Stone Sheep Hunts

mistertwister · Apr 10, 2007

Have you seen the latest pricing on Stone sheep hunts? They seem to have doubled in the past 5 years. Whats up with that? Anyone have a good outfitter recommendation for stones in BC or the Yukon. Seems Yukon is a bit less expensive. Any thoughts.

RamDreamer · Apr 11, 2007

Supply and demand...

Outfitter tag allocation were cut again, unexpectedly, in January. The prices immediately were raised upon outfitters receiving that news.

I'm hunting with the Bradfords in B.C. in September. Fortunately I've been booked for quite a while.

If you're good with a Fannin, I would highly recommend Blackstone Outfitters in the northern Yukon. I had a great, and successful, hunt with them last year.

mistertwister · Apr 11, 2007

Have you ever heard or know anything about Trophy stone safaris with Curt Thompson in the yukon?

ridgerunner · Apr 11, 2007

Canadian mountain outfitters in BC. Bryan MArtin is the owner and one of the best out there. You won't find a more hard working guide or someone who knows their stuff better than him.

StoneSheepSteve · Apr 11, 2007

Ramdreamer is right. Some G/O's have had their allocations cut. Non-residents were supposed to be taking 50% of the rams but somehow this was not what was actually happenning. Last year the numbers were 77%/23% in favor of the G/Os. The new allocation policy will slowly push it back to a min of 60% for residents. There can be no more than a 20% change in permits in a review period(5yrs) to help the G/O's cope with any changes.

They gov't is also removing some barriers for residents to harvest more sheep so they don't have to drop G/O harvest numbers. We(the residents) had a 1 in 3 harvest policy in Reg 7B, meaning that we could only harvest 1 ram every 3 years regardless of the age of the ram. That has been changed so that we can havest one every year if the rams are over 8 yrs old(still 1 in 3 for any ramunder 8 yrs old). This was the rule a few years ago.
Resident harvest has gone down in recent years due to the breaking up of hunting parties with the 1 in 3 rule.

The whole process is very complicated so it will be interesting to see what happens at the end of the 5 yr review period.

SSS

RamDreamer · Apr 11, 2007

mistertwister,

Yes, I know Curt. Good operation.

I wanted a true Fannin (why I went with the Finks - Blackstone) and a darker Stone (one of the many reasons for booking with the Bradford team).

I talked with Curt about potentially hunting with him a few years ago and he was very honest with me that most of his sheep have white necks/heads/faces. For my Stone I just really want an all around darker ram (some color throughout) so I opted not to hunt with Curt.

HunterHarry · Apr 11, 2007

I ran into Curt in a little grocery store my home town here in Cali.
I recognized him from the shows.
Turns out his sister lives here and a couple of guys here have hunted with him.
I've always heard good things about his outfit.
I spoke with him at the SCI show in Reno, real nice guy, real good area.
Just can't swing the cash...

Those Blackstone boys run some very good hunts also...
HH

littlebighorn · Apr 12, 2007

LAST EDITED ON Apr-12-07 AT 09:29AM (MST)[p]That's a beauty of a Stone Harry!

The only way I will ever be able to hunt a Stone is to win the hunt! I will never be able to aford buying one at todays prices.

mistertwister · Apr 12, 2007

That seems to be a dark stone for the yukon. Is that the type of stones you saw there and why would that be considered a fannin and not a stone. Whats the difference?

starbaileyranch · May 11, 2007

I too would have to recommend Blackstone Outfitters. I hunted with them in 05 and killed a dark fannin.I had a great time and seen lots of game. I rebooked while there for sheep and moose in 08. Like ramdreamer I went spacificaly looking for the fannin color fase not the darker stone coloring. Some day I would like to hunt a true stone but a guy could go kill a marco polo for about the same money. Maybe a little more.
Bryan