Spence's Ram

littlebighorn

littlebighorn

Long Time Member
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5,409
Well, it was quite an experience for sure. My son's desert sheep hunt took 7 days of scouting and 9 hard days of hunting to seal the deal. We were down to the last 4 days when the ram hit the ground and I was beginning to wonder if it would happen. But it did and for that I am very happy and grateful! We ran into all sorts of obstacles.

The first four days of hunting were hot and the sheep were shaded up. And while we saw rams every day, they were still not with the ladies and always on the move. We did get up and personal with a pretty nice young ram (23 yards to be exact) but Spence wanted something a little older. Then on the next trip it snowed 3-4 inches and sent the sheep into the canyons. Then to top that off, Spence got the swine flu! He was so sick he couldn't even go after the rams we did see. With school pressing and his sickness we thought it was over, but when he got marginally better enough for one more trip we were off.
We spotted this ram early in the morning, made a forced 2.5 mile march off the top and back up on a mesa and Spence dropped him just before he headed for the river. I have never been so happy and relieved in all my life. Spence is still physically sick, but killing a ram is a pretty good anti-dote to any ailment.

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Great photos, great smiles, incredible terrain. It's so invigorating to see deserving, hard working hunters like you and Spencer be rewarded with success.
 
very impressive, beautiful ram. I'll bet dad was a bit nerve racked with only 4 days left. Perseverance pays off again. Great job guys.
 
What a ram!!!!!! Congrats. I was worried all year that the swine flu would keep me from my elk hunt so I can't imagine your feelings as the flu set in. I'm so glad that it worked out and you killed a brute. Well done.
 
Spencer;
I'm just grateful that you didn't infect me or Kurt when we were trying to help you on your sheep hunt! LOL
Seriously, you get a heart felt congratulations from me!
It's a great ram for a great young man. I thought you might die before you ever got your ram but you didn't die and you DID get your ram!
You're from good stock (thank your dad) so I really didn't fret. Deep down I knew you and your dad would put thing together. I know it's easy for me to say but I really thought that you would score.
Again, congatulations from one sheep hunter to another.
Welcome to the family!
Zeke
 
Great ram Spence.....Congrats, you deserved him. Now we can look forward to your dad drawing that same tag in the next year or two. I wonder if we could get Kyle and Kurt to join us on Ricks hunt?(lol)
 
Rack;
I don't think littlebighorn could keep us away. Let's all just plan on going together on his sheep hunt right now! (If that's ok with littlebighorn) LOL
Zeke

BTW; I loved the food!
 
Rick, once again congrats to your son on a fine ram. You need to draw a NV tag next year so we can hunt together. I'll let you know how the sheep hunt goes in two weeks. Ryan
 
LAST EDITED ON Nov-11-09 AT 08:22AM (MST)[p]Thanks guys!
As I said, the whole hunt was quite an experience. One very few people will ever experience, especially from my viewpoint. You see, being able to watch your son harvest the rarest trophy in all of North America, while facing all of the obstacles he hurdled, can never be equaled. It was even more rewarding than my own Rocky hunt where Spence accompanied me and I harvested a nice ram on his 18th birthday. There is absolutely nothing more special than hunting with your son!
And of course it could not have happened without the help of many good friends, who gave advice, spotted for days, boosted our spirits, helped haul him out, and made this hunt even more special. You are all invited back if I draw before I am too old.(Oh wait, I am already old!)
Anyway, Thanks again!
 
You did it again Spence. I am wondering what i have to do to get invited on the next incredible outing. I am related to you, i think you and your dad can make room for one more tag along. Nice work that is one of the better looking rams I have seen. See you in the turkey woods soon.
 
CrzyDAVE,
I thought you had more class than to surf these sites! I was wondering what your email address was to send you some photos, but it looks like you found them on your own. Anyway, you are always welcome in our camp!
The Kid has had quite a year. Great archery buck and now a nice ram. Pretty amazing for sure.
 
I've been checking up on this forum in between my classes over the past week keep thinking that I need to thank all those that and helped me out on this once and a lifetime hunt and adventure. While it was a phenomenal experience to hunt one of the rarest and most majestic animals in the world, it was the experiences gained with friends and family that made the hunt all that it was.
Thank you guys, I couldn't have done it without your help and support.
It's great to be part of the sheep hunting family.

-Spencer
 
Is it just me or is his body enormous? I don't think I have ever seen a desert that large. Congrats.
 
Big body; Momma was a desert, daddy was a rocky! Hey, that could be the start of a CW song! LOL
I can honestly say it's a BIG Beautiful Ram, no doubt.

Spence; keep off this site and your nose in the books! Haha

I must think I'm funny tonight!(past my bed time)

Zeke
 
littlebighorn,
I am a hunting degenerate. Besides this is the only hunting I do these days. Maybe I will be lucky enough to get out more next year.
 
Congrats on the beutiful ram.. It puts my ram to shame.. what a hog.. What unit were you hunting and what did that toad score..
 
Mort,
Just my opinion, but NO ram puts yours to shame. There might be bigger rams around, but you hunted hard and harvested a rare trophy indeed. The pictures we took flatter Spence's ram, but he is still all that we could have hoped for. We were thrilled with him and I know you are proud of yours as well!
 
Once again, Congratulations Spencer and Rick on a Fantastic and well deserved Ram. I'm sure you'll both relive this experience over and over again for many years to come.... Awesome photos!
 
Spence and Dad,

What an unbelievable hunt !

I doubt it could be any bettter for a father and son experience.

Way to hunt hard and never give up.

Those memories will last a lifetime !
 
Way to go Spencer. I wish I would have had time to come and hunt with you and your dad. What a feeling you must have had when you put him on the ground. Congrats. I am back from Saskatchewan now so I will get over to see this very nice ram. Again congrats. I am sure you will need some knives sharpened now!!
 
One of your knives needs some real sharpening and the other, well, lets hope we can find it! And do we have some northern pigs to put on the wall?
 
Very nice ram Spence, that looks just like that mesa south of b___pasture. Its great to see some great utah sheep coming onto the site. Congrats on your endeavor!
 
We finally looked at all of our video footage over the TG holiday and it was a blast being able to relive an incredible experience. Thanks for all the supportive comments. There truly is no better experience than sheep hunting with one of your kids and having them score on a beautiful animal. I am afraid however that I have contaminated the gene pool with sheep fever, because that is all Spence wants to talk about.(Which ain't that bad either)
 
Last night was a very exciting Night for Spencer and his dad at the Utah FNAWS annual dinner.

Over 50 members who have taken all four sheep - The Full Curl - walked to the front of the stage to welcome 7 new members who had completed the Full Curl this past year.

Rick Ellison is a great guy, and he and i email often about issues of hunting and conservation.

He was so proud of Spencer for making his Desert Sheep hunt happen. From what i have read, Spencer is a YOUNG MAN who will be very sucessful in life becasue he fights through all the battles to claim victory, when most would quit.

Each year, we "give away" 4 sheep hunts. This helps guys continue their progress to complete their Full Curl, and have a GREAT sheep hunt as well.

So, it was very, very exciting to me, when Rick Ellison's name was DRAWN for a best in the world, Arctic Red River Dall Sheep hunt. Rick and i have talked for many years about going on a hunt up there. Rick, NOW you are going !!

Since you and your family are what hunting and conservation is all about - God, Family, Country, and Conservation ! - i am going to do all i can to figure out a way for Spencer to go with you, Father and Son, most awesome place on earth, take two Dall Sheep, Half Curl's !


Spencer, very nice to meet you, congratulatoins, i hope you are proud of your dad, he is a GREAT man.

I was hunting last week with Karl Malone. We both lost our dad's a long time ago, we talked about how we would give almost everything we have to go on one more hunt with our dads.

So enjoy !! and don't take for granted what you HAVE today !!
 
That is awesome! I talk to Rick all the time though e-mail and he's a great guy. I hope to someday hunt sheep with him in Nevada. Congrats Rick!
 
It was nice to meet Spence in person Saturday night at the banquet. Great kid. I look forward to spending some time on the mountain with you guys one of these days. I agree with Don that it is important for Spence to go with his dad on your Once In A Lifetime hunt with Arctic Red. I'll help in any way I can. Congrats.
 
there needs to be one more part of this story told.

It shows the class act that MOST sheep hunters are.

Bruce Engleby had won a Dall hunt at Utah FNAWS a couple years ago and took a nice dall ram.

We ask the previous winners to draw. Before Bruce drew, he said, hey, i have tickets in this barrell, but if i draw my name i will draw another ticket. Easy to talk big.

then, he DREW HIS OWN NAME ! Then comes the hard part, Bruce gave his $20,000 HUNT back, and drew another name.

It was Rick's hunt now.

It is a lot of fun to be invovled with such wonderful people, who care about conservation, who get invovled to make it better, and then care even more about their fellow sportsmen !!
 
Thanks Don, and to all of those who have been so happy for my luck. Saturday night was a dream and what Bruce Engleby did was unbelievable and I will always be indebted to him. But now here is the rest of the story... because it gets even better!

Last year I sat next to a guy I didn't know but in the middle of the banquet he got a call that his daughter needed to go to the hospital so he left. His brother was with him, but when they pulled the dall sheep hunt winner, it was him. It was pretty cool to call him at the hospital and let him know he had won the hunt. His name is Bruce Engleby.
Well this year I was walking in to the convention center and saw Bruce carrying in his sheep horns. I stopped and talked to him and told him congratulations. Then later I went by Bruce's table and asked him if he would touch my tickets so I would win this year. We laughed about it, but then when it came time to draw the hunt this year they called him up to draw the ticket. Beyond all odds, he drew his own name out of the bin! Here is where it gets amazing.
Bruce says, " I can't feel right with taking two tags--- two years in a row" and so he draws another name and hands it to Don, who is announcing the winners. So Don plays it up big and says, "Man this is great! We love to see father and sons hunting together and this guy loves to hunt with his son". My ears perked up. Then he says," this guy is sitting in the back of the room". My ears perked up even more. Then he says, "this guy drew a Wyoming Rocky tag a few years ago". By then I started to get real excited. Then Don says, "his son is going to school right now and he drew a desert sheep tag", Now they are only about 40 feet away from me and I was about to jump out of my skin. Then Don says, " and his son got the swine flu on the hunt".....
At that point I jumped out of my chair and started to hoot and holler!! It was pretty crazy after that! I couldn't believe my luck, and to have it happen the way it did, it was almost like it was meant to be. Me sitting next to Bruce, who really ended up giving me this tag. I will never be able to pay him back.
Then to throw in the possibility to do a father/son hunt is something I have always dreamed about but never thought even remotely possible!
The hunt is not until 2011 so we have 18 months to get in shape and plan, but thanks to so many who have expressed excitement for us. I will keep you all posted.
Thanks

Rick
 
Rick,

Congratulations on drawing the Artic Red tag. You are in for a real treat. My brother drew the tag for Arctic Red at UFNAWS in 2006 and I was able to go and hunt with him. What a great experience. We spent 10 days hunting together and took two great sheep and two carabou. I'm trying to save my pennies to hunt with Arctic Red again in 2011 as well.

Paul
 
Rick; (my long time friend)
Public congratulations to you and your son for being the kind of people you are! (don't let it go to your head) LOL.
Oh, and congratulations on winning your Arctic Red River Dall sheep hunt too!
I hope you and your son, Spencer, will be able to go to NWT together. It would be great! You'll be at 3/4 curl within a couple years! Sweet!
The first time I went for Dall Sheep was with a friend. It was very successful and rewarding. But, the next time I went to NWT for sheep was with my brother, Kurt. There's nothing like spending time on a sheep mountain with family!
You will have a great experience either way.

I just got thinking, it's been exactly 30 years since my first sheep hunt. Man, I'm getting old(er). Gotta go, back on the treadmill for me. HA HA
Zeke
 
Paul
Thanks man and congratulations on your "Full Curl". Perhaps we will see up up in the NWT in 2011!
Zeke,
You are a great friend and if you get in real good shape, I might let you be my packer on my Dall hunt! But first we have to get me a desert as good as your Jess's.
 
Rick!!! WTG. That is way exciting. How fast can you jump from one to three? I guess you had better start saving for that pricy Stone hunt. Keep it up and you will have to buy one of my grand slam knife sets. I am very excited for you. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. I will come over and talk when I get back from Mexico.. Leaving Thursday and should be back the following Sat or Sunday. I still want to see Spencers sheep. I finally got to see Jessica's ram. I am so jealous. One thing is for sure you will see a lot more sheep than I did in Alaska. But then that wouldn't take many. WTG
 

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