Once in a lifetime decision

[OneTimer]

We turned this guy up late yesterday. This is at 70x on the spotter from 3.5 miles. I’ve spotted a few at this distance and it was very hard to see as much horn as this. Picture quality isn’t the best with the mirage but this gives me some hope that this is a the kind of ram she is looking for.

 

[ETtikka]

You had me at sheep

 

[dtrkyman]

Legal ram gets it in my opinion, of course if scouting is turning up upper class animals then I would be a little more patient.

Enjoy the time in the mountains with the wife, sheep hunting is a pipe dream at this point for me and surely not happening with the wife!

 

[rlm]

I'd hunt the rut given the opportunity. Rams will be moving but if you can locate a large group of ewes that could be to your favor. Let them do the walking.

 

[Eh2110]

Season opened in the 15th and goes until October 14th. We have are planning on leaving next week sometime and planning a n staying until she gets it filled. It’s been a rough year with very little scout time. We have looked over majority of the suggested areas based on the bio but we have not been able to turn up as many rams as they gave intel on. Again, lots of that comes from such little time spent in the unit.

Not sure if waiting for the peak of the rut is a good thing or a bad thing to do. I’d hate to have them start moving country and not be able to turn them back up. She is hoping for a 170’s ram but based on the last 20yrs of records it looks as though 160’s is the average.

When is the rut there? In MT it doesn't get going until November. Looks like you guys turned up one with potential from a distance last night. Hope he ends up being what she is after!

 

[CC11]

The rut should be getting going now! We had sheep tag a few years ago and my cousing shot his ram late August and the rams were starting to pester the ewes. The ram he shot was with 8 other rams and probably 50 ewes.

 

[OneTimer]

From what the bios told us we should be seeing rut activity now or very soon and it should peak around mid he first week of October. Rams are definitely feeling their oats with one another. But still in that 10-15 bachelor groups. Occasionally a 5-7 bachelor size. The long distance ram really stood out. He was with another smaller ram that I’ll be honest was very hard to recognize as a ram. From that far he definitely shows potential! We are hunting south eastern Oregon, Sheep’s head which is East of the Steens.

 

[Darby]

Good Luck!

 

[OneTimer]

Little update, still looking over rams morning and evening. Looking like the rut is getting closer as bands of smaller rams are splitting up. Messed up on a smoker ram that I was completely unaware of below us. I’d definitely say he was one of the biggest I’ve seen to date. Everyone speaks of how dumb these critters are and I’ll say they are definitely not! They didn’t just go across the canyon and look at us, they flat out left! Oh well, we are headed back in for the next 7 days or so and hopefully Mr. Big shows himself for just long enough to get her cross hairs on him!

 

[Bubblehide]

Hoping Me. Big shows for you!

 

[OneTimer]

Nick naming this guy “The Boss”. Smoker ram!!!! Will update soon!

 

[Mojave]

Yeah go kill that one. It doesn't matter if there is a bigger one out there.

A lion killed a huge ram in our area a few weeks before the opener in New Mexico. A friend had him watering at the water hole on video for a month.

Never got to take him. I think the biologist found him.

 

[OneTimer]

Well after looking over many rams in all parts of the unit she found the one that checked off her list!!



We found a band of rams leaving the canyon we intended to glass that morning and they were on the move out of the country…and in a hurry! We spotted this band of rams at a little after 7 in the morning, watched them feed their way to bed for the mid morning. The hike was as tough as it gets, crossing one canyon after the next in order to get on the same ridge line as them. We left our glassing post before 11am and at just after 1pm we were stalking into our shooting post. I stayed behind the spotter looking over each and every ram to make sure we weren’t looking over one, but it was very clear we had found the big guy! My wife stayed prone behind the rifle for 3 hours before he finally presented a clean broadside shot. 426 yards completely broadside and that’s when it gets interesting!



I’ll take a minute to explain that if you have not traveled in sheep country much, it’s very unforgiving! It will take the best ride and make sure it compresses your spine! There are no short cuts, everything is rough and dusty, and it’s all hard as a rock! No matter how hard you try to prevent something from happening….there is always a chance of it happening still. And wouldn’t you know it that happened to us….



Three hours behind the rifle without any breaks is a long wait to begin with and then when the moment finally arrives the adrenaline is inevitably going to be a factor. But in this case, 426yds when the rifle goes off the impact was about 3’ high! Rams scatter and instantly we both think we did something wrong. She thinks she pulled the shot, I think I mis ranged it, it’s chaos!



I re range, same 426 yard reading. Check the kestrel, same elevation hold. That’s not it. I ask her are you sure you pulled the shot? She instantly tells me she was shaking like a leaf. Ok you must have really pulled it I tell her. We wait a good 15-20min and all rams calm down and go to feeding. The rams move into 311yds and then it’s just a matter of waiting for that broadside shot again. I think to myself, no need to really dial the scope but let’s do it anyway since it’s a once in a lifetime shot! She dials it in, we confirm range multiple times and make sure it’s dialed correctly. Then he gives us that second chance we have waited for….boom! Right over his back! This time they really know something is up and ball up in a group to look as the dust cloud disappears. She’s fast as whistle on the reload, I tell her to zero the scope and to get ready for another opportunity.



By now I think I had a higher stress load than her. Did I not load the right powder charge, was my chronograph off, is my range finder battery bad, is the range finder even working?! So many thoughts, but one thing was clear, it’s shooting dead center high every time!! I do some rough estimating on how tall the rams body is, take into account the extra elevation we dialed at both ranges and try to put together a good hold.



By this time it’s almost been another 20min or more and the rams are still on edge but wanting to go back to feeding. We determine which ram is the correct one and wait for a shot. Finally he gives her a hard quartering away at 326yds. I have her check that the scope is zeroed and tell her to hold level with his sternum then to line up where she wants it to hit. I’m guessing we are shooting 8 to 9” high at this point. She calms down, holds level with his sternum and hold windage where she is desiring the impact to be….BOOM! The ram was hard quartering away and I was able to watch the bullet impact as perfectly as possible in line with the off shoulder and through his vitals. With a quick 8 second time frame he made it up hill 20 yards and tipped over backwards! I watched intently where he went down and only caught a glimpse of legs up in the air followed by a big cloud of dust. A few minutes later we decide to keep her behind the rifle and I loop around the top to confirm he is down. No surprise to myself when I first looked over the rim I see a white belly and a massive curl on the ground!



After that the reality sets in, the roller coaster of emotions, the throbbing headache from the 3 spikes of adrenaline, and the short decent to put hands on that once in a lifetime decision!



What a hunt this has been! After all the miles and time it finally paid off with great reward! Her ram went 170 5/8” gross and was aged at 10 years. The Boss of the Sheepshead unit! Thank you all for the help!!

 

[BAKPAKR]

Great ram. Congrats to your wife!

 

[Walkstoomuch]

Great story and adventure! I love that area and hope either my wife or I draw a tag there in our lifetime.

 

[Bubblehide]

Sweet, congratulations! It's been nice to follow along. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Chad E]

Great story. Congratulations

 

[OneTimer]

Great story and adventure! I love that area and hope either my wife or I draw a tag there in our lifetime.

I hope you draw it. Amazing unit! If you do I would be more than happy to share every
detail we have saved on it. I have lots of way points and about 60+ rams dotted out. Two stud up and coming rams in the next year or two in there!

 

[ResearchinStuff]

That leupold almost cost your wife a oil animal.

 

[aoudad]

Great job!