Solo Archery Stones hunt - my daily lessons...

[Avalanche123]

Lesson learned – if you can hit grapefruits at 60 yrds, shot a ram in his bed at 40 yrds.

Funny, I learned that same lesson about 15 years in almost same area lol.

One of the better HBC Threads lately. Nice read!

[northof49]

Yup funny how despite all the practice with a bow, at that moment when time on your side you start to second guess. Nothing wrong with wanting to be sure of a clean ethical kill shot. Best to be sure

[Andrewh]

Today was going to be a big hiking day. I wanted to cover the entire complex and try and turn up some sheep. I figured if I covered enough ground, I would surely get into more rams and I was right. I found a few 7 year olds pretty quick but then it got pretty quiet. I logged about 25-30km that day and much of it was up and down. I was very careful to pick areas apart and pay special attention when cresting ridges to peer into blind basins and draws. I knew that the chances of me finding sheep bedded in a small draw was pretty good but even with all the miles I put on, I didn’t manage to find anything legal.







It wasn’t a very exciting day other than the fact I got to see a lot of new country that had plenty of potential to hold rams. I ran into a couple guys once again and did a quick catch-up of what was seen over the last few days.

I arrived back at camp after an 11 hour day. I was pretty beat both mentally and physically. I spent a lot of time thinking about the last few days and the chances that I had at the ram. I kept on replaying those situations over and over again in my head, “what if I just shot, what if I got to 33yrd?”. It took a real toll on me and is just one of the reasons why people find bow hunting so addictive. It is truly an activity with huge ups and ultimate lows and very little can prepare you of the coming events.

Lesson learned – keep positive no matter what has just happened. You can’t control what events had taken place, just the ones that are going to take place.

[Andrewh]

OK, morning of day 4. The roller coaster of emotions that I felt that day will be something that I will never forget. I got up a little later today as I was pretty beat from the previous day.



With the rams spotted on top of castle once again, I had high hopes of getting it done today. I was going to be very careful and ensure that there was a 100% chance of positioning myself in a good wind area.

I made my way up the ridge once again and snuck over to the same draw that they came down a few days ago. This time, I wasn’t going to position myself in the little rock formation because it didn’t work last time. I got to really thinking, I needed to be in a spot that had very consistent wind if I wanted a good chance. Since the slope that I was on originally was East facing, it would be in the sun all day and the other side of the ridge would only have sun later in the day. There was a pretty good thermal coming up the East side as I approached once again as well as a thermal coming up the West side. Hmmm, with the rams going to funnel down right on top of the ridge, I had to make a decision and quick. I thought to myself that being on the West side would make the most sense as I hoped that the thermals coming up would not be as strong as the ones coming up the other side so my scent would not get to the top of the ridge with both of the thermals colliding. It made sense to me and once again I got myself hidden about 38 yrds away from the two rocks that the sheep all came through. I sat for 4 hours and waited for the blessing sound of rocks falling as the rams worked down off the summit. They came through the rocks I had set up on and my plan with the wind seemed to be working perfectly as they didn’t seem to hesitate at all. I was expecting the big guy to come down slowly and cautiously so I would have a few seconds to get settled for the shot. After about 10 minutes of rams moving down, I saw a glimpse of my ram. He was with 3 others and they were on the move down. I saw the ram enter the rocks and I lost sight of him for a second or two before he popped out the bottom. He emerged but didn’t stop, didn’t hesitate, just kept walking. I tried to get myself composed for the shot but one major oversight on my part made itself clear. I couldn’t get my feet into a stable area, I was tucked down amongst rocks and out of sight but as I stood up I struggled to get balanced. I was up, at full draw, sheep in the sight housing, steadying pins and the shot breaks. I watch the arrow sail over the back, and off the rams go. I couldn’t believe this had happened. I ranged the spot where the ram was and it was about 20 yrds not the 38 yrds I was shooting for. I was so focused on making a good shot that I didn’t even realise the ram didn’t stop walking from the rocks and closed the distance considerably. I was not expecting to have to rush the shot, but once again, things were out of my control. On a positive note, my plan and location worked perfectly with the wind.

With the rams spooked, I went up to the area he had been standing in to try and locate them. They ran down the draw and were now at the bottom feeding. I couldn't believe it, they seemed to have settled right down as if my shot didn’t even take place.

[Andrewh]

Now I thought to myself – what do I do??? Do I let them feed and relax fully? Set up thinking they will come back up? Follow them with distance to find where they bed? Well the choice was easy, I glassed them from a ways away and planned on following them to hopefully see them bed or at the least know where they would be tomorrow.

I let them feed for a while and they fed right into a small basin that had a little water running through it. I had seen rams bedded in the area before and figured they would be bedded if I had any more luck. I snuck up on a cliff that stared straight down into the basin and from about 150 yards. I peeked over to see them all bedded. Oh my, I was getting a second chance today!



I had a decision to make once again, do I sit and wait or go after them? They were at the bottom of the basin so no chance of shooting from the top but there was a very nice rock formation that I could use as cover to sneak over to just next to them. I dropped all my gear once again and dropped in under the cliff I was on. I didn’t count on bumping a ewe and lamb that were bedded at the bottom of the cliff but they just walked off. I waited for all of the rams to work up behind the rocks so I had a clear path along a sheep trail to the top portion of the rocks. The wind was good, and I mean really good. It was about a 20mph wind straight up the draw so no chance that would screw me over. I slowly made my way over to the rock and that is where I sat for a minute not knowing my next move.



I thought to myself, do I climb over the rock and take the 5 yrd shot? Do I sit and wait? Once again, my rookie bow hunting skills were shining through. Although I am a rookie bow hunter, I do know sheep and had a good idea they were going to work out the bottom on an evident sheep trail so that is what I chose. Not 30 seconds later I see my ram on the trail right below me, he was the lead ram of a group of 4 and luckily I had already nocked an arrow and clipped my release to my D-loop. I ranged at 45 and he was walking away. I came full draw, leveled the bubble and steadied my 50 pin on him. He kept walking but as he was walking, I was counting his steps. Since the other rams were trailing him, they all stopped and looked at me which caused the lead ram to also stop and turn to see what was going on. At that point I had counted 15 steps from the 45yrd location so I settled my 60yrd on him and pulled through the shot. The arrow broke free and flew true and towards him. I heard a big thwack and saw blood right away. I hit him a little far back and looked to catch the far side lung as it was quartering away slightly. I sat and watched him run down the draw while pondering why my shot hadn't been perfect. At that moment I realized that at 60yrds, I needed to take a 20mph wind into consideration and I had not. Since he was bleeding and it was a solid hit I wanted to get another arrow in him. He had bedded about 40 yrds from the location of the hit but as soon as I saw him he saw me. He got to his feet and made his way to a green area on top of another cliff. I tried to get another arrow in him at that point but he worked over the cliff and down the other side with only the sound of falling rocks filling the basin. I backed out and circled down under the cliff and searched for a solid 20 minutes (there is not much to hide in around there, all open rocks/shale). I was concerned, I couldn’t find any sign of him and was scared that he worked down into the timber below. As tough as it was, I chose to back out and circle around above and try and locate him from the top of the ridge with my spotter. Between each ‘bumping’ he had only gone about 30 yrds. so I knew he wouldn’t be far.



After the grind back out, with emotions running high, I got to the spot and set up my spotter and within minutes I had him located. He was about 8 yrds away from where I was standing at one point but in a hole that prevented me from seeing him. Emotions came out and I could barely keep my shit together. I was overwhelmed.



With it being 7:30, I made the decision to give him the night and go in first thing in the morning to pull him out. The last thing that I wanted to do was pack out an animal in the dark with a can of bear spray on my side. I got back to the tent, made dinner and sat. I can’t remember what I thought about but I do know that the events that happened that day will never be forgotten.



Lesson learned – never give up. Put yourself in positions where fantastic things might happen and fantastic things might happen.

[Andrewh]

I was up early and with high hopes of getting to place my hands on my sheep. I didn’t sleep more than 2 hours the night before as I was so wound up from the day before. I started my trek down to the sheep all while making mental notes of the best route to come back up. It was steep, very steep and the rocks slid. I was a little concerned about getting out safely but figured I had a good route picked as I approached my ram. The ram was right where I had left him the night before, he was magnificent. Once I got my hands on him, I was able to age him at 9 years; I was in complete bliss. Not only did I arrow a ram but I also took my first archery animal of my life.





I caped him out in a hurry and left the bone in as the wind was heading straight down the valley. The valley bottom was thick and with the scent of fresh sheep carcass, I didn’t want to spend any extra time dealing with my ram. I pack him up, got to my feet and proceeded to try and take one step up while sliding back down ¾ of the distance. Oh shit, this is heavy and the ground is not solid. I kicked, crawled and climbed out of the basin and managed to cover the 300yrd distance in about 1.5 hrs.

Once back at camp I made the decision to flesh out and turn the cape, debone the meat and try and pack out that day. I left camp at 2:45 with a full load of 130+lbs and many hills in front of me. It was a 6 hour pack out of one step in front of the other all while trying to gather the energy to keep going. I made it out before dark and welcomed the sign of my vehicle.

I stripped down, changed and headed straight for a burger as I was rather starving!!!!

It was a trip I will never forget and personally think it has ruined rifle hunting for me. The emotional roller coaster bow hunting sheep takes you on can’t be described to anyone.

Lesson learned – one step in front of the other covers miles, might be slow but you will eventually get there.

[MadCat]

Congrats on a hunt you will never forget. Thanks for sharing I really enjoyed it

[twoSevenO]

Epic story my heart rate went up reading the second to last post. Nicely done. Congrats!

What is the breakdown on the 130lbs? I didnt think sheep were that big. How much meat? How many LBS for horns and Cape? 50lb camp, 50lb meat, 30lb Cape and horns?

Well written. Great animal. Congrats again.

[ErKu]

Awesome story, thanks for sharing!

[todbartell]

great stuff, thanks for posting!