2013 Sheep Hunt

[WACATHUNTER]

I was lucky enough to draw a OIL Sheep tag here in WA.  I drew the Clemans B Tag and although it wasn't my first I choice, I couldn't have been happier with the draw.  I spent the first 18 years of my life looking at that mountain on a daily basis, and now I get a chance to hunt sheep on it!!!  I had previously spent some time looking at sheep in the past but never really judged them in a manner of "which one would I shoot".  I wanted to make sure that I attempted to look at every ram on the mountain prior to pulling the trigger and was planning on taking advantage of the majority of the 25 day season. 

This August my dad and I spent several days looking at sheep, we were trying to bracket them by size and realized how hard it is to judge a Ram when they're alone.  I went to Ric’s (All that’s Wild Taxidermy) and looked at a few pics and sheep he had in the shop to try and get a feel for what I was seeing at 1000 yds.  After talking to several people I realized that maybe spending the majority of time scouting prior to the season vs. during the season was going to be my best bet.  My dad and I began scouting immediately after Deer season and had put in 12 days prior to the season. 

On the first day of scouting I took my 1 year old son on a hike and spotted a great ram right before dark. The next 11 days consisted of daylight til dark scouting with my dad and a couple buddies.  After looking at a ton of sheep and I had narrowed it down to 3 Rams that I wanted to shoot. The ram I saw with my son on day 1 was #1 and two other great rams right behind him.

I put the Ram to bed the night before the opener and he was toward the upper 1/3 of the mountain which would make it a easy hike in, but since he had spent a fair amount of time down low I decided to start from the bottom as we had the previous 5 days!!! My dad and I hiked up our normal route and my buddy went to his predetermined glassing location.  We both realized rather quickly that a bunch of sheep moved into the Canyon.  We finally found the Ram we were in search of at the head of the Canyon.  After a long hike and a lot of fog we were within 175 yards of the Ram.  He was bedded below us facing away with several other rams.  I had told my dad that I wanted to make sure he was the correct ram and that I wanted to get several good looks at him when he stood.  As we were waiting for him to stand I noticed another hunter sneaking into the canyon above us.  After a few muffled whistles the hunter saw us and backed out.  (Thanks!) We waited for about 3 hours before he stood, I waited for some good looks and confirmed he was the one and took the shot!  It is something so amazing that I can't explain, he is a great ram and most importantly I was able to watch this ram with my son and then shoot him with my dad.  My buddy probably had the best seat in the canyon!!! He watched and heard it all! 

Thanks to all involved!

[WACATHUNTER]

Scenery Pics

[WACATHUNTER]

More

[Naches Sportsman]

Nice job . I will have to say the places where you took the sceneray pics are some of my favorite places to go.

[fishngamereaper]

 ...Dont smile to big. Glad you put my tag to good use

Nice ram for sure.  17 years and waiting. One of these days.

[The scout]

looks like you did the tag justice.and had a great hunt.

[WenHunter]

There are bigger ones out there, you should have waited. Though you had gotten your deer so you were trigger happy I understand that.

Before people jump on me, I am only kidding and I know this guy quite well so just ribbing him a little. Awesome Ram and a dang tragedy I have to hear this from someone else before you posted it here. LOL!!

NICE WORK WACATHUNTER!! Glad you were able to take your son out with you, memories man!!

[MLBowhunting]

That is a great ram    awesome trip it sounds like glad your father could be there

[klickman]

What an awesome hunt. Thanks for letting me tag along. Next to pulling the trigger it was the best seat in the house. The video is pretty an awesome too. Congrats brotha

[270Shooter]

Nice hunt, awesome ram.

[PlateauNDN]

Nice, I have pics of him from last year and he is nice, congrats.

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Just the way it should be done!

[Elkstuffer]

Congratulations on an awesome ram Nick! You put more time into that hunt that just about anyone else that I've known. Very well deserved!

[hogsniper]

That is one Beautiful ram!   Congrats on a trophy of a lifetime!

[bugs n bones]

Thats awesome...congrats!