"The Church" .....Bighorn sheep hunt report

[mtnwrunner]

It was a dark stormy night.........

Isn't that how stories are supposed to start?
Well, it actually wasn't a stormy night but it sure as hell was a stormy day and evening.
The day before the sheep opener found us huddled and "concerned" under a tarp on the lee side of the mountain. We had to bail off the ridge where our tents were due to the unrelentless lightning and thunder........we knew the rain was coming and it did.
We had to hideout in our storm shelter on 3 occasions and eventually settled in on our ridge top tents........several times I muttered, "well, ive had a good life."

 

[mtnwrunner]

My friend and coworker, Randy had been putting in for this sheep tag for over 20 years. I told him if he drew it, I would go with him if he wanted company. He said done deal.........and sure enough, he drew it.
The scouting began. Both on the internet, maps, phone calls, that lying Google Earth, etc.
We had a couple trips planned prior to the season opener and well, they didn't go so well. It just looked like things were stacked against us as one trip, I had to rescue a young gentleman who had been stranded with vehicle issues and hadn't seen anyone in a day and a half. He had "help" spelled out in the road with sticks and so I didn't make it to my intended location.

On another trip in, we backpacked in to check out a drainage and when we returned to the trailhead, Randy's truck had a flat. His spare was a 4 ply road tire and we knew we had to bail as it's a 4 hour plus drive on rocky rough roads out of the area. BUT we were rescued by some weekend enthusiasts who had a plug kit and a compressor.
We continued to head out due to time but our mood was high as we had found sheep! All the way home on the 7 hour drive, we planned out our strategy.

 

[87TT]

I always carry a plug kit and a pump on my hunting rig. Had it through around 18 years without ever having to take off the spare. Last time was two weeks ago on a scouting trip.
And following this adventure!

 

[mtnwrunner]

Randy and his son, Cody head in a couple days ahead of the opener and I arrived two days before. They had located sheep in two different drainages and we decided to backpack into the one drainage that held the greatest number and a couple bruisers.
Now, we are no experts at all when it comes to bighorn sheep. We knew three things........they live in rough rugged kick ass country, they have big curly horns and they have HUGE balls. So as far as we were concerned, they were all shooters, however 2 of them out of the 11 in there really stood out and they both had darker, more chocolate colored horns. We named one of them Hershey and he was by himself and the other with the darker bigger horns was with his "Band of Brothers." Another set of rams we deemed Frick and Frack.

 

[mtnwrunner]

Man, I hate packing water!
We were back in a few miles and we each had about 2 gallons of water or so and 3 days of food.
All good, ready to rock and roll.
Opening morning arrived and found us near our glassing knob.
We immediately started glassing for Hershey as we had seen him multiple times in the same general area. He was Randy's first choice but number 2 was right there. Hershey was hanging out in the shaded chute in the middle of this photo. 2300 yards away. (More on Hershey later)

 

[NVBighorn]

You're killing me man. I think I know how a woman feels when you seductively take her top off and then slowly kiss her neck.

Good stuff here

 

[mtnwrunner]

We could not locate Hershey but I managed to spot the Band of Brothers farther to the east. Number 2 was in this group and they were hanging around more of an open area but moving around quite alot. 1500 yards away. The plan was made.....
Number 2 in the brown open area.

 

[mtnwrunner]

No way I could stay with Randy, Cody and Tyler. They literally ran down 1000 feet or so to this saddle and the plan was as soon as they got to the saddle, they would look back and I would give hand signals. We have developed a series of 3 different hand signals over the years that work great going after animals if the terrain allows.
As soon as they took off, the sheep started moving up, then came back down, went left, went right. When Randy looked back at me through his binos, I let him know the sheep were milling about but he was still in the game.
The plan was to climb a chute in this rock wall, get to a notch and have about a 3 hundred yard shot. I watched them climb this chute and when they topped out, I gave them the signal they were still there but moving. No way around this wall as you would be cliffed out on both sides so you had to find a way to scale it straight up. I watched as one would climb, haul the packs up and the other would climb. I thought to myself, shit, I'm gonna have to do that myself.

 

[mtnwrunner]

They soon see the sheep and Randy just about has a shot but number 2 moves behind a rock and they can't see him anymore.
I once again give them the signal that they are still there but moving.
I'm watching this all through my binos at just about a mile away and it's just as good as being there.
I see the guys bail off the other side of the wall and I lose sight of them but I figure they have a plan.
About 3 or 4 minutes later, I spot 2 sheep at the top of the ridge, one is the shooter. As I'm watching him, he immediately goes down and starts rolling down the hill. THEN, I hear the shot. EPIC.
Then a war holler.

 

[mtnwrunner]

I grab my pack and begin the jaunt over there all the while dreading the climb up the wall. It was not fun whatsoever.
Upon my arrival, we all hugged, sat down and just sat there. Literally just sat there with tears. Pretty damn high emotions and I'm about as sappy as they come. Randy's brother had died about 5 years prior and he had his favorite knife and was wearing his hat. Tyler is Randy's nephew. A shot of Pendleton was consumed.

So..........as they always say, the work begins.

 

[mtnwrunner]

Randy and Cody basically did the full body caping and I boned out a rear and front quarter. I told them that I would go ahead and start packing meat as I was the slowest of the group and they would catch me on the climb back if I survived the notch. And btw, having two Randy's was a bit confusing so I got the name of Randy 2.0.

I forgot to say that Randy shoots a 26 nosler with barnes bullets, one shot at 135 yards.

 

[Bubblehide]

Great write up, thus far, awesome pics!

 

[NVBighorn]

Thank you for the great write up and pictures. That's a great FC ram.

 

[WiscoHoundsman]

Great story and pictures! Thanks for posting

 

[mtnwrunner]

Off I go back up the mountain to spike camp with a load of meat. At the notch, I had to lower my pack one ledge at a time while downclimbing one foot at a time.
In hindsight, I really wished I had a length of rope......and maybe a Valium or two.
I'm about 3/4 of the way back up the mountain and here comes Cody like he's on an escalator. He has the full cape, horns and head and hikes past me like nothing. Nothing like being 26. I'm 65.
He says something about coming back for my pack. I keep plugging away and I'm a couple hundred feet from the top. He comes running back and offers to take my pack. I kind of want to but my pride says no f****** way. We all make it to our tents without incident and then Cody and Tyler say they'll "run" back to the trucks and get more water, whisky and coke. And they each took a load of meat. Randy and I say, "well, okay!" while kicking back and thinking about the day.
Awhile later, here they come with welcomed refreshments.
We packed out the next day.

 

[mtnwrunner]

Last post, I swear.

So, you remember Hershey??

A couple days before, Randy and Cody ran across another tag holder who also had eyes on the drainage we were hunting. He basically said that since we were already in there, he would not interfere and hunt elsewhere. Very stand up guy, Logan. Nice to see and meet ethical hunters, especially in this area. It's not always that way........you know who you are.
We knew where he was base camped and we told him we would let him know where any other rams were after (or when) Randy got his.
When Cody and Tyler made their supply run out, they ran across Logans dad who inreached him, told him of our success and he was at our spike camp at day break. Cody set up the spotter, located Hershey in that same chute. Logan was extremely grateful and off he went.
We packed out, still high from the hunt.
I just received a text this morning........Hershey.
Thanks for following along.
It truly was epic.
8.5 year old ram.

Randy

 

[Brontosaurus]

Last post, I swear.

So, you remember Hershey??

A couple days before, Randy and Cody ran across another tag holder who also had eyes on the drainage we were hunting. He basically said that since we were already in there, he would not interfere and hunt elsewhere. Very stand up guy, Logan. Nice to see and meet ethical hunters, especially in this area. It's not always that way........you know who you are.
We knew where he was base camped and we told him we would let him know where any other rams were after (or when) Randy got his.
When Cody and Tyler made their supply run out, they ran across Logans dad who inreached him, told him of our success and he was at our spike camp at day break. Cody set up the spotter, located Hershey in that same chute. Logan was extremely grateful and off he went.
We packed out, still high from the hunt.
I just received a text this morning........Hershey.
Thanks for following along.
It truly was epic.

Randy

Epic story!!! Is that a bullet hole on Hershey's right side?

 

[SouthPaw]

Great story!! Thanks for sharing.

 

[ol490]

Great story and congratulations to the group. Thanks for taking the time to write it up and share.

 

[Bowfinatic]

Awesome story and pics. Gets me pumped for my sheep hunt shortly