i've hunted sheep several times and feral goats in hawaii. my favorite rifle is my 243, but 30.06 isn't a bad choice either. you don't need some 300 super long action double-whammy ultra-huge hunting magnum caliber. shoot your favorite deer rifle because sheep aren't that thick skinned. most guys don't practice enough before hand, so practice hard.

i'll be after bighorns this year myself. my fitness goals are coming along, but the hardest thing for me is the elevation change. unfortunately though, i'm putting on more muscle than i want. which is a problem for me because it takes more oxygen and more food to keep me going if i get all Arnold Schwarzenegger'd out. i struggle with this the most because i don't need to be up in the mountains carrying 20 pounds of food and water.

just a tip, get your pack together and all your gear now. put it ALL away and stop thinking about it. worry more about engaging your quarry than what piece of gear you'll be holding when your chance comes. i've killed more animals with just my weapon, a knife and a tag on my person than anything else. but i'm a minimalist... to me though, i think that's what sheep hunting is about. the basics.

sheep in ak
 

do you know of a decent sheep hunt in ak?

for 7,000 dollars

$7,000 would be a very, very reasonable dall sheep hunt in AK!

I re-posted about that...I've seen AK goat hunts for that I think on Kodiak, but I was mistaken about dall sheep, they seem to be in the neighborhood of $15k.

That is correct. Quality goat hunts on Kodiak run around $6500. Goat hunts on Kodiak are draw hunts. You can still get a quality dall sheep hunt for under 15K and 15K would be the upper end for a dall sheep hunt in AK. But 15K is not way out priced for the average AK dall sheep hunt.

Almost all of south Kodiak is just a registration permit for goats now. That island is littered with goats. I talked with the biologist when I was down there in '08 and he showed us their detailed range maps for the goats. They've spread all over, and into many areas where they never thought they would colonize. With the way the population has been growing they've been steadily liberalizing the hunting opportunities.

Guided sheep hunts in AK seem to be more in the 10-12k range, but when you include tag fees, airfare to AK, air taxi fees, and trophy shipment back they could run 15k home and back. I love being an Alaska resident. I'm going sheep hunting this year for a third year in a row and total cost (not including taxidermy) will only be about a grand for all three combined.