gunslinger
New member
Hello guys i am from alberta and i just joined up here, i killed this ram 7 days ago in south baja , i was pointed in this direction and thought you guys would like to see a big old desert ram.
My Desert Ram
- Thread starter gunslinger
- Start date
Bucnutz.wis
New member
Wow - that is an awesome ram... Congrats !!
Thanks for sharing and welcome aboard !
Thanks for sharing and welcome aboard !
WV Hunter
Active member
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2009
- Messages
- 1,763
Welcome to the site. Great ram!
gunslinger
New member
Heres The story that i wrote for the Huntin Fool Mag. i am 3/4 slam now with this ram and i only have the alberta bighorn to hunt yet.
THE SANDLE MAN RAM.
I believe it’s every hunters dream to be able to travel to the mountains of Mexico in search of the desert ram.
It was on Valentine’s Day February 14th of 2010 that this dream came true for me.
I was contacted by Jacob artee of alcampo outfitting by phone and he told me that they had a cancellation hunt for the upcoming week, after a brief conversation with my wife I was set to go on the hunt, I would be accompanied on this hunt with my brother Brian and Cousin Jason. They would both be running video cameras and helping scout for a ram of a lifetime.
After landing in La Paz south Baja California I was picked up by George and Jacob Artee and after picking up some last minute grocery’s and ice we were off to the hunting camp, we would follow the icy blue edge of the Sea of Cortez right along the mountains that we would actually be hunting.
That first night was spent in base camp with a healthy shrimp dinner and a formal meeting with the guides and helpers; this is where I was introduced to Raphael, who my brother Brian would eventually nick names the sandal man.
At first light that next morning Jason Brian and myself all went through our backpacks and left was not needed behind as we knew it was going to be very hot backpacking to our spike camp which was 5 hours up the valley. Sandal man was to bring two mules on the hunt which would help with all the water and food we would need for the next three days.
After hiking through some of the most pristine country I have ever walked in, following a dried up old creek bed we come to one of the guides favorite glassing points, perched up upon a huge boulder, everyone’s glasses to our eyes I figured this was a great place for drink of water and to refresh a little, after a hour or so and with only a couple ewes spotted we decided to carry on hiking towards spike camp, which was only 2 hours away.
Not 100 yards into our hike Sandal man began whistling as he had spotted a ram up in the rocks, immediately everyone hit the pebbled up river bed trying to stay out of sight ,everyone started glassing for the ram which was finally spotted standing broadside tight against the vertical wall of the mountain.
With his naked eyes sandal man had spotted a ram that we could hardly find with 10x 50 leica binos.
I asked George how he ever spotted that ram with only his naked eyes, George replied he lives in these mountains pat and has watched sheep all his life, I said has seriously not going to come along on this hunt in this cactus filled desert mountains in his sandals is he, yea he is, he don’t own boots.
Now here are three Alberta boys decked out in kenetrek boots of the highest price leica binoculars of the highest price being guided by a local that was going to hunt a desert ram in his sandals, so this of course is where Raphael got his nickname the sandal man, not only did we have a guy that could spot sheep from a kilometer away with his naked eyes he was going to guide in his sandals. Later we found out how valuable sandal man was going to be.
As the sun settled in the sky on our first night of desert sheep hunting I couldn’t help but wonder what tomorrow was going to bring as the guides said we would be going farther up the valley in search of an old ram that they had seen the hunt before.
As the gleaming sun poked over the beautiful sea of Cortez on day two we found ourselves hiking into one of the most gorgeous valleys I have ever hunted for sheep in. With natural water springs and the pinkish green mountain sides covered in willow and cactus was a perfect home for desert sheep.
It wasn’t long or far up the valley before Jose the chief Mexican guide on this trip had three rams spotted far off in the distance and one of them was the ram he had seen the hunt before. We set up the spotting scopes and each took a turn at looking at our first good ram of the trip.
George the outfitter and Jose the guide decided that it was best if we sent one guide high in the mountains off to our left and one guide high up on a rock to our right, this way they could watch the rams if they tried to disappear in the thick cactus filled mountain sides.
After what felt like days George finally came back and told Jason Brian and myself what the plan was, we were going to sneak in behind some big boulders come over the top and see if we can’t locate the rams and hopefully be only 200 yards or less from the big old dark ram.
I loaded 4 bullets into my 7mm rem mag and gave each one of the boys a handshake and said this is what we came for boys, let’s go get em.
Sandal man would follow behind as the crew led us into position, we cautiously moved up the mountain being hit by big rocks and cactus, as we peered over the top there was one of the rams, the smallest of all three had us pegged, get down George said and don’t move, he sees us.
Over on the right mountain Keiko could see the big ram still eating and moving around but we couldn’t, once José figured out that keiko had a bead on the big ram all the attention was funneled away from the small ram and focused on the location of the big old broomed off ram.
We waited up on the side of that mountain till the sun started to beam down upon us, ringing the sweat out of us like we just got out of the shower.
Jose pulled George back 10 yards and starting talking in Spanish and they came up with a plan that would hopefully spook the big ram enough that I could get a shot at him at close range, José was going to go around about 400 yards to the left of the little ram and throw rocks down the mountain just enough to make the little ram excited and hopefully pull the big ram out of the thickets and into shooting position,
My heart was pounding with excitement as I had both my best friends with me and the time was now to take my first opportunity at a desert sheep, with cameras rolling and excitement at its peak José began his decent down towards the little ram.
All of a sudden sandal man started pointing with excitement as he had spotted the big ram, but where. No one could see the ram that he was pointing at, not even with binoculars, so I pulled out my spotting scope and sure enough there was the big old rams head sticking out of the cactus brier, how he ever spotted that ram none of us will ever know.
With Jose already descending there was nothing we could do but stand back and see what happened, We could hear the rocks crashing down the mountain and all of a sudden like it was meant to be here comes the big ram, running right towards us about a 100 yards to our left, down the mountain and up the other side perfectly broadside to me not 100 yards away stood the most beautiful lest animal I have ever hunted in my life. This old warrior was a big old broomed off dark desert sheep, just like the ones a person dreams of having the opportunity to harvest.
As the ram stood there broadside I asked for the go ahead from the outfitter and a quick response from Brian and Jason that the cameras were rolling I slowly settled the Leopold crosshairs on the ram’s front shoulders and slowly squeezed the trigger.
With one sudden thwack the bullet hit its target perfectly and the big old ram dropped in his tracks.
The emotions that came with that experience I have never felt before, having my family there and such a gorgeous ram on the ground I began to shake and even shed a tear.
The old warrior of a ram had massive horns with 15 ½ inch bases, left side was 33 ½ inches long with the right side going 31 ½ and we have him aged out at 10 ½ years old.
To finally put my hands on a desert sheep was a feeling that I can hardly put into words, I could not have done this without the true professionalism of Alcampo outfitting and George Artee and his crew of Mexican guides.
And of course my wife Brandie who I am indebted forever for letting me go sheep hunting on valentine’s day, also a huge thanks to Brian and Jason for coming along and capturing the whole hunt on film.
After i finished the hunt we decided to rent a car and head to cabo san lucas and caugth these striped marlin also, thought i would post a pic.
THE SANDLE MAN RAM.
I believe it’s every hunters dream to be able to travel to the mountains of Mexico in search of the desert ram.
It was on Valentine’s Day February 14th of 2010 that this dream came true for me.
I was contacted by Jacob artee of alcampo outfitting by phone and he told me that they had a cancellation hunt for the upcoming week, after a brief conversation with my wife I was set to go on the hunt, I would be accompanied on this hunt with my brother Brian and Cousin Jason. They would both be running video cameras and helping scout for a ram of a lifetime.
After landing in La Paz south Baja California I was picked up by George and Jacob Artee and after picking up some last minute grocery’s and ice we were off to the hunting camp, we would follow the icy blue edge of the Sea of Cortez right along the mountains that we would actually be hunting.
That first night was spent in base camp with a healthy shrimp dinner and a formal meeting with the guides and helpers; this is where I was introduced to Raphael, who my brother Brian would eventually nick names the sandal man.
At first light that next morning Jason Brian and myself all went through our backpacks and left was not needed behind as we knew it was going to be very hot backpacking to our spike camp which was 5 hours up the valley. Sandal man was to bring two mules on the hunt which would help with all the water and food we would need for the next three days.
After hiking through some of the most pristine country I have ever walked in, following a dried up old creek bed we come to one of the guides favorite glassing points, perched up upon a huge boulder, everyone’s glasses to our eyes I figured this was a great place for drink of water and to refresh a little, after a hour or so and with only a couple ewes spotted we decided to carry on hiking towards spike camp, which was only 2 hours away.
Not 100 yards into our hike Sandal man began whistling as he had spotted a ram up in the rocks, immediately everyone hit the pebbled up river bed trying to stay out of sight ,everyone started glassing for the ram which was finally spotted standing broadside tight against the vertical wall of the mountain.
With his naked eyes sandal man had spotted a ram that we could hardly find with 10x 50 leica binos.
I asked George how he ever spotted that ram with only his naked eyes, George replied he lives in these mountains pat and has watched sheep all his life, I said has seriously not going to come along on this hunt in this cactus filled desert mountains in his sandals is he, yea he is, he don’t own boots.
Now here are three Alberta boys decked out in kenetrek boots of the highest price leica binoculars of the highest price being guided by a local that was going to hunt a desert ram in his sandals, so this of course is where Raphael got his nickname the sandal man, not only did we have a guy that could spot sheep from a kilometer away with his naked eyes he was going to guide in his sandals. Later we found out how valuable sandal man was going to be.
As the sun settled in the sky on our first night of desert sheep hunting I couldn’t help but wonder what tomorrow was going to bring as the guides said we would be going farther up the valley in search of an old ram that they had seen the hunt before.
As the gleaming sun poked over the beautiful sea of Cortez on day two we found ourselves hiking into one of the most gorgeous valleys I have ever hunted for sheep in. With natural water springs and the pinkish green mountain sides covered in willow and cactus was a perfect home for desert sheep.
It wasn’t long or far up the valley before Jose the chief Mexican guide on this trip had three rams spotted far off in the distance and one of them was the ram he had seen the hunt before. We set up the spotting scopes and each took a turn at looking at our first good ram of the trip.
George the outfitter and Jose the guide decided that it was best if we sent one guide high in the mountains off to our left and one guide high up on a rock to our right, this way they could watch the rams if they tried to disappear in the thick cactus filled mountain sides.
After what felt like days George finally came back and told Jason Brian and myself what the plan was, we were going to sneak in behind some big boulders come over the top and see if we can’t locate the rams and hopefully be only 200 yards or less from the big old dark ram.
I loaded 4 bullets into my 7mm rem mag and gave each one of the boys a handshake and said this is what we came for boys, let’s go get em.
Sandal man would follow behind as the crew led us into position, we cautiously moved up the mountain being hit by big rocks and cactus, as we peered over the top there was one of the rams, the smallest of all three had us pegged, get down George said and don’t move, he sees us.
Over on the right mountain Keiko could see the big ram still eating and moving around but we couldn’t, once José figured out that keiko had a bead on the big ram all the attention was funneled away from the small ram and focused on the location of the big old broomed off ram.
We waited up on the side of that mountain till the sun started to beam down upon us, ringing the sweat out of us like we just got out of the shower.
Jose pulled George back 10 yards and starting talking in Spanish and they came up with a plan that would hopefully spook the big ram enough that I could get a shot at him at close range, José was going to go around about 400 yards to the left of the little ram and throw rocks down the mountain just enough to make the little ram excited and hopefully pull the big ram out of the thickets and into shooting position,
My heart was pounding with excitement as I had both my best friends with me and the time was now to take my first opportunity at a desert sheep, with cameras rolling and excitement at its peak José began his decent down towards the little ram.
All of a sudden sandal man started pointing with excitement as he had spotted the big ram, but where. No one could see the ram that he was pointing at, not even with binoculars, so I pulled out my spotting scope and sure enough there was the big old rams head sticking out of the cactus brier, how he ever spotted that ram none of us will ever know.
With Jose already descending there was nothing we could do but stand back and see what happened, We could hear the rocks crashing down the mountain and all of a sudden like it was meant to be here comes the big ram, running right towards us about a 100 yards to our left, down the mountain and up the other side perfectly broadside to me not 100 yards away stood the most beautiful lest animal I have ever hunted in my life. This old warrior was a big old broomed off dark desert sheep, just like the ones a person dreams of having the opportunity to harvest.
As the ram stood there broadside I asked for the go ahead from the outfitter and a quick response from Brian and Jason that the cameras were rolling I slowly settled the Leopold crosshairs on the ram’s front shoulders and slowly squeezed the trigger.
With one sudden thwack the bullet hit its target perfectly and the big old ram dropped in his tracks.
The emotions that came with that experience I have never felt before, having my family there and such a gorgeous ram on the ground I began to shake and even shed a tear.
The old warrior of a ram had massive horns with 15 ½ inch bases, left side was 33 ½ inches long with the right side going 31 ½ and we have him aged out at 10 ½ years old.
To finally put my hands on a desert sheep was a feeling that I can hardly put into words, I could not have done this without the true professionalism of Alcampo outfitting and George Artee and his crew of Mexican guides.
And of course my wife Brandie who I am indebted forever for letting me go sheep hunting on valentine’s day, also a huge thanks to Brian and Jason for coming along and capturing the whole hunt on film.
After i finished the hunt we decided to rent a car and head to cabo san lucas and caugth these striped marlin also, thought i would post a pic.
csutton7
Active member
all I can say is wow---did you hit the freakin lottery to be able to do all of these hunts, just kiddin'---- you've racked up some impressive animals no doubt and this isn't helping my self esteem ---again well done and keep the pics coming......
Dinkshooter
Well-known member
I like the beer can on the boat floor. I hope it wasn't spilled or wasted in the heat of the fight.
Sweet sheep.
Sweet sheep.
gunslinger
New member
lol, thanks alot guys, i actually just work on a rig up here in alberta , my wife and i just like to channel our savings on some adventures.
noharleyyet
Well-known member
Great pics & recount...welcome.
genesis273
Well-known member
Dink, I think you would be the only one who would notice the beer can and cared about it`s outcome!
gunslinger...impressive and welcome to the site!
Moosie
Grand poopa
W.T.F?? ..... You didn't kill that with a BOW >!>!>!>!>!>!!> ????
...................... <--_-- PLEASE NOTE
......................
<--_-- PLEASE NOTE 
TOM IN TENNESSEE
New member
CONGRATS !! Great story and pics!
I can't afford Baja and probably started applying too late in life to draw...hell, we will elect a Black Man President before I draw!
I can't afford Baja and probably started applying too late in life to draw...hell, we will elect a Black Man President before I draw!
Khunter
Well-known member
Dink, I think you would be the only one who would notice the beer can and cared about it`s outcome!
Somebody has to pay attention the the important stuff!
mohunter
New member
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2009
- Messages
- 154
Wow great rams.
highmountian
New member
Man that looks like fun!! Better than work anyday of the year!!!
stillkickin
Well-known member
Great ram! Congrats and welcome to the site.
Congrats on some great animals.
Sure I will draw sheep this year, just like I did last year, and the year before, and the year before, and.......
Sure I will draw sheep this year, just like I did last year, and the year before, and the year before, and.......
arffdog875
New member
Great Rams and welcome to the site!
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