My First Sheep Hunt - NV Desert Bighorn

[eshunt]

I was able to get home and spend an evening with the family, pick up a different rifle (well, I grabbed a few so I could shoot them and decide which one I would use). One of which was a new rifle/scope combo of my wife’s that I had spent the summer getting all set up for her. She said it would be ok for me to use it on this hunt.

Then I had to work out of town for a couple of days.

On my way home from work Thursday evening I went back into my sheep unit. Immediately I find a group of sheep on the hill as the sun is setting. No big rams, buts it encouraging to see sheep.

 

[eshunt]

I wake up in the morning and find a couple rams hanging out by themselves. They are over a mile and a half away at this point

I have been up where they are so I am deciding how I want to go after them. At some point I start glassing closer to see what else is around and lose track of the two rams. It’s so amazing how these animals just appear and disappear in this environment.

I drove over closer to where the rams disappeared and find a couple more groups of sheep on the mountain. Including this big ram. He was nice but was way up on top of the mountain.

 

[eshunt]

I have a commitment at 4pm back at home so I really only had the morning to hunt. The family would be coming back down with me on Saturday morning so I was just hoping to see some sheep and come up with a plan for the weekend.

Well, I call the wife and she basically tells me that I need to get my but in gear and go try and find those two bigger rams. So I put some water and snacks in the backpack and head up the mountain.

I had an idea of where the two rams would go. So I start working my way up a steep wash onto the north side of the mountain where I had first seen the rams. I had hiked up this mountain a couple times over the summer scouting and also on opening day with the family. It’s steep and loose and I was making a lot of noise just walking up the hill.

I don’t do a lot of solo hunting. I usually am with good friends and family while out chasing critters in the mountains. So for me to be out chasing sheep solo was a bit of a mental struggle for me. As I’m hiking up, I have a million things going through my head between family, work and just life in general. I can totally relate to @TOGIE thread about hunting his general elk tag.

I lose myself in this game of mental gymnastics and am not paying as close attention to the task at hand as I should. I’m thinking I’m just out on another walk about and maybe I’ll spend some time glassing the sheep across the way, high up on the mountain. Come up with a plan to chase that big ram when the family is back down with me.

I round a corner where I can see up into one of the folds in the desert that I couldn’t glass into from down below. It takes me a couple seconds to realize I am now staring at two nice rams that are only 200yds away on the hill.

 

[eshunt]

That guy got my blood pumping immediately! Ok, I need to take a few steps over to that rock, take my pack off, get the rifle off my pack and get set up for a shot. There’s no way these sheep are going to stand there while all this commotion is going on. But I have to try.

It turns out that these big boys aren’t as skittish as I thought they might be. They take turns watching me as I start pulling my pack apart to get the rifle ready. I almost never carry the rifle strapped to my backpack and I’m cussing at myself for not being ready with the rifle in my hands.

At this point, being out solo, I wanted to get a really good look at the two rams and make sure my eyes weren’t tricking me and that this really was a good ram.

They give me time to pull out the tripod and spotter to get set up and take a couple quick picks and some video. It was pretty obvious that one of these rams was quite a bit larger than the other. Ok, this is really happening!

All the preparation and scouting for this tag was finally paying off. But am I ready for it to all be over??? I want someone to be there with me to share in this moment and experience. This was a perfect opportunity for my wife and daughter to be here, they had hiked up this mountain twice with me earlier. But they aren’t here today. Do I just take more pics and video and try to come back tomorrow with the family and get back on these rams???

I may not get that opportunity. These animals can melt away into this landscape so easily. And in all my scouting and hunting up to this point I had no seen this ram, or any ram that was this large. My decision is made.

Boom!

 

[eshunt]

The sound of bullet hitting the target rings louder than the gunshot itself. The ram bolts a few steps to the right and then the two of them stand there together. Doubt suddenly comes washing over me. Did I miss again?? I know I heard an impact, but was it just the bullet hitting the ground? Did I even shoot the correct ram??? I know I had spent several minutes making sure I was on the larger of the two rams, but in that final moment did I make a mistake since I didn’t have anyone there to help talk me through which one to shoot???

I work up the small finger ridge to my right to get a better vantage. Both rams are standing side by side and one of them lays down. They are only about 20yds from where I shot. I pull up the binos and watch as the larger ram puts his head down on the rocks.

Holy &#*&$! Did this really just happen?? The emotions start to wash over me. It’s setting in that I just killed my first and possibly the only sheep I’ll ever get.

I go back to where I took the shot and gather my stuff. Doing a triple dummy check to make I am not leaving anything on the hillside. Once again I have a million thoughts tumbling through my mind. As I work my way up towards the ram, his buddy is still hanging out nearby and I grab some more pics as I approach.

 

[eshunt]

As I get closer, this is what I walk up to. He had gone less than 20yds before laying down one last time.

I feel like I’m in a dream. This can’t have just happened like that?!? All the doubt and worry about doing this tag justice, the pressure of finding a mature ram, the weight of a such a special tag, all began to lift as I walked closer.

 

[eshunt]

The flood of emotion was overwhelming. I have had the opportunity to hunt all over the western US and AK. I grew up hunting and it has been a large part of my life ever since I can remember. To have just taken my first sheep was completely surreal.


I don’t have cell service on this side of the mountain. So I grab a few quick pics and head to the top of the ridge to let my family know what just happened. And tell my wife that I took her advice and went after those rams.

After a few quick phone calls and some text messages it was back down to the ram. Here I am with my desert ram and I want to get some good photos since I may never hunt sheep again. How many have tried to get good photos on steep and loose terrain while solo? It’s not an easy task!

But I did manage to get a few.

 

[KipCarson]

Holy smokes that is awesome!!! Such a cool hunt, living the dream for sure! Congratulations!

 

[eshunt]

 

[Zellhouse]

Nice ram... Congrats.

 

[Moserkr]

Cant ask for a better ram than that! Congratulations! Great ram, great hunt.

 

[eshunt]

This ram was perfect in every way! He was an older ram, had broomed off at least one side, and just got me excited when I first laid eyes on him from 1.5 miles away. The only thing that would have made this experience any more perfect would have been having my wife and daughter with me. But even though they weren’t physically there, they were there in spirit and had hiked this mountain a couple times with me.

Now the work was laid out ahead of me. It was getting warm already and there wasn’t any shade nearby. I got to work quartering him up and caping him. Not exactly easily done solo I realized. This was the first time I had ever caped an animal solo. But I got it done.



First load was two quarters, backstraps and all the neck and side meat. Along with all the other gear I had lugged up the mountain. Second load was the other two quarters and the head and cape. Carrying 80+ pounds in terrain like that was probably not the smartest thing I’ve ever done. But I took my time and made it safely back to the truck with all the meat about 5 hours after the shot.

 

[seeth07]

Got to love it when it works out in the end better than expected! Congrats. 8yo ram?

 

[undercover]

Great adventure thanks for sharing. Congrats

 

[passinthru]

Awesome!

Congratulations for getting after it.

 

[CouesKelly]

Great story and beautiful ram! Congrats!

 

[choc dogs]

That’s a beautiful ram. Congrats, and thanks for taking us on the journey

 

[Salmonchaser]

Well I sat here with a fresh cup of coffee getting caught up, never touched the coffee. Great story great ram.

 

[Jbotto]

Congrats on a great hunt and an awesome ram! Thanks for taking us along!

 

[npaden]

Very nice ram!! Congratulations on a once in a lifetime hunt!