It Happens

[rjlefty3]

That's a great pic! Looking forward to hearing the story.

 

[1_pointer]

Awesome!

 

[bobbydean]

That photo is such a great teaser.

I have checked this thread at least 15 times in the last hour.

Work nights, going to bed and will check for the story in the evening

 

[Horn Seeker]

I promise I'm not being an ass trying to drag this out. I'm psyched to tell the story and post more pics but I've got about 15 other things on my to do list! So, just as a disclaimer, I'll probably slowly add to the thread over the next few days since I can't go elk hunting this weekend!

Here's an early pic. My favorite hunting partner and I spent three days (when it wasn't raining!) trying to find Rams... Had a hell of a time though!!

 

[krshntr81]

Congrats, that picture is awesome!

 

[earlybird]

That picture is epic!!!!.. I'm jealous and anxiously awaiting the story to go with it. Congratulations on a beautiful Ram.

 

[npaden]

Very nice!!

Great view in that picture. Nice that you were able to get the river in there, nice touch.

 

[Horn Seeker]

Yeah... Without the river, I wouldn't have been there. Without the river, the Breaks wouldn't be there. I was happy to be able to squeeze it in...

Speaking of the river... Ahhh.... What a joy. I left the ramp at 6pm several days before power boats were allowed on the river, so me and the 40 horse putted along about the speed of a canoe until I found a nice spot to glass from and spend the first night...

 

[Oak]

Wow. Looking forward to the rest of the story.

 

[JoeSchmo]

"it happens" .... just not to me.

Awesome job!!

 

[Horn Seeker]

My overall plan was to scout as much as possible this summer (turned out about 6 days), talk to everyone I could, then basically hunt about ten days per month if need be. The horror stories of hunting the breaks in November that a few people described, did give me some incentive to get it done a bit early, plus I did have out of state thanksgiving plans! I'll tell ya right now though, those would have changed if I still had a ram tag in my pocket.

Anyhow, I spent a couple days on whiskey ridge looking at a few respectable Rams in early September. But none of them kept my attention. I knew the big ones were there, and in that big hole to the south and west, but I love rivers and love jet boats... So I didn't give Dog Creek a lot more thought.

This guy had age and mass, but that was it. He's broomed WAY back...

 

[Horn Seeker]

These two were tempting

 

[Horn Seeker]

So it was down the river for me... Surely with 60 miles of river is find a plethora of shooter Rams!!

 

[Horn Seeker]

So after a couple days dinking around off the road, I decided to hit the river. A damn good friend basically offered up his taxi services, then couldn't go due to work... And offered me the boat anyways! I've been on and driven jets forever, but I was still a bit nervous about taking someone else's boat. I got over it though.


This trip sealed the deal for me. I'll have a little jet sled in the next year or so.

 

[Horn Seeker]

I won't drag this out horribly long...

When I put in the river, all I could do was basically idle downstream... Upstream travel didn't open for 4 days... And downstream at no wake speed was only ok Thursday through Saturday. It made for a quiet trip! In the first 4 days, I saw two canoes...

 

[Horn Seeker]

On day two, I made it to my camp spot. 29 miles from my truck... No upstream travel allowed for a few days! Rams everywhere... It'd be easy to stalk a big 195er with my bow...

Oh wait. Wow, in the first three days I only saw one ram group and the biggest was probably about 172. It was fun to glass them, but the heat was getting to me and the lack of sheep was quickly deflating my ambition! It was ok though, it was early. Maybe in a week or two if be back with a partner or two... More glasses, more eyes... I also might feel better having someone to help pack him out!!

I guess I should mention tweedle dee and tweedle dumb... The camp Rams. They loved to show up above camp just about the time you were sure there wasn't a living thing anywhere! They were two and three years old and were very clearly not what I was looking for!

 

[Bambistew]

This sounds like a really tough hunt. Jealous of seeing so many rams and being picky.

 

[fishing4sanity]

Loving the photos and the story.

 

[Mica Man]

Keep it coming! Liking what I have seen and read thus far!

 

[mtmiller]

Sitting in Winifred right now deciding whether I should go looking for rams. Bar will soon be open so I can have a burger and look at Rippentrop's ram pics on the wall. Looking forward to more of your pics.