JREG19
Lil-Rokslider
I know it's long.
I'm not exactly sure how my fascination with sheep began, but it did. I started applying for sheep 6 or 7 years ago. I started taking people hunting for deer and elk in areas I knew there were sheep, just so I could hopefully glass some up. I've been skipping family functions to take my son out and look for sheep (my family doesn't like me anyways, so it's ok). I've seen every sheep hunt on YouTube. I'm not exactly sure how the sheep bug got me, but it did.
I joined the Wild Sheep Foundation and started dragging my wife to Sheep Show every year (besides covid years) hoping I would win the <1 Club. At sheep show, I'd stop at the Idaho Wild Sheep Foundation booth and talk to those guys and they encouraged me to become a member and I did. I bought some raffle tickets from them but no dice. I kept going to the <1 Club but no dice.
I got an email from IDWSF about a capture they were doing and I kind of hemmed and hawed about it for a while, not thinking I had enough time to go, but my wife encouraged me to make time, so I went. I had an awesome experience and left with a different view of Fish and Game and a great appreciation for the IDWSF and everything they do to try to put and keep sheep on the mountain. I thought that would be my only opportunity to put my hands on a Bighorn Sheep.
At the 2025 <1 Club banquet I sat there and I knew for sure I was going to win. I was so sure of it! Well, I didn't win... but I wasn't disappointed. I turned to my wife and said, "I'm happy I didn't win, because I know that God has something better for me" and He did/does.
Fast forward to application season, I had been thinking of applying for the easier to draw tags but harder to access units, because I'm still young enough to embrace the suck. Well, my wife volunteered me to go to Bolivia this summer with our 85 year old friend for 2 weeks. I knew that would hurt my time and resources to get into the Frank, so I decided to shoot for the moon and apply for a tag that I had no chance of drawing. Well, I drew. God had something better for me.
I started taking my family camping in the area I drew a tag for. The first time out, it took me a long time to turn up some rams. Then I knew, this hunt might be a little harder than I thought it would be. We went a few more times scouting before I went to Bolivia for 2 weeks and when I got back the game was on. I started shooting multiple times a week and hiking with my pack weighed down every day. I started going scouting every couple of weeks.
I took my 3 year old son with me, just us and the dog. One evening before bed, after hiking with him all day, we were at camp and there was still some light so I decided to glass around us while making dinner and spotted some small rams. We both got pretty excited. The next morning while making breakfast I looked for the rams again and I found a bunch more with them. I found one that got me excited and wrote my name on him.
I kept working out and shooting a lot, but decided to not scout anymore until right before the season (a decision I somewhat regretted later). The season opened on a Saturday so I went the Tuesday before and turned up that ram again, less than a mile from where I had seen him a month earlier. I decided to head home until Thursday. As I was leaving I ran across some other guys and wouldn't you know, one of them had a sheep tag. We kind of talked about where we were going to hunt and he kind of lied to me and I kind of lied to him. You know how it goes haha.
Well sure enough, Thursday night I got to where I was planning on camping and those guys were there... I was kind of discouraged, but I knew I could find a ram even if it wasn't the one I was looking for. Friday, the day before the season I hiked up a spot that I hadn't been to, looking for different sheep because I couldn't find the one I had my name on. All I found was ewes and lambs. Before the day was over I found a road that looked to the other side of the ridge I had seen my ram on a few days earlier. I had my dirt bike so I didn't beat the piss out of my truck on those roads, but I never left the road. I rode over there and hiked out to a point and I turned up a whole bunch of rams, pretty quick. Then, I turned up the ram I had already put my name on. I watched him for a bit and decided to go back to camp to get a good night's sleep and some good supper. As I was riding back to my camp, I saw some guys walking the road. I stopped and talked to them and they let me know there was a sheep hunter back there and that he was pissed because a dirtbiker was riding back there on non motorized trails. Well, it wasn't me and I decided to go talk to them to make sure they knew that it wasn't me. When I got over there, the guys recognized me and I was telling them it wasn't me riding back there and that I'm only staying on the roads. They said they saw the guys riding and knew it wasn't me. Then they started giving me the 3rd degree, "who told you about this place? Was it so and so? I thought you were hunting over there? How long have you been applying? Why are you all alone? That's not how sheep hunting goes!" (I hunt the most hunted elk unit in the state, so I'm used to these kinds of conversations and a little competitiveness) I shrug it off and answer the questions. Then I ask where they are going in the morning, so I can avoid them and they don't want to answer and say, "idk where are you going?" So I point up the hill and say, "I'm thinking about going up there" and of course that's where they wanted to go. So I said ok and they said they were waiting for more guys to come and they would come to my camp in the morning and tell me their plan and I said OK.
I got back to my camp, ate dinner and lay down early. I started thinking about what I was going to do, I thought about meeting them in the morning and talking, but after a while I started thinking, "tomorrow is opening day on a tag I never thought I'd get, on an animal I really want, and I know exactly where the one I want is. I'm not waiting here for those guys."
I woke up at 4:30 opening day and decided I could get to those rams walking from my camp, but if those guys come by and see my dirt bike and truck, they will have somewhat of an idea where I am. So I decided to ride my bike about a mile out of the way to hide it in some bushes, so they would have no idea where I was at.
I started hiking up the ridge, it was 2,000' of elevation in 1 mile, I was wishing I had gotten into even better shape. As I was hiking, I just kept praying, "please God, let that ram be there, and please don't let me spook him." I got to the top of the ridge and peeked over, nothing. So I slowly crept along the backside of the ridge in the direction I had seen the rams the day before, peeking over every little bit. I finally got to the spot that I was sure I would see them if I peeked over (my heart is racing just typing this). I peeked over and saw a couple of rams, but they weren't my ram. I snuck over the top and sat down and glassed. There's my ram, I recognized him instantly. I set up my gun and dry fired on him a couple times. He was 303 yards, it should be a chip shot, I've been practicing past a thousand all summer. I didn't account for the fever. I could not stop shaking, not just a little shake, but very dramatic and uncontrollable. I kept dry firing and it wasn't helping at all. I finally decided that, I'm just going to have to suck it up and shoot, it's never going to get better. I shoot and miss. The rams start running towards me a little bit and stop, I shoot again and whack, I dumped him. He started sliding down and trying to get up, but he couldn't. I put another one in him and he was dead, but he didn't stop sliding... I was so excited, but as he was sliding, I kept praying for him to stop and he finally did (only 600' elevation down the opposite side of the ridge) as soon as I got to him I tried to drink some water and was out. I took some pictures and cut him and strapped the pack on and was on my way up. There was a fire nearby and all of the smoke started to roll in and made it hard to breathe. I finally got him packed up and over (very slowly) I was so dehydrated I just stashed all my stuff not too far from the road so I could get some water quicker.
When I got to the road a truck pulled up and we talked for a minute, he was very gracious to me and offered me his water (I gladly accepted). He was with the other sheep hunter, but not when I talked to them. He never asked me if I killed anything, and I never told him. I went up and got my motorcycle then parked it nearish where I left my stuff and hiked back up to get it. Rode my stuff back to camp, set it on the tailgate of my truck and the other sheep hunter drove by and waved (they packed up and moved on because there were no sheep in there). They didn't stop to talk, so they never saw my ram. I caped him out and packed up and headed home the following morning.
Thanking God for the opportunity to kill such a magnificent beast.
I'm not exactly sure how my fascination with sheep began, but it did. I started applying for sheep 6 or 7 years ago. I started taking people hunting for deer and elk in areas I knew there were sheep, just so I could hopefully glass some up. I've been skipping family functions to take my son out and look for sheep (my family doesn't like me anyways, so it's ok). I've seen every sheep hunt on YouTube. I'm not exactly sure how the sheep bug got me, but it did.
I joined the Wild Sheep Foundation and started dragging my wife to Sheep Show every year (besides covid years) hoping I would win the <1 Club. At sheep show, I'd stop at the Idaho Wild Sheep Foundation booth and talk to those guys and they encouraged me to become a member and I did. I bought some raffle tickets from them but no dice. I kept going to the <1 Club but no dice.
I got an email from IDWSF about a capture they were doing and I kind of hemmed and hawed about it for a while, not thinking I had enough time to go, but my wife encouraged me to make time, so I went. I had an awesome experience and left with a different view of Fish and Game and a great appreciation for the IDWSF and everything they do to try to put and keep sheep on the mountain. I thought that would be my only opportunity to put my hands on a Bighorn Sheep.
At the 2025 <1 Club banquet I sat there and I knew for sure I was going to win. I was so sure of it! Well, I didn't win... but I wasn't disappointed. I turned to my wife and said, "I'm happy I didn't win, because I know that God has something better for me" and He did/does.
Fast forward to application season, I had been thinking of applying for the easier to draw tags but harder to access units, because I'm still young enough to embrace the suck. Well, my wife volunteered me to go to Bolivia this summer with our 85 year old friend for 2 weeks. I knew that would hurt my time and resources to get into the Frank, so I decided to shoot for the moon and apply for a tag that I had no chance of drawing. Well, I drew. God had something better for me.
I started taking my family camping in the area I drew a tag for. The first time out, it took me a long time to turn up some rams. Then I knew, this hunt might be a little harder than I thought it would be. We went a few more times scouting before I went to Bolivia for 2 weeks and when I got back the game was on. I started shooting multiple times a week and hiking with my pack weighed down every day. I started going scouting every couple of weeks.
I took my 3 year old son with me, just us and the dog. One evening before bed, after hiking with him all day, we were at camp and there was still some light so I decided to glass around us while making dinner and spotted some small rams. We both got pretty excited. The next morning while making breakfast I looked for the rams again and I found a bunch more with them. I found one that got me excited and wrote my name on him.
I kept working out and shooting a lot, but decided to not scout anymore until right before the season (a decision I somewhat regretted later). The season opened on a Saturday so I went the Tuesday before and turned up that ram again, less than a mile from where I had seen him a month earlier. I decided to head home until Thursday. As I was leaving I ran across some other guys and wouldn't you know, one of them had a sheep tag. We kind of talked about where we were going to hunt and he kind of lied to me and I kind of lied to him. You know how it goes haha.
Well sure enough, Thursday night I got to where I was planning on camping and those guys were there... I was kind of discouraged, but I knew I could find a ram even if it wasn't the one I was looking for. Friday, the day before the season I hiked up a spot that I hadn't been to, looking for different sheep because I couldn't find the one I had my name on. All I found was ewes and lambs. Before the day was over I found a road that looked to the other side of the ridge I had seen my ram on a few days earlier. I had my dirt bike so I didn't beat the piss out of my truck on those roads, but I never left the road. I rode over there and hiked out to a point and I turned up a whole bunch of rams, pretty quick. Then, I turned up the ram I had already put my name on. I watched him for a bit and decided to go back to camp to get a good night's sleep and some good supper. As I was riding back to my camp, I saw some guys walking the road. I stopped and talked to them and they let me know there was a sheep hunter back there and that he was pissed because a dirtbiker was riding back there on non motorized trails. Well, it wasn't me and I decided to go talk to them to make sure they knew that it wasn't me. When I got over there, the guys recognized me and I was telling them it wasn't me riding back there and that I'm only staying on the roads. They said they saw the guys riding and knew it wasn't me. Then they started giving me the 3rd degree, "who told you about this place? Was it so and so? I thought you were hunting over there? How long have you been applying? Why are you all alone? That's not how sheep hunting goes!" (I hunt the most hunted elk unit in the state, so I'm used to these kinds of conversations and a little competitiveness) I shrug it off and answer the questions. Then I ask where they are going in the morning, so I can avoid them and they don't want to answer and say, "idk where are you going?" So I point up the hill and say, "I'm thinking about going up there" and of course that's where they wanted to go. So I said ok and they said they were waiting for more guys to come and they would come to my camp in the morning and tell me their plan and I said OK.
I got back to my camp, ate dinner and lay down early. I started thinking about what I was going to do, I thought about meeting them in the morning and talking, but after a while I started thinking, "tomorrow is opening day on a tag I never thought I'd get, on an animal I really want, and I know exactly where the one I want is. I'm not waiting here for those guys."
I woke up at 4:30 opening day and decided I could get to those rams walking from my camp, but if those guys come by and see my dirt bike and truck, they will have somewhat of an idea where I am. So I decided to ride my bike about a mile out of the way to hide it in some bushes, so they would have no idea where I was at.
I started hiking up the ridge, it was 2,000' of elevation in 1 mile, I was wishing I had gotten into even better shape. As I was hiking, I just kept praying, "please God, let that ram be there, and please don't let me spook him." I got to the top of the ridge and peeked over, nothing. So I slowly crept along the backside of the ridge in the direction I had seen the rams the day before, peeking over every little bit. I finally got to the spot that I was sure I would see them if I peeked over (my heart is racing just typing this). I peeked over and saw a couple of rams, but they weren't my ram. I snuck over the top and sat down and glassed. There's my ram, I recognized him instantly. I set up my gun and dry fired on him a couple times. He was 303 yards, it should be a chip shot, I've been practicing past a thousand all summer. I didn't account for the fever. I could not stop shaking, not just a little shake, but very dramatic and uncontrollable. I kept dry firing and it wasn't helping at all. I finally decided that, I'm just going to have to suck it up and shoot, it's never going to get better. I shoot and miss. The rams start running towards me a little bit and stop, I shoot again and whack, I dumped him. He started sliding down and trying to get up, but he couldn't. I put another one in him and he was dead, but he didn't stop sliding... I was so excited, but as he was sliding, I kept praying for him to stop and he finally did (only 600' elevation down the opposite side of the ridge) as soon as I got to him I tried to drink some water and was out. I took some pictures and cut him and strapped the pack on and was on my way up. There was a fire nearby and all of the smoke started to roll in and made it hard to breathe. I finally got him packed up and over (very slowly) I was so dehydrated I just stashed all my stuff not too far from the road so I could get some water quicker.
When I got to the road a truck pulled up and we talked for a minute, he was very gracious to me and offered me his water (I gladly accepted). He was with the other sheep hunter, but not when I talked to them. He never asked me if I killed anything, and I never told him. I went up and got my motorcycle then parked it nearish where I left my stuff and hiked back up to get it. Rode my stuff back to camp, set it on the tailgate of my truck and the other sheep hunter drove by and waved (they packed up and moved on because there were no sheep in there). They didn't stop to talk, so they never saw my ram. I caped him out and packed up and headed home the following morning.
Thanking God for the opportunity to kill such a magnificent beast.
