My Idaho Ram

[DroptineNW]

Super awesome story man! Some day I will have my own. Congrats to you. Banger ram

 

[JREG19]

Super awesome story man! Some day I will have my own. Congrats to you. Banger ram

Thank you sir! Looks like a nice bear in your avatar. Good luck in the draw!

 

[Gkbull]

Nice Ram! Great read.

 

[JREG19]

Nice Ram! Great read.

Thank you!

 

[Muleychaser22]

Congrats on that stud

 

[JREG19]

Congrats on that stud

Thank you!

 

[npm352]

Amazing ram and story

 

[JREG19]

Amazing ram and story

Thank you!

 

[ReddingArcher]

That’s so freaking cool! I really enjoyed your story and pictures! Beautiful ram!!

 

[For755]

Spot on! Great write and Congrats.

 

[JREG19]

That’s so freaking cool! I really enjoyed your story and pictures! Beautiful ram!!

Thank you, that looks like a great ram in your avatar. Congratulations on him!

 

[JREG19]

Spot on! Great write and Congrats.

Thank you very much!

 

[bighornbor]

Great ram! You made the right calls with the other hunters which can be difficult when balancing respect, ethics, honesty and Elmer Fudd's.

 

[JREG19]

Great ram! You made the right calls with the other hunters which can be difficult when balancing respect, ethics, honesty and Elmer Fudd's.

Thank you! I agree, I usually yield to other hunters, but I was pretty sure those other guys didn't know where my ram was. It does make it easier to not care what other guys think, when they give you a hard time. Haha

 

[BC03]

Congrats!!

 

[JREG19]

Congrats!!

Thank you!

 

[dgfavor]

Thank you! I agree, I usually yield to other hunters, but I was pretty sure those other guys didn't know where my ram was. It does make it easier to not care what other guys think, when they give you a hard time. Haha

I got injured just before my sheep hunt opened so had to wait till the very last week to recover as much as I could. By then the other ram tag holder had bagged a good ram so it was just me in the unit with a sheep tag. However there was a really good controlled hunt, hard draw bull elk tag that opened up and was running at same time. My buddy and I were freely sharing info back and forth with any and all elk hunters we encountered - us telling them where we saw elk, them telling us what they had seen - no one had seen a mature ram...but certainly would tell me if they did. Multiple hunters actually backed out of places when I told them I had the ram tag flat out telling me "OMG, that's OIL, way more important, you gotta get in there, we'll go somewhere else", etc. It was really, really humbling.

With I think 2 days left in my hunt we located a big band of 30+ sheep. We were miles away but I convinced myself a couple might be shooters so we hatched a plan to hike in and give them a look. Surrounding the band of sheep on every side it seemed was a bull bugling his brains out. My selfish side came out and I told my wife who was going to stay where she was glassing not to tell anyone about the elk if they stopped and talked to her. My buddy and I relocated to where we were going to hike from. As we got ready a guy with his two sons we had talked to and shared info with a few times previously pulled up - one son had drawn the bull tag. We told them about the sheep. They asked "see any elk up there?" I hesitated...then broke down and told them yah we saw handful of rutted up bulls surrounding the sheep! They had seen them as well! They told me good luck and to get after 'em! They would go elsewhere. I told them I had instructed my wife back up on the main road not to tell anybody about the elk. On their way past her they stopped and asked if she had seen any elk. She said "no"...they told her "good girl!" then confessed they had talked to me and I spilled the beans. They had good laugh.

There are so many great experiences like that that seem to come along with the OIL tags. I think most folks understand that at some point in those hunts you just gotta look out for #1 because it could literally be the one and only chance you ever get.