RE: Thanks RamDreamer
dreamer,
I got in on a cancellation as well, I just lucked out I guess. Okay, you're asking serious questions so it's time to be real. No matter what anybody says the "real" success rate on outfitted Alberta sheep hunts is about 50%. Alberta bighorn hunting is sheep hunting at some of its best, and sometimes toughest. You get into those Canadian Rockies and you mind will reel with their beauty. The ride in, on my trip, was more like 9 hours. It was extremely hot (I was on the first hunt, early September) so the fatigue factor kicked in. Coming out we did in about 7 hours, we started in about 1/2 foot of fresh snow and were cool the whole way out.
Legal rams is indeed an issue, but more on that in a second. Don't worry about resident pressure - the only two people I saw besides Pat and Edith were two rangers making a swing out from the park on horseback. The problem you may run into, as I did, is Alberta's 4/5ths rule. I had to let a beautiful old warrior ram of at least 12 years go due to his brooming. I watched this ram for three days and it's sad to know he'll never be taken by a hunter and turn into wolf chow. Also had to pass on a 10+ year old ram, again due to his brooming back beyond legal, that was with the ram I shot. A legal ram must have his horn pass through an imaginary line running from the front base of the horn through the front of the eye socket - bare skulled - not just the front of the live eye. That said, I killed the first ram we knew was positively legal. That was on the sixth day of hunting. My ram and I are on their website under "photo album", the under "sheep photos", uppermost right. He is a very heavy based ram, never scored him so don't know - but he is a nice lifesize mount in my living room.
You are right about no vehicles. It is a "no motorized" zone, illegal to have any transportation other than boot leather and horsehide (or mule hide in Edith's rides case).
The weather can play heck with you (if it's hot). That was my main problem. But that's the case with most all sheep hunts, isn't it? A friend of mine from here in Colorado hunted with another Alberta outfitter north of Pat & Edith and he killed his ram on the way out of the hunt area at the very end of his hunt. Other folks get lucky and get into more & legal rams early in their hunts. Better lucky than good I always say.
Sorry to be so long winded. Hope this helps a little. If you want to talk we can figure out a time to link up.