A mountain wonder, Dall Sheep call some of North America’s wildest, most rugged, least-hospitable and strikingly beautiful areas and terrain home. Known for their fierce displays of headbutting, all white coats, and the large and artfully curved horns of mature Rams, this hunt is extremely strenuous and not for everybody. A true challenge of mountain hunting and a full-on alpine experience, earning the opportunity to harvest one of the 250-300lb males is an adventure of a lifetime.
Like goat hunting, sheep hunting tends to be practiced primarily by a few, hardy individuals whose interest is more in the challenge and satisfaction of mountain hunting and the alpine experience than in getting food for the freezer. Dall sheep produce excellent meat but they are relatively small in size and the effort required to retrieve meat from the rugged alpine areas they inhabit can be daunting. Male sheep, or rams, usually weigh less than 300 lbs (136 kg), and females (ewes) weigh less than 150 lbs (68 kg). The dressed weight of a 230-lb sheep is about 140 lbs (64 kg), and a sheep that size will yield about 80 lbs (36 kg) of meat.
Recreational hunting is typically limited to the taking of mature rams during August and September. Nonresident sheep hunters are required to have a guide or be accompanied by relative who is an Alaska resident. Alaska’s Dall sheep are popular with nonresident hunters, and the harvest is split fairly evenly between residents and nonresidents. In 2007, for example, nonresidents took 403 sheep, while resident hunters took 513, or about 57 percent.
8 Days / 7 Nights
