My 2022 Utah Bighorn Sheep

[elkhunterUT]

I have never sheep hunted before but realized what a special opportunity I had in front of me when I finally drew my OIL California Bighorn sheep with 21 points on the Newfoundland Mtns unit in my home state of Utah.

Back in June I was able to join some of the presidency of the Utah Wild Sheep Foundation and the Utah DWR to build a new water guzzler for the sheep on my unit. Such a cool experience to see the unit from a helicopter and to give back in some way to a resource I would be taking something from.

 

[elkhunterUT]

I ran a couple trail cameras on the unit through the summer and made a couple scouting trips. Saw some cool rams and started to get excited for my hunt in November!

 

[elkhunterUT]

My hunt started on October 29th but I didn’t plan to start hunting until November 4th. In hindsight that was not a good choice. We had some major weather move in with wind, precip and cold temps that made hunting very difficult and the sheep seemed to hold up high and were not real active.

Weather also made camping rough. We stayed in a wall tent with a wood stove, which was very nice, but one of the days, the wind was so fierce that it ripped the tent stakes out of the ground and flipped our tent over, exposing all of our sleeping bags, cots and gear to rain. Not good, but just adds to the adventure! We were able to dry things out enough to survive the cold temps.

Tent before wind:


Tent after wind

 

[elkhunterUT]

We found sheep and rams every day but the bigger rams were in difficult locations for stalks and weren’t showing a lot of rutting behavior. The wind and weather was keeping them high on the mountain. Finally on Friday, we had a sunny (don’t mistake that for being warm ) and wind free day and started seeing sheep lower on the mountain and more active. We found a group of ewes very low and then spotted a good ram all alone. He was a bit higher up the mountain, but worth going after so we put a game plan together and I started my stalk.

As I was working my way toward the first ram, I spotted what looked like sheep much closer with the tell-tale white “long-john” rumps popping in the early light. I pulled up my binos and sure enough it was a good ram with six ewes. They were about 200 yards away but there was a nice rise between us that would give me some cover to get even closer. I worked my way to that rise and the sheep continued to mill around and do their thing. Once I got to the top of the rise, I took my backpack off and readied my gun. The ram was under 150 yards slightly quartering away when I touched off the bullet, which found its mark with a perfect heart shot. He fell forward and I added two quick follow up insurance shots to anchor him, and suddenly, my long awaited once in a lifetime sheep hunt was over.

I am still processing all of the emotions and experiences of this hunt, but can see clearly how guys can become obsessed with hunting sheep. Such a cool and unique experience from other types of hunts I have been on. Really grateful to have an opportunity to experience sheep fever!!

 

[JREG19]

Congratulations, that's awesome!!

 

[Sled]

Cool experience. That is well worth the wait!

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

Awesome experience. Thanks for sharing!

 

[CRJR45]

Wow , cool stuff , congrats !

 

[long hunter]

Tip on the tent for next time, run two ropes diagionally over the outside of the tent with long re-bar stakes in the ground. Works very well in windy conditions.

 

[elkhunterUT]

Tip on the tent for next time, run two ropes diagionally over the outside of the tent with long re-bar stakes in the ground. Works very well in windy conditions.

Thank you for the tip - we actually did pull my truck up right next to the back of the tent and secured both sides of the tent to it (unfortunately that was after the wind had already worked its destruction). Worked well and the truck helped block wind also.

 

[5MilesBack]

Tip on the tent for next time, run two ropes diagionally over the outside of the tent with long re-bar stakes in the ground. Works very well in windy conditions.

The result of the wind is one of the possible problems with an internal frame tent. To combat that, these will help eliminate that problem.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/search/earth%20anchor?

However, if you're in rocky ground it's tough to find spots to get them in far enough. I use 12"x3/8" lag bolts with a large washer for all my stakes, and use my Dewalt impact driver to put them in and take them out.

Sounds like you had a great time on your hunt (minus the tent fiasco).

 

[elkhunterUT]

The result of the wind is one of the possible problems with an internal frame tent. To combat that, these will help eliminate that problem.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/search/earth%20anchor?

However, if you're in rocky ground it's tough to find spots to get them in far enough. I use 12"x3/8" lag bolts with a large washer for all my stakes, and use my Dewalt impact driver to put them in and take them out.

Sounds like you had a great time on your hunt (minus the tent fiasco).

My brother and I were commenting that we needed longer lag bolts that could be impact driven into the ground. Will be better prepared on the next trip for sure!!

 

[z987k]

Tip on the tent for next time, run two ropes diagionally over the outside of the tent with long re-bar stakes in the ground. Works very well in windy conditions.

Rebar does make for really good stakes. Not light in the slightest like the aluminum stuff, but it's the best stake I've used.

 

[Sled]

Rebar does make for really good stakes. Not light in the slightest like the aluminum stuff, but it's the best stake I've used.

I've used 5/8" concrete stakes for truck camping. Clove hitch one side and trucker hitch the other.

 

[RyanAZ]

Awesome story, thanks for sharing!

 

[CorbLand]

I was on a sheep hunt with a family member around the same period as you and the sheep in that unit were the same way. Up high until the Thursday after opener then they moved down.

 

[BetaOrourke]

That's a beauty of a ram! What tent is that?

 

[elkhunterUT]

That's a beauty of a ram! What tent is that?

It's a Davis wall tent with the internal frame - borrowed it from a buddy for the hunt. Really liked it except for the wind debacle, but as has been noted, longer and more sturdy stakes and securing it down would have solved that problem. Not the tent's fault by any means. I would highly recommend the tent and the stove combo!!

 

[elkhunterUT]

I was on a sheep hunt with a family member around the same period as you and the sheep in that unit were the same way. Up high until the Thursday after opener then they moved down.

Talked to another tag holder that experienced the same thing - if there was wind or inclement weather, the sheep held high and did not come lower. I am new to sheep hunting, so wasn't sure if they were extra spooky from the earlier hunt that had already taken place or if it was the weather that had them up high, but seems like weather was the primary cause. The day I killed mine, we saw a bunch more sheep lower on the mountain (no wind, clear and cold).

 

[CorbLand]

Talked to another tag holder that experienced the same thing - if there was wind or inclement weather, the sheep held high and did not come lower. I am new to sheep hunting, so wasn't sure if they were extra spooky from the earlier hunt that had already taken place or if it was the weather that had them up high, but seems like weather was the primary cause. The day I killed mine, we saw a bunch more sheep lower on the mountain (no wind, clear and cold).

First one for me too. Most fun hunting I have had in my lifetime. We were fortunate to have a guy come with us a couple days that has been hunting them for 20 years. They dont like the wind and will hide out in back pockets from it when its windy. We found them in the shade pretty much everyday. If the weather you had was like ours, it was hot for the first week and once it cooled down, they started dropping lower. The rut was starting to kick in when I had to leave which was November 5. He went home for 4 days and killed his ram on the 12th.