Lil-Rokslider
WKR
The opener for my Colorado archery bighorn sheep tag is in 2 days! It snuck up on me, and I can't believe it. Most of the time when I have a good tag in my pocket, the time until the hunt seems to drag on, but this one came way too fast. I'm as prepared as I possibly can be, without neglecting my business and my family.
The hunt is August 1-31, and is in a part of Colorado that has the highest average elevation in the state. Rugged and beautiful. The snow doesn't usually melt enough to even start scouting until July 1st, so I've gotten about 10 days of boots on the ground scouting in over the month of July. I'll head out early tomorrow morning, with a couple of buddies along, to hit the road and hike in to the first spot that I plan to hunt.
The unit is about a 3 hour drive from my house, and this first trip will be this Thursday- Sunday. Then I've got August 8-16 with a group of friends joining me. If necessary I'll head back out for the last week of August again.
So far in my scouting, I'm yet to turn up a mature ram. I've found young rams, ewes, and lambs. I've found tons of mountain goats, elk, and deer. I've learned a ton about the unit and the roads. I've connected with many previous and current tag holders, as well as biologists and the district wildlife managers. I've spent hours on the phone with people who have extensive knowledge about the unit, and attended the bighorn society's rendezvous and meet and greet. My family joined me in the area for a camping trip, and I've been shooting my bow and staying in shape. I've got all of the historical kill data plugged into my OnX. It's been an exciting summer, and all that's left to do is go up there and give it my all!
There is a particular drainage within the unit, we'll call it "drainage X", where most of the rams hang out at this time of year and most of the previous archery tag hunters have killed their rams. Many of the previous rifle tag guys have killed their rams in drainage X, as well. I've purposely not stepped foot into drainage X during my scouting, because I figured my time is better spent looking for sheep in places where I'm not already certain there are sheep. There's also a part of me that really wants to kill a sheep in a different spot than drainage X, so I'll probably spend my first 5-7 days looking elsewhere. Then, if necessary, I'll head to drainage X after trying other places for a bit.
That's my plan, follow along for updates. Here are some pictures from my time in the unit thus far this summer.
The hunt is August 1-31, and is in a part of Colorado that has the highest average elevation in the state. Rugged and beautiful. The snow doesn't usually melt enough to even start scouting until July 1st, so I've gotten about 10 days of boots on the ground scouting in over the month of July. I'll head out early tomorrow morning, with a couple of buddies along, to hit the road and hike in to the first spot that I plan to hunt.
The unit is about a 3 hour drive from my house, and this first trip will be this Thursday- Sunday. Then I've got August 8-16 with a group of friends joining me. If necessary I'll head back out for the last week of August again.
So far in my scouting, I'm yet to turn up a mature ram. I've found young rams, ewes, and lambs. I've found tons of mountain goats, elk, and deer. I've learned a ton about the unit and the roads. I've connected with many previous and current tag holders, as well as biologists and the district wildlife managers. I've spent hours on the phone with people who have extensive knowledge about the unit, and attended the bighorn society's rendezvous and meet and greet. My family joined me in the area for a camping trip, and I've been shooting my bow and staying in shape. I've got all of the historical kill data plugged into my OnX. It's been an exciting summer, and all that's left to do is go up there and give it my all!
There is a particular drainage within the unit, we'll call it "drainage X", where most of the rams hang out at this time of year and most of the previous archery tag hunters have killed their rams. Many of the previous rifle tag guys have killed their rams in drainage X, as well. I've purposely not stepped foot into drainage X during my scouting, because I figured my time is better spent looking for sheep in places where I'm not already certain there are sheep. There's also a part of me that really wants to kill a sheep in a different spot than drainage X, so I'll probably spend my first 5-7 days looking elsewhere. Then, if necessary, I'll head to drainage X after trying other places for a bit.
That's my plan, follow along for updates. Here are some pictures from my time in the unit thus far this summer.
and shoot straight!
heck Sean just got a G8 goat tag that got returned and I won’t be able to help him 
