Alive At 25 - Once In A Lifetime Sheep Tag

Hockaday2017

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Northwest Colorado
Earlier in the week I was at lunch at work when my phone went off with an email from CPW. I opened it up fully expecting to see exactly what I already knew. "Your Rocky Mountain Goat application was unsuccessful." Well of course it was I thought. After reading the email I decided to check my credit card because I couldn't remember how much preference points were. I logged into the account and saw the $50 charge for the point but directly above that was another charge from CPW, $366.13 to be exact. Now, I knew what that meant, however as someone who would never expect to draw this tag I stared at it in disbelief. I immediately ran to some co-workers and my boss, all of which are avid hunters and told them. They couldn't believe it either. I had just drawn 1 of 14 Desert Bighorn Sheep tags in the state of Colorado. The season is the entire month of November. Now, this is just the beginning of what will be this crazy story. I say this because I am going to be a father, for the first time, the first week of October (if the baby reads the script). I have an unbelievable wife that is an avid huntress herself who is and will be fully supportive of this adventure. Now I know it's going to be a crazy fall and I know how crazy the time after birth can be. So with all of that I am going to do my best to try and document it on this thread. I will absolutely document the process on my small YouTube channel that I do for myself and family to be able to look back on. Dawn To Dusk Outdoors (the one with the elk and deer hunts) is the name of the channel if you want to follow along! Drop some advice and follow along!
 
Earlier in the week I was at lunch at work when my phone went off with an email from CPW. I opened it up fully expecting to see exactly what I already knew. "Your Rocky Mountain Goat application was unsuccessful." Well of course it was I thought. After reading the email I decided to check my credit card because I couldn't remember how much preference points were. I logged into the account and saw the $50 charge for the point but directly above that was another charge from CPW, $366.13 to be exact. Now, I knew what that meant, however as someone who would never expect to draw this tag I stared at it in disbelief. I immediately ran to some co-workers and my boss, all of which are avid hunters and told them. They couldn't believe it either. I had just drawn 1 of 14 Desert Bighorn Sheep tags in the state of Colorado. The season is the entire month of November. Now, this is just the beginning of what will be this crazy story. I say this because I am going to be a father, for the first time, the first week of October (if the baby reads the script). I have an unbelievable wife that is an avid huntress herself who is and will be fully supportive of this adventure. Now I know it's going to be a crazy fall and I know how crazy the time after birth can be. So with all of that I am going to do my best to try and document it on this thread. I will absolutely document the process on my small YouTube channel that I do for myself and family to be able to look back on. Dawn To Dusk Outdoors (the one with the elk and deer hunts) is the name of the channel if you want to follow along! Drop some advice and follow along!
Take up golf next year.
 
Well now that the emotions of this have started to settle down and after getting some sound advice from the parenting community here is the first update:

Im not sure if "Sheep Guilt" is a thing but I have experienced it pretty bad for the last handful of days. I feel very undeserving of a tag of such proportions. I have been very blessed in my life, especially in my adult life. I think the guilt comes from two sides. One, having a wife like I do who has turned into an avid hunter since we first started dating almost 5 years ago now. With her not being able to go on this adventure breaks my heart but I know she is fully supportive. Two, I feel like I have been given an opportunity that I did not work for which goes against everything I stand for. With "usual" sheep hunts, people work and pinch pennies to be able to afford to buy that hunt. It might take years of saving money to go on that dream. Or it takes someone 25+ years of applying to draw. With that being said I have scoured the internet for hours on end. I have started a notebook with all of my notes and will occasionally write a page or two directed at my unborn child. Hopefully someday he will read it and be able to see what life was like before he made his entrance. I will say that the sheep hunting world is pretty small and absolutely amazing. The amount of people willing to offer help and guidance is a pretty cool thing to see. I have read everything I can find on the unit and herd. Now I am starting to look at the maps and compare.
 
Gastro Gnome - Eat Better Wherever

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