Archery Bighorn Hunt in Southern Colorado

[npaden]

Good luck! Very good to at least be seeing a decent ram and getting some attempts at it. I'm thinking getting in rifle range is going to be tough, getting in bow range seems nearly impossible.

 

[Khunter]

Good stuff, I expect your luck will turn with the effort you are putting in. Look forward to seeing the end of this thread with a nice grip and grin.

For digiscoping, to get rid of the vignette effect all ya gotta do is use your phones zoom a smidge after get focused and you will have a full clear rectangular view and more effective real estate to use in the photo. Another tip, if have not thought of it, is to use video rather than photo in many/most cases as you can screen shot the great angles and views a lot easier after you stop videoing than trying to monitor and time when to click a photo.

Good luck with the last part of the hunt!

 

[mevertsen]

Good luck! Very good to at least be seeing a decent ram and getting some attempts at it. I'm thinking getting in rifle range is going to be tough, getting in bow range seems nearly impossible.

Surprising not that difficult. You’ll do fine.

Keep it up Jake. Looks like a blast

 

[brownbear932008]

That old ram may lip curl himself right into an arrow soon I bet. Good luck and keep at them. It will come together.

 

[Mule Kick]

This is awesome! Go get him!

 

[Jnasa]

Awesome effort you’re putting in. Is making a great story. How many people can say they stalked a Ram within archery range. I hope it ends with one on the ground.

 

[MTpubliclander]

Awesome thread keep it up! Good luck!

 

[Jake.]

Had some horse chores that needed to be done yesterday morning before coming to camp. Yesterday afternoon yielded a group of 15 ewes, looks like the rams are in their lil bachelor group (I’m guessing). Spent the evening glassing in hope to catch the rams coming out to feed. No luck. Headed back to camp to set up, eat a burrito, drink a beer then off to bed.
Spent this morning glassing the north side and am now up on top to head to a few different glassin tits.

 

[Bowkill1978]

Ready to hear some updates on this one!

 

[duckhunt]

The silence is full of suspense.

 

[brownbear932008]

I bet oleJake is hard after those rams right now. As he should be. Y'all would get an after story if it were me! 100%

 

[txco]

Good luck and finish strong!

 

[jpc01101]

Just checking in, hoping for an update.

 

[Jake.]

Still grinding

 

[jpc01101]

Way to go! Keep at it! We're rooting for ya!

 

[JoMo]

Doing some sheep dances for you!!!

 

[warmer]

Is Jake still grinding?

 

[jpc01101]

While not quite as good as a grip and grin and a success story. An “I worked my ass off and paid my dues for this tag” post is really just as good. Hoping for the grip and grin but either way you did your part!!

 

[Jake.]

Took a few days after the season ended for myself to hang with the fam and reflect a bit.
Sad news, I didn’t end up filling my tag. I appreciate y’all bearing with the radio silence for the last couple of weeks. I won’t bother with a day by day recap but the last I saw those rams was on the 17th. I spent the my time from the 20th to the end of the season descending and climbing back up ridges, glassing up top, and working timber and the treeline checking out any bench that had a sort of “sheepy vibe” to it. And I had zero luck in turning up those rams which really came as a shocker to me. I definitely was surprised that out of 23 days in the field I only saw that 3/4 curl twice (especially since I was seeing him pretty regularly throughout July). I was also taken aback that the last time I saw the 3/4 curl, he ended up taking my back up plan 1/2 curl with him! Ah well, thus is the way of the sheep.
I had a lot of fun, and was able to creep into the herd of ewes and rams within 30 yds multiple times. I knew this hunt would be challenging with the total number of sheep being so low, more opportunities certainly would have been nice considering I was able to get within 40 yds of that 3/4 curl in July.
It certainly sucks to have failed in filling my tag and I can see how some guys could fall into the “I should have done this differently” trap.. to be honest, if I could do it all over again, there’s a lot I would have done differently, things I realized towards the end of the season but wasn’t able to implement cause of the weather. That said, it’s hard to walk away from this hunt feeling anything but an overwhelming amount of gratitude. Sure, I only got 3 legitimate stalks in.. but that’s three more than the archery hunter last year got. I got to spend over three weeks in a beautiful landscape watching sheep, elk, deer, and bear (not including all my time scouting). I met a lot of cool people, I got to report an asshole on an ebike in the wilderness (that’s a whole different story), and I get to go back up this month to help the rifle tag holder find these rams with a bear tag in my pocket.
I appreciate you all following along, I wish I had a sweet grip n grin to share with ya but I have memories that’ll last me a life time and if I ever get lucky enough to get this opportunity again, I’ll be sure to put my lessons to use.

PS.
Some quick side notes I forgot to include. After speaking with the warden in the area and showing him pictures of that ram, he said that was the largest ram he’s seen since covering the area.
I got turned on to marmot hunting so that’s neat.
This season, even without a tag punched, has shown me how cool and impressive these critters are and how amazing of an experience chasing them around in the mountains can be.. for this reason I’ll be a heck of a lot more active in the RMBS. People that share a passion for these animals are just awesome people.

 

[Jnasa]

Man if I ever do an awesome hunt like this remind me not to post anything until after the trip is over. I appreciate all of your generous updates throughout.

You worked your butt off and sounds like an amazing hunt. Wish it ended with a ram but still awesome. Thanks for sharing.