I went back to where I hunted in 2010 for a bighorn. I hunted 15 days that year, saw 12-14 rams but never found a legal, full-curl ram.
I hunted in september this year, the weather was warm, saw only 3 immature rams. I got a decent mule deer, at least for the aree I was hunting in the Kootenays of British Columbia.
I went back for the last 6 days of sheep season, October 20-25th. We got a lot of snow in the mountains just before I arrived, which usually moves the rams and makes the glassing much easier. We found a ram the first morning, he looked good but weren't sure if he was legal, from 3 miles away. Even by climbing to a ridge to get to 1 1/4 mile, we were still not sure. He was joined by 2 more rams, but they were obviously short. My outfitter found 3 more rams in a different basin, one he tought was legal. We had plan A - go after the ram he found the next morning, and plan B, go after that first ram in the afternoon or the next day.
On day 2 we rode horses but we couldn't find the best ram of that second bunch, we only saw the 2 smaller rams. We came back to camp with enough daylight to go check the plan B, and those 3 rams were still there.
Day 3 we were glassing at daybreak but couldn't see them. If they were still around, they were in one of the timber patches. Because some local hunters were glassing from the same area, we decided to move into that basin, my guide and me. My outfitter stayed behind to keep glassing. We would later know that when the rams came out, 2 local hunters followed our quad tracks until they saw that we had left it right at the entrance of that basin and they turned around. We mad the right decision in starting early.
There is no trail into that basin, the deadfalls and Christmas trees made it nasty. We followed a creek, and from an opening we were able to find the rams, now out in the open and in the same spot they were the day before. It took us 3 1/2 hours to get to the bottom of the slide where they were, and another one to get more or less level with them. We were hidden in a strip of fairly open timber all the way. We were on them at 3PM, at 200 yards, but it took us until 6PM to make sure he was legal and to get our shot. We were frozen, shivering for 3 hours on that ridge.
When he showed us his right side, I was then told to shoot, only to see him move quickly behind a bush. He then went behind a little knob, only to come on top of it and stare at us. We were not sure he was the right one at that point, he could have been the second in rank. The other 2 rams then climbed on the same know and our ram finally turned broaside, we knew he was the one on the left. I pulled the trigger, the gun went "click" ! I cycled the bolt, only to see a round come out. Another trigger pull ended in another "click", the firing pin was frozen ! The primers on those 2 rounds were untouched.
I took the bolt out, knocked on it a couple time, put it back, and fired another round, only to hear a 3rd "click". This time the firing pin moved and left a little dent in the primer, but obviously not hard enough to fire properly. I threw that round away, hoping that the nex one would be the good one. This time the gun went "BOOM" and the ram went down. 3 miles behind us, our outfitter saw everything in his spotting scope. On the steep hill and in the deep snow, it took us 1/2 hour to get back to our packs 100 yards behind us and get to that sheep. The last 20 yards was so steep and covered in snow that it was tough just to get there. We caped and quartered him, and went down the slide at 8h30 PM to the creek bottom where the outfitter met us to share the load. We got back to the quads past 12h30 AM and got into camp past 2AM.
I was quite an adventure ! I spent 27 days over 2 seasons to get that ram, saw sheep but also goats, mule deer, whitetails, elk, moose, grizzly and black bear. Next stop is a stone sheep hunt in 2014.
Martin
I hunted in september this year, the weather was warm, saw only 3 immature rams. I got a decent mule deer, at least for the aree I was hunting in the Kootenays of British Columbia.
I went back for the last 6 days of sheep season, October 20-25th. We got a lot of snow in the mountains just before I arrived, which usually moves the rams and makes the glassing much easier. We found a ram the first morning, he looked good but weren't sure if he was legal, from 3 miles away. Even by climbing to a ridge to get to 1 1/4 mile, we were still not sure. He was joined by 2 more rams, but they were obviously short. My outfitter found 3 more rams in a different basin, one he tought was legal. We had plan A - go after the ram he found the next morning, and plan B, go after that first ram in the afternoon or the next day.
On day 2 we rode horses but we couldn't find the best ram of that second bunch, we only saw the 2 smaller rams. We came back to camp with enough daylight to go check the plan B, and those 3 rams were still there.
Day 3 we were glassing at daybreak but couldn't see them. If they were still around, they were in one of the timber patches. Because some local hunters were glassing from the same area, we decided to move into that basin, my guide and me. My outfitter stayed behind to keep glassing. We would later know that when the rams came out, 2 local hunters followed our quad tracks until they saw that we had left it right at the entrance of that basin and they turned around. We mad the right decision in starting early.
There is no trail into that basin, the deadfalls and Christmas trees made it nasty. We followed a creek, and from an opening we were able to find the rams, now out in the open and in the same spot they were the day before. It took us 3 1/2 hours to get to the bottom of the slide where they were, and another one to get more or less level with them. We were hidden in a strip of fairly open timber all the way. We were on them at 3PM, at 200 yards, but it took us until 6PM to make sure he was legal and to get our shot. We were frozen, shivering for 3 hours on that ridge.
When he showed us his right side, I was then told to shoot, only to see him move quickly behind a bush. He then went behind a little knob, only to come on top of it and stare at us. We were not sure he was the right one at that point, he could have been the second in rank. The other 2 rams then climbed on the same know and our ram finally turned broaside, we knew he was the one on the left. I pulled the trigger, the gun went "click" ! I cycled the bolt, only to see a round come out. Another trigger pull ended in another "click", the firing pin was frozen ! The primers on those 2 rounds were untouched.
I took the bolt out, knocked on it a couple time, put it back, and fired another round, only to hear a 3rd "click". This time the firing pin moved and left a little dent in the primer, but obviously not hard enough to fire properly. I threw that round away, hoping that the nex one would be the good one. This time the gun went "BOOM" and the ram went down. 3 miles behind us, our outfitter saw everything in his spotting scope. On the steep hill and in the deep snow, it took us 1/2 hour to get back to our packs 100 yards behind us and get to that sheep. The last 20 yards was so steep and covered in snow that it was tough just to get there. We caped and quartered him, and went down the slide at 8h30 PM to the creek bottom where the outfitter met us to share the load. We got back to the quads past 12h30 AM and got into camp past 2AM.
I was quite an adventure ! I spent 27 days over 2 seasons to get that ram, saw sheep but also goats, mule deer, whitetails, elk, moose, grizzly and black bear. Next stop is a stone sheep hunt in 2014.
Martin
