2023 Wild Sheep Meatpole Photos

[Sevens]

I just finished an Altai Argali hunt in north Mongolia. Then I had time so they offered me a deal on a Gobi desert hunt. From north by Russia to south by China! Two hour plane flight to UlaanbaatarView attachment 607507View attachment 607508 then 12 hour drive half of which was desert sand.

I'll write something up about both of the rams later.

Man, details on this hunt! What was the cartridge used?

Dream hunt for me.

 

[dukxdog]

Bansner Ultimate Ovis .270 WSM w/Swarovski Z5 3.5-18X 140gr Sierra TGK

 

[eshunt]

NV desert sheep. I was able to get this guy on Friday morning. Was hunting solo that day so was a little tough to get good photos.

 

[Tmcgarrigle]

View attachment 616904

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NV desert sheep. I was able to get this guy on Friday morning. Was hunting solo that day so was a little tough to get good photos. View attachment 616914

Score and age??

 

[eshunt]

Score and age??

NDOW aged him at 8 and score of 168-5/8". Was way better than I expected to find in this unit. It isn't known for rams this big, average is around 150". I was trying to find a 7+ year old ram, and I did manage that.

 

[JRay]

 

[Live_weighT34]

My dads 2023 UT desert Ram! I’ve already posted him in the sheep thread but I can’t brag on this cranky old man enough lol

 

[NRS]

Aug. 10th, 7:15 AM

Had a great solo hunt & packout.
Just getting some cell service after 9 days in the field. Will give more details later.

40 1/2” x 13 1/2”, 9 years old. B&C Green Score of 165 2/8.

Edit*
Finally finished with this hunt after 15 days.
Started hiking in on Aug. 5th. After 4 days, 41 miles and 21,000 vert climbed, I was on this ram. I had climbed 4 6,000ft+ peaks and glassed a ton of terrain. This was the only mature ram seen.

Aug. 9th I spent the entire day watching and patterning this guy. I wanted to make absolutely sure he was older than 8. I have a self imposed 9 or older standard that I am adamant about sticking to. He ended up on a face directly above where I had my Hilleberg Niak set up, so was able to glass from inside my vestibule the whole day.

Aug. 10th.
He was lower on the face at 3 am, yet a mountain goat was gracing beneath him, making him uncomfortable. I had a stable shooting position and perfect environmentals for a long shot. However I couldn’t get an accurate ring count before he was pressured too far up the face and the morning started to brighten. Eventually he worked the entire way up the face and out of sight. I gathered my gear and went straight up the 1800 ft face. Eventually I was able to locate and get above & downwind of him. I made a slow stalk along the spine of the ridge and found myself directly above him at 70 yards. At 7:15 am on opening morning, one shot from my Fieldcraft 6.5CM brought him down, 10 1/2 months after the last ram!

Due to the rugged terrain and massive vertical relief, it required a double carry the entire way out. Even between 65-80 lbs for each of the two loads, depending on how I loaded, required huge amounts of concentration and effort. I experienced everything from sunny & 70 to torrential rain to a full winter storm above 6,000 ft that lasted 3 days, delaying the retrieval of the second load until it broke and I was able to navigate the terrain in a safe & responsible manner.

Overall, the packout involved 54 miles and 24,000 vertical ft of elevation gain, over the course of 4.5 days.
I was completely out on Saturday Aug. 19th.

* All mileage and vert tracked and verified from a Garmin watch. I find it interesting to track for my own reference and also to share, as I think it adds to the story being told.

View attachment 588648
View attachment 591206View attachment 591207View attachment 591208View attachment 591209

Truly Awesome Photos

^ The start of the storm moving in.

 

[edfreeway3]

A couple more of my Sonoran ram from February ‘23:

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Awesome pictures. Love the look of a desert Ram.

 

[edfreeway3]

Aug. 10th, 7:15 AM

Had a great solo hunt & packout.
Just getting some cell service after 9 days in the field. Will give more details later.

40 1/2” x 13 1/2”, 9 years old. B&C Green Score of 165 2/8.

Edit*
Finally finished with this hunt after 15 days.
Started hiking in on Aug. 5th. After 4 days, 41 miles and 21,000 vert climbed, I was on this ram. I had climbed 4 6,000ft+ peaks and glassed a ton of terrain. This was the only mature ram seen.

Aug. 9th I spent the entire day watching and patterning this guy. I wanted to make absolutely sure he was older than 8. I have a self imposed 9 or older standard that I am adamant about sticking to. He ended up on a face directly above where I had my Hilleberg Niak set up, so was able to glass from inside my vestibule the whole day.

Aug. 10th.
He was lower on the face at 3 am, yet a mountain goat was gracing beneath him, making him uncomfortable. I had a stable shooting position and perfect environmentals for a long shot. However I couldn’t get an accurate ring count before he was pressured too far up the face and the morning started to brighten. Eventually he worked the entire way up the face and out of sight. I gathered my gear and went straight up the 1800 ft face. Eventually I was able to locate and get above & downwind of him. I made a slow stalk along the spine of the ridge and found myself directly above him at 70 yards. At 7:15 am on opening morning, one shot from my Fieldcraft 6.5CM brought him down, 10 1/2 months after the last ram!

Due to the rugged terrain and massive vertical relief, it required a double carry the entire way out. Even between 65-80 lbs for each of the two loads, depending on how I loaded, required huge amounts of concentration and effort. I experienced everything from sunny & 70 to torrential rain to a full winter storm above 6,000 ft that lasted 3 days, delaying the retrieval of the second load until it broke and I was able to navigate the terrain in a safe & responsible manner.

Overall, the packout involved 54 miles and 24,000 vertical ft of elevation gain, over the course of 4.5 days.
I was completely out on Saturday Aug. 19th.

* All mileage and vert tracked and verified from a Garmin watch. I find it interesting to track for my own reference and also to share, as I think it adds to the story being told.

View attachment 588648
View attachment 591206View attachment 591207View attachment 591208View attachment 591209

^ The start of the storm moving in.

That portrait picture of you holding the Ram head and then the tent picture with Ram in front…badass!

I just finished an Altai Argali hunt in north Mongolia. Then I had time so they offered me a deal on a Gobi desert hunt. From north by Russia to south by China! Two hour plane flight to UlaanbaatarView attachment 607507View attachment 607508 then 12 hour drive half of which was desert sand.

I'll write something up about both of the rams later.

both rams are awesome. I’d say jackpot on two rams like that

 

[edfreeway3]

View attachment 616904

View attachment 616910



NV desert sheep. I was able to get this guy on Friday morning. Was hunting solo that day so was a little tough to get good photos. View attachment 616914

Pretty damn good pics for solo

 

[realunlucky]

Only time I'll get to hunt sheep in Montana's famous river breaks country.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

 

[Huntmaster]

My bighorn

 

[dukxdog]

My bighorn

Where was this? Looks like super good Bighorn terrain.

 

[Huntmaster]

Where was this? Looks like super good Bighorn terrain.

Alberta

Sent from my SM-G998U1 using Tapatalk

 

[Stew]

My bighorn

Simpson or one of the other outfitters.

 

[goonplatoon88]

My 2023 ram. Never scouted or hunted harder in my life! I've got the bug now that's for sure

 

[mikejw194]

Great pics, thanks

 

[Craig Van Arsdale]

Hunted this Ram for 22 days. Almost killed him on day 4 but he winded me at 57 yards. 18 days later it came together on the last day I had to hunt.

 

[schmalzy]

My bighorn

Awesome ram and awesome picture!!


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