HighWildFree
Well-known member
The Ram is down and off the Mountain.
I spent five days scouting and looking at rams. I saw lots of rams and lots of awesome rutting behavior. After looking at a lot of rams, I finally decided that I wanted a ram with a lot of mass. There were a few thin full curl rams, and a few heavier brutes running around the mountain. Up until Friday I had not even shouldered my rifle or even look through the scope. But my girlfriend took the day off and was going to come along, so I decided that if a ram to my liking gave me the opportunity I was going to take him. I'm not sure if it was the cold weather or what, but the sheep had seemed to have scattered themselves. I was seeing very few sheep as compared to early in the week. It made me a little nervous that they maybe had moved into less visible, less accessible areas. So Friday morning when we only spotted two young rams and a lone ewe, I was even more worried. The ewe was at the summit and dropped over onto the backside of the mountain. I followed her up and over the mountain, hoping that there was a ram with her. When I crested the hill, there she stood. Alone. It was noon and we headed back to the truck to check another area. But I couldn't leave the ewe alone so we got to the road I swung the scope to where I saw her on the other side of the mountain. There she was, now with 20 other sheep and a pretty good ram. A 1/2 mile to the east on the same face was another band of 20 with 5 rams chasing a hot ewe. One ram stood out to me as being much larger than the rest.
My heart sank as I started looking over the hillside where they began bedding down. Steep timber with thick jack pines, deadfalls, and steep. We began angling up the hill toward the group. Ever once and while I'd catch a glimpse of a sheep or hear rocks tumbling. Finally we reached the spot where I figured they be. Nothing.
I thought they might have moved on or we spooked them. Then I heard shale sliding and about 100 yards there were 15 sheep all in a big pile on a rock outcropping. I began glassing them but couldn't locate the big ram. So we just sat down and waited. After half an hour I heard more rocks tumbling and a ewe popped up on the rock outcropping followed closely by the big ram with his nose jammed up her backside. I looked him over to double check that he was legal. But I wasn't sure if he was the big ram I saw from the road. He bedded down right on the point of the outcropping. I could see that my girlfriend was getting cold and starting to shiver. She said, trying to be tough, that she could do another half hour before she became a popscicle. I figured she'd last another 15 mins. Just then the band got up and started feeding but the big ram stayed bedded facing directly toward us. Suddenly, jumped up and dropped out of sight in front of us. Then I heard rocks and brush very close to us and saw horn coming through the brush and he appeared just 30 yards above us. He turned to face us down and I put the crosshairs on his chest. I knew I could kill him but it was not quite a slam dunk shot. There was some brush, I didn't want to ruin the cape and I knew that he would eventually give me a good shot. Two smaller rams joined him and he grunted at us and paced back and forth. He butted heads with a smaller ram and they scuffled for a bit. Finally he hopped up on a rock and gave me a clear broadside shot. The rifle cracked, he ran and I heard him tumble 40 yards away. Perhaps I was a bit premature, but I immediately began calling people to get someone up to help us get him packed out as we had about an hour and a half of daylight and the terrain was pretty treacherous. A few good buddies showed up and the pack out went as smooth as it could have been.
It was the hunt of the lifetime. He's a great ram and I am thoroughly satisfied with him. I'm already eager for my next hunt in 35 years
I rough scored him at 178 7/8. 16 1/2" bases and 37 1/2" & 36 3/4" horns
I spent five days scouting and looking at rams. I saw lots of rams and lots of awesome rutting behavior. After looking at a lot of rams, I finally decided that I wanted a ram with a lot of mass. There were a few thin full curl rams, and a few heavier brutes running around the mountain. Up until Friday I had not even shouldered my rifle or even look through the scope. But my girlfriend took the day off and was going to come along, so I decided that if a ram to my liking gave me the opportunity I was going to take him. I'm not sure if it was the cold weather or what, but the sheep had seemed to have scattered themselves. I was seeing very few sheep as compared to early in the week. It made me a little nervous that they maybe had moved into less visible, less accessible areas. So Friday morning when we only spotted two young rams and a lone ewe, I was even more worried. The ewe was at the summit and dropped over onto the backside of the mountain. I followed her up and over the mountain, hoping that there was a ram with her. When I crested the hill, there she stood. Alone. It was noon and we headed back to the truck to check another area. But I couldn't leave the ewe alone so we got to the road I swung the scope to where I saw her on the other side of the mountain. There she was, now with 20 other sheep and a pretty good ram. A 1/2 mile to the east on the same face was another band of 20 with 5 rams chasing a hot ewe. One ram stood out to me as being much larger than the rest.
My heart sank as I started looking over the hillside where they began bedding down. Steep timber with thick jack pines, deadfalls, and steep. We began angling up the hill toward the group. Ever once and while I'd catch a glimpse of a sheep or hear rocks tumbling. Finally we reached the spot where I figured they be. Nothing.
I thought they might have moved on or we spooked them. Then I heard shale sliding and about 100 yards there were 15 sheep all in a big pile on a rock outcropping. I began glassing them but couldn't locate the big ram. So we just sat down and waited. After half an hour I heard more rocks tumbling and a ewe popped up on the rock outcropping followed closely by the big ram with his nose jammed up her backside. I looked him over to double check that he was legal. But I wasn't sure if he was the big ram I saw from the road. He bedded down right on the point of the outcropping. I could see that my girlfriend was getting cold and starting to shiver. She said, trying to be tough, that she could do another half hour before she became a popscicle. I figured she'd last another 15 mins. Just then the band got up and started feeding but the big ram stayed bedded facing directly toward us. Suddenly, jumped up and dropped out of sight in front of us. Then I heard rocks and brush very close to us and saw horn coming through the brush and he appeared just 30 yards above us. He turned to face us down and I put the crosshairs on his chest. I knew I could kill him but it was not quite a slam dunk shot. There was some brush, I didn't want to ruin the cape and I knew that he would eventually give me a good shot. Two smaller rams joined him and he grunted at us and paced back and forth. He butted heads with a smaller ram and they scuffled for a bit. Finally he hopped up on a rock and gave me a clear broadside shot. The rifle cracked, he ran and I heard him tumble 40 yards away. Perhaps I was a bit premature, but I immediately began calling people to get someone up to help us get him packed out as we had about an hour and a half of daylight and the terrain was pretty treacherous. A few good buddies showed up and the pack out went as smooth as it could have been.
It was the hunt of the lifetime. He's a great ram and I am thoroughly satisfied with him. I'm already eager for my next hunt in 35 years
I rough scored him at 178 7/8. 16 1/2" bases and 37 1/2" & 36 3/4" horns
