Pines_N_Tines
Active Member
- Messages
- 756
This has been my new favorite year of hunting, with the crescendo being a Ram for my 15-year-old. Back in May I posted on Elkassassin's check your credit card post. To my disbelief, we had cc hits for 3 deer tags, a $413 charge for a moose or Rocky Mountain goat, and a $513 charge for a big horn sheep. We weren't sure who got what tag but the $513 charge had to be a sheep tag, and the only sheep tag we put in for was my 15 year olds choice for Oqquirh-Stansbury, West. Being 15, he had only been in the points game for one year; so with ONE point and a whole lot of luck a dream began. Most sheep hunters invest years into their sheep dreams. The dream my son and I got to share started in May, and culminated on November 1st.
It ended up that the $413 charge was a Rocky Mountain goat tag for me. I had 19 points but after so many years of unsuccessful, my excitement for my tag paled compared to the anticipated adventure I'd get with my son.
We bought maps, scoured Monster Muleys, and talked to the wildlife biologist. We read about the state record California Bighorn Sheep that Ridgetops took nine years ago. We learned that the California Bighorn Sheep are a smaller species than the Rocky Mountain Bighorns. Kind of like the difference between mule deer and Blacktails. The biologist gave us the sad news that the entire herd had died off of the Stansbury range in 2016. The sheep had contracted a domestic sheep pneumonia. On one of our scouting trips we talked to a rancher who said that about 70 ram deadheads were taken off the mountain. Sad indeed.
The good news was that approximately 45 sheep were transplanted out there and the herd had grown to 90. I was surprised to hear that we had 1 of 3 tags to hunt a herd of 90. I asked what the top end of our expectations should be. We were told that there should be two 8-year-old rams on the mountain and about a dozen 5-6 year olds. With that intel we set our standards pretty low. We just wanted to be successful and not eat a tag given the low numbers and size of rams.
We PM?d Ridgetops early on. He told us of his Epic hunt and gave a location to begin scouting. He was a great help and source of info.
On our first scouting trip in June we began to realize how hard Bighorn sheep hunting was going to be. The dark cliffs below the blue sky in this picture were our #1 target area. This is the area where Ridgetops shot his nice ram.
On our hike we saw sego lilies, thistles, wild flowers, a snake, and found some crystals, but saw no sheep. We had only hiked one canyon and it was long and steep. We knew that with this hunt, we had our work cut out for us.
It ended up that the $413 charge was a Rocky Mountain goat tag for me. I had 19 points but after so many years of unsuccessful, my excitement for my tag paled compared to the anticipated adventure I'd get with my son.
We bought maps, scoured Monster Muleys, and talked to the wildlife biologist. We read about the state record California Bighorn Sheep that Ridgetops took nine years ago. We learned that the California Bighorn Sheep are a smaller species than the Rocky Mountain Bighorns. Kind of like the difference between mule deer and Blacktails. The biologist gave us the sad news that the entire herd had died off of the Stansbury range in 2016. The sheep had contracted a domestic sheep pneumonia. On one of our scouting trips we talked to a rancher who said that about 70 ram deadheads were taken off the mountain. Sad indeed.
The good news was that approximately 45 sheep were transplanted out there and the herd had grown to 90. I was surprised to hear that we had 1 of 3 tags to hunt a herd of 90. I asked what the top end of our expectations should be. We were told that there should be two 8-year-old rams on the mountain and about a dozen 5-6 year olds. With that intel we set our standards pretty low. We just wanted to be successful and not eat a tag given the low numbers and size of rams.
We PM?d Ridgetops early on. He told us of his Epic hunt and gave a location to begin scouting. He was a great help and source of info.
On our first scouting trip in June we began to realize how hard Bighorn sheep hunting was going to be. The dark cliffs below the blue sky in this picture were our #1 target area. This is the area where Ridgetops shot his nice ram.
On our hike we saw sego lilies, thistles, wild flowers, a snake, and found some crystals, but saw no sheep. We had only hiked one canyon and it was long and steep. We knew that with this hunt, we had our work cut out for us.
