My Stepson’s Oregon Bighorn

Joined
May 17, 2016
Messages
81
Nathan’s 2022 Bear Creek Bighorn Sheep tag—truly a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ experience. This is a hard Rocky Mt Bighorn hunt for Oregon, as most sheep are ~10 miles from the trailhead, and are certainly the most “wild” sheep in Oregon. I am beyond proud of Nathan (15yr old) for showing grit and determination in areas where most grown men would fail. This young man grew up 5 years in 5 days, pushing beyond his perceived physical and mental limitations.

Our team (Nathan, myself, Gus Titus, and Kurk Shriver) located this ram opening day, and pursued him over the next three days. He was named “Prince Albert” after a rusty old can of tobacco Nathan and I found on the ridge near his domain. And royalty he was—a cagey, mature ram, living by himself in some of the most brutal terrain in the unit.

On the fourth day of the trip, we had the opportunity to make a stalk. Dropping 2/3 elevation into the drainage, Nathan and I made our approach while communicating with our team across the canyon. The ram was bedded on the shady-side of a 100ft rock pinnacle, with tree limbs covering him from the left, right, and along his body—a tiny shooting window. Perched 130 yards above the ram, at a 50 degree slope, we waited an hour and a half for the ram to stand and offer a shot. Finally, he did—and Nathan took full advantage.

Upon making our approach to the ram’s last location, we realized that he had fallen down a 100ft cliff to the side of the rock pinnacle and cartwheeled down a 60 degree rockslide another 500ft. It took Nathan and I nearly 2 hours just to reach him safely. I will never forget Nathan laying hands on his ram for the first time, and the look of awe on his face. Gus joined us shortly thereafter, and our only course of action was to rappel the ram down the rockslide using paracord. Finally finding a spot that was reasonably “flat” enough to tie up the ram’s head to a tree, we began processing him.

Then the work began, for what would be a 10 mile packout. Once we hit the trail, we met up with Kurk and used a jetboil to render down his fat, in which we cooked the ram’s tenderloin. From there, we had another 8 miles to travel under heavy packs & the dark of night. Despite the suffering, Nathan was hard charging the whole way.

I am so proud of Nathan, and he is so deserving of a animal that ranks amongst the best rams ever taken in this unit. This also wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of Gus Titus & Kurk Shriver—truly a team effort, for which we are grateful and will remember for years to come.
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Tyson

FNG
Joined
Jul 13, 2019
Messages
53
Great write up, sounds like it was a great challenge and congrats to your stepson! Amazing accomplishment for a young hunter
 

JeffP_Or

WKR
Joined
Jul 1, 2020
Messages
318
Location
PDX
Congratulations! That is tag I apply for and have been for a while - this is great; photos; story; what an adventure! RMBH areas in Oregon are diminishing and that hunt is the top mountain experience for Oregon IMHO.
 
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Daniel15

FNG
Joined
Aug 29, 2022
Messages
32
Nathan’s 2022 Bear Creek Bighorn Sheep tag—truly a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ experience. This is a hard Rocky Mt Bighorn hunt for Oregon, as most sheep are ~10 miles from the trailhead, and are certainly the most “wild” sheep in Oregon. I am beyond proud of Nathan (15yr old) for showing grit and determination in areas where most grown men would fail. This young man grew up 5 years in 5 days, pushing beyond his perceived physical and mental limitations.

Our team (Nathan, myself, Gus Titus, and Kurk Shriver) located this ram opening day, and pursued him over the next three days. He was named “Prince Albert” after a rusty old can of tobacco Nathan and I found on the ridge near his domain. And royalty he was—a cagey, mature ram, living by himself in some of the most brutal terrain in the unit.

On the fourth day of the trip, we had the opportunity to make a stalk. Dropping 2/3 elevation into the drainage, Nathan and I made our approach while communicating with our team across the canyon. The ram was bedded on the shady-side of a 100ft rock pinnacle, with tree limbs covering him from the left, right, and along his body—a tiny shooting window. Perched 130 yards above the ram, at a 50 degree slope, we waited an hour and a half for the ram to stand and offer a shot. Finally, he did—and Nathan took full advantage.

Upon making our approach to the ram’s last location, we realized that he had fallen down a 100ft cliff to the side of the rock pinnacle and cartwheeled down a 60 degree rockslide another 500ft. It took Nathan and I nearly 2 hours just to reach him safely. I will never forget Nathan laying hands on his ram for the first time, and the look of awe on his face. Gus joined us shortly thereafter, and our only course of action was to rappel the ram down the rockslide using paracord. Finally finding a spot that was reasonably “flat” enough to tie up the ram’s head to a tree, we began processing him.

Then the work began, for what would be a 10 mile packout. Once we hit the trail, we met up with Kurk and used a jetboil to render down his fat, in which we cooked the ram’s tenderloin. From there, we had another 8 miles to travel under heavy packs & the dark of night. Despite the suffering, Nathan was hard charging the whole way.

I am so proud of Nathan, and he is so deserving of a animal that ranks amongst the best rams ever taken in this unit. This also wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of Gus Titus & Kurk Shriver—truly a team effort, for which we are grateful and will remember for years to come.
9c47ffc9e868689c84ee1065d6bd132e.jpeg

647d182b961225efece1a742c3cc7391.jpeg

319fbef5f3d734495c638df7d6e5f9b9.jpeg
Love to see it
 

Jermh

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Dec 8, 2020
Messages
107
Location
MO
Man this is so awesome. It ain't cool if you didn't have to work for it! Great job young man.
 
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