Why I Love Sheep Hunting

I was reading an article on marketing the other day by Brandon Buchard, an expert in the personal development industry.  In the article he asked the question, “Why do I love marketing?”  He answered by saying that he loved marketing “because it was hard.”  He went on to say that anything that is hard gives us a greater return for our effort.

I went on my first sheep hunt in September, 2000, and even though it was the hardest hunt I had experienced up to that point in my life, I was immediately bitten by the sheep hunting bug.  Since that hunt, I have asked myself, “Why do I like sheep hunting so much?”  On many occasions, I’ve commented that considering the difficulty of sheep hunting, it was a little crazy that I liked it so much.  But after reading Brandon’s article I realized, I love sheep hunting “because it’s hard.”

Hunting sheep is hard.  Similar to deer or elk hunting in mountainous areas, you will hike through timber and over various types of challenging terrain.  But you will do so to get where your sheep hunt will actually begin, at timberline.  That’s where the sheep live and to navigate it, you will climb slopes covered with gravel, rock slides, and boulder fields that are as steep as, or steeper than the elk and deer country you came through. And in most cases, you will be hiking at an altitude of 10,000 feet above sea level or better.

Sheep hunting will test your fitness, your mental attitude and your will to complete the hunt, and that’s all before you harvest an animal.  If you are lucky enough to kill a ram, you then get to multiply the difficulty factor of your hike by one and a half times in order to pack the animal out!

In the end, it will all be worth it.  You will have taken what I consider the trophy of a lifetime; you will get to enjoy the finest game meat on the planet; and you will have overcome difficulties that have tested you to the core.  It will all add up to an adventure unlike any you have ever experienced.  Sheep hunting is hard.  That’s why I love it so much!

Until next time…Hunt High, Hunt Hard!

 

The sheep are on the other side of this ridge!