Arizona desert sheep tag!!!

[Lv2hnt]

Fast forward: Rex and I had driven my truck around the edge of the mountain to where we could hike up a wash until meeting a cut we could follow up towards the sheep.

We parked just to left of black truck below watching our progress ...



2 of my Yuma buddies, Don & Nick, sucked it up and hiked up to a saddle on the mountain west of us from where they could follow our stalk better ...



Things were uneventful until yours truly went right around some boulders, while Rex went left (my bad!). Murphy again! We didn't meet up again until almost an hour later coming out of the cut, right below the sheep.

Our view to the west, even with the peak ...



Their view of us as we hunkered down, the sheep up and to the right of the rocks ...

 

[BuzzH]

I give up...

Me too...ask for a light and get the history of fire.

 

[bmack]

Me too...ask for a light and get the history of fire.

The most drawn out thread in history. Painful case of blue balls.

 

[Lv2hnt]

Our view up towards the sheep (they'd moved beyond the octotillo up the draw to the right) ...



Rex and I sat there --- we were pinned down for quite a while (we peaked at the sheep as best we could). 3 ewes were grazing out in the open just under 200 yards away. Things remained the same for a bit --- all of a sudden, 2 more ewes and a smaller ram came boiling out from a shallow cut beyond the rocks, taking every living thing with them! Auggghhh!!!

Rex turned to me: "No way that just happened!"



We could only surmise that our scent had been captured by a whisp of air current and had drifted to the sheep we hadn't seen. Not to mention the mature ram that also boogied (we had never laid eyes on from our vantage point).

The group of three rams? Wish I knew. Here's the cut below us they had been in ...




I know --- all you guys who've been following this thread are probably now ready to give up on all this. I get it. That's nothing compared to what was going through my head right then, believe me!

It was about 3:00 in the afternoon --- this is what we still had in front of us ...

 

[Lv2hnt]

To those of you wanting a quick wrap-up --- some things proceed in life rather quickly, my hunt didn't. Respectfully, what do you think I was going through living it? There were highs and lows that built up over the weeks. Sorry if this is taking too long for some of you, honestly. Never my intent, it just evolved ...

 

[Spitz]

Great write up. We can't appreciate what you went through in a quick read. You've got to be mentally and physically exhausted at this point.

 

[Devil Diver Down]

Personally, I'm enjoying this thread (and I already know the outcome) and it's making me question whether I'll ever be committed enough to do a sheep hunt. I do know I don't have it in me to chase them right now, which is sad because I don't expect my knees to last forever. Press on!

 

[Jwill]

Just a little good natured ball busting, keep spinning the thread man! Hoping to see pics of Butkus in a week or two.

 

[Biscuit Hunter]

I'm loving the pace of the story. I'm in no hurry to see this thread end. Great job taking us along.

 

[Lv2hnt]

No hurt feelings here ...

Rex and I got back to an empty camp. We knew those remaining had packed up that morning to get home for Christmas (everyone out there with us that morning was from Yuma). Rex tossed his stuff in his truck and then took off for home too. I was on my own.

The next morning I spent breaking camp and moved things to the other side of the mountain closer to where we'd been spent productive time glassing ...



Not much action that afternoon or the following morning. My solar shower felt good before I shaved off my 4-week beard --- I was going into Yuma for a Christmas Eve service with my friend Nick and his family. We all enjoyed a restaurant dinner before I headed back to the desert.

My Christmas lights (Yuma in the background) ...

 

[Lv2hnt]

Christmas morning dawned with the wind gusting 40-50 mph --- not what I was hoping for (we'd had w-a-y more than our share of wind over the past few weeks!). I called my daughter and wished her and her family "Merry Christmas" (they'd be driving from Tucson to the Phoenix valley to spend the day with extended family). It was great to hear her voice (we had worked out a delayed Christmas together for after my hunt).

Fast forward 2 days to Friday afternoon. I sent a text to one of the "Yuma Boys" that, seeing it was the last weekend during my hunt, I'd welcome anyone who'd like to come out and help glass the next morning.

Boy, what a welcome sight the next morning! Enough guys showed up that we were able to spread out over the mountain. Some of us headed to an area we hoped we might spot a particular ram, one that had appeared on trail cam pics the past summer ...



Also, still in the back of my mind was the fact that a ram named "Chunk" had effectively eluded us ...

 

[dihardhunter]

I'm hanging here...more please, more please, more please...incredible account of your hunt that you're building. Rooting for a harvest, but it sounds like a successful hunt either way. You had a great ram dead to rights and chose not to end your hunt...much respect.

 

[Muleyfanatic]

Great story and pics! Thanks for taking the time to post your hunt. Can't wait for the finale.

 

[Powderhorn09]

Just read through the entire post and am worn out!! Think I climbed every foot with you, but, I'm definitely in till the finish. Thanks!

 

[Lv2hnt]

We got set up on a long ridge where we could look east into the area the Freeway Ram frequented --- clear glassing, some wind again (of course). After about 20 minutes or so, Melvin casually mentions: "I've got him." And, yep, it looked like it was the Freeway Ram.

Ram was bedded just below the horizon, about 10 yards to the right of the palo verde tree on the upper left ridge ...



We were glassing from quite a bit farther than from where the above pic was taken (brown ridge up and to the left of the darkest shadow just to right of center) ...



Ram's home territory ...



We all watched him for quite a while (no way we were making a move while he had the best seat in the house). The ram, all by himself, finally got up and dropped down to the right out of sight. We moved a bit to our right to see if we could re-locate him. No luck (by then we were fighting that shadowy glare we all hate to look into).

Melvin's eagle eyes did it again --- after about 1/2 hour, he had the ram pegged. He was still up, but acting really "goosey" (Melvin's words). Those of you who've hunted bighorn sheep have probably experienced that before --- they don't know themselves what they'll be doing, or where they'll be going, until 5 seconds before they do it. The ram trotted back and forth across the side of the shadowy hill, pausing every so often, until he bailed into a cut and out of view again.

We waited for a few minutes, hoping the ram would decide to bed down in the cut out of the wind. When he didn't reappear after about 10 minutes, I shrugged at the guys: "It's now or never."

My friend Kent (he'd tagged the 172-in. ram 3 weeks earlier) and I would make a stalk while the other guys would watch from afar. The wind had died down some as we worked our way up a rocky wash, re-evaluating our situation as we progressed.

We finally reached a boulder where we thought we should stop. Even though we had been in stealth mode, we hadn't actually been silent getting to there --- we didn't want to press our luck by going forward. We had a clear view upwards toward a saddle 200 yards away --- the ram had to be in the cut on the other side. Leaning across the boulder, I rested my rifle on a Kent's pack, and waited, and waited, and waited. A full 1/2 hour --- nothing ...

The saddle we were watching is just to the left of the shadowy pyramid in center of pic; we were positioned lower and to the right of the shadow (pic taken from palo verde where ram was originally bedded) ...



Okay, time for a new strategy. We had a slight breeze from our left, time to ninja our way slowly up the saddle. But, then that dang Murphy popped his head up again ...

We had gone no more than 50 yards when I turned to Kent:"Crap, the wind just hit the back of my neck!" Appropriate words were muttered. I shook my head, turned, and continued the sneak. I dropped my pack below the saddle and inched my way up behind some bushes, peaking over the edge. No sheep anywhere to be seen --- he'd boogied. We found where he'd bedded, in a spot well-protected with multiple escape routes. More choice words ...

We made our back to the wash we'd come up. As we bottomed out, we turned to glass back up the drainage. There that devil-of-a-ram was, high-tailing it up the shadowy draw!

He hit the top and trotted through the far left saddle on the horizon without stopping ...



Snake-eyes again ...

 

[junior88]

Damnit!!!!!! I'm sitting here in my den and I actually feel as if I were on the hunt. great storytelling

 

[Lv2hnt]

Kent and I had become friends since attending the annual AZ. G&F sheep clinic the end of September (we'd been pulling for each other since Day 1). He kept muttering as we made our way back to the truck: "I blew it!" --- something to that effect. I basically replied that if it was supposed to have come together, it would have. We concluded that even if we had backed out and come around from the south, the ram would have picked us out and, as spooky as he was, would have lined out for parts unknown just the same. We were seriously bummed out --- we both had really thought the stalk was going to be "The One." I tried to stay positive on the hike back --- inside I was starting to wonder ...

A handful of us met back at Kent's that evening for some decompression time --- beverages and sheep sausage (from Kent's ram). It was something I needed, believe me. And looking at Kent's ram got my juices flowing again ...





The next morning Nick, Jim and I spent time glassing back where I'd passed on the one ram and came up empty on the other stalk. I need to give props to Jim --- he didn't know me, but heard that I could use some extra eyes and made the 3-hour drive from Phoenix to help out (really glad to have him share camp for a couple of days). Moving on --- from where we sat we had a v-e-r-y wide view of the mountains, and glassed up a handful of ewes and one younger ram that morning, but no larger ram.

Some of the other Yuma Boys came by and mentioned that one of them had spotted a nice ram first thing that morning, but that he was n-o-r-t-h of the freeway (which was the unit boundary) ...



Pat looked back there later in the morning --- the ram had moved. We decided to move back up that way --- m-ay-b-e that ram had come our way. It was also the same area we'd put the stalk on the day before --- m-a-y-b-e we might stumble onto the Freeway Ram again (he habitually moved back and forth between the east and west side). Lot of maybes there, I know.

Pat is a sheep finding ninja, and I personally think he's half mountain goat. We kept after it until there wasn't anything else to look at ...

 

[Lv2hnt]

The next morning, Monday, I was on my own. Tuesday was Dec. 31, the last day of the hunt. Crunch time.

I decided that I'd spend Monday working that same area differently, glassing as I went. I'd work the backside of an extended connected set of ridges, peaking into each cut from above as I went. Maybe all my time invested over the prior weeks would finally pay off ...



I finally reached the lone palo verde tree on the ridge. Now I knew why they called that sheep the "Freeway Ram."

View north from the tree ...



I also saw where the other ram had been bedded, only about 350 yards above the pavement ...



It was just after noon that I got a text from a friend from Yuma who'd broken away from his office and was on his way to help glass for the afternoon. He wanted me to meet him and hit it hard until we lost light for the day. He lived on the western edge of the gunnery range and has spent a lot of time hiking and looking for sheep --- I didn't have to be asked twice.

I hoofed it back to my quad, rode it back my truck, and met up with Don 3 miles further into the gunnery range in record time. I piled into his buggy and off we went to glass any and every out-of-the-way spot we could find ...









I'm surprised we didn't pop a tire on a couple of the ancient mining 2-tracks we followed. We gave each other a long look when the light finally gave out on us.

I noticed the sunset, but barely ...

 

[kansasdad]

A Great Adventure. Thanks for taking me along, and for the lack of blisters and stickers I am very thankful.

 

[rmyoung1]

Hey.... You gave it one whale of an effort. In the end, you can be proud of yourself for that and cherish the memories of a fine hunt. Thanks for taking us along for the ride.