My Lucky Year!

[npaden]

I think you keep hunting that particular sheep. Go back in a few days and look for birds or coyotes. He may still be fine and you can shoot him again like I did.

Find the group of rams he was with and see if he is back with them or not.

 

[WNC2500]

While looking for a decent spot to pitch our tents we were spread out a bit in the trees and Ethan made one of the coolest finds ever! A mostly intact mtn goat skull! The horns were off the sheaths but were laying right there. I’m guessing winter kill but who knows?
View attachment 386279

Awesome find on the goat. That is cool!

 

[Mule Kick]

We went back to camp feeling quite depressed. We packed up and dropped back down to the other end of the lake and began the 3 miles of bushwhacking down to the trail. We dropped almost 3,000 ft of elevation to get down there. It sucked haha! Everything was still wet from the rain the day/ night before. 3 more miles of easy trail and we were out.

Like I said earlier, the highs and lows of this hunt were more than I’ve ever experienced. I feel like I got a good taste of sheep hunting even if it wasn’t the longest hunt. We experience heat, cold, rain, snow, fog, wind, wet clothes/ gear, sore muscles, blisters, the mental ups and downs- the list goes on…
I could blame the outcome on different things, but in the end I’m very thankful for the 6 days I had with my dad and brothers in this incredible country. I couldn’t have done it without them- Thanks guys!!- and sorry for letting everyone down with my shooting.


One more look from the other end of the lake. The ridge on the left is where the rams went up and over.

 

[Mule Kick]

A few more pics. Rumor has it, this fire ring was built by @Frequently Banned Troll himself! A big thanks to him for his advice and input on this hunt. I have been in contact with him the past few weeks and he has been very helpful! This was camp #1…

We saw countless mountain goats on this hunt. Literally almost every high ridge had a few goats on it. I don’t have a lot of pics but here is one! The lower billy was absolutely massive, but he only had 1 short horn. I’m wondering if that is what has kept him alive all these years?

 

[Mule Kick]

Ok some more sheep pics! I kind of color coded the 2 big rams. Red for the broomed off one that I hit. Blue for the other one. Didn’t get any good frontal pics of the broomed one.

 

[Mule Kick]

If you remember, I had mentioned we only saw 11 rams when I shot. When Eric and I had watched them the evening before opener we noticed one of the younger rams had a serious abscess situation going on in front of his right hind leg/ stomach.. looked awful but he was feeding and acting normal. Not sure if this was the missing ram later or not though. Just speculation.

 

[Mule Kick]

Now for some of my rambling thoughts. As you can imagine, I have had a sick feeling the last couple days. So many unanswered questions… I have wounded and lost elk before(never with a rifle that I can think of though) and it absolutely sucks! However something about a sheep is on a different level. If I would be confident that it was a fatal hit I would absolutely punch my tag but I don’t even have proof that I hit him?!
I know situations like this are exactly why personal ethics are preached. I get it, I’ve heard a lot of arguments and opinions… Feel free to share yours here though as I truly feel like I need insight from others!

I did call the biologist today and told her the story. She said she would talk to some folks and get back to me.
Called me back several hrs later and said she talked to several other ‘officials’ who she respected including a game warden. Said the consensus was that if I put in the work and felt like I did everything in my power to find the ram, I had the green light from them to keep hunting- whether for the same ram or another was up to me.

It gave me a little peace knowing she knows about it and I’m not hiding anything. But I still have some decisions to make!
Also kind of ironic reading through the ‘ego check’ thread. If this wasn’t an ego check I don’t know what is!

 

[brownbear932008]

I'll say this about 10 years ago or so I had a good shot on a nice whitetail gun was always money, had bipod down, felt like a bench rest shot. Heard the hit on the deer he ran up and over the ridge top. Went over found the location he was standing no sign no deer after searching. Convinced I had a deer down called in help from four buddies grid searched two ridges for two days convinced I heard a hit. Later that week my buddy killed the buck in the same hollow with a one shot kill. I hadn't touched the deer. The round had hit the ground in a way that it sounded just like a normal hit on a deer, we thought it was just a pass through shot like normal.

Edit: Just remembered another factor that convinced me of a hit was I swore the deer mule kicked on the shot. I guess what I'm saying is these things happen quickly and sometimes our minds play tricks on us in the adrenaline filled moment. You have no real evidence of a hit is the bottom line. I know yes it rained, the ram held back, yada yada
I say at a minimum hunt that ram or I wouldn't think anything less of you even hunting another after searching more for birds ect. Our farm is a one buck limit. I had quit for the year convinced I'd killed my buck.

 

[bigsky2]

I really respect you for putting all of this out there. Sadly, I think a lot of hunters would pretend it never happened and keep on hunting. I have heard that some game agencies figure in wounding loss when they set their quotas. I'm not sure if that is true or not. I highly doubt that is the case in Montana, especially with a species like sheep when there's typical only a handful of tags given out in a district. I love to bow hunt, so I've spent a lot of time thinking about whether or not I would try to get it done with the bow if I ever drew a goat or sheep tag. The reason I would be unsure about using a bow is I wouldn't want to end up in the exact situation you're in. I keep my shots close and only take good shots, but I know that things are still more likely to go wrong with a bow. Reading about npaden's sheep hunt and now yours has had me wondering what I would do if I was in that situation. It's easy to say I'd call it quits for the year if I wounded an elk or deer, much harder to say so when it's probably a once in a lifetime experience. On one hand you will likely never get the opportunity again, and on the other hand there's not many of those animals to go around so its difficult to justify possibly killing two. I don't envy your situation at all! I wouldn't think that ram would peel off from the group if he hadn't been hit. If it was me, I'd do everything in my power to find that ram again, whether alive or dead.

 

[cgasner1]

I sure wouldn’t quit without going back and trying to find that band and see if he is back with them.

 

[CPAjeff]

Like others have stated, in a society where most only show the good and hide any of the bad, this thread is refreshing. So sorry to read about the turmoil, but no one can’t fault you for the effort! Hoping it fits into your schedule to make another trip(s) in there. Best of luck!

 

[Mule Kick]

Thanks for those of you who chimed in. I am planning to go back and look for birds etc. I can’t before next week, and its looking like Sunday/ Monday will be more wet weather up there… weather permitting, I’m hoping to go in Tuesday and Wednesday.

I went out on a little road hunt this morning looking for moose and arrowed a grouse.
Felt good knowing I CAN still kill stuff haha

 

[Mule Kick]

Well I spent a couple days back in the sheep unit earlier this week. My brother in law (Andrew) went with me. Bushwhacked a lot of the way in to an adjacent ridge overlooking the scene of the crime. Did lots of glassing. Didn’t see any sheep, dead or alive. No birds either… and I really think we would have if there was a carcass in there somewhere! Had a great view and glassed several different basins. Blessed with beautiful weather.
Some wolf tracks around the mud hole where we got water. Not real fresh and not real small!

 

[Mule Kick]

I’m moving on to moose for the next few weeks. Sheep can wait!

I called this little guy in to about 40 yds this morning. I had called some then went to leave and hadn’t gone 100 yds when I bumped him! I grunted at him and he came right back. He knew something wasn’t right but didn’t want to accept it haha! He grunted at me several times before I backed out. Think I can do better than a 3x3

 

[LopeHunter]

Now for some of my rambling thoughts. As you can imagine, I have had a sick feeling the last couple days. So many unanswered questions… I have wounded and lost elk before(never with a rifle that I can think of though) and it absolutely sucks! However something about a sheep is on a different level. If I would be confident that it was a fatal hit I would absolutely punch my tag but I don’t even have proof that I hit him?!
I know situations like this are exactly why personal ethics are preached. I get it, I’ve heard a lot of arguments and opinions… Feel free to share yours here though as I truly feel like I need insight from others!

I did call the biologist today and told her the story. She said she would talk to some folks and get back to me.
Called me back several hrs later and said she talked to several other ‘officials’ who she respected including a game warden. Said the consensus was that if I put in the work and felt like I did everything in my power to find the ram, I had the green light from them to keep hunting- whether for the same ram or another was up to me.

It gave me a little peace knowing she knows about it and I’m not hiding anything. But I still have some decisions to make!
Also kind of ironic reading through the ‘ego check’ thread. If this wasn’t an ego check I don’t know what is!

Now for some of my rambling thoughts. As you can imagine, I have had a sick feeling the last couple days. So many unanswered questions… I have wounded and lost elk before(never with a rifle that I can think of though) and it absolutely sucks! However something about a sheep is on a different level. If I would be confident that it was a fatal hit I would absolutely punch my tag but I don’t even have proof that I hit him?!
I know situations like this are exactly why personal ethics are preached. I get it, I’ve heard a lot of arguments and opinions… Feel free to share yours here though as I truly feel like I need insight from others!

I did call the biologist today and told her the story. She said she would talk to some folks and get back to me.
Called me back several hrs later and said she talked to several other ‘officials’ who she respected including a game warden. Said the consensus was that if I put in the work and felt like I did everything in my power to find the ram, I had the green light from them to keep hunting- whether for the same ram or another was up to me.

It gave me a little peace knowing she knows about it and I’m not hiding anything. But I still have some decisions to make!
Also kind of ironic reading through the ‘ego check’ thread. If this wasn’t an ego check I don’t know what is!Go get a ram.

Now for some of my rambling thoughts. As you can imagine, I have had a sick feeling the last couple days. So many unanswered questions… I have wounded and lost elk before(never with a rifle that I can think of though) and it absolutely sucks! However something about a sheep is on a different level. If I would be confident that it was a fatal hit I would absolutely punch my tag but I don’t even have proof that I hit him?!
I know situations like this are exactly why personal ethics are preached. I get it, I’ve heard a lot of arguments and opinions… Feel free to share yours here though as I truly feel like I need insight from others!

I did call the biologist today and told her the story. She said she would talk to some folks and get back to me.
Called me back several hrs later and said she talked to several other ‘officials’ who she respected including a game warden. Said the consensus was that if I put in the work and felt like I did everything in my power to find the ram, I had the green light from them to keep hunting- whether for the same ram or another was up to me.

It gave me a little peace knowing she knows about it and I’m not hiding anything. But I still have some decisions to make!
Also kind of ironic reading through the ‘ego check’ thread. If this wasn’t an ego check I don’t know what is!

Go get a ram.

No blood seen on the ram nor the ground. Maybe was on the ground then the rain erased it.

Maybe you made a shot which killed that ram. Maybe a grazing shot. Maybe three misses.

Multiple people walking in a grid search found nothing. No birds. You and the others showed respect for the follow-up.

Most likely, that ram is alive today.

Get back out there and might stumble onto him. Might not. Rams wander, herds split up.

Go tip over a ram.

 

[El Jason]

Appreciate your transparency. Keep looking for that ram. But, enjoy your moose tag.

And, learn to be comfortable shooting from a sitting position

Best of luck.

 

[Valley1320]

Go get a ram.

No blood seen on the ram nor the ground. Maybe was on the ground then the rain erased it.

Maybe you made a shot which killed that ram. Maybe a grazing shot. Maybe three misses.

Multiple people walking in a grid search found nothing. No birds. You and the others showed respect for the follow-up.

Most likely, that ram is alive today.

Get back out there and might stumble onto him. Might not. Rams wander, herds split up.

Go tip over a ram.

This!

 

[Mule Kick]

Go get a ram.

No blood seen on the ram nor the ground. Maybe was on the ground then the rain erased it.

Maybe you made a shot which killed that ram. Maybe a grazing shot. Maybe three misses.

Multiple people walking in a grid search found nothing. No birds. You and the others showed respect for the follow-up.

Most likely, that ram is alive today.

Get back out there and might stumble onto him. Might not. Rams wander, herds split up.

Go tip over a ram.

Thanks for the response. That’s pretty much the conclusion I’ve come to as well. I feel like we put in every possible effort to make a recovery. At the end of the day it’s still hunting and stuff happens… sucks but I’m ready to move on!

Appreciate your transparency. Keep looking for that ram. But, enjoy your moose tag.

And, learn to be comfortable shooting from a sitting position

Best of luck.

You’re obviously very right! The thing is I AM comfortable shooting while sitting, just more comfortable in general shooting prone.. I even had my trekking poles with the attachment deal to make a bipod… or I could have set my pack upright for a rest. Can’t tell ya how often I’ve kicked myself for not doing that! Somehow I just got it in my head that I was going to shoot prone, and like I said everything felt solid etc.. just overlooked the slight rise in the hill.

 

[Big Sky Guy]

Maybe I missed it but what was the reasoning for not dropping down and looking for blood that night?

Not trying to say you did something wrong, way easier for me to be armchair hunter I wasn’t there, just curious. Were you not wanting to bump him?

Thats the only thing that I thought of reading through this is I would have had one or two guys at the vantage point (maybe have one where you shot from or up higher and have another circle around to get a near 360 degree view of the basin) and then one or two guys go down and look for blood that night at least where the ram was standing at each of the shots. If you did bump him then the guys would see him and hopefully be able to tell if he was hit? If no blood you would have more piece of mind, or maybe you just see a speck of blood and put that together with the video and come to the conclusion a rock piece debris is all that hit him.

 

[Mule Kick]

Maybe I missed it but what was the reasoning for not dropping down and looking for blood that night?

Not trying to say you did something wrong, way easier for me to be armchair hunter I wasn’t there, just curious. Were you not wanting to bump him?

Thats the only thing that I thought of reading through this is I would have had one or two guys at the vantage point (maybe have one where you shot from or up higher and have another circle around to get a near 360 degree view of the basin) and then one or two guys go down and look for blood that night at least where the ram was standing at each of the shots. If you did bump him then the guys would see him and hopefully be able to tell if he was hit? If no blood you would have more piece of mind, or maybe you just see a speck of blood and put that together with the video and come to the conclusion a rock piece debris is all that hit him.

Ya I think u missed it. See posts #77-78. I stayed up top and the others dropped down and looked for about 2 hrs that evening..