So far all I know about this is rumors. But according to *** in his posting of the sheep hunt details in an email, the "hunter" stopped in to his shop before the season asking advice about 680. *** remembered this guy and called him up to tell him about the sheep he found.
Heres the story:
Hi Thought I would pass on a few photos of a RAM our hunter took yesterday in the breaks. He does not want his name revealed as he is not into sheep hunting and wishes to remain anonymous.
I found this ram before the season and this was the largest ram I had ever seen in Montana . I was wishing I had a contact number for the governor's tag holder. I found out that he had hired an outfitter and not wanting to step on any toes I called a young man from Helena who had stopped by the shop and told me he had a tag.. He was a new resident to the state and it was his 1st time applying for sheep. I told him I had found a very big ram and that he needed to come up and try to get it .He told me he could not make it up as he did not have it in his plans . He had some phone calls to make and he could come up on Wednesday afternoon.
I was In the breaks filming a sheep hunt and had two friends helping me James *** and Blake ***. We decided it would be a good idea to keep a eye on this ram until the hunter could make it up. James went and camped on the ram and did not let it out of his sight for 4 days. He even slept on the hill with him. The hunter arrived on Wednesday afternoon we headed in to meet with James and make a plan to get on the Ram.
It was a 4 mile walk from the nearest road. James was out of water and food and was glad to see us. We Quickly put together a plan and made a run on the ram .He had a 300 yd shot but pulled it . His gun was new and he was nervous as this was the 1st ram he had seen. The rams ran out across a big valley and went over the ridge . We headed back and would try to find them in the morning .We split up in the morning and James spotted them not far from the last place we had seen them the night before. He signaled us to come over. We tried to get a shot at them and they blew out again but this time went several miles.
They were working their way through some low hills we made a run at them again and once again did not get off a shot We followed them for a mile and they slowed down and gave us a standing shot at 150 yards. He shot again and missed and then took one more shot on their way out of the canyon . James was still high pointing and once again saw which valley they went into so we made a run at them again. By now it was mid day and 85 plus degrees and very hot in the canyons. We came into the next canyon right on top of the rams and they were holding up in the shade.
This time his shot was just over 100 yards and he hit the ram. It ran off but not far, laid down and it was all over. The Hunter had no idea what he had and did not seem too excited but James, Blake and my self made up for that . We knew that this was a very special ram and would help strengthen the Montana sheep hunting program and help bring more money into the Mt. FWP program. Hopefully some day he will realize what a great trophy he has taken and the effort it takes to find and take a great trophy as this.
We Called this ram 44 magnum as I had guessed he was 44" long and the magnum for, well look at the photos!
The Ram was all of 44" and had a base pushing 18". His 1st qtr was over 17" and his short horn was over 40".
I have not skinned off the head yet and will give you a green score when I have a chance to put a tight tape on it........
Does anyone have any more information about this undercover Montana FWP agent killing that ram in the breaks last year?The agent (hunter) was part of a sting operation. Apparently the tag was pulled and given to the agent for the purpose of the sting operation.
It is illegal to film on public land without a permit. Although there was no money exchanged, the sale of the video I suppose could be construed as profit and he could be charged with filming without a permit and or guiding without a license.
If this story is true....I find it hard to believe that something like this was allowed to go so far. What a terrible shame.
Taking a ram that size out of the herd under those circumstances is just unfathomable!!
