Cadomin ram

[Rackmastr]

Congrats again buddy!

 

[shanevg]

Awesome hunt awesome ram! Congrats!

 

[Shrek]

Congratulations ! That cold wind would kick my butt for sure. Hurts just thinking of it.

 

[Buster]

Congrats on not only drawing the tag, but also putting it together. Some guys think that drawing that tag is the hard part, but the hunt itself can be brutal. A friend had the late season draw last year, hunted 7 of the 10 days, and never saw a legit ram in a legal area. (He would've hunted it all, but family friend emergency).

Again, congrats on your success.

 

[frans]

Congrats on not only drawing the tag, but also putting it together. Some guys think that drawing that tag is the hard part, but the hunt itself can be brutal. A friend had the late season draw last year, hunted 7 of the 10 days, and never saw a legit ram in a legal area. (He would've hunted it all, but family friend emergency).

Again, congrats on your success.

Thanks for the nice words everybody! Lots of people had given me the advice to not hesitate too long, and to consider not waiting for the 200"-er that might never come. There are many examples like that of your friend, where hunters just see one or two (or no) legal rams off the mine. Had the mine been crawling with bruisers in the 190-200" class I would likely have rolled the dice, and passed this ram up.

Of course there is always the nagging feeling in the back of the head, that says "what if...". What if we had waited, and hunted a few more days. I'm sure that feeling will go away once the mount is done. It's going to be a gorgeous pedestal mount, and like I look at my first, small, ram every day (even after nine years), I will be looking at this one with pleasure every day for a long time, and remember the cold, the wind, the change in the weather, the visual overload of so many rams together, the people that helped, and everything else surrounding the hunt.

I hunted Cadomin in the late season, and that is something nobody can take away!

I'm already sad I won't be able to hunt sheep next year, due to the Alberta regulations that say that you will have to sit out one year after killing a ram. I think I'll just have to "make do" with elk.

Frans

 

[Duk Dog]

Congrats again Frans. You put in the time and effort and kept yourself in the game and got it done. It was quite the journey. Way to go.

Side note - As you know I'm still looking for my first BH ram and you are welcome to join me in the mountains.

 

[Buster]

How was the herd potential looking? Was there anything close to, or possibly over that magical 200 inch mark? I know it's not like it was a decade ago, but hopefully it is coming back.

 

[frans]

Congrats again Frans. You put in the time and effort and kept yourself in the game and got it done. It was quite the journey. Way to go.

Side note - As you know I'm still looking for my first BH ram and you are welcome to join me in the mountains.

Count on it DD! 2014 is gonna be your year!

 

[frans]

How was the herd potential looking? Was there anything close to, or possibly over that magical 200 inch mark? I know it's not like it was a decade ago, but hopefully it is coming back.

I don't feel really qualified to make general statements, there are biologists and conservation officers that frequent the area including the mine itself who would be a much more reliable source of information. That said, I didn't see any rams that fit your description. If anything like that had been milling around on the mine underneath where we hunted, I'd either be sitting around on the evening of the last day of the season, wondering why I passed up a book ram, or be celebrating my head off.

 

[Buster]

I think you should still be celebrating with chipper, he's definitely no slouch in the awesome ranks.

 

[Bighorse]

Fine hunt and trophy. You were the recipient of sound game management. When conservation produces opportunity it's a win-win for everyone. How was the meat from a Bighorn anyway? I've eaten a few Dall sheep and enjoyed em.

 

[frans]

How was the meat from a Bighorn anyway? I've eaten a few Dall sheep and enjoyed em.

We cooked up a tenderloin in the evening and the taste was OK. A little bit mutton-ish, but not nearly as strong and off-putting as many people said it would be. Fairly chewy though. Kyle is cooking up a roast today (or his wife is), so we can get some feedback from him maybe.

Frans

 

[Muledeernv]

Congrats on a great ram

 

[paddlehead]

Fantastic! Beautiful ram for any unit on the continent!!

 

[ksteed17]

Fine hunt and trophy. You were the recipient of sound game management. When conservation produces opportunity it's a win-win for everyone. How was the meat from a Bighorn anyway? I've eaten a few Dall sheep and enjoyed em.

Cooked up a roast last night and it was great! I was a little skeptical being a late season rutted up ram. But it was great kids even said it was some great chicken!(that's what all meat is to them I guess).

 

[frans]

I can only echo those sentiments, I pounded some backstrap into minute steaks tonight, and they tasted great! I was worried I'd have a freezer full of potentially CWD infected buck, and inpalatable ram, but sofar at least one turned out alright.

 

[yama49]

Awesome ram, and one hell of a tough hunt in those conditions. congrats bigtime, and to you wingman also

 

[InDeep]

That's a awesome ram congrats on a great hunt!!

 

[hawken]

Good job Frans. Maybe I'll see you on the mountain again in 2015. I have to take next year off too.

 

[Stid2677]

Awesome Ram taken in what looked like some brutal conditions.

Best Wishes, post up the photos of him once he is mounted.

Steve