HUNT
Read my last paragraph of last post to get initial part of actual hunting/plan.
So we hade worked up this canyon via dry creek bed for about 1.5-2 miles all while glassing up cuts and feeder canyons and ridges. No game spotted. No big deal we were just getting started. After hiking up that far the canyon split: to the right was a deep canyon with a lot of glassable country and rock bluffs and to the left more great country. So here we actaully started working up the ridge formed from the two joining canyons.
The main reason being we felt that if we stayed in the bottom from this point on due to depth of canyons and rock bluffs, etc. we would be limited with what we could glass and that of we worked up the ridge we would be able to glass opposing hillsides and finger ridges and feeder draws into the canyon.
The benefit for me up to this point was that all our elevation gain had been gradual. Even working up the ridge between the canyons it wasn’t the worst time. Once we topped out on a little knob at the top of the ridge we had 360 degrees of visibilty ranging from 200 yards to miles.
Alright so finally made it home spent some time with the wife and kids amd have the meat hanging. Now for the rest of the story.
So once we gained some elevation and got out of the bottom we saw 6 javelina feeding. In our minds that was good to something up and about since it had been snowing the last day. We kept working south from the knob along a flat area that extended from the knob in kibd of a long drawn out j shape. We would make stops and glass 5-10 minutes and then move another hundred yards and continue glassing.
About 30 minutes after being on the hilltop my buddy glassed up a mule deer about 200 yards away, decent body and was feeding in the yucca and catsclaw bushes so we couldn’t really tell if it was a buck and didn’t spend too much time since we were looking for sheep.
Not five minutes later my outfitter says sheep spotted and your not going to like where they are at. They were about a mile west of us across one deep canyon and 2 other feeder canyons. We could see just their backs and that there were some rams. It was 1:30. Legal shooting light ended at 5:36.
I said excitedly we’ve got four hours lets make a move!! The outfitter was hesitant due to how far they were and probably because i am no gazelle in traversing the mountain. He had one of his guides that he was showing the area the said lets go and see what happens.
From where we were we could maintain elevation and get across the top end of the main canyon and that would leave two decent size feeder canyons between us and the sheep. We hoofed it about 30 minutes maintaining elevation and worked over to a little knob between us and them.
Right after we made our move the sheep started moving left, which was perfect because as they did that they were getting closer and savingus some hiking. I guess to try and describe the terrain the sheep were on the far end of a large bowl maybe halfway down the hillside and ridges that came down to form the canyon and we were kind of in the middle to 2/3 away on the other side of the bowl. So as we moved closet we kind of made a quarter to half circle on the southeastern side of the bowl about 200 yards from the top and the sheep opposite us were kind of coming on a similar arc feeding.
Once we got to the next knob we saw the sheep now just two small ridges over still feeding toward us. We had a crosswind enough we thought we would be ok. Only problem being we couldn’t get closer and i really couldn’t get a shot because we were essentially at same elevation and i would have had to stand up and shoot off hand to see over plants. Good thing is is that the original 12 sheep were now 20+ and they just kept coming over 2 ridges away and getting closer kind of angling left. As they fed over the second ridge away they were about 240yds. But they dropped into the little wash and were again out of sight. So we decided to drop of the backside of our knob and worked maybe 70 yards south to a cut that fed up to a saddle that they were heading toward.
By this time the sheep were now feeding over the adjacent ridge at about 160 yards. At one point a decent ram cam over the next saddle at maybe 140 but same problem as before i would have had to take a standing shot.
So we hunkered down on the northern end of the saddle. To the south the saddle was formed by the downslope of a ridge from a mountain to the south and the saddle was linked the little cut the sheep fed down into to the one that now ran behind us. The sheep were getting close and we were just hoping they didn’t feed right into us.
I got set up on a shooting tripod and we waited. After about 10 minutes when the disappeared into the draw below us we could hear them but not see them. Finally we saw a few ewes start to trickle moving south/southeast at just over a hundred yards we were on the northern end of the saddle just on the backside and they were crossing diagonally over the southern end of the saddle and looked like they intended to continue and gain elevation up the hill to our south above the saddle.
Now was the waiting game and holding extra still game. We didn’t have much cover and the sheep were barely over a hundred yards away. While waiting finally a decent ram appeared and so i settled in and got him in the crosshairs but he was behind some yucca and a ewe. So we waited and his guardian ewe would not move and clear him. Then all of the sudden she busts us and goes on full alert along with others.
After what seemed like forever she cleared him and at this time he was standing facing right slightly quartered away and i pulled the trigger and let her fly. The whole saddle and backside erupted with a load of sheep, they all circled up and started heading up the hill to the south but my ram split off to the left and was circling down toward us. I kept the scope leveled on him preparing for a second shot and could see the blood running down and covering his legs. After running maybe 75 yards he nose dived and expired. While the group of probably 30 sheep headed up and over the mountain to the south. As we watched them we looked to the west and about another 30 sheep grouped up from the next draw and headed the other way.
In the two groups there may have been one other ram that might have been slightly bigger. I was ecstatic and was glad to get it done day one. As we walked up to him i was pleasantly surprised by his horns and starting to hook in a decent amount. I knew he wasn’t a bomber or a monster but definitely something i was super happy to harvest!!
