Barbary Sheep in October: The First Hunt of the Season

Most hunters think of Barbary sheep as a winter hunt in New Mexico, and for the most part they are right. The bulk of the draw hunts fall between December and February. But there is an October hunt that gets overlooked, and it runs October 10 through 16.

It is the first crack at these animals in the license year, and it hunts differently from the winter seasons.

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Where the October Hunt Runs

The October 10 through 16 season is an any-legal-sporting-arm hunt, offered in two groupings that cover the country we hunt: Units 29 and 30, and Units 32, 36 and 37. Both groups run the same dates with different license allocations.

After that, the calendar moves to December 4 through 10 and December 15 through 21, an archery hunt January 1 through 15, and then a run of any-legal hunts through late January and February.

There is also a statewide over-the-counter Barbary sheep license that runs the full license year. It excludes the draw areas of the units listed above, along with the missile range and Fort Bliss portions of Unit 19, so it is not a shortcut into the country we guide. Worth knowing it exists, though. And if you hold a public draw license, it is also valid in the over-the-counter hunt areas.

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What Makes October Different

Barbary sheep, also called aoudad, were introduced to southeastern New Mexico in the 1950s. They occupy steep, cliffy mountainsides and rocky foothills, and they are highly drought tolerant, which means they are not tied to water the way other species are.

In October you are hunting them in warmer weather than the winter seasons offer. That cuts both ways. The country is more comfortable to move through and the days are longer, but the animals are less concentrated and the heat pushes activity into the edges of the day.

By December and January you are dealing with cold and short daylight, but sheep tend to be more visible and more predictable in their use of south-facing slopes.

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Hunting Them Honestly

These are spot and stalk hunts on genuinely difficult ground. Our Barbary hunts typically run in Units 29, 30, 32, 36 and 37, and we see opportunity rates on mature rams in the 75 to 85 percent range on a five day hunt. Mature rams run 27 inches and up.

What the hunt actually requires:

• Glass from a distance and commit. Aoudad live in broken rock where a bad approach is visible from a long way off. Find them first, then plan one move.
• Be able to shoot across a canyon. Shots are often longer than hunters expect, taken from awkward positions, at animals that do not stay put.
• Be ready to climb. The terrain is the hunt. If you cannot get up and down steep rock repeatedly, you will not be in position when it matters.
• Know they are tough. Aoudad absorb poor hits and keep going into country you do not want to follow them into. Shot placement matters more than caliber.

We have written more on preparing for this specific hunt in New Mexico Barbary Sheep Hunts: Preparation for the Mountains.

If the October window suits your calendar better than a winter hunt, that is worth saying out loud when you apply. See our guided Barbary sheep hunts.

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A Note on Tags

In New Mexico we hunt Barbary sheep through the draw. There are no landowner tags for them the way there are for elk and pronghorn. We do also work with a ranch in Alpine, Texas that offers private land, free range aoudad hunting with very high success rates, which is an option for hunters who do not want to wait on a New Mexico draw.

Barbary sheep remain one of the better value hunts in the West: a genuinely challenging mountain animal, in country that will test you, without the once-in-a-lifetime restrictions that come with bighorn or the missile range oryx hunts.

Want to get into the draw for a Barbary season that fits your schedule? Contact the team or call (575) 315-6107. Ready to go? Book your hunt.