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Steve Ray, Kansas
 Steve
Ray from Kansas drew a coveted sheep tag in hunting district 121 and
eventually got in touch with us to see if we would be interested in
guiding him to a nice ram. It didn’t take long to get things set up.
When Steve showed up we had been doing some scouting and had a few
nice rams lined up.
The first morning we headed to the canyon with the biggest rams. As
we were headed to our vantage point we could hear rams butting heads
in the area we intended to glass. Once to our point it didn’t take
long to locate the rams.
There
were a couple shooter rams in the herd, so we figured out plan of
attack. We headed up next to them to get within shooting distance.
Everything went like clockwork and Steve ended up with the nicest
ram in the bunch. 9-1/2 years old and full curl.
Remember, the only way to get a sheep tag is to apply. Hunting
district 121 would be the district we recommend. The license
applications have to be sent in by May 1st of the year and the
applications can be found on line through the state at
www.fwp.MT.gov
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Mary Smith, Trout Creek, MT
After
applying for 21 years, I was finally lucky enough to draw a big horn
sheep tag. It was the middle of October, and Jeff had seen six rams
in the area we would be hunting the next day.
We got up early, loaded the
horses and started up the trail at daylight. About two thirds of the
way to the top, it started snowing and the wind was blowing like
crazy. We hoped the storm would blow over, but unfortunately it was
there to stay. When we got to our camp site, just below the ridge
top, the top of the mountain was all fogged in. After setting up our
tent, we waited for the storm to subside and hoped we would
eventually be able to glass the ridge.
We
hung around camp all morning, but everything above us was still
fogged in. Finally around one o’clock, we decided to hike around to
see if there might be some clear places to glass for sheep. Since
everything above us was fogged in, we decided to hike a ways down
the ridge. After we dropped down a ways, we got somewhat out of the
wind and were able to glass some areas close to us. Jeff had left me
sitting on a bunch of rocks, and he decided to walk a ways out a
small ridge.
A little bit later, I saw him
coming back and figured it was time to head back up to camp.
However, when Jeff got back to where I was sitting, he let me know
he had spotted five rams. From where I was sitting, we could not see
them because of a big rocky area that jutted up out of the hillside.
The rams were probably only about 300 yards away, but we had to get
to where we could see them. We carefully made our way down the ridge
to that rocky area, which provided us with perfect cover and got us
within 150 yards of the rams.
Things were getting pretty
exciting at this point, as I got my first glimpse of the rams by
peaking over the top of the rocks. Three smaller rams were lying
down, and two bigger rams were standing up feeding. Jeff said the
one furthest up on the hillside was the biggest one, so that was the
one to shoot.
The animals didn’t know we were
there, so I had time to get a good, sturdy rest. Then I had to wait
for him to turn broadside. Finally he turned and I took a good shot,
right behind the front shoulder. Since I was only shooting a .243, I
knew I needed to keep shooting until he went down. He was still
broadside with my second shot, and then he turned to face us. Jeff
told me to aim right below his nose and shoot again. After the third
shot, we could see the ram start to stagger, and he went down.
It was real steep, so he started
sliding downhill, and I wasn’t sure when he might stop. Fortunately,
after about 100 yards, a small tree and some brush stopped him. The
other rams, were still not sure what was going on, and they walked
down a trail just below the rocks we were standing on. As we made
our way down to the ram, we could see a lot of sign and those sheep
had been in that area a while.
It was really exciting to get up
to the ram and see how big he was. He had a full curl and Jeff
estimated he was at least seven years old. Now the work began. After
taking pictures, we had a heck of a time keeping the ram from
sliding down the hill further. Jeff had to tie a rope from the horns
to a small pine tree to keep the animal in place. After Jeff boned
out the meat, he caped out the head.
We took a few more pictures with
me holding the horns and cape, and I was amazed at how heavy the
horns were. After we got our packs loaded, the trip back up to the
ridge was slow and tough going. It was real steep and with the
packs, we had our work cut out for us. We managed to make it back to
camp right at dark. We were back in the snow and wind for the night,
but it had been a great day, and I was so glad I had gotten the ram.
The next morning, we loaded the
horses at daylight and made our way out of the mountains.
Thankfully, I had been doing some hiking prior to this hunt, or I
might have never made it. It was a tough hunt, but in the end it was
well worth it. I’m really glad I got the chance to do it.
Mary
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