schelmster
New member
congrat's BHR can't wait to see the pics
Sheep Ribs For Dinner
- Thread starter BigHornRam
- Start date
sneakem
Well-known member
Sweet!! Congrats....
Moosie
Grand poopa
BigHornRam
Well-known member
I'm not near the story teller that Oak or Ovis are, so I'm going to go straight to...............
Day Six Montana Bighorn Hunt.
This morning I decided to drive in to the sheep area from above and check out a ridge that I only glassed from a distance so far. At first light I stopped at an area where smaller rams have been frequently spotted, hoping that possibly a larger ram may have joined up with them. No rams. Around the next corner I stopped to glass. A huddle of approximately 20 ewes and lambs were feeding up the ridge. I continued on, stopping to glass all the good spots on the way in. Passed a decent mule deer buck, a smaller buck, and numerous does and fawns. Coming around a corner, there was a young lone ram standing in the middle of the logging road. I remembered him from a previous scouting trip. Kept on for about a mile till I got to the area I wanted to check out. Parked my truck, grabbed my day pack and rifle, and headed out.
To get to the ridge, I had to pass through a small clear cut. I hadn’t gone 400 yards when I came to fresh ram beds on the road! Working my way down the timbered ridge took me past more and more fresh sign. Then I heard the distant sound of rams cracking heads. Every 5 minutes or so I would hear it again. As I continued on down the ridge, the noise from the rams butting heads grew louder. At first I thought it was coming from across the canyon in the heavy north slope timber. Glassing came up with nothing. I slowly continued down, now about a thousand feet below where I parked. Then the noise sounded real close. Next thing I know two rams are within twenty yards.
I sat down and glassed them through a bitter brush bush. Not shooters. But after about ten minutes more sheep began to move getting up from their beds. One I noticed had heavier bases, heavy broomed ends, and still a full curl on the longer side. This is where the big rams are supposed to hang out this time of the year, and he looked like a good one! I must say, at twenty yards through 8x Leica’s, small rams look big and big rams look huge. I chambered a round in my rifle.
Then all of a sudden the rams spooked and blew out. They ran down hill and I moved to an open lane to get a better look. At 100 yards they stopped and looked back up hill towards me. The biggest ram was in front, and in the clear of the rest of the rams. I liked how he looked, they were getting ready to F. O., so I made the quick decision to take him. Released the safety, and touched one off.
Down he went! The rest of the rams scattered. The shot was steep down hill and quartering to me. My rifle was set up a couple inches high at 100 yards, and I didn’t compensate for it. The bullet entered the top of the shoulder, clipped his spine and exited the middle of his far side. (For you gun and reloading nuts, I was shooting my 7-08, with 140 gr Barnes TSB, stoked with 50.5 grs H380.) He started to roll, and at 100 yards, he piled up into a large downed ponderosa on the side hill. If it wasn’t for that tree, the next stop would have likely been 400 more yards on the Skalkaho Highway. (Which would have resulted in an easy pack, some extra tenderized meat, and possibly a surprised tourist or two!)
I made it down to the ram, took some pictures (which was difficult due to being alone and in such a tight spot with a 300 lb plus animal), caped and quartered him. Then I hiked back up to my truck.
On the way out when I got into cell phone coverage, I was able to get a hold of my friend Mark, who was willing to come help me pack him out. Mark was with me on opening morning when we passed on a slightly bigger ram. We met up on the highway, drove to below where the ram was, and hiked the short but steep climb to get to him. All the way in and out, we could hear rams cracking heads up and down the canyon. Very neat!
I had a great hunt. Saw close to 30 different rams in six days of hunting. Numerous nice mule deer bucks. A small bear. A bobcat up close. More grouse than you can count. Many bands of ewes and lambs covering lot’s of neat country. Truely a great hunt, and I ended up with this dandy ram!
Day Six Montana Bighorn Hunt.
This morning I decided to drive in to the sheep area from above and check out a ridge that I only glassed from a distance so far. At first light I stopped at an area where smaller rams have been frequently spotted, hoping that possibly a larger ram may have joined up with them. No rams. Around the next corner I stopped to glass. A huddle of approximately 20 ewes and lambs were feeding up the ridge. I continued on, stopping to glass all the good spots on the way in. Passed a decent mule deer buck, a smaller buck, and numerous does and fawns. Coming around a corner, there was a young lone ram standing in the middle of the logging road. I remembered him from a previous scouting trip. Kept on for about a mile till I got to the area I wanted to check out. Parked my truck, grabbed my day pack and rifle, and headed out.
To get to the ridge, I had to pass through a small clear cut. I hadn’t gone 400 yards when I came to fresh ram beds on the road! Working my way down the timbered ridge took me past more and more fresh sign. Then I heard the distant sound of rams cracking heads. Every 5 minutes or so I would hear it again. As I continued on down the ridge, the noise from the rams butting heads grew louder. At first I thought it was coming from across the canyon in the heavy north slope timber. Glassing came up with nothing. I slowly continued down, now about a thousand feet below where I parked. Then the noise sounded real close. Next thing I know two rams are within twenty yards.
I sat down and glassed them through a bitter brush bush. Not shooters. But after about ten minutes more sheep began to move getting up from their beds. One I noticed had heavier bases, heavy broomed ends, and still a full curl on the longer side. This is where the big rams are supposed to hang out this time of the year, and he looked like a good one! I must say, at twenty yards through 8x Leica’s, small rams look big and big rams look huge. I chambered a round in my rifle.
Then all of a sudden the rams spooked and blew out. They ran down hill and I moved to an open lane to get a better look. At 100 yards they stopped and looked back up hill towards me. The biggest ram was in front, and in the clear of the rest of the rams. I liked how he looked, they were getting ready to F. O., so I made the quick decision to take him. Released the safety, and touched one off.
Down he went! The rest of the rams scattered. The shot was steep down hill and quartering to me. My rifle was set up a couple inches high at 100 yards, and I didn’t compensate for it. The bullet entered the top of the shoulder, clipped his spine and exited the middle of his far side. (For you gun and reloading nuts, I was shooting my 7-08, with 140 gr Barnes TSB, stoked with 50.5 grs H380.) He started to roll, and at 100 yards, he piled up into a large downed ponderosa on the side hill. If it wasn’t for that tree, the next stop would have likely been 400 more yards on the Skalkaho Highway. (Which would have resulted in an easy pack, some extra tenderized meat, and possibly a surprised tourist or two!)
I made it down to the ram, took some pictures (which was difficult due to being alone and in such a tight spot with a 300 lb plus animal), caped and quartered him. Then I hiked back up to my truck.
On the way out when I got into cell phone coverage, I was able to get a hold of my friend Mark, who was willing to come help me pack him out. Mark was with me on opening morning when we passed on a slightly bigger ram. We met up on the highway, drove to below where the ram was, and hiked the short but steep climb to get to him. All the way in and out, we could hear rams cracking heads up and down the canyon. Very neat!
I had a great hunt. Saw close to 30 different rams in six days of hunting. Numerous nice mule deer bucks. A small bear. A bobcat up close. More grouse than you can count. Many bands of ewes and lambs covering lot’s of neat country. Truely a great hunt, and I ended up with this dandy ram!
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smalls
Well-known member
Way cool BHR!
noharleyyet
Well-known member
Beautiful Paul...very nice field pic. Looks steep!
MNHunter
Well-known member
Congrats BHR! A damn fine Ram!
shoots-straight
Well-known member
Very nice, atta boy at ya BHR.
Nut
New member
Congrats on the ram.
How many more days was available for you to hunt?
How many more days was available for you to hunt?
Hntnhrd
Member
Nothing wrong with that ram Paul. Real nice one. Should look great next to that Goat.
Cathunt MT
New member
Great job and nice ram
Bambistew
Well-known member
Congrats on the ram! Any more pictures?
BTW, what is a Barnes TSB?
BTW, what is a Barnes TSB?
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