I just returned from my first trip to the Missouri Breaks. What a place! I have a ewe tag for the west side of 680. This journey began earlier this year when I made the decision to go after a ewe tag. I had applied for ram tags for a handful of years prior, but odds of me ever getting one in the nonresident draw are absurdly low, especially as a younger person late to the points game. I decided that this year might as well be the year.
I was initially notified that I had successfully drawn, followed by a press release from the FWP that they drew too many names and that I may or may not have drawn after all. After waiting for an agonizing day or so, I received another email confirming that my draw had indeed been successful. Talk about frustrating! After that, my planning began in earnest and I felt like I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to see on my first trip there.
After a 10-hour drive and setting up camp, I spent a few days looking for sheep, exploring access points, and putting my game plan together.
I viewed this as more of a scouting trip than anything, but had my bow along with me in case an opportunity to fill my tag during the early archery portion of the season presented itself. Unfortunately, I didn't have success finding ewes. I did learn a lot regardless and I think I'm much wiser and well-prepared having made the trip.
I did find a handful of rams over the course of the weekend. I don't have a camera that does any sort of justice to it, but I had an up-close and personal experience with 3 rams that was really neat and definitely a highlight of the trip. They appeared to be in the 4 - 6 year old range but were already as big as many rams ever seem to get in my home state.
There's no better way to start fall than with a sheep tag in your pocket! Access to sheep country (and specifically the areas where ewes are most often found) is definitely trickier than I gave it credit for when I applied for this tag, but at this point I'm still feeling optimistic. I'm already missing it and getting excited to go back.
Wishing everyone a safe and successful hunting season! To be continued...
I was initially notified that I had successfully drawn, followed by a press release from the FWP that they drew too many names and that I may or may not have drawn after all. After waiting for an agonizing day or so, I received another email confirming that my draw had indeed been successful. Talk about frustrating! After that, my planning began in earnest and I felt like I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to see on my first trip there.
After a 10-hour drive and setting up camp, I spent a few days looking for sheep, exploring access points, and putting my game plan together.
I viewed this as more of a scouting trip than anything, but had my bow along with me in case an opportunity to fill my tag during the early archery portion of the season presented itself. Unfortunately, I didn't have success finding ewes. I did learn a lot regardless and I think I'm much wiser and well-prepared having made the trip.
I did find a handful of rams over the course of the weekend. I don't have a camera that does any sort of justice to it, but I had an up-close and personal experience with 3 rams that was really neat and definitely a highlight of the trip. They appeared to be in the 4 - 6 year old range but were already as big as many rams ever seem to get in my home state.
There's no better way to start fall than with a sheep tag in your pocket! Access to sheep country (and specifically the areas where ewes are most often found) is definitely trickier than I gave it credit for when I applied for this tag, but at this point I'm still feeling optimistic. I'm already missing it and getting excited to go back.
Wishing everyone a safe and successful hunting season! To be continued...
. Those animals know when you have a tag in your pocket or not. Keep us posted and enjoy your adventure. Should be fun.
