This story is a bit on the long side....It recounts 6 days of sheep hunting....There are some pics at the end!
Welcome to my story of misfortunes, mistakes, and windfalls
Twelve years of applying..... Actually... I had been applying since about 1981. But you didn't get any points back in the day.
I get the mail I've been waiting for......finally...congratulations you have been selected..... 1st choice bighorn sheep...
I've always only put in for only one area..... It's once in a lifetime, there is no second choice area!
I thought for sure I would be drawn for moose before sheep.......
Now what?
I've never actually been to the unit.... Yes, all these years I blindly went by the game status and harvest reports!
I called the biologist who was pretty helpful...he at least sent me in the right direction. I Read everything I could get my hands on about field judging sheep. I spent hours on google earth.
I ordered maps...scoured the internet for anything on Washington sheep hunting...
Lets just say not much info about Washington sheep hunting online.
Over the next couple of months I realize that this will be a solo hunt.
The one person that I thought would be going with me was working out of state until a few days after the opener.
There was no way I could wait that long. I planned on scouting for 5 days before opening day.
I didn't think it would do any good to go too far in advance. I didn't know how much the sheep would move.
There were only 3 other hunters with permits it that small unit.... I had no idea what to expect.
I got time off from my job....amazingly...regardless, I was going on this hunt
About a week before the hunt my nephew says he can go.
Great...Pack your things. I basically got him into hunting when he was really young so I knew he could handle it.
I decide that he should drive as well...you know better to have two rigs....that and I take so much gear there wouldn't be any room him for him or his stuff!
We are going to take the "long way" in so we could see more country and be in the unit longer rather than be on blacktop the entire way.
After driving for a couple of hours we stopped in Ellensburg to gas up and buy our groceries.
After a few wrong turns on some back roads.... it's now evening and we get to the gate that leads into the hunting area.
There still some daylight left.... Man am I excited!
We begin our uphill drive on some of the dustiest roads that I have ever been on. At least I'm in front.
We saw a few deer, no bucks.
By now it's dark and we are at least 10 miles in...still climbing...Where is the top of this mountain?
Another bend and then another and then as I'm going up this steep incline... wham!.... what was that..... No power....the engine revs....So I stop.
My nephew says hey, "you're leaking something". .....Really!
Yep there is a pretty good trail of fluid for about 50 yards down the hill....hmmm...looks like...... tranny fluid. Unbelieveable!
It took a fair amount of effort, get the truck turned so I could "coast" down the hill.
I jump in his rig and we continue up the hill just to see how far we have to the top... or to our campsite. (which we have never seen before).
30 or 40 minutes pass and we are back at my truck. I need to get it as close to the highway as I can, so I can get it towed.
I tell my nephew just follow me. I turn the truck on put it in neutral and start coasting....
Not a very safe move as you can imagine.... especially without complete steering or brake control.
Mind you.... I have... unfortunately had some experience with this type of driving for one reason or another during my years spent in the mountains.
I recall bear hunting north of Metaline falls years ago and my fuel pump went out. That night I "coasted' as far as I could, stashed my rifle next to the highway and walked back to Metaline alone. Thats another story in itself.
Each corner and hill was another adreneline rush. I just had to get closer. There were few times we had to push but for the most part I literally left him in the dust.
He said it was so dusty and i was so far ahead he probably would not have known if I had gone off the road.
There were some spots we would get out to and walk ahead to see if there was enough incline to continue on.
Finally this is it. I cant go any farther. We're on a flat. I'm parking here.
We load up a few of my important items. Drive out and it's off to Yakima.
Needless to say I am a little stressed.
The saving grace at that point was the fact that my nephew was able to come with me.
We get to a hotel around 1 AM.
I cant manage to get a tow truck out until morning.
Bright and early I leave with the tow truck driver.
It was like riding with a little kid. "Are we there yet" "Are we almost there" He was a little surprised how far in I was... 13 miles off of the pavement!
He did say that he had towed a couple from the same general area before.
We get the truck back to town after an agonizingly long and slow trip.
I'm hunting here! Remember.
It will be a day before the shop knows anything...
We stuff as much of my gear as we possibly could into my nephews Explorer.
I'm outta here I'll call you tomorrow.
...Almost two thirds of my first day scouting... wasted.
We race back to the unit and up....This is the fifth time i have been on this l - o - n - g road in less than 24 hours.
We finally get to the top, It's beautiful...... what a cool area...
Maybe antelope hunting in Montana looked similar, but then again... Quite a bit steeper and rockier...
Much different than Im used to. What did I think? ... They're sheep.
It looks to me like we'll be hunting off to the west of the ridge. Less trees and more "sheepy"
Immediately we look for a spot to camp. We find one.... not ideal but we can move if we have to.
There are vehicle restrictions in that area so we cant really drive off the road.
We stop and set up his tent, I left mine in my truck.
We throw our bags inside. Gear up and head out for the evening to glass.
We haven't seen anyone yet....It can only get better from here.
We found 3 sheep that evening just before dark. All ewes. We hike up and out of that canyon and back to camp..something I'll be getting used to over the next several days. I'm not really what you'd call a flatlander I hunt elk.....but it's much steeper than the areas i usually hunt. ...The sunset is beautiful.
We're pretty stoked about finding sheep already...we each fire up our own separate dinners with our backpacking stoves. Boy is it windy on this open ridge top.....
Sleep comes fast and hard..
We get up early and walk in the dark over to our canyon de 'jour. We set up and start glassing.
There 's one, there's another one..... oh yes, the sheep start appearing over the course of the day. Ewes and lambs and a few groups of smaller rams.
Not a ton of sheep but maybe 15. It's really warm and sunny I actually got a sunburn. (Short sleeves).
It was so cool to be able to watch the sheep from a vantage point and just observe them throughout the day.
We hike back out, do our minimal dinner.... and pass out.
Wind... Oh the wind... We are just over the crest of a huge open ridge.... Tough it out I guess.
The wind was so bad that night I had absolutely no doubt the tent was going to shred. That thing was taking on all kinds of weird shapes.
Those poles could have been made out of rubber....
Oh did I mention the dust?
I had to cover my head while I tried to sleep and when I woke up.... myself and... well... everything, was covered in what seemed like a 1/4" layer of dust.
I Shake off the dust. I'm awestruck that the tent still does exist around me...I dress quickly, gather my things for the day, have some instant oatmeal and we are off.
Right off the bat a nice ram ...at about a mile. Looks like he could be a shooter. No way to get any closer..we finally lose him.
A little cooler today but warm and sunny during the day.
We see a group of ewes and lambs come down some sheer basalt cliffs and start chasing around. You see it on TV... but to actually see It in person was simply amazing...
You hear that?...... A cessna comes ripping over the hill in front of us.
Are they looking for sheep?
They must be as they start making passes over the canyon we are in.
You have got to be kidding me!
They seem to be having a hard time because of the wind today.
They give up and fly away after about 15 or 20 minutes...good riddance.
We saw some decent rams that day but no shooters, maybe 30 sheep.
The rams we saw were mostly in the bottom of the draws feeding that day.
Too dark to see.... back to camp..
I've got cell service at camp and I've got a message from the repair shop.
Ahhh Yeeaah....You're gonna need a new tranmission.....oh, is that all?
That was a tad bit more than I had planned to spend on this trip.....Once in a lifetime....
Continued........
Part II http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,19101.0.html
