Is there such thing as too much gun for sheep?

[dave_halsey]

I was thinking about a solid 8 lb rig( total weight with supressor),a solid 284 win with a 22 inch sendero light and the 155 hammer's or 168 berger would be a good choice. Thoughts? I run my dead air sandman TI on everything now.

 

[XSIVSPD]

I was thinking about a solid 8 lb rig( total weight with supressor),a solid 284 win with a 22 inch sendero light and the 155 hammer's or 168 berger would be a good choice. Thoughts? I run my dead air sandman TI on everything now.

That's gotta be a super light rifle and suppressor then. I was looking at a savage ultralite (6lbs) with my Griffin sportsman ultralite (12oz) plus my 2.5-15 forge scope (28oz) that puts me at 8.5lbs plus ammo/sling/bipod/whatever else

 

[Ol' Red]

lol Yeah. Years ago a guy did an article on shooting rock chucks at distance with a 7mm magnum.
Heathens that we are I and a few others thought...d........m that would be fun.

I never tried a 7MM on rock chucks, but my .338 WM on prairie dogs is fun. For a couple shots.

 

[Ol' Red]

I used to shoot prairie dogs with a .338 Win. Mag.!!

I knew that I was not the only one.

 

[wbm]

I was thinking about a solid 8 lb rig( total weight with supressor),a solid 284 win with a 22 inch sendero light and the 155 hammer's or 168 berger would be a good choice.

Sounds great...to paraphrase Elmer Keith "if you can't hit it with that nothing bigger is gonna help."

 

[dave_halsey]

That's gotta be a super light rifle and suppressor then. I was looking at a savage ultralite (6lbs) with my Griffin sportsman ultralite (12oz) plus my 2.5-15 forge scope (28oz) that puts me at 8.5lbs plus ammo/sling/bipod/whatever else

8 lbs is the goal. Im sure it would be closer to nine or ten pounds all said and done, but i think an A3 sporter ( edge fill) and a light weight anTI or light weight savage receiver would be ideal. For a scope, the lightest im finding in good quality is the Swarovski z5 3-18x44 or maybe a Leupold vx5. Going to have to play with some numbers.

Sheep seem to have the same consensus as elk, smash the shoulders so they can't move haha.

 

[John McLaughlin]

I've been on three sheep hunts where the possibility of making the acquaintance of grizzly bears was very real. I watched one big boar go after stone sheep far above timberline. If there had been a legal ram in the group it might have gotten up close and personal. I was using my standard sheep gun, 270 Weatherby Mag pushing 140 gr Winchester Failsafe bullets @ 3300 fps. I was about 200 yards from the bruin and I didn't feel under gunned at all. If I was parting the brush with my rifle barrel, not so much. If there was a chance of being in the thick stuff I would use my 340 Weatherby pushing 250 gr Partitions @ 3050 fps or even my 375 H&H pushing 299 gr Shock Hammers @ 2670 fps. Each rifle will kill sheep out to 350 yards. JM

 

[spfarr]

fwiw, i've been on three sheep hunts - one NV desert bighorn ewe, and two Dall (N. side of Brooks Range). I used a 270 Wby with 140 Accubonds. 547 yds on my desert bighorn ewe. 350 yds on my Dall. (on the other Dall sheep hunt, the guide only left camp twice in 10 days, while i scouted and located sheep on my own, but chose not to risk shooting a potentially sub-legal ram without a guide present as required per regs.) for me, i chose one of my rifles with a flat-shooting caliber, sufficient anchoring power for sheep, manageable wind drift, but light enough recoil that i can easily follow my shots when hunting solo, and not unreasonably heavy to carry. As Mr. McLaughlin above points out, consider whether you'll be in bear country.
fwiw, i would not err towards the light side when choosing a for a sheep hunt, even if not in bear country, because you may potentially be dealing with wind and cross-canyon shots, in rough country, on a potentially once-in-a-lifetime tag or hunt.
fwiw - terminalballisticsstudies may provide some useful caliber-specific info in his "knowledge base" section.

 

[Gravel Road]

fwiw, i've been on three sheep hunts - one NV desert bighorn ewe, and two Dall (N. side of Brooks Range). I used a 270 Wby with 140 Accubonds. 547 yds on my desert bighorn ewe. 350 yds on my Dall. (on the other Dall sheep hunt, the guide only left camp twice in 10 days, while i scouted and located sheep on my own, but chose not to risk shooting a potentially sub-legal ram without a guide present as required per regs.) for me, i chose one of my rifles with a flat-shooting caliber, sufficient anchoring power for sheep, manageable wind drift, but light enough recoil that i can easily follow my shots when hunting solo, and not unreasonably heavy to carry. As Mr. McLaughlin above points out, consider whether you'll be in bear country.
fwiw, i would not err towards the light side when choosing a for a sheep hunt, even if not in bear country, because you may potentially be dealing with wind and cross-canyon shots, in rough country, on a potentially once-in-a-lifetime tag or hunt.
fwiw - terminalballisticsstudies may provide some useful caliber-specific info in his "knowledge base" section.

The above is a great, common sense response.
Most of the time a standard weight rifle, medium-higher velocity combo is best. I've shot dall sheep with 300 Weatherby's, 25-06 and even a 6.5 JDJ contender pistol. To me, caliber isn't as important as rifle. Sheep die pretty easy.I wouldn't want to carry a 12 lb rifle in sheep country, but if you have a guide carrying your crap it would be doable. Never had that luxury so a lighter rifle was better on a 50 lb pack.
As far as scopes go, same thing. You really don't need a 2+ lb 20x scope. White sheep are a nice target, but desert sheep would be a different story. My personal scopes were a 3x9 Nikon, 3.5x10 Leupold and a 4x Leupold on the pistol. My buddy hunted sheep with a Ruger 338 Win Mag with a 1.5-5 Leupold very successfully.
Hunt with what you like and have fun
P.S. my ideal sheep rifle would be short and LIGHT since I carry across my pack.

 

[dave_halsey]

The current gun I use is a 28 nosler with a 26 inch sendero, mcmillan A3 and a vx6 3-18x50. Its not overly heavy but with 8 inches of can its a long sucker. If I ever make it to Alaska, I'd like to be slinging the 195's in bear country.

 

[ihuntak]

Lots of good factory sub 6# rifles today. A vx2 4-12 will keep it around 7#. When you are carrying a 50 pound pack already, why would you want to carry a 8-10 pound rifle? I also would hate to carry anything with a 26" barrel. Might be okay in the desert or high alpine, but if you are going through alders to climb a mountain that would get old fast catching every branch. My daughters sheep was taken at 300 yards with a kimber Montana in 338 fed. It's decent for covering the bear potential too.

 

[smithj99]

The current gun I use is a 28 nosler with a 26 inch sendero, mcmillan A3 and a vx6 3-18x50. Its not overly heavy but with 8 inches of can its a long sucker. If I ever make it to Alaska, I'd like to be slinging the 195's in bear country.

I'd say - stay with that gun - FLAT shooting is key, KNOWING your rifle is key, use a bullet that will anchor a bear (if you're in bear country).
I am a big advocate of Barnes Triple Shock bullets. They're accurate, they're solid, and with the TSX being a hollow-point, you can hear the bullet hit game, and they anchor whatever you're hunting. I've used them for game as small as a jackal, on up to gemsbok, kudu, wildebeest. And, my dall sheep was taken with TSX bullet as well - I was in bear country so wanted a bullet I could use to anchor a bear if need be.
Then, do lots of conditioning, so your body will let you get to places where the sheep are
And enjoy the hunt!!!!

 

[dogz]

You're absolutely right, your 243 is more than plenty of gun. I use a 22/250 a ton (on big game) and if I drew a Big Sky ram tag it's what I'd be toting. Long as I get within 400 give or take I'm just fine.

A sheep isn't very big and getting a bullet into the vitals just isn't tough at all.

For me, anything between my 22/250 and my 7 Mashburn Super would do just fine.

Keep it at 8.5 lbs "all up" at most (sling, rounds, scope etc)

 

[dennisinaz]

"Hit 'em hard and break both the shoulders" is what my buddy that gets one every year on Kodiak says lol

There are NO sheep on Kodiak. I live there are fly the mountains weekly. They tried to put some here at one point but the lambs couldn't survive the wet winters.

My do it all gun is a 340 Wby; goats, bears and moose.