Lv2hnt
Well-known member
One more day to go ...
Arizona desert sheep tag!!!
- Thread starter Lv2hnt
- Start date
Bwana
Well-known member
The last installment is overdue…tick, tock...
oldman357
New member
I've been away for a while work and family have kept my busy, so glad to see you enjoyed this hunt but having read through all that was back logged I'm dying!
Lv2hnt
Well-known member
Got back to camp just at dark. The quietness of the night with no one else there hit me --- tomorrow would be my last day of my hunt. Had some Chunky Man soup before hitting the sleeping bag. I lay there looking at the top of my tent --- my brain was scrambled rehashing the many events of the past several weeks. I don't remember falling asleep ...
Tuesday, Dec. 31. This was it. I was supposed to meet Mike (one of the Yuma Boys) at 6:30 --- we were going to go back and glass near where I was camped originally (nobody had been back there in days). I had to go through a Border Patrol check station on the highway on my to the other side of the mountain --- the guys manning it wished me good luck!
I pulled up next to Mike's Rubicon, Mike said a prayer and we were off. 1/2 an hour we were setting up our tripods and starting to glass. As I turned to glass another part of the mountain, I was greeted by one last sunrise ...
Then it was back to glassing ...
8:30 came and we decided to move back around the side of the mountain --- my phone suddenly picked up an incoming text: "We have rams all over the place. Get over here!"
We had big smiles on our faces as Mike put the pedal the the metal. A little over 1/2 an hour later we pulled up to a small group of optics pointed to the mountain. Rams weren't exactly "all" over its face, but there were 3 broomed rams up feeding! I was talked in to the largest, easily a 160-class ram. Game on.
Not much question as to who was making the stalk with me --- David had helped out on many other sheep kills before (in fact, he'd killed a beautiful ram the year before in the unit just south of mine). He had springs for legs and lungs I'd die for. Jake would tag along (he lived on the unit boundary and knew it better than anyone). The rams continued to move across the face from left to right, edging upwards as they fed.
It was 1.5 miles across the desert floor to the base of the mountain. David moved slowly as we progressed, his head pointed towards the ground to hide his face. We made it across, then reassessed things. The rams were approaching a saddle that seemed to lead to a hidden cut. We headed up, trying to be as quiet as possible (the rocky terrain amplified every misstep).
The view down to where we glassed from, a mile beyond the foothills to the right ...
We worked our way across the lower mountain, then up a finger on the far ridge, glassing as we went ...
Tuesday, Dec. 31. This was it. I was supposed to meet Mike (one of the Yuma Boys) at 6:30 --- we were going to go back and glass near where I was camped originally (nobody had been back there in days). I had to go through a Border Patrol check station on the highway on my to the other side of the mountain --- the guys manning it wished me good luck!
I pulled up next to Mike's Rubicon, Mike said a prayer and we were off. 1/2 an hour we were setting up our tripods and starting to glass. As I turned to glass another part of the mountain, I was greeted by one last sunrise ...
Then it was back to glassing ...
8:30 came and we decided to move back around the side of the mountain --- my phone suddenly picked up an incoming text: "We have rams all over the place. Get over here!"
We had big smiles on our faces as Mike put the pedal the the metal. A little over 1/2 an hour later we pulled up to a small group of optics pointed to the mountain. Rams weren't exactly "all" over its face, but there were 3 broomed rams up feeding! I was talked in to the largest, easily a 160-class ram. Game on.
Not much question as to who was making the stalk with me --- David had helped out on many other sheep kills before (in fact, he'd killed a beautiful ram the year before in the unit just south of mine). He had springs for legs and lungs I'd die for. Jake would tag along (he lived on the unit boundary and knew it better than anyone). The rams continued to move across the face from left to right, edging upwards as they fed.
It was 1.5 miles across the desert floor to the base of the mountain. David moved slowly as we progressed, his head pointed towards the ground to hide his face. We made it across, then reassessed things. The rams were approaching a saddle that seemed to lead to a hidden cut. We headed up, trying to be as quiet as possible (the rocky terrain amplified every misstep).
The view down to where we glassed from, a mile beyond the foothills to the right ...
We worked our way across the lower mountain, then up a finger on the far ridge, glassing as we went ...
Lv2hnt
Well-known member
The rams had moved through the saddle, out of sight. Same ol' same ol'. We dropped off that ridge and across to the one to the south, hoping we might spot sheep from a different angle. Our eyeballs strained as we stared up into the shadows ...
Nothing showed itself up there either. Without saying anything, David nodded towards a saddle up above us --- it'd be the last spot from where we might spot the rams. It was now almost 3:30. I whispered that it'd be our last push --- we'd run out of ground and time.
20 minutes later we threw our packs off just below the saddle. The little cut we'd moved up was a lot of loose rock, so David inched his way the last few yards to the saddle by himself. I continued to glass in all directions from where I sat. The finality of everything was enveloping me.
David worked his way back down to me. It was now 4:15. We looked at each other --- I shrugged my shoulders and said: "That's it, I'm calling it. We need to get off the mountain now --- it wouldn't be safe getting down from here by headlamp."
View to the south --- Sheep Mountain where my hunt had started ...
As we approached the desert floor, we got a message that Kent was working his way towards us in his truck. Good to hear --- I hadn't been looking forward to that last trek back to the vehicle. We'd been in the truck for only about 5 minutes when Kent's truck radio barked: "Where are you guys? We've got sheep spotted above us!"
Kent hit the accelerator and the wheels spun. We dropped David off at his truck and made our way north. Another Mike was sitting in the approaching twilight --- he had 6 ewes spotted, plus the Freeway Ram! Kent followed some twisting 2-tracks to where we thought we might spot the sheep. The ewes were by themselves. The ram was off to the side, by himself, as spooky as ever. As soon as he sensed our arrival, he headed for the horizon at warp speed. Game over. Really.
Somewhere out there, several nice rams are waiting for next year ...
Nothing showed itself up there either. Without saying anything, David nodded towards a saddle up above us --- it'd be the last spot from where we might spot the rams. It was now almost 3:30. I whispered that it'd be our last push --- we'd run out of ground and time.
20 minutes later we threw our packs off just below the saddle. The little cut we'd moved up was a lot of loose rock, so David inched his way the last few yards to the saddle by himself. I continued to glass in all directions from where I sat. The finality of everything was enveloping me.
David worked his way back down to me. It was now 4:15. We looked at each other --- I shrugged my shoulders and said: "That's it, I'm calling it. We need to get off the mountain now --- it wouldn't be safe getting down from here by headlamp."
View to the south --- Sheep Mountain where my hunt had started ...
As we approached the desert floor, we got a message that Kent was working his way towards us in his truck. Good to hear --- I hadn't been looking forward to that last trek back to the vehicle. We'd been in the truck for only about 5 minutes when Kent's truck radio barked: "Where are you guys? We've got sheep spotted above us!"
Kent hit the accelerator and the wheels spun. We dropped David off at his truck and made our way north. Another Mike was sitting in the approaching twilight --- he had 6 ewes spotted, plus the Freeway Ram! Kent followed some twisting 2-tracks to where we thought we might spot the sheep. The ewes were by themselves. The ram was off to the side, by himself, as spooky as ever. As soon as he sensed our arrival, he headed for the horizon at warp speed. Game over. Really.
Somewhere out there, several nice rams are waiting for next year ...
oldman357
New member
that was a great write up, man you hunted the **** out of that tag. Thank you for taking us along
fishing4sanity
Well-known member
It certainly sounds like you gave this hunt everything you possibly could - and then some. I was really hoping it was going to end in a grip-n-grin photo. Thanks for sharing all the pics.
armedhiker
New member
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2013
- Messages
- 17
This was better by far than any hunting show I have ever watched! Thank you.
EODRay
Active member
Heartbreaking for sure. I can't even imagine living it (though I felt like I did a little). I have to tell you that I enjoyed reading the tale of this hunt more than any other hunting story I have ever read. Thanks for sharing the epic adventure/quest with us. Well done!
Gerald Martin
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2009
- Messages
- 9,661
Wow, what a hunt.
havgunwilltravel
Active member
Sounds like the hunt of a lifetime dead ram or not…took it to the wire….appreciated the post!
kenwparker
Member
What an adventure, thanks for sharing, Ken.
dustinf
Active member
Great hunt!
Powderhorn09
New member
Ken, thanks for 'dragging' all of us along on your hunt! I certainly hoped that Jack O'Conner was going to help out on that last go at the 'Freeway Ram' and we would see a picture of the two of you posed on a mountainside where he had fallen. Hats off man as you guys gave it your all!
Bwana
Well-known member
What a ride and I can only imagine what you went through physically but more so emotionally!
Thanks for taking us along on the ride.
Sheep or no, you did good.
Thanks for taking us along on the ride.
Sheep or no, you did good.
redwoood
Well-known member
WOW. What a hunt.
AZ402
Well-known member
Great story Tom, I know you out maximum effort into this hunt.
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