~T-BONE~
12-06-2009, 10:33 PM
It all began September 4th scouting an area that High Caliber had been fumbling with as an area that could contain a good number of Bighorns. To our efforts we came across a band of 11 ewes and 6 lambs. Eventually we found a small 3/4 curl off in the distance just disappearing into the timber. We decided to move on and as we did, I could hear something that sounded like wooden blocks banging together. Peering cautiously over a hogback there were not just 2 but 4 rams all ¾ curl or bigger, one of which was a full curl but with further viewing of the video at home we determined he was too close to be a mature full curl. The following day, luck was on our side again as we spotted the same band of rams again but this time they were on the road, bedded!!!! Wow, with these kind of sightings, we left excited for the season opener.
http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af211/Highcaliberbc/200909051935271.jpg
http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af211/Highcaliberbc/200909051935272.jpg
The afternoon before opening day, we headed out with 4 days of pursuit in front of us, only to be discouraged by the amount of sheep hunters we ran into. We hiked around running into tenters, campers and 7 different vehicles in this tight area. With this presure we decided to go into a different valley than where we had previously scouted, for opening morning. As it had to be, we ventured down into this hole which to me was big buck habitat. A couple hours from the truck I started focusing on deer, accidently! Jabe glassed into the rocky basin spotting a few ewes. When I worked my way back realizing our intentions and was cautioned to slow up. We glassed and worked our way lower down the ridge with no further sightings the temperature was rising, close to 30 degrees. With no sightings mid day, we separated to cover more ground and glass more country. I found myself getting bored as I became fidgety, I began to tumble boulders into a steep drainage. I decided to make my way back up to our packs for some food and water. I chilled, had some fluids and a snack and swatted all the hornets away from the salami casing that I had been munching on then, booooom!!!!!! Holy crap!!!!! I ran down the hill only to see J frantically looking down into the hole where I was rolling the rocks down into. I yelled at him “what happened” he replied “I think I smoked him!!! He reared up and dropped back into the chute!!!!” Well as luck would have it, all our combined efforts could not get us down to where the ram would be. Steep, nasty slid out bluffs stopped our efforts, even J being an accomplished goat guide outfitter left him desperate for ways to try to find and recover his trophy. So a plan was made to search the next day by dropping down to the very bottom of the main drainage and coming up the side drainage where the Ram had went down. Again, we found ourselves spending the night on the mountain with limited provisions and rationing our water. After a restless night on a rocky bed, we dropped down near to the bottom of the mountain and did our best to get into this craggy drainage from below but there was no chance from this side. We decided to go back to the top and try to come down the other side. We backtracked and headed towards where the shot was taken, only to spot the bruiser bedded on a shear cliff 100 yards lower from where he was initially shot. The Ram was obviously in his death bed but still able to move. J was not packing his riffle as this was supposed to be a recovery mission. J said “Just finish him, we don’t need him to suffer, You have earned this Ram as well, make the shot” I lined up for the 270 yard downhill shot. Just as I was to pull the trigger the ram jumped up and headed for the gorge. I shot just as he went out of sight. He vanished for seconds then we could see him tumble in the chute and again, disappearing lower into this hole! But he didn’t come out the bottom, so we knew he was done. We knew we couldn’t get to him with the gear we had so a plan was made to go to town and make some phone calls. We contacted some friends who are professional rock climbers to come out and help us recover the trophy. The following morning we ended up with a great turn out of buddies, with gear and all fired up to see the trophy. We ended up repelling down to where we could see the Ram at the bottom. We utilized about 350’ of rope to get to the Ram. There is nothing like those last few steps as it gets bigger every step closer. It did not take long with the help we had to get him out of there, since everyone wanted to beat the heat and there were beer on ice back at the truck. Hours later found us back at the truck horns and beer in hand, and whole bunch of memories of well deserved trek. What a hunt, What a Trophy.
http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af211/Highcaliberbc/DSC00503.jpg
http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af211/Highcaliberbc/DSC00524.jpg
http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af211/Highcaliberbc/200909051935271.jpg
http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af211/Highcaliberbc/200909051935272.jpg
The afternoon before opening day, we headed out with 4 days of pursuit in front of us, only to be discouraged by the amount of sheep hunters we ran into. We hiked around running into tenters, campers and 7 different vehicles in this tight area. With this presure we decided to go into a different valley than where we had previously scouted, for opening morning. As it had to be, we ventured down into this hole which to me was big buck habitat. A couple hours from the truck I started focusing on deer, accidently! Jabe glassed into the rocky basin spotting a few ewes. When I worked my way back realizing our intentions and was cautioned to slow up. We glassed and worked our way lower down the ridge with no further sightings the temperature was rising, close to 30 degrees. With no sightings mid day, we separated to cover more ground and glass more country. I found myself getting bored as I became fidgety, I began to tumble boulders into a steep drainage. I decided to make my way back up to our packs for some food and water. I chilled, had some fluids and a snack and swatted all the hornets away from the salami casing that I had been munching on then, booooom!!!!!! Holy crap!!!!! I ran down the hill only to see J frantically looking down into the hole where I was rolling the rocks down into. I yelled at him “what happened” he replied “I think I smoked him!!! He reared up and dropped back into the chute!!!!” Well as luck would have it, all our combined efforts could not get us down to where the ram would be. Steep, nasty slid out bluffs stopped our efforts, even J being an accomplished goat guide outfitter left him desperate for ways to try to find and recover his trophy. So a plan was made to search the next day by dropping down to the very bottom of the main drainage and coming up the side drainage where the Ram had went down. Again, we found ourselves spending the night on the mountain with limited provisions and rationing our water. After a restless night on a rocky bed, we dropped down near to the bottom of the mountain and did our best to get into this craggy drainage from below but there was no chance from this side. We decided to go back to the top and try to come down the other side. We backtracked and headed towards where the shot was taken, only to spot the bruiser bedded on a shear cliff 100 yards lower from where he was initially shot. The Ram was obviously in his death bed but still able to move. J was not packing his riffle as this was supposed to be a recovery mission. J said “Just finish him, we don’t need him to suffer, You have earned this Ram as well, make the shot” I lined up for the 270 yard downhill shot. Just as I was to pull the trigger the ram jumped up and headed for the gorge. I shot just as he went out of sight. He vanished for seconds then we could see him tumble in the chute and again, disappearing lower into this hole! But he didn’t come out the bottom, so we knew he was done. We knew we couldn’t get to him with the gear we had so a plan was made to go to town and make some phone calls. We contacted some friends who are professional rock climbers to come out and help us recover the trophy. The following morning we ended up with a great turn out of buddies, with gear and all fired up to see the trophy. We ended up repelling down to where we could see the Ram at the bottom. We utilized about 350’ of rope to get to the Ram. There is nothing like those last few steps as it gets bigger every step closer. It did not take long with the help we had to get him out of there, since everyone wanted to beat the heat and there were beer on ice back at the truck. Hours later found us back at the truck horns and beer in hand, and whole bunch of memories of well deserved trek. What a hunt, What a Trophy.
http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af211/Highcaliberbc/DSC00503.jpg
http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af211/Highcaliberbc/DSC00524.jpg