Leaving tomorrow for bighorn sheep hunt in the Weminuche wilderness.
Scouting found most far back in wilderness so backpacking trip will make it harder but have found this type hunt very memorable.
Will take lots of photos so can share the trip with others that know how hard it is to draw such a hunt and dreams can come true.
Good luck Dan!!! What a great tag to have! From what I know of your past history I would say that some ram is about to have a very bad day in the near future! Can't wait for the stories and pictures.
Dan,
Good Luck..... Lots of Pictures.. :thumbsup:
Thanks Dan and Pat. Will give it my all.
Good luck man! Dream trip indeed!
Good luck Dan, That would be my dream hunt also
That sounds like a trip of a lifetime! We'll be waiting for pictures and story! :thumbsup:
Bernie Bjorklund
NC Iowa/SW Wisconsin
I once knew a Dan in Wichita that would backpack condition every year. Worked for a company by the name of Style Crest. I thought he was crazy (before I cared much about hunting)- Now I know he was on to something!
Good luck Dan! I hope you have an awesome trip!
Good luck! To take a bighorn sheep with a trad bow would be absolutely one of the coolest things ever!
Again, good luck,
Bisch
we just got back from colorado elk hunting last week. it was hard enough. cant emagine geeting as high as the sheep. were are you at from unit 78. i asume your close??? good luck :thumbsup:
Good luck can't wait to hear the stories!
Enjoy!
Time to post the outcome Dan.
By the way, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
subscribed :campfire:
Go get one. Good luck. Hap
WOW!! Good Luck!
good luck from an envious flatlander
Best of luck to you
Good luck and enjoy.
Good luck, hope you find lots of sheep
I keep looking for the story.......
Good Luck Dan: I have hunted the Weminuche for elk and got to see a nice full curl ram taken by another hunter. Hope you kill a big ol' ram!
I heard from Dan's brother that he made a perfect shot on a beautiful 10 year old ram. Congratulations Dan.
We need some pictures
Good luck and have a safe hunt.
:campfire:
Good luck, and be safe!
Ok time for the story of the hunt! After a summer of biking running and walking around with a 80# pack trying to get in sheep shape I left home hoping I was in good enough shape.
my brother Jim went with me for the entire trip.
we loaded up our packs for a 8 day hunt mine was 42# his was 46 and we started the over 8 miles in to where we were to camp.
I never dreamed it would be that hard but we made it before dark and set up camp. The next morning we started the 2 hour hike up to where he had scouted several bands of rams.
For the first four days we only found ewes and lambs and horse tracks about every where he had scouted but no rams.
Day 5 we went farther up the valley and found a group of 5 rams with 3 real good ones.
On the first stalk I was about 30 yards from the Rams but one was looking right where I was and spooked before I could get a shot.
Made one more stalk that eve but could not get close enough and had to go back to camp.
Dan asked me to post a few pictures for him. I will post a few and let Dan explain the pictures...enjoy..!
(http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Bowhuntater/Dansheep065.jpg)
(http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Bowhuntater/Dansheep030.jpg)
(http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Bowhuntater/Dansheep062.jpg)
Day 6 after morning oatmeal we went back up to where we had found the rams which was about 3 miles from where we were camped and saw part of the Rams but not the biggest ram but was a good 7/8 curl ram with the smaller ones so started to put a stalk on them tried to get in front of them and dont know if I was spotted or the wind swirled but they ended up going back and up into the timber without getting close.
Spent the rest of day glassing but could not find them so headed back to camp on the way it cut loose and rained hard and rained all night and into the next day.
Jims tent started leaking and by 10pm his bag was wet to his waist and he had a nasty night. My bag was getting a little wet by morning but not to bad, but was still raining. We put on rain gear and went to look for Rams and it rained all day, We looked for rams till 3pm but never saw them so headed back to camp and took up wet camp and headed back the 8 miles to the truck and dry bags.
Because of the rain our packs were heavier than
when we went in and we walked out the 8 miles in about 4.5 hours some in the dark and back to truck about 11pm it was very tough trip.
Next morn my pack was 52 his was 59 and we had each ate about 7# of food so wet stuff was about 17 pounds no fun.
Next morn we hunted up another place about 7 miles but found no sheep and had to leave that eve back to his house to leave on an Alberta moose hunt.
So no sheep hunting for a little over a week.
The pics Tater was so kind to post for me. The top pic is where Jim had found several band s of Rams while scouting and we hunted in and around for several miles the first 4 days. the one where I looked exhausted was on the 2hour hike about straight up every morning.
Last pic is the backside of the knob on left side of the first pic and found lots of sign but no sheep
Good luck to you when you go back! Beautiful country!
More Pics.....!
(http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Bowhuntater/Dansheep083.jpg)
(http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Bowhuntater/Dansheep015.jpg)
(http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Bowhuntater/Dansheep046.jpg)
(http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Bowhuntater/cosheep054.jpg)
Thanks to Tater you guys can see part of the hunt. We had a good camp and hot mountain house each evening was great. That guy in second pick is my brother Jim who did all the scouting this summer and walked lots of miles and is one tough hunter.
We found this group of sheep on 5th day and made several stalks.
Moose hunting was not good as alot of the Canada hunts seem to be these days so back sheep hunting in minute
(http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Bowhuntater/cosheep018.jpg)
(http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Bowhuntater/cosheep067.jpg)
(http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Bowhuntater/Dansheep214.jpg)
WE talked to a friend of Jims before we went moose hunting and made plans to use his mules on the next round of sheep hunting.
Our plan was to go in on the divide trail to where we had found the rams.
We packed all our gear and camps on one mule and took turns riding the other.
We saw a couple bands of rams on way in but they were not in a good place for a stalk.
We camped part way in then went on the next morning to where we had seen rams on the first hunt.
We glassed and found one small ram and was about to go look up another basin when Jim saw the old ram walk out of the timber followed by the other 2 big rams and bed down at edge of the timber.
Jim stayed at spotting scope and I started my hike up to come in above the bedded rams.
When I made it to the top the ram was still beddded and I was able to make it to about 30 yards of the rams.
The 7/8 ram walked past the bedded ram but I was still wanting to shoot the old ram and let him pass.
After a little wait the old ram stood and I was able to get a shot, it looked perfect and the ram ran about 50 yards staggered and fell rolled and then I heard him crash and roll for ever.
I was sick, he fell off a cliff and rolled about 300 yard down a chute almost ot the bottom.
When I got down to him Jim was there and except for a few cuts on his face and a few more chips to his horns he was ok.
Good luck next time out, this is my dream hunt! :campfire:
Nice Ram...!... Congrats again Dan..!
(http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Bowhuntater/DanSheep1.jpg)
(http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Bowhuntater/cosheep085.jpg)
(http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa282/Bowhuntater/Dansheep225.jpg)
Oops the deer was a little buck from the Canada moose hunt.
The rams were from this summer and think the two biggest in picture were the two with the old ram.
The black mule was the one we packed and the best mule I have ever been around she was great.
AWESOME!! Congrats!! :thumbsup:
After taking lots of pics and packing all the meat to the mules we loaded up and started out and made it to timberline and camped for the night.
Laying in the sleeping bag with elk screaming around camp most of the night was hard to get any sleep.
WE packed the mule and started the 16 miles back out to the truck and the end of the hunt.
The last picture was at the top of Wolf creek Pass on my way back to Kansas.
Thought it was a great ending to a great hunt.
Have a safe, successful trip. Will get the fire going and the coffee on :campfire: :coffee:
I should have paid closer attention to the dates on this thread. I was wishing Dan a successful trip and he is already back!!
Anyway, nice Ram!
We were shocked at how many guys were backpack hunting elk in this area and going 5 or more miles in with 60 to 80# packs.
Maybe they need to read more about what you need and leave half the stuff at the truck.
Well done!
That is awesome. Congrats to you sir that is just amazing! Thanks for sharing. A dream hunt indeed!
Fantastic!
Congrats :clapper:
Good luck it is beautiful out there!
Dan,
I know you were shooting a Longbow but could you give us a little more on the specifics of your set up?
Thanks, Pat
Congrats!
Awesome :thumbsup:
Fantastic all the way around!! It's nice to see hard work pay off. Congratulations on a beautiful animal!
Congratulations again Dan, Thanks for the pics and story,
Rick
Looks like a hunt of a lifetime. Congrats
Awesome hunt and thanks for sharing. Love to hunt elk in the Weminuche and enjoyed being back there this fall. That is a lot of hard work you did to get that ram, and skill.
I was shocked to see a picture of a whitetail, glad to hear it was from the Canada hunt and not in that part of CO. Thanks again.
Heck yeah!!!! That is awesome. Congrats on a trip of a lifetime.
Jeff
Heck yeah!!!! That is awesome. Congrats on a trip of a lifetime.
Jeff
Wow. Way to go. Hopefully someday ill be so fortunate!
CONGRATULATIONS, NICE SHEEP! :notworthy:
That was a hunt of a lifetime, Congratulations. :thumbsup:
Thank you.
My bow is a Wild Horse Creek Hawk T/D Made by Mike Dunnaway 60" and 56#@27" this is my go to bow for years. The arrows are old Acme cedar shafts that I tapered and did a camo burn with brown cap tipped with green Bear Razorheads.
The first I remember wanting to shoot a ram was after G Fred had a story in bowhunter magazine about the ram he shot in Colorado.
I thought that has to be a dream hunt and I know now it is.
Guys dont ever give up it could happen!
I'll want to see those pics...
Tater posted pictures of the hunt for me on page 2, 3 and 4. thanks Dan
:clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
Congratulations. Hard work and preparation sure have a hand in making dreams come true.
Thanks for sharing looks like a blast!
Wow! Super ram and congrats! Sheep are truly a dream hunt for me too.
Great story and a huge ram. Congratulations sir!!
:clapper: :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
K.C. <><
Congratulations! awesome dream hunt.
Dan, great adventure with your brother. Well put together and the results bare that out. Congratulations.
Shick
Outstanding, congratulations!
My favorite thread of the season.
FANTASTIC and a dream for most of us.
Congrats Brother.
:clapper:
awesome sheep and amazing country
Congratulations Dan, you got it done in a tough unit. Very proud of you and happy for you!
Todd
Dan,
I can't add much other than I am jealous ;)
Great job and thanks for sharing. To me, sheep are the toughest of them all with a stickbow, specificially hard hunted Colorado sheep.
So cool , Congrats sir.............
,,,Sam,,,
Congratulations!
Great story and pics.Congrats on a beautiful ram,thanks for sharing.
Congratulations again, Dan. Thanks for using your Wild Horse Creek bow to get the job done. Knowing you, you would have been successful with any bow you decided to shoot. And thanks for taking time to share the details of your hunt.
Have a great deer season.
--Mike
Thank you all.
I wish everyone could have a sheep hunt like this.
I was lucky my dad took us to the mountains every year and I still can not get enough of them.
I hope to be able to hunt high country for many years.
Congratulations, Dan. Beautiful ram and excellent story. It's actually amazing to me, how big those sheep really are.
Hunting the back country should teach those guys what to leave at the truck. Maybe they don't learn so quickly?
Again, congrats on a fantastic memory and wonderful hunt.
homebru
Whopper!! Congrats X 10 :thumbsup:
Dan - Congrats on both drawing a tag and getting a great ram.
A dream hunt for sure!
Thanks for taking us along.
Congrats on a super hunt and a fantastic ram!
Just read the whole thread, great story and a beautiful Ram! Man what a hunt, the preparation, blood, sweat, and tears no doubt and then to have it all come true! Thanks
I knew if anyone could get it done it would be these tough old hunters. Thats an amazing accomplishment. Congrats Dan.
Best of luck on this awesome trip.
Really a fantastic hunt, thanks for sharing and congrats !!!
Keep after them and thanks for taking us along on a great hunt.
Very nice
Wow ! What a awesome hunt.... Congrats on thar Great Ram. Hopefully , someday for me too, we'll see. Tu Compadres, Sutty
A dream hunt indeed!!!
Well done sir!
Amazing! This is my dream hunt as well. :thumbsup:
:notworthy: