2012 Desert Ram

[SDHNTR]

I've been in your same position before! I hunted a unit here in CA that had never been hunted before. The rams were still more spooky and alert than any animal I've ever hunted. At least when it cam to getting within bow range. 200 yards was a cakewalk, 50 was incredibly tough. I spent 16 days chasing rams with my bow and had many close calls, and a couple lengthy misses. It was an incredible experience. In the end, family obligations prevented me from extending the hunt even further. Once I made the decision to get the rifle out, I had a dead ram in less than an hour.

Now, had I just gone right to the rifle, I would have had a solid 165 class ram dead in the first 20 minures (had him at 42 yards and just needed one step to clear a small bush when the wind swirled), and I wouldn't have had the incredible experience I had chasing these things all over the desert. It would have been over too fast and I would have felt cheated. So my suggestion is to take the bow and give it heck, then if you need to, bring out the bang stick. But ultimately, it is your decision, only you can decide and nothing anyone else says (especially if anyone gets all holier than thou -bow only on you) should matter at all. Do what you think is right. This is a high pressure tag and everyone likes to throw opinions at you. You might need to block some out. I know I did.

 

[Fatrack]

got back to Bozeman late lastnight... the roads were clear and the driving was easy on the way down there, the way back was a different story!

So the bow/gun question was answered...

 

[Spitz]

Details?!!!

 

[choc dogs]

dammit moosie

 

[chuckyd313]

Keeping the suspense going?

 

[Fatrack]

ok, here it goes.

It was a hunt that i will never forget, for many reasons. It was one of the toughest and most rewarding hunts that I've been on. We hit it hard every day, up at 4:30 and getting back to camp after dark. The first sheep we saw were ewes and it was awesome watching them. Each day out, we saw more sheep and once we found some rams, each consecutive day out we found more and more mature rams. Their color markings were incredible, white rumps with white stripes down the backs of their legs. When it was all said and done, on the 7th day of the hunt, which was coincidentially my birthday , we had seen 30 rams and 16 ewes.

 

[Fatrack]

the name of the game was glass, glass, glass. we spent an absolute rediculous amount of time behind the glass, switching from binos to spotters and back and forth.

each morning we were graced with these...nothing like it over the desert

 

[Fatrack]

the area that we hunted was pretty desolate country...it seemed as though this country hadn't changed much over the last couple 1000 years, while taking breaks from the glass, looking around for artifacts was pretty cool

 

[Fatrack]

on the 4th day of the hunt, we finally found a couple of rams that had some head gear. quite a few of the rams that we saw were marked in some way, either with a colar or an ear tag. kinda strange being out in that country and finally finding some sheep and seeing them with a colar or ear tag in. These rams were first introduced into the area in 2006.

 

[Fatrack]

we had glassed this mountain on a few occasions, but it was on the 6th day that we found a band of mature rams on it

 

[Fatrack]

this was the century ram for the group, always on the look out for danger. while the other rams slept, ate and cracked heads, this guy was on the look out

 

[Fatrack]

we watched the group of rams for the better part of the day. they are absolutely awesome animals. there were five of them and they were all mature rams and they were all cool in their own way. one particular ram was super heavy with a real tight curl, he wasn't the biggest of the bunch but man was he impressive. a couple of the rams had good long horns, but didn't carry the mass. then there was one, the clear leader of the bunch. He was the biggest ram of the group, he pushed the other rams around constanly, he would kick them, nudge them off the rocks, and crack heads with the others. at one point while watching he T-boned another ram that got too close and knocked about 20 ft down the mountain...it was awesome. Not only was he the dominant ram, he was much bigger in the boddy than all the others. He was the one! we watched them until dark that day and put a plan together to come back the following day, my birthday, and try to locate and put a play on him.

 

[Fatrack]

at first light we were back on the mountain and glassing. shortly after sunrise the rams were located. after watching them for about an hour, we planned the stalk and went after them. 3 hours later, we were perched on top of a cliff high above the rams. they were a mere 150 yrds below us! we sat and watched as they slept, switched beds, and chewed their cuds. finally, after two hours of baking in the sun they decided to move out. suddenly, out of the blue, they busted out of the wash they were bedded in up the opposite side. It got interesting real quick, I got up on the gun, located the ram and shot as he was about to crest over the ridge. Ram Down!

 

[Fatrack]

10 years old and well into the book, a truley magnificant creature!

 

[AZ402]

Freaking awesome man, great write up and an outstanding Ram, congrats.

 

[Fatrack]

good friends made the trip even more enjoyable. The Crew!

 

[Fatrack]

one more load for the Crew Cab, it definately got a work out this year!

 

[Fatrack]

words really can't explain this hunt. it was so awesome for so many reasons. one that will be cherished for life! sheep hunting is a speacial deal, I shot a dall sheep a few years ago. it was a guided hunt, unlike this one. the amount of work and effort that was put into this made it even that much more special. Sheep fever is a real thing, i'm nervous about falling in too deep!

 

[bigeasygator]

Fantastic ram!!!

 

[krummholz]

Wow, awesome ram! Thanks for the great pictures and story. You've had a season dreams are made of! Congrats on another successful hunt and an epic season! Gonna be a rough taxidermy bill this year!