Flat Tops Wilderness Guides Bighorn Sheep & Rocky Mountain Goat Hunts
Up to 5 Guests
About
If you have the tag we can put you into sheep and goats. Because we consider this a hunt of a lifetime, we provide customized solutions for the hunter. Cliff lives close to all these units and is obsessed with scouting and hunting sheep and goats. These hunts are one-on-one guided. For our recommendations on the 2018/2019/2020 Big Horn Sheep draw in Colorado. All of these hunts typically take a hunter 6+ years to draw. If you have not been putting in for the draw but are dead set on going on a mountain hunt, check out our British Columbia Mountain Goat Hunts, tags are provided and the area we hunt is easy to reach from the United States. Even though we know the animals in all these units well, it is important you reach out to us about these hunts as soon as you know you have the tag. For one, it allows us to concentrate our scouting efforts. Also, for several units, we need to acquire operational approval from our permit administrators in the White River Forest, permission on any private land we might want to hunt, and/or permission on BLM areas. This is usually a non-issue because we are a registered outfitter with a special use permit in the White River Forest, but it can take time and there is no guarantee that we can book the hunt. Depending on the hunter’s physical fitness, remoteness of the area, game populations and scouting most of our hunts can be done via horse backpacking or backpacking (lightweight camps or day backpacking). Backpacker hunters must be confident they can hike 3-6 miles in rugged terrain per day with 30lbs or more. The below information is for informational purposes and is not an offer to provide services in these units until we have proper permitting in place.
GoatsG2, G3, G13, G14, G17:We guide these units through another outfitter’s permits.
Location – Leadville, Independence Pass, Collegiate Peaks Wilderness, Buena Vista
Type – High altitude, rough country
Quality – 8” to 9.5” Billies
Success Rate – Great area to hunt goats. Not known for older age class goats. G13 is the exception with some older billies. Hunt can be highly physical or moderate. It all depends where the goats are.
G6:Location – Gore Range, North Side of Hwy 70
Type – Wilderness Hunt (Eagle Nest Wilderness), rough country
Quality – 8” and 9” Billies, Declining tag opportunity over past 7 years.
Success Rate – Last couple years’ success rates have declined to 50-60% from 80-90% pre-2014. Wilderness sharply gives the benefit to those with scouting time. Still a great area to hunt goats, but do not apply for this tag is you are not going to be in shape.
G12:We guide these units through another outfitter’s permits.
Location – Maroon Bells Wilderness
Type – Historical harvest is relatively concentrated but goats are spread throughout the area and available outside of the heavily trafficked areas. Since 2016, tag numbers have been drastically increased. This has created difficult hunts for later dates. Goats are not too savvy, but they do move to rough country after sustained pressure. This country can kill you and has killed hunters in recent history. A physical hunt. Getting the good billies takes scouting and game planning.
Quality – Lots of opportunity for hunters ready for the terrain, hold out for an 8”+ Billy.
Success Rate – If you can get there, you can kill a mid-size goat. Scout and hunt hard to find the best goat.
SheepS11, S12, S17, S47, S66:We guide these units through another outfitter’s permits.
Location – Leadville, Independance Pass, Collegiate Peaks Wilderness, Buena Vista
Great early archery season in August for S12 and S66. My top guides and I always would like to dedicate a large portion of August to making sure a guided archer kills the largest ram in these units. All of these units have some of the largest populations of sheep in Colorado. Non-resident and resident tags in most of these units.
S2:Location – North of Hwy 70, Vail. Sheep bordering Eagles Nest Wilderness. Limitation on hunting within ½ mi of Hwy 70 isn’t a big deal, as the mature rams tend to move higher into the wilderness. Scouting for sheep movement is key. Do-it-yourself hunters should be cognizant of where they are at all times and realize there is quite a bit of non-hunting outdoor recreation in the low elevation parts of the unit.
Type – Decent access via trail system. Backpack and hike-in only. Steep terrain.
Quality – Low density sheep unit, small population. Key is not to shoot the first decent ram in there. Heavy scouting to find older age class rams.
Success Rate – Short history since it reopened. Historically this unit has been hit or miss, year-to-year. We have guided the hunters who have harvested the top rams out of this unit in recent history.
S13:We guide these units through another outfitter’s permits.
Location – East Maroon Bells. Boundary of unit changed in 2016.
Type – High and steep. Highly dependent on scouting to harvest a decent ram.
Quality – Decent ram taken in 2014 and two nice rams taken in 2018. Not a huge sheep population or historically a producer of monster rams. Young ram taken in 2016.
Success Rate – Hit or miss based on the hunters that draw the tag. Serious country for most hunters.
S44:This unit requires a temporary special use permit.
Location – Frying Pan
Type – Steep country that drops into the Frying Pan River
Quality – Great opportunity unit, particularly for archers who can tough it out and hunt hard. In 2017, Cliff helped a good friend make the first nonresident archery harvest in history in this unit. Quality sheep, great ram taken in 2012. Some big old rams harvested by archers in 2016, including a governors tag.
Success Rate – Great for rifle, and decent for archery given the number of tags. Success rate here is based on persistence, scouting, and knowing how to get around. Archery pressure, because sheep are concentrated, is intense with five tags. Terrain is accessible but rugged. Rams moving in/out of unit in 2018/2019 makes it somewhat of a wildcard.
S59:Cliff is one of the few humans that lives in this unit year round. Our team knows this unit better than anyone else, operating a large elk/mule deer operation here for over 100 days a year.
Location – Flat Tops Wilderness Area
Type – Unsuccessful hunters in the past have underestimated the remoteness of this area. This hunt is a tough backpack hunt. Horses are typically a valuable asset. Glassing spots are few and far between. The sheep vanish in this unit if you don’t know where to look. More than any other unit, historical harvest sites are of little value in this unit. We harvested the top rams in this unit 2018/2019.
Quality – Representative rams 150-165″.
Success Rate – Guided hunters should not have an issue harvesting a sheep, but you need to be open to a true wilderness hunt.
This outfitter currently has no lodging available.
Target species
Bighorn Sheep
Mountain Goat
Amenities
Guided
Keep the meat
Private experienceTrip includes
Animal cleaningLocation
Gypsum, Colorado, United States
Exact location provided after booking.
In terms of permitted camps, we are one of the largest outfitters in Colorado. We can use the camps that fit our guest’s needs best. Camps near streams, we got it. Camps near lakes, we got it. Camps near elk rutting areas, we got it. Camps near elk migration trails, we got it. Camps near oak brush for bucks and bears, we got it. An outfitter with 4 camps? You’re stuck with whatever they might have!
Our closest camps in the Flat Tops Wilderness are 2 miles and 1,800 ft. elevation gain from our base camp. Our farthest camps are 9+ miles and over 3,500 ft elevation gain into the area. Public access is by foot and horseback only. There is absolutely no vehicle access into the area. These camps were established by Colorado High Guide Service (Dennis Bergstad) over 30 years ago.
Unlike most outfitters in Colorado, our base camp is operated on private property on the edge of over 240,000 acres of designated road-less wilderness. We invest heavily in our facilities to accommodate our guests. We have a 3,000 square ft. pack station where we can saddle and pack 30+ mules at a time, under any weather conditions. There is almost always staff at our facility with ready stock. Although we are as remote or more remote than other outfitters’ public land or leased base camps, emergency vehicles and help can always reach our base camp. We work here year-round, allowing us to scout the fishing waters and hunting areas constantly.
Formerly known as Colorado High Guide and then Hilltop High Guide Service, FTWG is one of the longest running permitted outfitters in Colorado, 30+ years. Today, several of the original staff our involved. We even have mules that have been here since the beginning.
Our staff is made up of experienced horsemen, hunting guides, fisherman, and survivalists. The guiding staff is all first aid certified and several are certified Wilderness First Responders. Most importantly, our horses and mules are made for the mountains. From years and miles of packing gear and meat, most of them know the area better than any person around.
The White River elk herd is 30,000+ animals, of which a large portion live in the Flat Tops. Colorado’s 4-point antler restriction and the remoteness of the area allow for a decent possibility of running into a trophy bull during any season. Our large hunt area and number of camps allows us to increase your chances. We have several over-the-counter seasons, so planning a hunt is easy.
Over the past 2-3 years, our mule deer population is rebounding nicely and we have several trophy bucks in the area. Mule deer is a relatively easy draw tag. Bear and cat populations are at a decade long high. September rifle bear tags are an easy draw. 18in+ Cutthroat are not uncommon in the high lakes. You can typically catch Brook trout all day long in the lakes or miles of streams.
Jimmy Oswald
from
$4,500