Zeke
Long Time Member
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LAST EDITED ON Nov-06-09 AT 02:21PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Nov-06-09 AT 02:08?PM (MST)
Jessica Zimmerman Terry's 163 2/8 Utah desert ram, 11 1/2 years
We are lucky. No really, we are lucky. Lucky for Jessica to have drawn a permit, to have family and friends to help, to have two friends that had the same permit this year, to have my cousin and a good friend who had the tag last year and lucky to take a very nice trophy ram. It really helps to be lucky!
Sheep have long been the top trophy around my circle of family and friends for decades. My brother, Kurt, and I have been "lucky" harvesting all four North American wild sheep with a few extras from the Asian Continent.
"Sheep fever" has rubbed off on my children. When Jessica drew the permit she knew it was a valuable piece of paper.
Enough puffing, here's the hunt...
We knew we should wait until later in the season but after just one scouting trip we started the hunt on Sept 19, 2009. Two days of glassing yeilded 2 ewes. The following week we found 2 rams, 1 shooter and 4 ewes. In mid Oct we found over 30 sheep in 3 days, Four of them rams!
The next weekend was the beginning of an 8 day hunt. (We had the last 9 days of the season set aside too but didn't need them.) The wind was blowing hard that first day and we only saw 1 ram. The next day was windy as well but as always our hopes were high. As we were glassing I spotted a good ram and as luck would have it he traveled within rifle range and stopped. Jessica was relying on me to make the call. I had her lie accross the rocks, shell chambered, safety off, waiting my order. I judged, ranged and made the call "don't shoot, we have 14 days left to hunt." Jessica was good about letting a trophy ram walk away. My mind raced. Did I make the right decision for HER? It was her hunt, not mine. She agreed with me and we decided to hunt hard and let the chips fall where they may.
We didn't have to wait long for the action to heat up. About an hour or so after passing the ram, the radio cracked with my brother's voice "Kyle, Kyle,Kyle." I know what that always means, it means Kurt's seen a shooter. I've heard that from him on several occasions over the years.
The wind was blowing so hard that we only heard every other word. We finally got it! BIG RAM,(Wind blowing) ON YOUR POINT,(wind blowing) JUST SOUTH (wind blowing). The scramble was on. The first sighting was of this massive ram walking under us. Jessica got set for the shot. BOOM! MISSED! She had hit the rock about 2 feet from the muzzle of the gun. The big ram was gone. (We talked several times previuosly about bullet path, line of sight and those darn rocks). Live and learn.
I relocated the ram about 1/2 mile away running then walking up a canyon. I asked Jessica if she wanted to go for a run and try again. Duh, she said "yes".
We ran for the ATVs while I motioned Kurt to come quickly. He set up to find the ram as we raced off to get a little closer. After a fast ATV ride we sprinted, stalked and crawled in the sand to get in position. Now, "IF" we could only find the ram "IF" he was still in that canyon.
After "forever" glassing in frustration I finally relocated the ram. More crawling and we were within range. Jess was prone over a little bush. She was ready for the shot. BOOM! The effect was immediate. One shot from 320 yards and the ram was down for good! Emotions were high and the experience was everything we had hoped. Yes, it pays to be lucky!
By the way, both my friends were "lucky" too, scoring on beautiful trophy rams.
Zeke
Kurt Zimmerman, Kyle Zimmerman, Jessica Zimmerman Terry
The Ram has some MASS!
Jessica Zimmerman Terry's 163 2/8 Utah desert ram, 11 1/2 years
We are lucky. No really, we are lucky. Lucky for Jessica to have drawn a permit, to have family and friends to help, to have two friends that had the same permit this year, to have my cousin and a good friend who had the tag last year and lucky to take a very nice trophy ram. It really helps to be lucky!
Sheep have long been the top trophy around my circle of family and friends for decades. My brother, Kurt, and I have been "lucky" harvesting all four North American wild sheep with a few extras from the Asian Continent.
"Sheep fever" has rubbed off on my children. When Jessica drew the permit she knew it was a valuable piece of paper.
Enough puffing, here's the hunt...
We knew we should wait until later in the season but after just one scouting trip we started the hunt on Sept 19, 2009. Two days of glassing yeilded 2 ewes. The following week we found 2 rams, 1 shooter and 4 ewes. In mid Oct we found over 30 sheep in 3 days, Four of them rams!
The next weekend was the beginning of an 8 day hunt. (We had the last 9 days of the season set aside too but didn't need them.) The wind was blowing hard that first day and we only saw 1 ram. The next day was windy as well but as always our hopes were high. As we were glassing I spotted a good ram and as luck would have it he traveled within rifle range and stopped. Jessica was relying on me to make the call. I had her lie accross the rocks, shell chambered, safety off, waiting my order. I judged, ranged and made the call "don't shoot, we have 14 days left to hunt." Jessica was good about letting a trophy ram walk away. My mind raced. Did I make the right decision for HER? It was her hunt, not mine. She agreed with me and we decided to hunt hard and let the chips fall where they may.
We didn't have to wait long for the action to heat up. About an hour or so after passing the ram, the radio cracked with my brother's voice "Kyle, Kyle,Kyle." I know what that always means, it means Kurt's seen a shooter. I've heard that from him on several occasions over the years.
The wind was blowing so hard that we only heard every other word. We finally got it! BIG RAM,(Wind blowing) ON YOUR POINT,(wind blowing) JUST SOUTH (wind blowing). The scramble was on. The first sighting was of this massive ram walking under us. Jessica got set for the shot. BOOM! MISSED! She had hit the rock about 2 feet from the muzzle of the gun. The big ram was gone. (We talked several times previuosly about bullet path, line of sight and those darn rocks). Live and learn.
I relocated the ram about 1/2 mile away running then walking up a canyon. I asked Jessica if she wanted to go for a run and try again. Duh, she said "yes".
We ran for the ATVs while I motioned Kurt to come quickly. He set up to find the ram as we raced off to get a little closer. After a fast ATV ride we sprinted, stalked and crawled in the sand to get in position. Now, "IF" we could only find the ram "IF" he was still in that canyon.
After "forever" glassing in frustration I finally relocated the ram. More crawling and we were within range. Jess was prone over a little bush. She was ready for the shot. BOOM! The effect was immediate. One shot from 320 yards and the ram was down for good! Emotions were high and the experience was everything we had hoped. Yes, it pays to be lucky!
By the way, both my friends were "lucky" too, scoring on beautiful trophy rams.
Zeke
Kurt Zimmerman, Kyle Zimmerman, Jessica Zimmerman Terry
The Ram has some MASS!
