Archery Bighorn Hunt in Southern Colorado

[rogerthat]

I’m coming to hunttalk to check on this specific thread! Good luck!

 

[Hawk Tuah]

Keep after it

 

[Valen]

Camp is set up, flung a few arrows to make sure we’re still good there. Gotta figure out this Magview for my spotter but that’s a task suited for when the sun has set. Glassing from a spot on the treeline, debating on if I head to the south end of the mountain to see if I can find them bedded.. only thing that has me pausing is the weather that’s blown in. The wind has picked up and is blowing something fierce and it seems as though it wants to rain/hail but just ain’t quite there yet and I’m in a good spot as it is..
okay in the time I’ve paused to glass I’ve convinced myself that going to check out the south end is a good move, if the weather clears I can climb up and over back to camp and if not I should at least be able to round the south side to get out of the wind.
Good news is that my number 1 campsite was available when I got up this afternoon which also serves as a great glassing spot! Gonna miss my wife and kids but looking forward to five days up here!

 

[jvanhoy]

Good luck buddy! Loving this thread.

 

[BuckhunterBen]

Good luck this morning!

 

[Valen]

Yesterday yielded the group of 20 sheep but no ram. Circled the mountain clockwise then counter clockwise picking apart the treeline. I was hopeful for today because the forecast looked like a nice day and with the group bedded down on the ridge last night I thought maybe that ram would show up last night or this morning.
Had a beautiful sunrise this morning but after a few minutes of the sun being up the wind and clouds picked up as well. So far I’ve checked the spots that I’ve been seeing the larger herd but I still have yet to put eyes on a sheep today. The plan is to move from glassing tit to glassing tit throughout the rest of the day and stopping for an hour or two to glass at each.

 

[Valen]

Currently pinned down in a lil depression on the hillside. Glassed some sheep shortly after getting to my other spot after the last post I made. Came over to find the herd of 20 or so. The were milling around in the scree right at tree line. I found a lil spot to watch em from, they moved up and bedded right below me on a bench.. been hearing scree clink and clank so I’ve been inching my way to the edge to peek over.. I’ve got three more yards to go but 5-6 sheep moved up the hill and no are bedded at 60yds to my north almost on the same elevation line I’m on. Peeking thru the grass on to keep an eye, who knows if Mr legal ram will show. Wind is good, been sitting on these guys for a few hours now.

 

[kansasdad]

I love “as it happens” hunt stories. With photos!

 

[Fishnride]

This is cool man. Right now you’re living in “the good old days”. Enjoy it

 

[Valen]

I love “as it happens” hunt stories. With photos!

Doing my best to stay on it but there may be a day skipped here or there.

 

[Valen]

This is cool man. Right now you’re living in “the good old days”. Enjoy it

Yes sir, making the most of every day

 

[Valen]

Wow, sounds like you're in the perfect spot! Good luck spotting that trophy ram.

Thanks! Got this larger herd figured out, just waiting for a legal ram to join the group and hopefully make a play.

 

[Valen]

Well I woke up at 3:30a this morning to the sound of scree falling down the cliff above camp. Even with the full moon it was hard to make anything out in the scree but safe bet was it was a sheep cruising through. Laid back down for 10ish minutes thinking about the plan for the day, got back up, took a few to pray and reflect on how incredibly blessed I am to be able to be up here doing this. Laced up the boots, downed some coffee and oatmeal and not patiently waiting for first light from my glassing spot.

Side note, if you listen to the Meateater Podcast you’ve likely heard Steve’s saying “a fresh set of eyes always finds more beans”. I’ve found this to be true as most of the time I take a break to post here it’s typically shortly thereafter I find sheep! Thought that was worth sharing.
Cheers y’all, have a hell of a day.

 

[BAKPAKR]

Good luck today!

 

[Valen]

As I predicted from the clink clanks earlier, sheep up in the scree all morning. The larger herd moved on to the west side of the mountain, wish I could get the scope adapter to work, been fun watching the lil rams play and butt heads. Decided to hang and watch them awhile as I watched two other sheep come from the south to join this group. Hoping a bigger ram decides to do the same, otherwise I’ll put these guys to bed and set off south.

 

[kansasdad]

Perhaps a well timed bump from a weekend recreational hiker will red-rover, red-rover, send a legal ram right over

 

[Valen]

Perhaps a well timed bump from a weekend recreational hiker will red-rover, red-rover, send a legal ram right over

I need to spend an hour going by all the mushroom hunters telling them they need to checking out treeline push those sheep on up!

 

[Bluffgruff]

Older rams are usually doing older ram things this time of year, not really ewe/young ram things.

 

[Valen]

Older rams are usually doing older ram things this time of year, not really ewe/young ram things.

For sure. This unit specifically is challenging though because there just isn’t that many sheep, biologist estimates 30-35 total. In all my preparation and research I have found a good area where the bigger rams can be found but in all my scouting and time spent over there I have yet to get eyes on a ram and after talking with the hunter last year, he spent the entire month hitting that area and wasn’t able to turn anything up. With me having an archery tag and seeing a couple legal rams come in and out of the group of ewes and lil rams, that seemed the best bet to me at filling my tag and getting meat in the freezer for the fam.

 

[Sandbrew]

If you're seeing smaller rams with ewes there's probably a small band of 5-10 rams hiding out someplace else. I see you are looking at a ton of very high tree-line country from your pics. I'd look for steep avalanche chutes with shade, water and good feed. I'd also check cliff bands in or near trees. Rams seem to love the shady areas and thicker growth more than the ewes and lambs.