My 2012 Barbary
- Thread starter chase
- Start date
J
jamaro
Guest
Great Job
S
scottyboy
Guest
Chase
great job, amigo! Call me, I'd like to hear how the hunt went.
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DRSS
great job, amigo! Call me, I'd like to hear how the hunt went.
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DRSS
elkmuzzleloader
Active Member
- Messages
- 772
congrats and thanks for sharing
H
hunts2much
Guest
congrats. Lets here about the hunt.
Sorry guys, didn't mean to leave you hangin' without a story...My 11 month old little girl requires a lot attention!
Lance and I left Tucson friday after work, drove all evening, and made it to Unit 30 a little after midnight. We crashed on the side of a dirt road that night. Woke up Saturday morning to spend a few hours finding a camp spot and setting up.
After a quick lunch we headed out to look for some sheep.
Saturday evening we found 14 sheep, this was a rare sight on public land! After watching the sheep until dark it was determined that they were all ewes and lambs. It was still nice to see sheep on our first outing.
After dark we headed back to camp, made a quick dinner, and a game plan for the next morning.
Sunday morning at daybreak we were putting the glasses to work. Sunday brought high winds and high temps (nothing like the negative temperatures from the 2011 season). Right away Lance found a single ram making his way across the bluffs. Not long after I spotted the herd from the previous night, but it looked like they picked up a few stragglers. We watched them from a mile-and a half away for an hour. Through the spotting scope we could tell there was one nice ram in the bunch. A plan was made, and 7 hours later.....yes 7 hours.....we were 140 yards above them. With no shot opportunity.
The sheep were moving downhill to bed, unaware of our presence. The herd stepped out again, this time at 225 yards. I laid down, sunk the rifle into my pack, put my left hand on top of the scope, and waited for the ram to walk in the scope. When he walked out I tried my best to keep the scope on his shoulder but the wind was blowing so hard the crosshairs were going from nose to tail...(we found out later the gusts were up to 70mph)
Now I was frustrated! (fact: I had been hunting Aoudad since 2003 and had yet to take one home with me(whole other story!)) It was getting dark on us. The sheep moved around a large bluff. I had to make one last go at this herd before the sun set. I scaled 200 yards down the rocky cliffs to reach a 100+ foot drop. There they were in the bottom!!! The ram was already bedded. I set up between two rocks, but this time out of the wind. Pointing the rife straight down I settle the scope between his shoulder blades and it was over.....my 10 year journey was over.
One shot, one kill! The celebration was short lived when i realized there was no way i could get to my ram now... The sun was setting and i had no idea how to reach the bottom of this rock face. Lance and I hiked 3 miles back to the truck, recovery would have to be the next morning.
Long night.......
Monday morning finally came. We hiked in from a different direction to recover the ram. An hour later I was able to put my hands on my first barbary ram! It was a cold night so everything kept well.
Perfect shot!
We hunted for the next 5 days trying to fill our second tag.
*5 more days - only 2 other sheep - and looking over a ton of country
(This was the public land, DIY, barbary sheep hunting we were used to.....)
I feel lucky to have taken my first ram. He was just under 25 inches.
Thanks for looking!
Lance and I left Tucson friday after work, drove all evening, and made it to Unit 30 a little after midnight. We crashed on the side of a dirt road that night. Woke up Saturday morning to spend a few hours finding a camp spot and setting up.
After a quick lunch we headed out to look for some sheep.
Saturday evening we found 14 sheep, this was a rare sight on public land! After watching the sheep until dark it was determined that they were all ewes and lambs. It was still nice to see sheep on our first outing.
After dark we headed back to camp, made a quick dinner, and a game plan for the next morning.
Sunday morning at daybreak we were putting the glasses to work. Sunday brought high winds and high temps (nothing like the negative temperatures from the 2011 season). Right away Lance found a single ram making his way across the bluffs. Not long after I spotted the herd from the previous night, but it looked like they picked up a few stragglers. We watched them from a mile-and a half away for an hour. Through the spotting scope we could tell there was one nice ram in the bunch. A plan was made, and 7 hours later.....yes 7 hours.....we were 140 yards above them. With no shot opportunity.
The sheep were moving downhill to bed, unaware of our presence. The herd stepped out again, this time at 225 yards. I laid down, sunk the rifle into my pack, put my left hand on top of the scope, and waited for the ram to walk in the scope. When he walked out I tried my best to keep the scope on his shoulder but the wind was blowing so hard the crosshairs were going from nose to tail...(we found out later the gusts were up to 70mph)
Now I was frustrated! (fact: I had been hunting Aoudad since 2003 and had yet to take one home with me(whole other story!)) It was getting dark on us. The sheep moved around a large bluff. I had to make one last go at this herd before the sun set. I scaled 200 yards down the rocky cliffs to reach a 100+ foot drop. There they were in the bottom!!! The ram was already bedded. I set up between two rocks, but this time out of the wind. Pointing the rife straight down I settle the scope between his shoulder blades and it was over.....my 10 year journey was over.
One shot, one kill! The celebration was short lived when i realized there was no way i could get to my ram now... The sun was setting and i had no idea how to reach the bottom of this rock face. Lance and I hiked 3 miles back to the truck, recovery would have to be the next morning.
Long night.......
Monday morning finally came. We hiked in from a different direction to recover the ram. An hour later I was able to put my hands on my first barbary ram! It was a cold night so everything kept well.
Perfect shot!
We hunted for the next 5 days trying to fill our second tag.
*5 more days - only 2 other sheep - and looking over a ton of country
(This was the public land, DIY, barbary sheep hunting we were used to.....)
I feel lucky to have taken my first ram. He was just under 25 inches.
Thanks for looking!
OLBUZZTAIL
Active Member
- Messages
- 673
chase....Congratulations on a well earned Ram!! your pictures are the best I have seen and a Great write up as well!!
Hunting is Life...everything else is
Just details.
Ol' Buzztail...
Hunting is Life...everything else is
Just details.
Ol' Buzztail...
crazeymaez
Very Active Member
- Messages
- 1,513
Very Nice Congrats
leftturnabq
Active Member
- Messages
- 723
Awesome pictures, thanks for sharing, and congrats on a great ram.
5yearcoueshunter
Active Member
- Messages
- 746
Man, congrats on a well deserved Ram! He is a beauty!
Travis
Travis
C
couestramp
Guest
great sheep chase..... congrats...
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