WNC2500
Well-known member
That went from zero to 100mph quickly
NW CO to SE NM Barbary Sheep
- Thread starter TheGreek
- Start date
Bluffgruff
Well-known member
Your plan must have been a good one! Or things happened fast and the plan went out the window....
That's honestly one of my favorite things about hunting. There's always a possibility that things can get really interesting, really quick.
Nick87
Well-known member
Hopefully he gets some service again soon...
TheGreek
Well-known member
Thursday 2-15 Recap
I pulled myself outta my tent early this morning and was headed into the BLM at 5am with a plan to get about 1.5 miles in and be on my planned glassing knob before legal shooting light at 6:10am. Headed up the first big incline, my headlamp went from strong to the light equivalent of a BIC lighter. I was too lazy to dump my pack and get my backup or put new batteries in so low light it was. Over rocky terrain. I was able to get pretty close to where I had planned to glass but I hit a fence in the middle of the BLM piece that was wire netting with top barb wire that was my waist height and with legal light coming soon I decided to glass from that point instead of messing with trying to find a place to cross that fence.
I was set up to glass by legal shooting time and as day broke, i didn’t see a thing. But it was good looking country and there were some cliff bands to glass and everyone says Barbary sheep love cliffs of any height. I glassed till about 7:30am with nothing to show for it but a few cows.
And then, all of a sudden, some reddish brown things on the top of a ridge over a mile away. Could it be? Really?! Damn, those are Barbary sheep! I saw three of them for only a minute or two before they moved back over the ridgeline and out of sight. But I was able to pull up the map and confirm where they were and that they were clearly on public and not near any private boundaries.
I stripped my warm clothes off and figured I’d put a stalk on and see what happens. I had over a mile to close before I would be even close to shooting distance. I just hoped they would stay put.
I made my way down a ridge towards them, found a place to cross that PIA barbwire fence and started to cut the distance. When I got to the last hill before I had to drop down to the bottom to cross to the ridge they were on, I glassed the ridge I last saw them on and spotted them about 500 yards up the ridgeline from where I had first spotted them. If they stayed in that area, I’d have a shot to drop off the hill I was on, go down and around through the bottom out of sight and climb the backside of the ridge they were on and come up and over on them within shooting distance. If they stayed put.
I dropped down and around the hill I was on, crossed the bottom and began working my way up the ridge they were on. As I got closer to where i thought they would be, I slowed way down and made sure to not topple any rocks. I topped out over the ridge about 2/3 up that ridge line and glassed up ahead and didn’t see anything up further up. At this point, i figured if they were there they were gonna be close. I chambered a round and started inching my way forward glassing every few steps when a horn caught my eye. One was right there. I quickly hit my knees and was once again out of sight. Wind was in my face. When I stood I was just able to see the top of one’s head and horns. I ranged a yucca plant next to it. 75 yards. Damn, this is close.
I could tell it was in it’s bed and i couldn’t see any part of it’s body for a shot. I closed the distance a little more trying to figure what the best plan was. I was afraid that if I kept pushing they might just bolt and I might not have a shot.
So I just stood up, ready to shoot offhand. The one I had seen stood up, turned broadside and I shot offhand. I could tell it was hit well and it stumbled but didn’t go down. At this point, the other half dozen sheep bedded next to it stood up as well. I fired again and it was down.
The others just stood around staring. I walked to within about 35 yards before they ran off.
I walked up to my Barbary Sheep. I was ecstatic! It was a ewe, which is legal, and it sure looked like the biggest of the group, but what do I know? Either way, I wasn’t passing on any Barbary after not seeing a single one for the first three days.
Now the hard work. I got it broken down, quartered and into my pack in about two hours. I made the decision to attempt the pack out in one trip. It was about 3 miles out one way with one big incline in the beginning and one big decline at the end out to the car.
The moment I got my pack on, I realized this was gonna suck. And it did. The pack out took me 2.5 hours with a couple rolled ankles but I made it out generally unscathed.
I killed that Barbary at about 8:30am, an hour after I first spotted them. I still can’t believe the stalk came together like it did and that they didn’t go any further. I chalk a lot of it up to luck.
When I started this trip, I spent some time thinking about what success would look like. First I decided that getting an opportunity to kill a Barbary sheep, whether it happened or not, would be a success. Then I realized that may be totally out of my control. So I decided that simply seeing some Barbary sheep would be a success. And I had the same realization. So I set my definition of success as just not quitting. My goal was to just go and hunt and keep at it and push through the boredom and at times loneliness that can be solo big game hunting at times. Truthfully, after a day or two of this hunt, I never thought I’d actually punch the tag. I still can’t believe it.
Thanks to everyone for the kind words and encouragement. And an extra big thanks to @Nick_CO and @Valley1320 for a little insight on where to find Barbary sheep. It was really appreciated guys!
I pulled myself outta my tent early this morning and was headed into the BLM at 5am with a plan to get about 1.5 miles in and be on my planned glassing knob before legal shooting light at 6:10am. Headed up the first big incline, my headlamp went from strong to the light equivalent of a BIC lighter. I was too lazy to dump my pack and get my backup or put new batteries in so low light it was. Over rocky terrain. I was able to get pretty close to where I had planned to glass but I hit a fence in the middle of the BLM piece that was wire netting with top barb wire that was my waist height and with legal light coming soon I decided to glass from that point instead of messing with trying to find a place to cross that fence.
I was set up to glass by legal shooting time and as day broke, i didn’t see a thing. But it was good looking country and there were some cliff bands to glass and everyone says Barbary sheep love cliffs of any height. I glassed till about 7:30am with nothing to show for it but a few cows.
And then, all of a sudden, some reddish brown things on the top of a ridge over a mile away. Could it be? Really?! Damn, those are Barbary sheep! I saw three of them for only a minute or two before they moved back over the ridgeline and out of sight. But I was able to pull up the map and confirm where they were and that they were clearly on public and not near any private boundaries.
I stripped my warm clothes off and figured I’d put a stalk on and see what happens. I had over a mile to close before I would be even close to shooting distance. I just hoped they would stay put.
I made my way down a ridge towards them, found a place to cross that PIA barbwire fence and started to cut the distance. When I got to the last hill before I had to drop down to the bottom to cross to the ridge they were on, I glassed the ridge I last saw them on and spotted them about 500 yards up the ridgeline from where I had first spotted them. If they stayed in that area, I’d have a shot to drop off the hill I was on, go down and around through the bottom out of sight and climb the backside of the ridge they were on and come up and over on them within shooting distance. If they stayed put.
I dropped down and around the hill I was on, crossed the bottom and began working my way up the ridge they were on. As I got closer to where i thought they would be, I slowed way down and made sure to not topple any rocks. I topped out over the ridge about 2/3 up that ridge line and glassed up ahead and didn’t see anything up further up. At this point, i figured if they were there they were gonna be close. I chambered a round and started inching my way forward glassing every few steps when a horn caught my eye. One was right there. I quickly hit my knees and was once again out of sight. Wind was in my face. When I stood I was just able to see the top of one’s head and horns. I ranged a yucca plant next to it. 75 yards. Damn, this is close.
I could tell it was in it’s bed and i couldn’t see any part of it’s body for a shot. I closed the distance a little more trying to figure what the best plan was. I was afraid that if I kept pushing they might just bolt and I might not have a shot.
So I just stood up, ready to shoot offhand. The one I had seen stood up, turned broadside and I shot offhand. I could tell it was hit well and it stumbled but didn’t go down. At this point, the other half dozen sheep bedded next to it stood up as well. I fired again and it was down.
The others just stood around staring. I walked to within about 35 yards before they ran off.
I walked up to my Barbary Sheep. I was ecstatic! It was a ewe, which is legal, and it sure looked like the biggest of the group, but what do I know? Either way, I wasn’t passing on any Barbary after not seeing a single one for the first three days.
Now the hard work. I got it broken down, quartered and into my pack in about two hours. I made the decision to attempt the pack out in one trip. It was about 3 miles out one way with one big incline in the beginning and one big decline at the end out to the car.
The moment I got my pack on, I realized this was gonna suck. And it did. The pack out took me 2.5 hours with a couple rolled ankles but I made it out generally unscathed.
I killed that Barbary at about 8:30am, an hour after I first spotted them. I still can’t believe the stalk came together like it did and that they didn’t go any further. I chalk a lot of it up to luck.
When I started this trip, I spent some time thinking about what success would look like. First I decided that getting an opportunity to kill a Barbary sheep, whether it happened or not, would be a success. Then I realized that may be totally out of my control. So I decided that simply seeing some Barbary sheep would be a success. And I had the same realization. So I set my definition of success as just not quitting. My goal was to just go and hunt and keep at it and push through the boredom and at times loneliness that can be solo big game hunting at times. Truthfully, after a day or two of this hunt, I never thought I’d actually punch the tag. I still can’t believe it.
Thanks to everyone for the kind words and encouragement. And an extra big thanks to @Nick_CO and @Valley1320 for a little insight on where to find Barbary sheep. It was really appreciated guys!
TheGreek
Well-known member
Tried the allsups burritos post hunt on the recommendation of @Benfromalbuquerque. I was pleasantly surprised. They are just the right size to apply hot sauce on while holding them between your legs while NB outta Roswell.
TheGreek
Well-known member
And enjoying a few obligatory post hunt beers. This stuff is pretty good.
Gonna finish the drive back north to the land of ice and snow tomorrow. Wife will
Be happy I’m home a few days early. Especially considering that my buddy didn’t drop off any flowers for Valentine’s Day like I had asked him, nor did he plow my driveway. He’s also my plow guy. Wife was way more pissed about him not plowing then the lack of flowers.
Gonna finish the drive back north to the land of ice and snow tomorrow. Wife will
Be happy I’m home a few days early. Especially considering that my buddy didn’t drop off any flowers for Valentine’s Day like I had asked him, nor did he plow my driveway. He’s also my plow guy. Wife was way more pissed about him not plowing then the lack of flowers.
Valley1320
Well-known member
Great job! Congrats! Nice thing about the ewe is they are alot more edible than the rams!
SwaggyD
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2022
- Messages
- 1,435
Congrats. Awesome following along.
Khunter
Well-known member
congrats on a fun hard hunt that turned out well!
Man I could not be more happy for you! For others reading this, I did this exact hunt last month but was unsuccessful. I got very close a few times but it just didn't come together for me. It was definitely not what I was expecting for the Barbary draw hunts in terms of animals seen. In fact it seemed much more like an opportunistic OTC type of hunt - in that if you are picky about opportunities you may go home empty handed. I have great respect for those that have gotten it done out there like TheGreek. Well done sir!
Mountain Man
Well-known member
Great to see your well deserved success! I’m stoked for you man!
marksjeep
Well-known member
Congrats! Fast and fun. Thanks for posting it up here.
Wyhunter
Well-known member
Awesome! Congrats on your ewe!
TheBenHoyle
Well-known member
Way to go! Congratulations!
