5yearcoueshunter
Active Member
- Messages
- 772
I imagine most all big game hunters in America have dreamed about hunting Bighorn Sheep. I know it's been a long time dream of mine, but realistically I didn't think it would ever happen. Draw odds are dismal and I never did get into the preference point system in other states. So when draw result emails started to come through in April, I just about fainted when I saw I got an email saying I had drawn a hunt code starting in BHS! Of course my first thought was that I had done the impossible and drew that Desert Ram tag. However after quickly looking at the hunt codes, I found out I had drawn my third choice, a Ewe tag in the Latir Wilderness. Of course my excitement dropped a little, but actually not much. The thought of hunting Bighorn sheep, even a Ewe was a dream come true. I didn't think my excitement could have gotten any higher until the next email came through and I found out my Dad had drawn the exact same tag! I was in total shock. The draw odds on this hunt were less than 5% and we both drew! My Dad and I were bouncing off the walls for at least the next week not believing we actually pulled 2 Bighorn Sheep tags! Both of us love adventure and hunting new species, we couldn't have been happier.
For the first couple of weeks after the results came out I was glued to the computer researching how we were going to approach this hunt. I know I drove my wife crazy, as I pretty much spent every minute of the day thinking about it. This was not only going to be our first Bighorn hunt, but believe it or not it would be our first time above Timberline, first time in the Latir Wilderness and our first backpacking hunt! And we've lived and hunted in NM our entire lives. To say we were under-prepared would be an understatement. lol My Dad and I toyed with the idea of hiring a guide or getting packed in. Especially after talking to several guys who've had the tag and the g&f biologist. The success rate on this hunt was 45% the previous year and the year before that was less than 20%! I talked to one hunter that never saw a sheep during his hunt! I originally thought this hunt was going to be a slam dunk as long as we could get into the area, but it sure didn't seem like that was going to be the case. Despite that, the more my Dad and I talked about it, the more we leaned towards doing this hunt completely on our own anyway. We've always been DIY hunters and the preparation for this hunt would be all part of the adventure. Our plan was just to prepare as much as we could and enjoy the experience, whether or not we got a sheep. Unfortunately not even our usual hunting buddies would be able to join us for this hunt. It was just going to be me, my Dad and the wilderness.
My entire summer was dedicated to getting ready for this hunt. I spent countless hours on google earth learning the area. I spent even more time looking and buying backpacking gear. I never knew there was so much stuff needed for backpacking. lol I also spoke to anybody I could that had experienced this hunt and the Latir wilderness. Many from this site. The initial plan was to backpack into Heart Lake and hopefully find the sheep around Latir Mesa. It was time to go scouting.
The first scouting trip was in early June for a quick weekend. I did this trip solo as my Dad didn't think he was physically ready to make the hike yet. This would be my first backpacking trip of my life. I couldn't wait to get up there. The goal for this trip was really to see the country first hand, see how difficult the hike was and try out the new gear. And of course I was hopeful to see some sheep.
The hike was gorgeous and not as bad as I thought it would be. I made it from Cabresto lake to Heart lake in a little over 4 hours.
Cabresto Lake
[/URL]
Bull Creek Trail junction, 2.5 miles from Cabresto
[/URL]
[/URL]
Almost to Heart Lake. Less than 1/2 mile to go
[/URL]
Heart Lake. 11,700 ft I was suprised to see that much snow in June.
[/URL]
[/URL]
After getting camp set up, it was time to make my way above timberline.
[/URL]
[/URL]
[/URL]
I was able to spend about an hour above timberline that day before a snow thunderstorm came and I was forced down to my tent for the rest of the night. I was thrilled to be up there for the first time in my life, but a little disappointed I didn't see any sheep. Wasn't too worried though, I figured the weather and the time of year had them lambing up somewhere else. The next scouting trip would be dedicated to finding sheep. I did see Pikas, Marmots and Snow shoe hares which was cool.
The next scouting trip was in late July. Unfortunately I forgot to charge my camera, so I didn't get any pictures. My Dad went up with me this time and we stayed 2 nights. We had an amazing trip. My Dad was thrilled he made it up to Heart Lake without too much difficulty. That gave him confidence he could do this hunt. We again saw Marmots, Pikas, Grouse, Snow Shoe Hares probably 100 elk and more importantly sheep! We saw about 50 sheep, mostly all Ewes and lambs. The only hiccup was that the sheep were no where near Heart Lake. They were all located closer to Venado, Cabresto and Virsylania peaks. After hiking over to those peaks from Heart Lake, I started to think we needed to change our game plan. There didn't seem to be any sheep around Latir Mesa, so I thought Bull Creek Trail might be the better way to get into those peaks. The trail was steeper, but it was the closer trail to where I was seeing the sheep. After getting back home and talking to the biologist again and some of you guys, my Dad and I decided to go up Bull Creek trail instead for the hunt and just hope the sheep didn't move on us.
The weekend before the hunt started, I made my way up Bull Creek trail for the day. Was hoping to scout again and more importantly, I dropped off a load of gear to our camp. We found a great place to camp just a 1/4 mile from the top, right near a small spring that would be a great water source. Unfortunately I didn't get to do any scouting because the clouds descended on me.
Finally it was time for the hunt! My Dad and I hiked up on Thursday mid-day and got camp set up. We were going to spend all day Friday scouting, getting acclimated and hopefully bed sheep down so we could be ready first thing Saturday morning. There was 10 other hunters on this hunt and we didn't know how that was going to affect the hunting. Based on some of the conversations I had, it seemed real important to get a sheep early as they seem to disappear after the first day.
[/URL]
Camp
[/URL]
Thursday evening I was able to hike up to the top. I saw elk and sheep! My Dad and I were siting by the campfire right at dark, when we looked up above camp and saw a sheep. Put the bino's on it and it was a big Ram! It bedded down right there. It was one of the most gorgeous sights I've ever seen and will be embedded in my mind forever.
Views around camp
[/URL]
[/URL]
[/URL]
[/URL]
Friday I made my way up above timberline by 8. My Dad decided to save his energy and stay in camp. After walking and glassing for a couple hours, and climbing Venado Peak(highest peak in Latir), I finally spotted about 10 sheep in the rock slides. Those 10 turned into 21. There was 15 Ewes, 5 lambs and 1 half curl Ram. I watched them all day long. It was one of the funnest days I've had in my life just watching them. I was hoping they would feed up into some of the more gentle areas closer to the evening and bed as I really didn't want to shoot one in those cliffs the next day. In fact I pretty much decided I wouldn't do it because I didn't think there was no way to haul them up the hill.
Views from Venado Peak
[/URL]
[/URL]
San Antonio Mountain way in the distance
[/URL]
Sheep I watched all day
[/URL]
Around 4:30, my 21 sheep turned into 72 sheep! From what the biologist told me, that was almost the entire Latir herd! More sheep came out from ridges I couldn't see and fed up into the meadow areas. My hopes were soaring as I figured these sheep would be in those meadows in the morning.
[/URL]
Finally around 6 I decided to make my way back to camp. Up until this point I hadn't seen another hunter. Well, that soon changed as I saw a guy on horseback coming up the ridge. He stopped and glassed the sheep I was looking at. He was a guide that had a nonresident hunter back in camp. He was super nice and we discussed the mornings plan. He was going to be up there obviously since that's where the sheep were. I figured my Dad and I would need to get up there early too. Not necessarily to beat him to the sheep, but to be close when things started happening. On the way back to camp I got into the Elk! They were screaming there heads off on Aug 29th. I saw over 150 elk on this trip, including some nice bulls, 1 at least over 330. This was a trip of a lifetime and the hunt hadn't even started yet. lol
[/URL]
Opening morning, Dad and I got up at 3:00 am to start our hike by flashlight. The sheep were over a mile from camp and were straight up the highest peak in the area, so we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time. I'm glad we did too, because my Dad was lagging. Not sure if the altitude got to him but he sure wasn't doing as good as he was hiking up on Thursday. I went on ahead to the top and waited for him. The sun was starting to crack. It wasn't long and the guide came up. He went on pass me. Luckily a couple of Ewes had broken off the main herd I guess. I was right behind the guide when I saw the client get off the horse and shoot a sheep at about 50 yards. I went up and congratulated him and looked at his Ewe. Beautiful animal, and a lot bigger than I thought they would be. If Dad and I both got one, it would be a load! lol After admiring the sheep, I peaked over the ridge and saw more sheep at only 150 yards! Unfortunately they were in nasty steep cliffs. I said no way and let them pass. By this time, my Dad caught up with me. We proceeded to work the ridge line
down to where I last saw the big herd the night before in the meadow. They weren't there! My heart sunk. I figured they all went back to the cliffs. Sure enough, we looked over the steep hill and could see sheep only 100 yards below us. However, they looked to be on a grassy type knoll that I was confident we could get to if they didn't roll down the mountain. lol My Dad and I got into shooting position. I told my Dad to shoot first and then I would take one. He told me which one he was going to take. At the shot I heard my Dad say, "One down!" At that shot however the other sheep took off. Darn it! They crossed a steep rock slide and then the back Ewe stopped on another knoll. I got on her quick and fired. She dumped off the other side! Wahoo! I couldn't believe it. Me and my Dad had just gotten Bighorn sheep! We couldn't believe it. All the preparation had paid off and we had our trophies. It wasn't until we got down to my Dad's sheep that we realized that my sheep had really "dumped" over the side and slid/rolled all the way down the mountain. Oh man, that was going to be a lot of work. I was able to slide my way down to my sheep, take some pictures and then the work began. I'll just say I was able to get all the de-boned meat in good shape back to the top without killing myself and leave it at that! lol
The rest of the trip was simply amazing. It took us a full 3 days to get all the meat and camp gear back to the truck at Cabresto lake, but my Dad and I enjoyed every minute of it. No clue how much lbs the meat was, but guessing at least 60lbs per sheep. The meat was cold in camp and we had a cold ice box at the truck. We've already ate 3 meals worth and it's probably the best meat I've ever had. This was an amazing once and a lifetime experience and I am so truly thankful I got to experience it with my best friend. Seeing his 65 year old face when he got his sheep was priceless. Thank you Lord!
[/URL]
[/URL]
[/URL]
My view while climbing back to the top
[/URL]
Pack out
[/URL]
[/URL]
[/URL]
Icing on the cake as we were hiking out the sheep. Our first White-tail Ptarmigan sighting! Pretty sure they are rare in NM.
[/URL]
Sorry for such the long story guys. I want to thank the guys on this site(You know who you are) that helped me out and gave me a lot of info on this hunt. I couldn't have done it without you!
Thanks
Travis
For the first couple of weeks after the results came out I was glued to the computer researching how we were going to approach this hunt. I know I drove my wife crazy, as I pretty much spent every minute of the day thinking about it. This was not only going to be our first Bighorn hunt, but believe it or not it would be our first time above Timberline, first time in the Latir Wilderness and our first backpacking hunt! And we've lived and hunted in NM our entire lives. To say we were under-prepared would be an understatement. lol My Dad and I toyed with the idea of hiring a guide or getting packed in. Especially after talking to several guys who've had the tag and the g&f biologist. The success rate on this hunt was 45% the previous year and the year before that was less than 20%! I talked to one hunter that never saw a sheep during his hunt! I originally thought this hunt was going to be a slam dunk as long as we could get into the area, but it sure didn't seem like that was going to be the case. Despite that, the more my Dad and I talked about it, the more we leaned towards doing this hunt completely on our own anyway. We've always been DIY hunters and the preparation for this hunt would be all part of the adventure. Our plan was just to prepare as much as we could and enjoy the experience, whether or not we got a sheep. Unfortunately not even our usual hunting buddies would be able to join us for this hunt. It was just going to be me, my Dad and the wilderness.
My entire summer was dedicated to getting ready for this hunt. I spent countless hours on google earth learning the area. I spent even more time looking and buying backpacking gear. I never knew there was so much stuff needed for backpacking. lol I also spoke to anybody I could that had experienced this hunt and the Latir wilderness. Many from this site. The initial plan was to backpack into Heart Lake and hopefully find the sheep around Latir Mesa. It was time to go scouting.
The first scouting trip was in early June for a quick weekend. I did this trip solo as my Dad didn't think he was physically ready to make the hike yet. This would be my first backpacking trip of my life. I couldn't wait to get up there. The goal for this trip was really to see the country first hand, see how difficult the hike was and try out the new gear. And of course I was hopeful to see some sheep.
The hike was gorgeous and not as bad as I thought it would be. I made it from Cabresto lake to Heart lake in a little over 4 hours.
Cabresto Lake
Bull Creek Trail junction, 2.5 miles from Cabresto
Almost to Heart Lake. Less than 1/2 mile to go
Heart Lake. 11,700 ft I was suprised to see that much snow in June.
After getting camp set up, it was time to make my way above timberline.
I was able to spend about an hour above timberline that day before a snow thunderstorm came and I was forced down to my tent for the rest of the night. I was thrilled to be up there for the first time in my life, but a little disappointed I didn't see any sheep. Wasn't too worried though, I figured the weather and the time of year had them lambing up somewhere else. The next scouting trip would be dedicated to finding sheep. I did see Pikas, Marmots and Snow shoe hares which was cool.
The next scouting trip was in late July. Unfortunately I forgot to charge my camera, so I didn't get any pictures. My Dad went up with me this time and we stayed 2 nights. We had an amazing trip. My Dad was thrilled he made it up to Heart Lake without too much difficulty. That gave him confidence he could do this hunt. We again saw Marmots, Pikas, Grouse, Snow Shoe Hares probably 100 elk and more importantly sheep! We saw about 50 sheep, mostly all Ewes and lambs. The only hiccup was that the sheep were no where near Heart Lake. They were all located closer to Venado, Cabresto and Virsylania peaks. After hiking over to those peaks from Heart Lake, I started to think we needed to change our game plan. There didn't seem to be any sheep around Latir Mesa, so I thought Bull Creek Trail might be the better way to get into those peaks. The trail was steeper, but it was the closer trail to where I was seeing the sheep. After getting back home and talking to the biologist again and some of you guys, my Dad and I decided to go up Bull Creek trail instead for the hunt and just hope the sheep didn't move on us.
The weekend before the hunt started, I made my way up Bull Creek trail for the day. Was hoping to scout again and more importantly, I dropped off a load of gear to our camp. We found a great place to camp just a 1/4 mile from the top, right near a small spring that would be a great water source. Unfortunately I didn't get to do any scouting because the clouds descended on me.
Finally it was time for the hunt! My Dad and I hiked up on Thursday mid-day and got camp set up. We were going to spend all day Friday scouting, getting acclimated and hopefully bed sheep down so we could be ready first thing Saturday morning. There was 10 other hunters on this hunt and we didn't know how that was going to affect the hunting. Based on some of the conversations I had, it seemed real important to get a sheep early as they seem to disappear after the first day.
Camp
Thursday evening I was able to hike up to the top. I saw elk and sheep! My Dad and I were siting by the campfire right at dark, when we looked up above camp and saw a sheep. Put the bino's on it and it was a big Ram! It bedded down right there. It was one of the most gorgeous sights I've ever seen and will be embedded in my mind forever.
Views around camp
Friday I made my way up above timberline by 8. My Dad decided to save his energy and stay in camp. After walking and glassing for a couple hours, and climbing Venado Peak(highest peak in Latir), I finally spotted about 10 sheep in the rock slides. Those 10 turned into 21. There was 15 Ewes, 5 lambs and 1 half curl Ram. I watched them all day long. It was one of the funnest days I've had in my life just watching them. I was hoping they would feed up into some of the more gentle areas closer to the evening and bed as I really didn't want to shoot one in those cliffs the next day. In fact I pretty much decided I wouldn't do it because I didn't think there was no way to haul them up the hill.
Views from Venado Peak
San Antonio Mountain way in the distance
Sheep I watched all day
Around 4:30, my 21 sheep turned into 72 sheep! From what the biologist told me, that was almost the entire Latir herd! More sheep came out from ridges I couldn't see and fed up into the meadow areas. My hopes were soaring as I figured these sheep would be in those meadows in the morning.
Finally around 6 I decided to make my way back to camp. Up until this point I hadn't seen another hunter. Well, that soon changed as I saw a guy on horseback coming up the ridge. He stopped and glassed the sheep I was looking at. He was a guide that had a nonresident hunter back in camp. He was super nice and we discussed the mornings plan. He was going to be up there obviously since that's where the sheep were. I figured my Dad and I would need to get up there early too. Not necessarily to beat him to the sheep, but to be close when things started happening. On the way back to camp I got into the Elk! They were screaming there heads off on Aug 29th. I saw over 150 elk on this trip, including some nice bulls, 1 at least over 330. This was a trip of a lifetime and the hunt hadn't even started yet. lol
Opening morning, Dad and I got up at 3:00 am to start our hike by flashlight. The sheep were over a mile from camp and were straight up the highest peak in the area, so we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time. I'm glad we did too, because my Dad was lagging. Not sure if the altitude got to him but he sure wasn't doing as good as he was hiking up on Thursday. I went on ahead to the top and waited for him. The sun was starting to crack. It wasn't long and the guide came up. He went on pass me. Luckily a couple of Ewes had broken off the main herd I guess. I was right behind the guide when I saw the client get off the horse and shoot a sheep at about 50 yards. I went up and congratulated him and looked at his Ewe. Beautiful animal, and a lot bigger than I thought they would be. If Dad and I both got one, it would be a load! lol After admiring the sheep, I peaked over the ridge and saw more sheep at only 150 yards! Unfortunately they were in nasty steep cliffs. I said no way and let them pass. By this time, my Dad caught up with me. We proceeded to work the ridge line
down to where I last saw the big herd the night before in the meadow. They weren't there! My heart sunk. I figured they all went back to the cliffs. Sure enough, we looked over the steep hill and could see sheep only 100 yards below us. However, they looked to be on a grassy type knoll that I was confident we could get to if they didn't roll down the mountain. lol My Dad and I got into shooting position. I told my Dad to shoot first and then I would take one. He told me which one he was going to take. At the shot I heard my Dad say, "One down!" At that shot however the other sheep took off. Darn it! They crossed a steep rock slide and then the back Ewe stopped on another knoll. I got on her quick and fired. She dumped off the other side! Wahoo! I couldn't believe it. Me and my Dad had just gotten Bighorn sheep! We couldn't believe it. All the preparation had paid off and we had our trophies. It wasn't until we got down to my Dad's sheep that we realized that my sheep had really "dumped" over the side and slid/rolled all the way down the mountain. Oh man, that was going to be a lot of work. I was able to slide my way down to my sheep, take some pictures and then the work began. I'll just say I was able to get all the de-boned meat in good shape back to the top without killing myself and leave it at that! lol
The rest of the trip was simply amazing. It took us a full 3 days to get all the meat and camp gear back to the truck at Cabresto lake, but my Dad and I enjoyed every minute of it. No clue how much lbs the meat was, but guessing at least 60lbs per sheep. The meat was cold in camp and we had a cold ice box at the truck. We've already ate 3 meals worth and it's probably the best meat I've ever had. This was an amazing once and a lifetime experience and I am so truly thankful I got to experience it with my best friend. Seeing his 65 year old face when he got his sheep was priceless. Thank you Lord!
My view while climbing back to the top
Pack out
Icing on the cake as we were hiking out the sheep. Our first White-tail Ptarmigan sighting! Pretty sure they are rare in NM.
Sorry for such the long story guys. I want to thank the guys on this site(You know who you are) that helped me out and gave me a lot of info on this hunt. I couldn't have done it without you!
Thanks
Travis
