willidru
WKR
Well it's been a couple weeks since sheep opener, didn't post on the lead up since there was already a couple volumes of reading material on that subject. Couple of background notes in case you want to stop reading due to lack of challenge I experienced. I did have to use my custom rifle with NF scope to get it done, didn't have to leave this atmosphere, drew my tag in the random draw and hired a top notch Outfitter.
Unbelievably thankful for the blessing of drawing this once in a life-time Arizona Desert sheep tag. The biggest stress was the overlap of my 13 year olds first mule deer hunt in Colorado, this hunt and maybe missing thanksgiving. Fortunately was able to get my sons buck killed in Colorado on a Tuesday, get on the road Wednesday to head to AZ. Dropped my son at the airport Thursday morning to fly home and picked up my best friend an hour later to join me on the hunt. Grabbed the essentials on the way out of Phoenix food, beer, bourbon and mountain money. Found our way to camp validated my rifle and set up camp all in time to be ready for opener on Friday.
Connected with the Guide that night, fantastic guy in fact everyone I met that was associated with Arizona Desert Outfitters was incredibly professional and personable. Would recommend them to anyone lucky enough to have the opportunity. Set out opener to find an old ram. Since I didn't know shit from shinola I didn't really know what I was looking for when it came to sheep. I found the desert sheet to more difficult to spot than mule deer, but might just be knowing what your looking for and everyone else using BTXs. First day we saw 6 Rams a Ewe and a lamb. Watching the lamb bounce around was really cool. One of the Rams looked solid but was a ways off. Planned to try to get a better look at him on Saturday.
Saturday night was supposed to get a dusting of rain, instead it pissed from 2 am - 5 am. P.S. Canvas cutters aren't waterproof. Drove the the dirt roads for 40 minutes then hiked 2.5 miles to a glassing knob, country wasn't huge, but was rugged in the fact no trails, jumping cholla and loose rocks weren't great for footing. Pretty quickly that morning we found 2 rams together. 1 was the Ram we were looking for, they were feeding off a rock cropping just over a mile away. We watched for a while trying looking at every angle we could get he was heavy and wide with a big pot belly. The Rams crashed heads and 4 seconds later you could hear the bang across the canyon. It was time to get closer, he was looking good. Honestly the much smaller Ram next to him looked good to me also.
Dropped off the ridge and hiked down and around to keep out of sight, then straight up almost 1000' to get to a mesa above and behind to keep wind in our favor. As we were coming up we could see they started to move to the skyline, I set up with the hopes they would come over a ridge 425 yards away. As lady luck would have it the 2 Rams skylined, the smaller Ram was blocking the larger Ram for a minute or two then the bigger Ram stepped out I ranged 404 and sent it. Heard that sound all hunters know so well "thwap" and I knew I hit him good. He went about 20 feet and tipped over.
Such and unbelievable experience, so fortunate to share the success with my best friend. I put hands on him he was everything I could have wanted an old heavy bruiser.
Is this my "ROAL"? Hope not, hope to be able to draw another tag someday or who knows maybe be able to buy a sheep hunt someday!
We spent an hour in aww of the kill, took an hour of glam shots, then took off on our 3.5 mile trek back to the truck. The down hill rock scramble was probably more challenging than going up. Felt like a kid on skis that just couldn't get them pointed down hill. The weight of the pack felt great putting it on my back and great taking it off.
Unbelievably thankful for the blessing of drawing this once in a life-time Arizona Desert sheep tag. The biggest stress was the overlap of my 13 year olds first mule deer hunt in Colorado, this hunt and maybe missing thanksgiving. Fortunately was able to get my sons buck killed in Colorado on a Tuesday, get on the road Wednesday to head to AZ. Dropped my son at the airport Thursday morning to fly home and picked up my best friend an hour later to join me on the hunt. Grabbed the essentials on the way out of Phoenix food, beer, bourbon and mountain money. Found our way to camp validated my rifle and set up camp all in time to be ready for opener on Friday.
Connected with the Guide that night, fantastic guy in fact everyone I met that was associated with Arizona Desert Outfitters was incredibly professional and personable. Would recommend them to anyone lucky enough to have the opportunity. Set out opener to find an old ram. Since I didn't know shit from shinola I didn't really know what I was looking for when it came to sheep. I found the desert sheet to more difficult to spot than mule deer, but might just be knowing what your looking for and everyone else using BTXs. First day we saw 6 Rams a Ewe and a lamb. Watching the lamb bounce around was really cool. One of the Rams looked solid but was a ways off. Planned to try to get a better look at him on Saturday.
Saturday night was supposed to get a dusting of rain, instead it pissed from 2 am - 5 am. P.S. Canvas cutters aren't waterproof. Drove the the dirt roads for 40 minutes then hiked 2.5 miles to a glassing knob, country wasn't huge, but was rugged in the fact no trails, jumping cholla and loose rocks weren't great for footing. Pretty quickly that morning we found 2 rams together. 1 was the Ram we were looking for, they were feeding off a rock cropping just over a mile away. We watched for a while trying looking at every angle we could get he was heavy and wide with a big pot belly. The Rams crashed heads and 4 seconds later you could hear the bang across the canyon. It was time to get closer, he was looking good. Honestly the much smaller Ram next to him looked good to me also.
Dropped off the ridge and hiked down and around to keep out of sight, then straight up almost 1000' to get to a mesa above and behind to keep wind in our favor. As we were coming up we could see they started to move to the skyline, I set up with the hopes they would come over a ridge 425 yards away. As lady luck would have it the 2 Rams skylined, the smaller Ram was blocking the larger Ram for a minute or two then the bigger Ram stepped out I ranged 404 and sent it. Heard that sound all hunters know so well "thwap" and I knew I hit him good. He went about 20 feet and tipped over.
Such and unbelievable experience, so fortunate to share the success with my best friend. I put hands on him he was everything I could have wanted an old heavy bruiser.
Is this my "ROAL"? Hope not, hope to be able to draw another tag someday or who knows maybe be able to buy a sheep hunt someday!
We spent an hour in aww of the kill, took an hour of glam shots, then took off on our 3.5 mile trek back to the truck. The down hill rock scramble was probably more challenging than going up. Felt like a kid on skis that just couldn't get them pointed down hill. The weight of the pack felt great putting it on my back and great taking it off.
