Bighorn Sheep Unit 622
I am certain I speak for many husbands in not being able to remember certain dates. In either 2012 or 2013 I took my then girlfriend for a long trail ride to look for sheep on Brandon and Mickey Butte. This was the first time I went looking for sheep and seeing sheep was not the top priority. I was more nervous of the ring falling out of my pocket on the way in from Fourchette Creek, as I am not the most organized and losing the damn thing riding out there was not hard to imagine. I do remember it was summer and it was hot. So hot that after looking at some sheep and riding some 20+ miles on horseback, she went to use the unscripted restroom and came back with less clothes on to cool off in the shade. There I am not knowing whether to just go ahead and ask or wait for her to get fully clothed. I didn’t think of the possibility of her saying no and how awkward that ride back would have been, but here we are some years later with three kids, one of them bumping my arm as I type this, and it turned out alright.
Those years and several years before and after, might have been part of the hay day for 622. Local old timers had spoken of these sheep for years, and the stories were not farfetched. Numerous Rams with 16 and even 17+ inch bases were the norm on an annual basis. I still remember a local guy named Willy talking about rams that you could barely get a finger between the bases, with more than one hitting that unofficial 200-inch mark. Hopefully those days are not gone forever but there is currently a pause in the top end quality in 622. Today it is getting hard to see rams breaking the 170 mark, so keep that in mind if you have a lifetime of points and been applying here for a few decades. As with 680 and 482, lamb recruitment and drought played a role in younger sheep not keeping up with number of mature rams harvested.
Do not be surprised if 622 follows suit with what just happened in 482 and cuts the quota sometime between now and summer of 2024. I believe it would only take a few short years of good lamb recruitment and for things to get balanced back out and hopefully see some great rams like this area was known for.
These sheep are far more isolated to the areas surrounding Iron Stake compared to years ago, although they seem to expanding to the east. It is becoming normal to hear of folks seeing sheep near Bone Trail and further east.
As far as odds go, this one was probably harder than any of them, if FWP decides to lower the quota, expect the odds to be even worse but quality will go nuts in a few short years even if we do not get the best conditions.
Do not get in a hurry on this hunt. This is an area where you may hear sheep before you see them if you hold off until November.
170+ is the new 180-190+, good luck.