Part 1
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,19100.0.htmlPt II
Two more days....
Next day we're are into a group of pretty nice rams early in the day eventually we get closer and by then they are milling around they look like are getting ready to bed.
An especially dark ram is butting a dirt cut bank... He's nice... but he's in the shadows and we can't get a real good look. They move off in the next 30 minutes and now we need to find more sheep.
More ewes...
We spot a group of rams A few look pretty nice...... at 900 yards all we can do is watch.
They travelled down the well worn sheep trails.... which you can see everywhere! They found their spot in the sun and bedded down...a couple chose the shade of a huge elderberry bush.
More than a few times we watched larger rams lay their heads on the ground while they sleep....
They look pretty nice. Maybe one or two out of that group was a potential.
There was one we watched that had an ear tag and both of his horns were broken way back. They were, what looked to be less than 12" long....He must have been ancient.... Old broken horn we affectionately named him.
They eventually got up and moved off. We are going to have to keep an eye on those.
I guess my strategy at that point was to try and find the biggest ram that I could and try to keep tabs on him until opening morning.
I looked at what photos I could find of the rams that have been taken from that unit. I set the minimum score for a ram I would take at 160. I knew there was potential for a 170-175 class ram and I would put one that size down in a second.
I hadnt seen or heard of any much bigger in the area.
It was so hard to judge the rams from a distance..... ones that you thought were close to being shooters anyway. I could rule out most of the sheep pretty fast. A couple inches in mass, a couple inches in length makes a huge difference. The heat waves the angles the movement. It became apparent after looking over a lot of sheep that the largest rams were much darker.....a chocolate color.
It was such an education being able to watch these beautiful creatures doing their daily routine. All the while they are unaware. Thats what was so cool. Every game animal that I have hunted, you get glimpses of their day. A couple minutes, a few seconds.... that's it. Being able to watch them eat, travel, sleep and interact with one another was amazing.
Throughout the day we saw more sheep than we had previously . It was more sheep each day. Amazing!
We had a lone ram that I swear was watching us a mile away. He never spooked
Later that evening we ran into a bedded group of decent sized rams at about 70 yards. We snuck out of that area without spooking them.
We didn't want to get pinned down in that draw all evening
As the light was fading and we were headed back I nearly had a great view of my nephew getting bitten by a rattlesnake..... but for some reason he didn''t strike.
The next day we woke up to snow.....
So much for the farmer tan I had going....Ha......I brought snow camo.
It didn't last long.... and I didn't break out the snow camo.
We saw even more sheep today. An absolute ton of Ewes and lambs.... some nice rams and the usual.....bunches of smaller rams.
Towards evening we spot a band of nice rams that we watch until just before dark.
At least a few look promising, Maybe the same group that we had seen yesterday.
The light fades.
Every sunset is amazing.
Tomorrow is the opener...
About mid morning we started to cross through a jumbled mass of rocks after a pretty uneventful glassing session.
My nephew in the lead. we were about 30' from each other picking across the rocks....I hear it first... rocks sliding,
Then I see the sheep, all rams.....running away.
13 rams.
I watched them for the next 40 seconds as they ran single file parallel to me and then over the next ridge.Two possible shooters and 2 definite shooters
There were a few really dark rams but the one pulling up the rear was the one that caught my eye.
He was so dark and his horns were really light and they had an "argali" type flair.
They weren't argali wide, but they tipped out. Most of the mature rams we saw didn't really have that look.
...I was pissed... How could we have not seen those sheep... the biggest ones we had seen yet.
We had been so careful.
I thought that we may have just blown this entire hunt. I was really bummed to say the least!
I look at the map. ...If we hike out of this canyon toward the ridge and then cross over into the second valley we may be able to spot them.
We better move.... Two and a half hours later we are coming down the hillside and I spot sheep... 200 yards. Get down! We are in the open and we can't blow this again...It's a Ewe.
She slowly moves off and disappears.
In the mean time we are spotting sheep way down the valley, maybe 50 sheep or so... some are rams and there are more than a few that deserve a closer look.
We wait them out. They start moving uphill and to our left towards the base of this ridge that I can see below us.
As soon as it's safe, we are off to get a closer look.
Soon we are working our way farther down this ridge. We see sheep moving....away..., farther downhill. Just ewes and lambs.
I decide to sneak to the top of this rockpile on the ridge and peak over into the valley. Oh boy! Rams!..... As I sit there I can count 8 to 10 rams .
They are feeding in a lush green area (it's pretty brown out here.)
They are moving around in and out of the trees...so I'm not quite sure of the number. There are for sure two, probably three shooters in this group
Pretty soon I have a Ewe and a lamb staring at me from 30 yards......That's what I get for staring through the spotting scope for so long....They move on..
Finally one ram beds down.... then another then another.
This is unbelievable I'm actually bedding these rams from this great vantage point, within shooting distance...... Opening day is tomorrow. Oh the sheep gods are smiling.......
We wait until it's too dark to see and we back out.
About 200 yards from the rockpile I realize, that in my excitement of what is yet to come...I forgot to mark that spot on my gps....figures
This shouldn't be too tough to figure out......
Not much sleep going on that night..... it started to rain a little overnight and it got cold!
Opening day....long before daylight. I'm dressed, had breakfast...I mean... instant oatmeal.....got my rain gear on, warm clothes, load my backpack, spotting scope, binos, rangefinder, camera....everything
I grab my gun. Finally I'm hunting.... Well it's still dark but I'm carrying my gun.... finally.
It's perfect...we're approaching the rockpile........wait a minute... where's the rockpile.........not too tough?
Now we are going to be late....back track a little and a little to the left..... there it is....I crawl up and guess what?..... uhhh huh. The rams aren't bedded.
I can see them. We were probably 5 minutes too late....a little too light.
They're are moving away but as I look things over I decide we can run back up the hill cut over and come back down and we should be able to intercept. Basically a big U.
As we come down the other leg of the U, here stands a ram...not where he is supposed to be, but he walks where I think he should have been..okay, good sign.
We are on a open rocky ridgeline with a valley to our right. The rams should be in the valley or at least on the hill on the other side of the valley.
I decide it will be better to drop my backpack and all my gear and try to get close with out the cumbersome load.
As we are hunched over quickly sneaking down through these rocks, there's a ram at the head of this valley and he's looking at me and he's ready to run.
I panic..... I pull up and shoot... oh my god. I missed.....
That, being the best thing that had happened so far that morning.... He runs off unscathed.
He was wet from the rain which made his coat darker.... much like a mature ram.
I made, what could have been a most disasterous mistake........ He wasn't that big.....The rams are gone...
What a stupid move! Stupid..stupid.. stupid....
As i watch him run off I see rams and parts of rams over the edge of the valley. They cross to the opposite hill and start moving down.
We cant get close.....were in the open.......Here comes the fog.... right down the valley.
Come on... lets make a run for it while the fog is blocking their view...fog lifts, we stop.
We can see the rams, they are not completely spooked but still moving...fog moves in we make our move.
We do this incredible move when the fog does thing...about 5 times.... that was so cool. Eventually we moved a couple of hundred yards closer and we drop over the edge a bit.
Hey...A sheep cave. Well that's what we called them...kind of an over hang where the sheep bed, and boy do they smell like it.
This one was actually more like an actual rock cave....just big enough for two guys to kind of wedge into....kind of.
The fog lifted the temperature dropped dramatically and it started to pour
That "cave" became our home for nearly five hours while we were trapped by the rams on that hillside.
We are scared to death to move, for fear of being busted.
The group of smaller rams rams including old broken horn had bunched up and eventually moved back up and across the hill closer to our position but still across the valley.
The two biggest rams moved closer but still too far for a shot. I would tell you how far... but my rangefinder was attached to the belt of my backpack....200 some yards up the ridge.
They bedded facing away from each other, tail to tail if you will. They looked like a mirror image of each other laying there.
The smaller rams were at least 150 yards closer to us
As we lay there, eventually we started to shake uncontrollably. We were soaking wet and cold.
My nephew had to pee so bad.... I wouldn't let him roll to his side a little so he could go.
He later said he thought about peeing his pants so he would warm up.....I may just believe that.
Rain, sleet, wind.... it was really getting to us. It may not have been so bad if we were crawling around on the mountain but we couldn't move.
I was basically almost laying on my back ,one leg of the bipod extended with my rifle propped between my bent leg and the side of our new home.
Laying there for hours gave me plenty of time to scrutinize those two rams....without my spotting scope..... It was.... of course....with my backpack
"The brothers"....had one small difference in their horns.... one flared out at the tips a little more and one was just the smallest bit shorter but heavier at the tips.
Which one did I want? that one.... no that one.....If one of these rams presents itself for a shot I'm taking it.
Hours had gone by and I still hadn't decided....They both stand and shake off the water......lucky them.....
They start to come across the hill towards the other rams who are now up feeding.
Another 15 minutes pass... They're almost in range.....Im gonna take the one on the right as son as they stop..........Boom... they're off.....Boom.....What the hell?.....they're farther than I think.
They don't know where the shots are coming from....
He's coming closer..... he stops....facing slightly down and to the right......Boom.....he starts uphill,I chamber another..... oh right only 4 shells ...click. I feel sick to my stomach.....
I completely f*****up!
Oh wait.....he's falling back... oh my god he tipped over.... he's down.
We both jumped up...and hugged each other... I honestly almost started crying.
We were both beat physically and mentally...my nerves were fried....We were so happy!
The entire trip thus far was such a roller coaster ride of emotions it was ridiculous.
My nephew actually snapped a couple photos of the rams before they were up and over the hill......including the twin
Oh yea.....the "Hunt" was to be video taped... well...for some reason the camera had too much internal moisture and wouldn't function.....Imagine that.
I ran back up the hill to get my pack... I put it on, grabbed my rifle and the rest of my essentials..... and started across the valley toward my ram.
I grabbed his horns and pulled his head out of the dirt... I was in awe...what an incredible animal. He was huge...I bet he weighed close to 300 lbs.
I took off my pack and tried to move him to a better position on the steep hill so we could check him out and get photos.
We ranged the distance from the ram to our cave and it was just over 300 yds.... Much farther than I originally thought.
The 270 WSM does well when it hits the target....
I kid you not, right after I got to my ram the rain quit and the sun came out..... What a beautiful day!
I cant begin to tell you how happy and excited I was. I still am! The absolute highlight of my hunting "career"
We took a bunch of photos.
It was a perfect shot.....Well the one that mattered anyway........ entering behind his right shoulder.
I then started the task of skinning him out for a lifesize mount and boning him out... What a job.
We finally got both packs loaded with meat and mine with meat, hide and horns.
I said if we get him out of here before dark we'll go to back to Yakima and get a hotel... That was all the motivation he needed.
I needed a little more.
He's about 15 years younger than me. The combination of the 80 lb. pack and the incline...I was not quite ready for....It was very different without a sheep on my back!
He asked if I wanted him to carry my rifle..... but i had to use it as a walking stick (crutch).... That was the most brutal pack out ever.
The hill was so steep if I leaned back at all I would have been killed by my sheep horns as i cartwheeled down the mountain........ they nearly killed me anyway!
I found a nice 6 point elk shed on the way up. Normally... (always) I would be keeping something like that.
"It's too heavy...you want it, you carry it". "Thanks" he says....... "Ya....you bet"
Finally we get up to the top of the ridge..... we made it. I don't know how, but we did.
We broke our camp down in 15 minutes flat and we headed out to get a hot shower.
"Your truck going to be ready tomorrow"?
At that moment.... I could've cared less.
