I quit posting pictures since photobucket started charging for membership. I'm sure there is an easy way to post pics on here but I've never really looked into it. As for the hunt, it was extremely difficult. I spent quite a few days scouting in the summer along with 13 days of hunting during the season and it was the 13th day of hunting before I saw the first legal ram. He was a medium sized ram with 3/4 curl horns and I couldn't have been happier with him! I was able to stalk to within 100 yards of him while he fed with his smaller buddy. I made a good shot and he only ran about 20 yards before piling up.
During preseason research, I talked to several guys who had the tag previously and very few of them ever saw any rams above tree line and I only saw ewes that high. The one I shot was very low on the mountain in the trees. It seems the rams generally tend to behave that way in this unit. I'm not sure why but someone suggested that it could be a result of the pressure they receive from the month long archery season that happens prior to the rifle hunt every year. Anyway, I hunted hard and even spent 3 nights above tree line on the mountain in spike camps and I actually saw more mountain goats during the hunt than I saw rams and this isn't an area that is not supposed to have goats! After my experience, many of my friends who were putting in for this unit, applied elsewhere in 2018. Of the 7 tag holders in 2017, only 2 of us were lucky enough to actually fill our tags. The other guy killed a very nice full curl early in the hunt with a guide. I am a DIY guy through and through and would much rather shoot a medium sized animal on my own as opposed to paying a guide to find a big rascal. To me, score means very little and it's much more about the challenge of the hunt, adventure and sense of accomplishment if I'm fortunate enough to harvest. In this unit, if you happen to be someone who does care about getting the biggest ram possible, (I'm not judging you if you are) I would recommend you hire a guide. I ran into several of the other tag holders on the mountain throughout the hunt and they were all hunting just as hard as I was and none of them were seeing any rams either. If they were, they weren't admitting it to me
With that said, I saw video of an absolute giant of a ram that would easily make Boone and Crockett that lives in this unit. He was videoed during the summer but not seen during the archery or rifle seasons to my knowledge. Clearly, he has a very good hiding place every year or he wouldn't be that big! If someone wants to advise me on the best way to post pics, I'll happily add one!
"Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud"
Rocky Mountain Ranches
Frazier Outfitting
CJ Outfitters
Allout Guiding & Outfitting
Ivory & Antler Outfitters
Urge 2 Hunt
Hunters Domain
Flat Tops Elk Hunting
