CO Rocky Bighorn Archery 25'

[CMF]

Lucked up and drew an archery tag for CO Rocky Mountain Bighorn, Aug 1-31.
Figured I'd post a non-unit-specific thread for the hunt(IYKYK) and give some details as requested in the other thread.
I had no thoughts of ever drawing this tag anytime soon, and I even put us in for harder to draw hunts in other states to keep our hunts to a minimum this year. We'll be starting to build a new house this year and wrapping up 3.5+ years of full-time RV travel, dialing back on the road work, and ramping up my local construction business. So it's going to get interesting and be busy. My daughter also drew an AZ late rifle elk and NM off-range Oryx tag(Nov). She'll also draw a CO muzzy elk tag, that I mentioned I would return, but the wife said she wants elk, so we'll see.
I drew, non-resident with 3+0. goes to show you just have to get your name in enough hats.
I'm going to plan at least one scouting trip, and probably try and tie it in with the RMBS sheep & goat meet and greet.
I plan to arrive at least a week before the hunt and hunt the entire month if needed. I might have a buddy along, and maybe my wife, daughter and possibly even my boys, but nothing is certain yet in that regard.
Fitness is decent. I'd like to lose 15- 20 lbs before the hunt, but I did do a 10 mile run yesterday(10:20/mile) and plan do a 20-mile trail race in a few weeks if I can get off work(my first race of any kind). Plan to ramp up trucking with weight in the coming weeks.
Bow is pretty dialed even after having shot very little the last several months. I plan on doing the Cold bow challenge at 70yds and entering my first ever 3D shoot in june.
We've hunted out west every year since 2019, including Elk, muley, bear, oryx, & barbary. We were able to spend a lot of days in the field the past 4 seasons since we could pull the camper to wherever our hunts were.
Hopefully, my recent fortune cookie holds true(attached pic).
Good luck to the other hunters in the unit and if you want to swap contact info, feel free to reach out.

 

[TXCO]

Good luck! Give em hell


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[resident vs nonresident]

Congrats on your tag.
Best of luck

 

[Blockcaver]

Good luck, and look out for the lightening storms.

 

[TX_Diver]

I’m just another guy on the Internet, but for what it’s worth I Met @CMF in person and he was a cool guy who was happy to loan me some stuff for a (statistically) once In a life time hunt I drew.

Good luck man!

 

[Mrshort]

@CMF Thanks for starting this unit “anonymous” post. Congrats on the draw with such low points! Just proof that it’s possible! I know the only non-resident bighorn rifle tag holder in our unit and he drew with the same 3+0!!! Just one of those years, I suppose.

In accordance with the previous conversation about checking in. I’ll be hunting this unit as well. I consider myself an average blue collar hunter, 37 yrs old in fit condition, with little kids in elementary and a wife who works. So time away from home is hard but possible with sacrifices and compromise. I’m a 5th gen CO native, born and raised exploring the mountains and local Bowhunting club President. I have a bucket list dream of harvesting all big game species in CO w/ a longbow… so this hunt will be focussed on checking sheep off that list. I’m grateful to know a handful of older men who have already achieved this challenge. I love hearing their epic stories!

I’ll have two scouting trips and then 17 days to hunt. Praying that will be enough… but have heard stories that would prove that’s not… as I well know from hunting high alpine mulies and elk w/ trad gear!

I’m happy to connect with the other tag holders in this unit. Feel free to DM me and I’ll provide my cell.

 

[wildwilderness]

Good luck, sounds like you are getting prepared.

The mental aspect can be challenging with a OIL tag! Hopefully your scouting will help you make realistic goals and beat the odds of average 25% archery success on CO sheep! Shoot straight

Even If you are in good physical shape I still see the high altitude as a limiting factor- get acclimatized before you push too hard and sleep high

 

[CMF]

Well, I got it done.
Just now catching up on the forum as I'm back on an outage working the night shift.
I'll post up a quick summary for those that like a short story and then elaborate.

Short version:
Scouted a few days before season and found a 5/6 year old ram in a drainage. Hunted different drainages the rest of the month in search of an 8+ yo ram. Got within 150yds of 2 good rams and within 100yds of a ram I think would be at least 8-10yo. Ended up hunting 24 days, taking off 5 days here and there between trips. On the 29th, with only a few days left, me and the wife hiked back into the drainage where the 5/6 yo ram was and had him on the ground by lunch. 5 miles and 2500ft el. pack out to the truck was done before dark, but with 80lbs+, my knees are still hurting a month later. I saw tons of beautiful country, met some cool people, watched a bobcat chase sheep around, had a bear at 30yds, saw elk, deer, coyotes, grouse and ptarmigan. Had rodents get into my food and catch fish for dinner. Had the string jump off my cam and managed to fix it in the backcountry. Made memories for a lifetime. Ready to go back for a bigger one!


Long version:
Things didn't quite go as planned back in May as things go in life. Got to CO with only a few days to scout. Ended up taking the camper and the whole family, wife, boys, 12 & 15, daughter 17. My buddy never made it out. My daughter had her appendix out in July so she was on lite duty.
Pre season - made a trip into a drainage with a lake with the whole family, dog included. We got in day 1 and glassed and fished with no luck. Woke up day 2 and found sheep early, two rams, one 5/6, the other maybe 2/3. Me and my daughter hiked deeper in and glassed some more, the boys fished and we didn't turn up any additional sheep. Day 3 glassed some and hiked out.
Season opener- My daughter is the only one that normally keeps up with me in the mountains, but having her appendix out just 4 weeks earlier, the wife wanted her to rest up another week before hunting with me. The wife was planning on hitting different drainages to look for rams, but the terrain was tough for my boys and she decided against taking them by herself. So, off I went solo. I spent the day before opener packing gear and food and ultimately took longer than anticipated so I opted to hike in opening morning.
to be continued...

 

[CMF]

Opening day to day six - Hiked into a new, difficult to access drainage with an unmaintained trail. I was excited to not see any fresh boot tracks and thought I'd have it to myself. After several hours of hiking I got to country that looked sheepy. Got out the binos and looked up to a nice area I'd expect to see sheep and see a hunter. I thought he probably saw me. I was already this deep and there was some drainage beyond where he was, so I hiked deeper in. I got further up the drainage and started glassing.
Later that afternoon, I see a couple guys hiking up towards me. They hadn't seen me earlier. Their camp was further up the basin pass me. We chatted, they were brothers. I told them they were there first and I'd hike over the ridge to another drainage in the morning, but I was whipped from the hike in and planned to camp that night. They made a play on some sheep earlier in the day that I never saw. They wanted to give them a day and also wanted to check out the ridge I was planning to go to. We made a plan to meet back at my camp to hike up and I'd have first go at whatever we saw up the new ridge over.
I woke up to mule deer at my camp feeding just 20yds away. When the guys got to my campspot they looked up to where the sheep were the day before and spotted them again. We aborted the plan to hike over the opposite ridge and he planned to go after the sheep they were on the day before. Me having only seen two sheep prior to this, I thought it worthwhile to watch this band of rams and to see how the hunt played out. I joined the brother to glass and the hunter made a play around the mountain and down onto the sheep. Long story short, he got an arrow into a nice ram, but didn't find it that evening. I went up with them to look the next morning, day three of the season. He found it, got it processed, I helped them get it down to the trail. Then I hiked up the opposite ridge to glass into a new basin, nothing, back down to camp and a long exhausting day.

Day four I wake up and a few of the rams are back in a stalkable position. I end up getting within 140yds and run out of cover. While waiting on an opportunity the warming temps cause the thermals to switch and they blow out, side hilling around the mountain and I can't see where they go.
Day five I wake up, hike further into the basin glassing the back, nothing. Get back to original spot and the rams are back. Make a plan to go after them and just as I'm fixing to head up, probably 11am, they start around the mountain and go out of sight. I take it easy and rest up around camp that eve.
Day six I wake up and two rams are up there again. I watch for a while and contemplate going after them, but decide to hike out, regroup and come back with my daughter. I figure if she can keep an eye on them while I make a stalk, at least I'll know where they keep slipping off to. This was a mistake.

TBC..

 

[CMF]

day seven to ten - Hiked in day seven with my daughter. No sightings of sheep that afternoon.
I say in the post before hiking out was a mistake, because I should have made an attempt on the rams then and not waited.
Day eight we hike up from camp a few hundred yards to glassing spot. I attempt to draw my bow as I do periodically on a hunt, but didn't the day before. My string wouldn't budge. The string had jumped off the cam. I know the exact moment it happened on the hike in. I had my bow strapped to my pack, my daughter was hiking behind me and the string snagged a limb as i pushed through brush. It pulled the string back some before sliding off the limb and snapping back. I didn't think anything of it at the time. I quickly realized this wouldn't be an easy fix. I had enough service to do some googling and make a post on a fb archery group for advice. The lesson learned here was to have an allen wrench to back off the limbs, but I didn't have that size with me, only smaller ones for sight and rest. I used extra straps from our kuiu and exo pack to try and compress the bow(75lbs). I ended up breaking the metal g clip on the exo strap before tying them in knots and using a trekking pole on each side like a tourniquet to compress the bow while my daughter fished the string back on the cam. This was very sketchy, we had our sunglasses on and emphasized not to get fingers in any pinch points. It took a few hours from begging to end before finally getting it back on and shooting a few arrows.
We glassed where the sheep had been then hiked to the back of the basin to glass it. nothing.
day nine we hiked up the ridge to glass the basin to the north. nothing. Back to camp around lunch. Packed camp and hiked over the ridge into the basin to the south. Glassed it that evening and the next morning and also into a little offshoot basin. Hiked out that afternoon of day ten.

Day eleven - rested up and regrouped

 

[CMF]

Day 12 to 16 - With my daughter able to pack some weight and the boys rested up, We decided to make a trip all together in a more moderate drainage. It was still 4 miles and 1500' el. We hiked into an area with a lake and made camp.
Day 13 the fam stayed around the lake to fish and I hiked another 1-2k up the basin to check it out and glass into other basins. Saw some ewes and some nice muleys but no rams.
Day 14 I hiked a different direction to glass a smaller nearby basin, but turned up nothing. was back at camp early this day.
Day 15 I planned to leave the family and hike 7+ miles to a new area. It would bring me towards the truck and then away from it, I would scout, camp and meet them back at the truck the next evening. I only made it a couple miles from camp and spotted a nice ram. I kept eyes on him and called the wife so she could send my daughter to keep eyes on him. As soon as my daughter got there, I headed up after him. In the meantime the wife and boys packed the rest of camp and headed our way. They watched from below over mile away while I made a stalk on the ram, It ended up being a 2.5 mile, 1600' el. climb that lasted over 3 hours. He was tucked away in a small pocket with high rock faces all around. It made the wind crazy and he eventually busted out before I could get in range. He spooked hard and hauled az and I think he went to the other side of the range. We camped down below that night and looked for him that morning before hiking out around lunch.
Day 17 I rested up and packed camp for another adventure solo since my daughter had to fly home to start college.

 

[CMF]

Day 18-21, The wildest trip of the month.
It started only ten minutes after leaving the trailhead. I'm maybe 400yds down the trail and hear a dog bark, then closer and closer. The parking lot at the trailhead was empty when my wife dropped me off. On this trip I had took my glock 9mm of my chest and switched it for my wifes 380 that I put in my pack lid. With angry barking dog approaching, I drop my pack and get the pistol out and chamber a round. A big great pyranese comes flying down the trail and isn't happy about my presence. He gets to about 20ft, barks, and kicks up dirt, pisses on the bushes and repeats. All while his useless owner lady screams and blows a whistle that the dog gives zero f's about. I turn to take a step away and down the trail, but he immediately moves closer, so I turn and face him again. After a minute or two he runs back towards his owner, who is at least a couple hundred yards away still. Then he returns and gets closer, maybe 6-10ft. At this point I'm thinking I might have to shoot this dog. If I had my glock with 10 rounds I would have at least put one in the dirt, but I only had 6. He eventually ran back to his owner, so off I went. I guess the lady thought no one was around since I had been dropped off, but with a dog like that, it seems like a bad idea to be out on public land. I'll bet she would have sht if I fired off a round in the dirt.
Eight miles, 4k', and 10 hours later, I've made camp and got to a glass spot. I'm on the opposite side of the range, potentially where the ram from the last trip could have went to. I spot a lone ram, than a pair of rams, one of which is real heavy and broomed on both sides. With only a couple hours of daylight left and already wore out from the hike in, I decide to wait until morning.
Wake up day 19, I quickly refind the two rams, I don't the see the single but don't spend time looking since he was at least a half mile from the two. I make a stalk up on the two climbing 2k feet in 1.1 miles. I end up too far above them, then sneak down closer. I get within 100yds and I have a good cover from big rocks on the finger ridge I'm on. They are feeding up and if they continue, they'll be max 60-70yds and level with me and closer if they are on my side of the chute. Maybe ten minutes go by as I watch them. Then I feel a couple drops of rain and some hail bounces off my hat brim. In a good position to wait on them, and the weather looking like it's going to get worse, I drop back and put on my rain jacket. A moment later I peak back over the boulder I've been watching them from and don't see them. I catch movement straight below me on the ridge and look down to see them in a full run. I watch them go all the way down and up into another small basin. I think the weather caused the wind to shift, cause I was completely out of site and quiet getting my rain jacket on.
I spend that evening and the next morning trying to find any ram with no luck. When I returned to camp that evening a rodent had chewed thru my dry bag that I didn't hang high enough and got two of my dinners.
I hike up two a side basin day 20 to look over new ground. There is a lake there, and having lost a couple of my diners I decide to try for some fish. I had cut everything unnecessary out of my pack including a small bag with some line and flys. So I broke down some paracord, made a hook out of a safety pin and ended up with a few small trout for dinner that I cought on jerky and bagel.
Hiked out on the 21, rested the 22 and ended up resting the 23rd due to weather.

 

[CMF]

Day 24-25 Hike into a new basin. As I get to sheepy country I spot 5 rams, 1 sublegal, and 4 legal, but none real big. They are in a terrible place to get to or stalk. I decide to push further in and see what else I can see with hopes they'll move into a better place, even though none get me too excited to shoot. I don't find any others and only refind one of the 5 before dark near the top of a ridge. I get up the next morning and hike up a ridge to see into another basin. I don't see any new sheep and can't find any of the 5 before in my basin. I do see some Ptarmigan. By 10-11am fog is moving in and I'm losing visibility. With the season end getting close quick, threat of crappy weather that night, and lack of shooter ram I decide to hike out that evening. I figure at this point I have to run n gun to find a shooter.
Day 26, rest up as the weather isn't great and I figure this is the last day I'll take off before the season ends.
Day 27 hike in 5 miles and 3300' and make camp. hike another 1.5 mile loop up 600' glassing the basin. nothing. Get up the next day, glass my area, loop through a saddle and up a another to glass another basin. see a ewe. drop down, then side hill around to another small basin. nothing. Then down and up into the basin I started in at the beginning of the season, just to see if the rams came back. nothing. Ended the day hiking a total of 9 miles, 3k' up and 6k down and out to the truck that night.
Day 29 - Physically and mentally fatigued by this point, my wife convinced me not to take off another day. I figured my options were to push into a new areas or try old ones again in hopes of finding a big ram or head back to the area we scouted before season and look for the smaller ram we saw in July. I decided to go back for the smaller ram. I figured it was more a sure thing and if he wasn't around I might have one more day to go somewhere else. My wife decided to hike in with me and hunt the day, but planned to hike out that night. I had camp with me. We got a bit of a late start, but made it 5 miles and 2500' by noon. Luckily he hadn't moved and we located him fairly quickly and got an arrow in him. We got him processed and made it to the truck before dark with 80+ and 60+ pound packs.

 

[CMF]

 

[wildwilderness]

Way to stick with it and be persistent! You gave it all you could and have a nice ram to take home. Not many get a ram with a bow so you did good