2023 started off on a bad foot in February when I had a heart attack. Dang it, 65yrs old and things starting to go wrong. Fast forward to the big game draws in May and after 19yrs I drew a desert sheep tag in unit 253 in NV. Guess my luck was changing. Having no idea how to hunt sheep lots of planning was in the future. Two weeks after the draw my son and I headed down for our first scouting trip.
Nevada Desert Sheep hunt
- Thread starter MaddH
- Start date
Who would’ve thought our first trip was going to be pretty crazy with rain and lightning every afternoon. Made those steep canyons a little iffy for travel. With not much intel to go on , we were skunked on our first trip . Not to worry, I’m retired and have plenty of time to scout ( or so I thought)
Planning to go down the week after the 4th of July even though I know it’s going to be crazy hot down there. The 4th comes around and I start having heart issues so to the ER I go. After about 4 hrs they get stuff straightened out ( including stopping and restarting my heart) and send me home. Go home to rest and boom here we go again. Back to the ER and another heart reset( which isn’t much fun). Finally home with some new meds.
After a trip to U of U Dr sets me up for surgery in Oct. Crap the season starts in Nov so not looking good. Fortunately the last week in Aug I get a call and say can you come next week. Well hell yes I can, let’s get this show on the road. But in the mean time I’m doing research to try to figure stuff out
Getting lots of help from people who love to hunt sheep with lots of tips and even some from people who know my unit well. Sept comes around and heart surgery was a success and now just wait 2 weeks before venturing out. Two weeks almost to the day I’m ready to head out. Solo trip but I finally find a bruiser of a ram. Talk about getting excited. Only spent a couple of days scouting and head home
Fast forward a few weeks and I frigging mess my foot up and Dr restricted my walking. Really ??? So much happening I’m beginning to think the hunt might not happen. Two weeks before the hunt the foot Dr says he’s going to get me through this hunt one way or another. Hey it’s only pain , right ?
Well the crew is set with family being the core of the group. Heading down 3 days before the opener to start scouting. Should be plenty of time. BIL and nephew show up and both are very good sheep hunters. First day out we only spot one lone ram and he’s pretty small
First light brings up to where the ram was spotted the night before. Terrible 50mph winds making it tough again. After about an hr a group is spotted with a good ram. Unfortunately he’s in a spot that this old man just can’t get to. So moving on. A friend comes down to help out unexpectedly and he spots 11 ewes while headed our way. Spend the rest of the day with no luck until about 20 minutes of shooting time left. A nice group with 5 rams and a shooter or two in the bunch. Looks like we can close the gap to 500+ yds for a shot
The wind is still howling and I decide I’m not comfortable to shoot that distance in the wind. We back out and will be here in the morning. First light has us spotting the same group of rams but they moved about 200yds further up the mountain and are heading out, crap. But at least no wind today. Time to relocate. BIL sets up in the valley and spits 4 rams a loooong ways away. Group decides to make a play on these rams.
After about a mile hike uphill I seem to be holding up pretty well. We get set up and thinking one ram might be 165-170”. But he’s 718yds away and no way to get closer. I’ve never shot that far in my life so we watch the rams top out and say see you later. Oh well only a mile back to the truck
Back at the truck we decide to relocate to an area where it’s not quite as steep to give us a break. Nephew spits a ram not 30 seconds after setting up. About two miles away. So off we go to find a way to get a closer look. Finally we get to a spot about a 1/2 mile away and put the spotter on him. Took me all of about 10 seconds to decide this is the one I want
My nephew is leading me up the hill and we drop into a draw out of site of the bedded ram. I’m sucking air heading up but just keep pushing through. My nephew says if we can just make that far bush I think it will be about a 400yd shot. After a. Quick stop right before the bush my nephew crawls up and ranges the ram. 308 yds he says. I can make this shot
kiwi hunter
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Keep at it
Non illegitimae carborundum
Non illegitimae carborundum
I set up the shooting sticks and the sheep is now standing. Boom and nephew says you missed. What, I heard it hit. Shoot again and same thing, you missed. Rack another round and boom you missed again. Now I have know idea what’s happening and I grab another shell out of the holder. As I’m reloading nephew says I see blood. Well ok let’s finish this. One more shot and nephew yells you dumped him. Woo hoo . My dream finally came true
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