08:22 PM

Quote:

dahermit, calm down a bit dude.

I am never anything but, calm. It is just that I was trying to rationalize a solution of the seemingly moral dilemma presented by your first two pictures. Is it a fact then, that your first two pictures (with the sheep unconcerned about the close proximity of humans), is not the place where you plan to hunt?

Bucksnort1 · April 27, 2016, 09:20 PM

dahermit,

Your statement is correct. Where I am petting the ewe and where the bicycle is, no one can hunt.

The second photo of my friend was taken at the 2.2 mile site. In order to hunt from this spot, you must walk to the left of the photo, up a steep trail for a few hundred yards until you reach a point where you can see up the rest of the mountain.

Most of the sheep we see are lower in the canyon and on the north side (to the left in both photos) about one-quarter mile above the parking area and about to a point near the access point.

I have attached another photo of sheep on one of the steepest sections of the canyon. This is typical of the terrain.

April 27, 2016, 10:37 AM	#5
doofus47 Senior Member Join Date: June 9, 2010 Location: live in a in a house when i'm not in a tent Posts: 2,483	Arrgh! Bike and sheep flashback!! I once ran into a sheep while descending Mt. Evans on a bike. Much less enjoyable. Some days I can't tell if they are acclimatized to people or just don't care. Nice rig. I went with a BOB trailer/single speed to pack in my elk camp for archery. I probably wouldn't do that with a rifle season, too many bleary-eyed low landers out there. __________________ I'm right about the metric system 3/4 of the time.

April 27, 2016, 05:34 PM	#9
lefteye Senior Member Join Date: January 30, 2006 Posts: 1,433	I have never thought about hunting sheep with a Ruger LCR .38. __________________ Vietnam Veteran ('69-'70) NRA Life Member RMEF Life Member

April 27, 2016, 09:22 AM	#2
dahermit Senior Member Join Date: October 28, 2006 Location: South Central Michigan...near Posts: 6,501	"Fair chase", of tame game animals?

April 27, 2016, 09:41 AM	#3
Art Eatman Staff in Memoriam Join Date: November 13, 1998 Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA Posts: 24,798	Not tame in the sense of house pets. Acclimated to people from non-threat contact. I've seen it with deer and quail. And road-runners.

April 27, 2016, 03:24 PM	#6
Bucksnort1 Senior Member Join Date: July 8, 2013 Location: Littleton, Colorado Posts: 1,121	Regarding being too close to humans to be afraid. In the years preceding my goat hunt, I scouted the area while on fishing trips. The goats in this area rarely saw people. In spite of this, they would come to within a few yards of me.

April 27, 2016, 05:26 PM	#8
Bucksnort1 Senior Member Join Date: July 8, 2013 Location: Littleton, Colorado Posts: 1,121	dahermit, Apparently, CPW has no qualms about hunting them in Waterton Canyon so perhaps fair chase isn't an issue.

April 27, 2016, 06:30 PM	#11
jmr40 Senior Member Join Date: June 15, 2008 Location: Georgia Posts: 10,809	Wild animals have a pretty good sense of danger. I've seen deer locally that would approach or allow humans to approach pretty close during the summer months. Put a rifle in your hands and go back in the fall and they are completely different animals. You see the same around farms and ranches. The animals are certainly wild, but so accustomed to seeing farmers wearing jeans and plaid shirts walking around they pay them no attention. Walk onto the property wearing camo and they disappear.