Gravy Train Through High Cotton

[Gerald Martin]

It’s been a great ride but my tickets have been punched and my time on the gravy train is coming to an end. It’s taken me a couple days for the experiences of this fall to sink in and even now I find myself reflecting and sorting through the emotions that accompanied my hunts.

First and foremost I want to express my gratitude to everyone who helped make my hunts so memorable. My wife deserves first mention for how she picked up the extra load at home when I was gone.
Several Hunttalkers dedicated a lot of vacation time and energy on both my goat and sheep hunts. @Elkoholic,@MinnesotaHunter, @Randy Hodges, and Ed Ludwig helped carry the load and were great company as we traversed the Cliffs of Seduction. (Link to goat hunt story.) https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/the-cliffs-of-seduction.315352/

When it came time to look for sheep @abqbw, @theat, @Mthuntr, @RandyHodges and a blast from the past @thecrittergetter were a huge asset in helping me find and sort through the incredible amount of rams we saw. Thank you guys!

This thread is probably going to take a while to finish and contain a lot of pics and video so be forewarned that you might need to be patient.

Everyone hopes to see a screen like this when they check the Montana MSG results. I certainly never expected this to happen to me!

 

[Gerald Martin]

Somewhere back in the middle of summer, I got into a Facebook conversation with @abqbw that led to me extending an invitation for him to join in on my sheep hunt.

Brandon and I met a couple years ago when we helped Matt Clyde look for rams in the Madison Range.

Brandon came back with an immediate acceptance of my invitation and followed up the following day with a phone call to make sure that I was being serious and wanted him along. My already serious invitation was solidified even more when Brandon said he would show up several weeks before my anticipated early November hunt and start glassing for rams.

Brandon arrived in my unit around October 10 and immediately began texting me pics of up and coming rams he was finding.

With the amount of sheep activity Brandon was seeing, I made a quick weekend trip up on the 15th and 16th to join in the fun.

It didn’t take long to find a band of rams on the private/public land border.
Grant and I made a plan to hike up the ridge and get a closer look while Brandon and Travis drove to a different portion of the unit to look for more sheep.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Once we got to our glassing spot Grant and I watched several small rams and one larger rams feed throughout the evening. We didn’t see any signs of the group of rams that contained the biggest ram we had seen that morning until we stood up to leave and head down before dark.

The thermals shifted as we got ready to leave and we heard rocks rolling directly below our perch. The rams had been bedded just 150 yards below us.

When the lead ram cleared the trees below us, I saw large horns and had to make a quick decision. Rifle or spotting scope???

As the ram stepped clear, Grant had his range finder in hand. I could clearly hear his whispered “251 yards. 251.”

Decision time…

 

[Caseknife]

Looks like a stud, hope the decision was the rifle..........but I don't know sheep.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Looks like a stud, hope the decision was the rifle..........but I don't know sheep.

19 years of applying… six hours of glassing and hunting…

I have had the privilege of hunting this unit with two other tag holders. I knew immediately this ram was above average for the area but in my heart I knew I wasn’t ready for it to be over so quickly. My rifle stayed strapped to my pack while I got as much video and pics as I could.

I have to admit, I was second guessing my decision as we hiked down the ridge. Back at camp, everyone agreed that this wasn’t the ram to end the hunt so early for. Besides, Travis and Brandon had found another full curl ram that we needed a closer look at the following day.

 

[Gerald Martin]

The following morning dawned warm and clear. @Randy Hodges arrived just as we started glassing. We saw several sheep but nothing worth a closer look from our river glassing spot. Time to head higher in the hills and try to find that ram from yesterday.

 

[Gerald Martin]

The ram was in the same spot where Brandon and Travis had seen him the day before.

He was an older ram and pretty, but not as big as the ram I had passed the evening before.

Despite Randy’s encouragement that I should probably shoot that ram we passed the afternoon watching him and his buddy be lazy. We found several other groups of sheep that afternoon but no other mature rams.

As the sun set, I headed back home with high hopes for the next hunt. I would have to skip the next two weekends due to my son’s soccer tournaments and a scheduled elk hunt with them. The next time I was in the unit, we knew the rams should be beginning to rut.

 

[Caseknife]

"Come on, throw me a stick. Why are you sitting there?" That's got to be what the good-looking Lab was thinking.

 

[Flatbrimmer]

Great photos

 

[EYJONAS!]

Been looking forward to this story, great call on the pass! Too many times you hear. Applied for 25 years and done first day.

That's awesome!

Any yoga chick's?

 

[Gerald Martin]

Sheep hunting had to wait for a couple weeks. My boys had their end of season state tournament and we had an elk hunt planned for the following weekend.

Brandon took a break from glassing sheep for me and headed north for some site seeing touristy stuff. Turns out he got to go sheep hunting in the process but that’s his story to tell if he wants to.



The following weekend I enjoyed watching my sons leaving everything they had on the soccer field. Unfortunately, their double overtime game didn’t go their way as their opponents won by one goal in the penalty kick shoot out. It was a disappointment for them but I was incredibly proud of how they denied their opponents any goals for 65 minutes of the second half and double overtime.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Been looking forward to this story, great call on the pass! Too many times you hear. Applied for 25 years and done first day.

That's awesome!

Any yoga chick's?

No yoga chicks. I didn’t see another person in the woods on the entire hunt except for our group and one other tag holder.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Work was amazing the following week. It was so easy to stay focused. Brandon got back to the unit on Thursday and started texting me pics of new rams that were showing up in the area.
My phone seemed to buzz every couple of hours.
“Check this guy out.”
“This one might be worth getting a closer look at…”

Friday afternoon, I get a text from Brandon saying he’s watching one of the tag holders stalk a group of sheep down in the flats. Then,,”ram down”.

Great news for me. Three of the tag holders are done and out of my way. Only two other hunters than myself in the entire unit and I have a full week to hunt!

 

[Flatbrimmer]

View attachment 248947View attachment 248948

Work was amazing the following week. It was so easy to stay focused. Brandon got back to the unit on Thursday and started texting me pics of new rams that were showing up in the area.
My phone seemed to buzz every couple of hours.
“Check this guy out.”
“This one might be worth getting a closer look at…”

Friday afternoon, I get a text from Brandon saying he’s watching one of the tag holders stalk a group of sheep down in the flats. Then,,”ram down”.

Great news for me. Three of the tag holders are done and out of my way. Only two other hunters than myself in the entire unit and I have a full week to hunt!

You’re a framer also?

 

[Gerald Martin]

On the way home Friday afternoon, I was feeling a bit antsy. Should I stick with my scheduled elk hunt with my boys or head up a day early to capitalize on the action and have more time to sheep hunt.

As I talked it over with Brandon, he advised me to relax and take my time getting back to my sheep unit. There were new rams showing up every day. He suggested I make sure everything was taken care of that I needed to do with family and work and head up when I was ready. It was getting better every day. No sense in rushing.

When I got home, my boys were both excited to hunt on Saturday. Sports have been a big limitation on their woods time the past couple years.

Both boys were still trying to kill their first elk and with only my mountain goat in the freezer for meat no one was going to be picky.

Turns out that mentality is pretty dangerous for elk. My youngest son and I doubled up on cows. No stress of not having enough meat in the freezer this winter!

 

[Gerald Martin]

You’re a framer also?

In the past. Project management, now.

 

[Gerald Martin]

No problems paying attention to work when your friend is texting pics like this…

 

[Hem]

What, no snow?

 

[EYJONAS!]

Awesome work on the cows congrats to your son. I can't even imagine trying to work with a friend sending ram porn like that.

That first ram looks damn nice

 

[Southern Elk]

What, no snow?

Don’t know where he is, but it ain’t where you got your ram.