Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

[rutnbuck]

Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

Turns out my cousin got a call from the DWR. For a depredation lone Bighorn Ram that got into some domestic sheep. Out on Puddle Valley! Grassy Mt in particular. So he decides to take the tag. They only gave him 7 days to hunt. DWR calls him on Tuesday, the ram was spotted on Monday. He started hunting on Saturday. Catch here if he don't kill he gets to draw again. They have told him it is a full curl Ram. Well he is stoked!! We go out to hunt Sat. Yellem and his buddy, myself, cousin Thom and his buddy Tyson. After talking to Pleasedear who has seen the ram and Ridgetops and a few others, Thanks by the way from Thom and myself. The snow was tough to even get close to the Mt. The areas include Puddle Valley, Lakeside Mts. and Stansbury Island. North of 80 and east of the Bombing range. Not a sign of sheep yet in new snow.
He took today and Christmas off to be with his family.
It is like hunting a needle in a haystack with no time to prep, ton of snow 1 ram on a Mountain. We couldn't even get on Lakeside Mts. due to the snow I am thinking this warm helped with the snow It was tough out there. Two days left. Fri and Sat.

Rutnbuck

 

[deerslayer88]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

Good luck, to me it would be hard to not go out on at least christmas eve but thats just me. I wish they would call me telling me they needed me to take out a big horn. I hope he gets the ram on Friday so you can post up some photos on Saturday.

 

[PleaseDear]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

Talk to that sheepherder guy.......

Take him a pound of bacon in exchange.....

I worried about you guys last week with al that new heavy/wet snow.

Robb

 

[rutnbuck]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

Thanks for thinking about us Robb. Yeah it was pretty tough out there the new snow and all makes for a tough hike as well by Monday wasn't to bad other then the drifts. We talked to the sheep hearder and he had't seen a Bighorn in 5 years. We will give her heck in the Morning.
Merry Christmas


Rutnbuck

 

[littlebighorn]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

Ridgetops PMed me about your tag and we almost went yote hunting/sheep scouting in that country to see if we could help. The weather stopped us as well.
While your odds of finding that ram aren't the best, I know it's worth giving it your all! That ram needs to go down so he doesn't wipe out a whole herd.
Sounds like you could use a few snow machines to help in the search. If I had one I would come give you a hand. Perhaps some on here need a good post Christmas sleigh ride!

Best of luck and keep us posted.

 

[rutnbuck]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

Thanks Littlebighorn. Yeah anyone wanting to come on out is more then welcome. Seen a ton of dog tracks out there. Guess the sheep rancher killed a bunch of them last week.

Rutnbuck

 

[Zeke]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

Take time off for Christmas? Really? A sheep tag in my pocket WOULD be Christmas! Haha
Good luck on the quest guys!!!! It sounds tough but could be rewarding.
Keep us posted please,
Zeke

 

[YELUM]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

Great news for the hunter and the DWR. They found and killed him today. They had to work hard to find him, but congrats to Rut and his cousin for sticking with it. Great job.

I'm sure Rut will post pics and tell the story when he gets a chance.

Yelum

Theres logic, and theres women. They don't go together.

 

[eelgrass]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

I just hope Rutnbuck didn't accidentally shoot one of Santa's reindeer like last year.

Eel

 

[YELUM]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

Thankfully Eel, Rut wasn't the one packin the gun. haha

Yelum

Theres logic, and theres women. They don't go together.

 

[rutnbuck]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

Eel go take your Meds. arn't you about due for a nap!
Thom who by the way is some where on cloud nine about now. He asked if I would write a little where as he didn't have a computer at home and had 000 sheep points! Who would of thought .
We were getting pretty down! Snow drifts keeping us from the Mt. Knowing the west side is pretty clear but we were having a hard time to get there. This morning started out on the east side trying to get to the Mt. I get stuck in a drift. Thom gets stuck! We are fogged in things are not looking good it is 1 degree and we can't see a thing. We pull out a cattle rancher who had been sitting in a drift for a while. We finally get to the west side where the wind has blown off most of the snow. The tops and south/West slopes were clear other then the drifts. So we are limited on access. It is looking better temps up it is mid afternoon. Warmed up to about 24
We have been in this area a couple times thinking this is where this ram might be. I really don't want to hike to the top of this steep sob. Something keeps bringing us back to the area. We work up the Mountain as far as we can and start working some ridges. It was nice being there sheep or not just to be out of the snow drifts. It was a little nerve racking knowing if you got in trouble as cold as it was you were a long hike from anywhere and didn't always get phone service. Just like in the Movies Thom said whats that and I said shoot it. The ram appeared out of no where. 115-125 yards away. He was close enough a guy didn't need a second look. And there wasn't 2 rams in the area. First shot fatal second shot so the sheep didn't do something stupid like run 1/4 mile.
Thom was happy as a goat in a oat field. Thom was stoked so was I. It was fun being part of it.
This Ram is very unique you will see from the pics its left horn was growing next to it's nose/mouth. It also has quite a bit of history. I will let Ridgetops or Yellem tell ya about it. Guess it was transplanted from Antelope Island to the Newfoundland Mts. Years back. We stopped and let Ridgetops take a look at it he has pics of it from years ago. Hope he will post them. I am not much at scoring sheep and neither is Thom so I told Thom it scores about 225. Any guesses? I know this it is a dandy Ram.
The DWR Biologist was glad it was dead! Hopefully Thom will log on and put in his two bits worth. Thanks guys who helped out even if some of it was just info Yellem, Ridgetops, Rimrock, Tyson, Pleasedear and Yellems friend I never got to meet him.
Rutnbuck

The east side of the Grassy Mts the snow sucked

Thom and Sheep

Here is that left side I will post more info as we find out.

 

[PleaseDear]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

Great for you guys Kelly!

That left side mass is so unreal.

congrats

Robb

 

[TMas]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

LAST EDITED ON Dec-30-13 AT 07:06AM (MST)[p]Thanks for all your help Kelly!
I'm the lucky guy that scored this tag and this awesome Ram. I put a tape on him this morning. That bent horn is over 41" long, and the other is 35". I'm not an official scorer by any means, but i was being very conservative and measured him at 174".
What an amazing animal, and a pretty tough hunt really. It wasn't easy tracking down the only sheep on the mountain. After looking around in the area we found him, it looks like he has stayed in that draw for a week or more, there were lots of old melted out tracks.

 

[YELUM]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

That is so awesome Thom, congrats on a heck of a trophy, on about as unique a hunt as you can imagine. I can't wait to see this ram in person.

Yelum

Theres logic, and theres women. They don't go together.

 

[Zeke]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

Tmas and all involved,
C-O-N-G-R-A-T-U-L-A-T-I-O-N-S!!!!!!!!
The whole story is pretty damn cool.
Thanks for sharing,
Zeke

 

[treedagain]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

that is awesome...you guys did great. 1 ram to find in a short time period...add to that he is a STUD of a ram. congrads


How to start an argument online:
1. Express an opinion
2. Wait

 

[kilbuc]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

Super Great Congrats. What a unique old ram. Killing that ram may have saved 10's if not hundreds of other wild sheep.

And thanks to all that helped.

from the "Heartland of Wyoming"

 

[dogdoc]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

Very nice. Way to hang in there. That is an awesome ram.

 

[kk]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

Congrats, I have never seen a ram like that one before. He will make a cool mount.

 

[BCBOY]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

What a crazy looking ram! congrats to ya!

 

[littlebighorn]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

I have seen pictures of that ram for the past two years and have been told that he has been hanging in that area for quite some time. He is obviously an old critter and didn't have much longer to live. I'd always much rather see an old ram go down to a tag holder, rather than old age.
Definitely a unique and treasured trophy.
Congrats

 

[ridgetops]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

Congrats again. Please let us know how old the DWR says t is.
It could be 16+.
Also, what were the mass measurements on both horns?

 

[Muleymemories]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

You guys did well on such short notice. Way to bring in the NEW YEAR!!!

 

[deerslayer88]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

No expert here but I would say 9-11 years old.

 

[rutnbuck]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

The Dwr comes up with 10 1/2 yrs I count 12 but then I am no pro. I don't think the guy who measured it is either. We will have to hope Thom gets back on here and sets thing straight. I am not sure what the DWR came up with. One thing trying to tape the left side is pretty tough. You can't get a tape between the skull and the horn. I am sure soon as he gets the info back from the ear tag he will have more info. It is still holidays and the week end.
He is still working on it.
I would like to Welcome Thom to MM. as he already found out there is a lot of great guys on here that can help ya out.
Thom killed that Ram 4-5 miles from where the DWR marked the first sighting on the map.

Rutnbuck

 

[eelgrass]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

Great job Rutnbuck, especially with the almost impossible odds! It must seem surreal.

Eel

 

[elkassassin]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

Nice Job Guys!

Rut had to give me a Wake-the-Hell-Up Call & Clue me in on the Fun!

Guess I should check the Sheep Forum out a little more often!

Bet you didn't have to worry about the Meat Spoiling!










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I Know I'm Out Numbered by Pusssies & Brainwashed Democrats that'll Throw Their Hands in the air & I know I can't Lick the U.S. Military by Myself when they Turn on us but I'll make
you one Guarantee,They'll be Enduring a Situation where I Hope to Hell All Americans become True Americans once again & Stand up for their Rights!

 

[paddlehead]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

That is awesome ! Way to go. Lucky hunter and lucky wild sheep herd (keeping the possibly infected ram out of the herd).

 

[TMas]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

Thanks for all the Congrats guys. The whole thing is still surreal to me, pretty awesome experience.
I don't care much about score, to me its just a number to put on a great memory.When the fish and game plugged him they also measure, adding those measurements together would give me a green gross score of 173.5
Here is what the fish and game measured
Right horn: Length 35 4/8
C1: 14 5/8
C2: 13 7/8
C3: 11 5/8
C4: 6 4/8
Right total: 82 1/8

Left horn: length 41
C1: 13 3/8
C2: 13 2/8
C3: 13 5/8
C4: 10 1/8
Left total: 91 3/8
I actually measured the c1 on the left horn after he was caped off, the fish and game left it blank because it was too tough to measure with the skin on with the bent horn.

These measurements make it look like the left horn had way more mass which isn't true, they use the layout for circumference from the longer horn, so that means on the right horn the c4 measurement was only a couple inches from the tip.
F&G also aged him at 10.5 yrs, but I have a pretty strong evidence that he is probably older than that. I should have a better idea if the biologist gets back to me, I'm still waiting to hear the info from the eartag/transplant from antelope island.
I plan on having him measured by SCI, as they have a separate category for California Bighorns.

 

[boatanchor]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

Hey TMas and rutnbuck, I am fascinated with this Ram.

I hunted the Newfoundland range this year for the first time and it is like Alcatraz, I would think if a Ram were to escape it would go out the North side. I would love more info when you get some.

btw: you need to have someone re- score this Ram, if it is really 91 3/8 on the left side it would score 182 6/8 (Utah scores big side x2) not R+L like other scoring. If it is 182 6/8 it would probably be a new state record for California Bighorn

 

[TMas]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

Finally heard back from the biologist yesterday. He didn't have a lot of information, other than the Ram was moved from Antelope Island to the Newfoundland Mtns in February, 2003. He was a 2 year old ram when they moved him, which would put him at 12 yrs old in 2013.

 

[YELUM]

RE: Depredation Sheep Puddle Valley

That might make him the oldest hunter harvested cali ram. Thanks for the update.

Yelum

Theres logic, and theres women. They don't go together.