Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: FoCoBlackWidow on November 16, 2020, 11:55:30 PM
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While it’s still whitetail season for many, I’m finally getting around to reflecting on a dream hunt I will never forget. I’ve always wanted to hunt sheep but my finances insist that I stand in line with everyone else.
I want to start with a big ‘thank you’ to all of the folks who helped me out. Many are active here and the traditional bowhunting community was extremely generous in sharing knowledge and answering my questions, not to mention sharing their personal stories and offering encouragement throughout the season. And none of this would be possible without the lifelong support of my parents, who even made a trip out from the Midwest to help me locate sheep and get their own glimpse into what sheep country looks like.
I spent the summer getting in shape and shot a couple of 3D tournaments for the first time in years. The pressure of shooting steep angles, longer distances and in front of friends who can’t wait to let you hear it if you blow a shot certainly makes a guy feel like he’s as prepared as he can be.
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I had a band of good rams located prior to the season, but it took until the middle of the second day before they were in position for a stalk. After about a 90-minute climb, I was slipping down the steep face from above them until I ran out of cover. The wind swirled and the rams took off, but my friend Jason was playing spotter and signaled that some of the rams had stayed put on the other side of a cliff. I angled over, and poked my head over the edge. Sure enough, there was a big ram and three of his buddies, tightly hugging a cliff about 100 yards in front of me.
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Almost immediately, they got up and were moving fast in my direction. I quickly got ready, and suddenly the lead ram popped up 25 yards below me and stopped. I drew, and my lower limb tip hit a rock. I shuffled a half step out to clear the rock and in the process, skylined myself. He immediately looked up and bolted like a whitetail that just caught you in a tree. My arrow left the string about the time he took off, and he was gone before the arrow got there. If you look closely, you can see me with my head in my hands, in utter disbelief.
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Things sort of turned into “combat glassing,” as I’ll call it, after that in the high country. Suddenly it seemed like every tag holder in the unit was in the basin I had found the sheep in. I found the big guy again a couple of days later on a different mountain, but he managed to slip out the back door while I was dropping into the rock chute he had relocated to.
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It took several more days before I found sheep again, but after relocating to a couple of completely different areas, I finally found a ram hanging with ewes and lambs. He was legal, so it didn’t matter that he couldn’t hold the jock strap of the ram I had missed. Come to think of it, it would take a body builder to hold up the jock strap of a bighorn sheep…
Anyway, I managed a few stalks on rams over the next week, but every time I got within 60 yards, something would go wrong. After 15 days, the real world got in the way and I headed home to catch up on work.
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On the final weekend, I caught up to a big band of ewes with several rams tagging along. I got myself in position above them and could see them bedded in the open. I could hear what sounded like a cough immediately below me - we’re talking inside 30 yards. I figured I had better get ready and before I could even get an arrow on the string, out stepped an ewe. And then another. And then another. As they fed toward me inside 15 yards, a ram arrived. By the time the ewes stopped staring my direction, I had no shot. This happened a few more times and just like that, the chance of shooting a sheep walked out of my life.
All told, I was blessed to hike about 100 miles in some of the most beautiful country you could ever ask for. I got several stalks on sheep, got into stickbow range twice and had an opportunity at a ram most of us will only ever dream of. While I spent a lot of time alone over the 21 total days I hunted, I also met some gracious people who went out of their way to help me. I didn’t fulfill my dream of taking a sheep with my recurve, but I got an experience far richer than I could have ever imagined.
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A long time ago, I read the Jack O’Connor quote that says, “There is no half way. After his first exposure, a man is either a sheep hunter or he isn't. He either falls under the spell of sheep hunting and sheep country or he won't be caught dead on another sheep mountain.” I have certainly fallen under the spell, and I hope to experience it again.
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Bonus: I saw two different goats during my scouting and hunting. While the DOW doesn't want them in the area, they must cover ground occasionally.
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I enjoyed your telling of your tale of your dream hunt for the glorious Bighorn Ram.Sounds like an awesome and enriching experience.I dreamed of em as a boy.Something about them captures the imagination and they seam surreal and Heavenly.
You came close and had many encounters.Thats a big part of the deal.Very exciting!Maybe you will close the deal next time.You need a shorter bow next time so you don't bump that tip LOL.
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Congrats Jordan!
I would say you are now an official sheep hunter!
though you didnt punch your tag your, the fact that you found sheep and got very close was a victory in itself, many people dont do that there first time.
Theres an old saying here: The harder you work, the luckier you get. you proved that, Look forward to the next time!
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Awesome story Jordan and you did mighty well for your first sheep hunt.
I'm positive you will tag a ram on one of those hunts on the mountain.^5
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Wry cool experience!!!!! Dream hunt, for sure.
Bisch
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What a great experience the country side alone is awesome !!!
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Cool story and hunt. Hard core comes to mind. Thank you for sharing
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I enjoyed your story. Wish we could have seen a hero picture at the end. Your story reminded me of my goat hunt some 30 years ago in the San Juans. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
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Good stuff. My hunt in S12 in 2007 ended similarly. Many close calls but no ram in the end. Would not trade that month for anything and it will always be my fondest memory.
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Awesome hunt and mountainside! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Ah, the thrill of the high country ! Cool stuff ! :notworthy:
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Nice hunt recap, well done! Nothing like sheep country!
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Jordan, you got the right attitude and I think you will be successful, in fact you already are...
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Thank you for taking us along. 👍👍
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The guy with the binoculars isn't the sheep hunter, it's me, his dad. I thought I'd throw that out there in case anyone was thinking "Geez, he needs to drop some pounds if he wants to chase sheep!" And, you'd be correct. Though he invited me to join him, I regretfully knew that wouldn't be possible. My living at 800 feet and trying to acclimate to 13,000 would not only be impossible in a week but foolishly dangerous. And when it was time to move on a sheep, I didn't want to be an anchor holding him back. He was in phenomenal shape with his dream tag in his pocket and, as much as I wanted to share the hunt with him, I wasn't going to be a liability - that's my loss.
I do appreciate his efforts to share the adventure, from the excited phone call when he found out he'd drawn this tag, through his scouting and conditioning updates and checking in to reassure us that he was safe on this solo hunt. Through his occasional phone calls over the month of August it was evident how mentally tough one has to be to undertake such a task. His crushing disappointment on the second day of the hunt was described as "heartbreaking." And yet he crawled out of the sleeping bag the next morning and started all over again. And the same with the many days that followed because that's what was needed. Stay stubbornly determined and pursue the dream or pack it in and go home.
He grew tremendously over those weeks and learned a lot about himself and what he was capable of. Every day I'd wonder where he was and how it was going for him. I could only imagine the cold mornings perched behind a spotting scope at sunrise and the relentless winds as a constant foe. Or the stunning high country vistas viewed by the fortunate few. I always hoped that today would be his day to peer through his glass at a ram and break out in a smile, even though no one else was there to witness it. And though "that day" never materialized despite exhausting effort, he experienced a great sheep hunt. He joined the ranks of those that have tried and vow to return for more.
Because the dream lives on.
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You managed that climb up to 13,000' just fine this summer!
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Your story gets me fired up. I'm at 3+10 and hope to get drawn soon.
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Jordan, Thanks for sharing your adventure with us. No doubt in my mind you'll be successful on your next dream hunt! Just being out in that beautiful country was a success.
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Thank you for posting and enjoyed your awesome story.