Year of the (bighorn) sheep!

Zeke

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I've never posted in the "adventure" forum but this year should be something special... I hope I can make it enjoyable for those on MM who wish to celebrate with us.

I found out that I finally drew a Wyoming Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep tag after almost 4 decades of applications. I was elated! A few short days later My son (37) informed me that he drew a Utah Desert Bighorn tag after 21 total years of applications. I was floored at that point!

The planning and dreaming has begun. Many friends and family have stepped up to help us move toward success.

We shall see what this Fall brings but one thing is certain, we're in for a couple fine adventures and I hope to share them on MM along the way!

Thanks for being a part of the experience!

Zeke
 
It looks like our first trip scouting for my son's Utah desert sheep will happen in a week or so.

Over the years, we've been past the country many times but this will be the first time we actually go into the wilds. One thing I know, it's big country and lots of places to hide a few sheep!

I'll take some pics and report on our findings unless we die in the heat or get devoured by the no-see ums!
It's always an adventure!

Many thanks to an un-named good friend for all the help. Remember, there is no such thing as DIY and we'll take all the help we can get!

Zeke
 
We just returned from desert sheep scouting and didn't see any sheep but we did see evidence that they're there.

We should feel like losers for not seeing any sheep but yet we feel like winners for finding some great access roads and entry points into the core areas. "winner"

Along on the trip was my son, of course since the desert sheep tag is his permit, my brother and one of my sons-in-law. Everyone is a good hand to have around and it was one of those wonderful trips in spite of the fact that we battled rain, flash floods, sticky gumbo mud, rock slides, impassible roads, biting insects, high humidity and hot conditions. WE LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT! Oh, and we even had a bobcat bounce across the riverbed in front of us.

The scenery was second to none! Vistas were enjoyed which ranged from vast buttes to hoodoos and balancing rock. Sunsets were spectacular with the big clouds in the area. All the desert flora was in bloom and everything was green. Water was plentiful because of the constant storms of the past month.

Sufficient to say, it was one of those magical trips and will never be forgotten.

Zeke

PS: My son and I will go though our pics and post-up some stuff so this thread won't be quite so boring.
 
Pretty sunset in beautiful sheep country!

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The "thunder ponies" really came in handy since all the access roads were washed out with all the Spring storms.

Lots easier to zip around on the quads than the wife's Tahoe.

Next trip we'll slow down and actually look for sheep! (that's my story and I'm sticking to it)

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It looks like my first pic didn't load. Hopefully it does this time.

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I must say that it's humbling and overwhelming the number of folks who have gone out of their way to share knowledge of my son's desert sheep unit. Some have shared little nuggets and some have given everything they have and everyone we've spoken with have added to the experience.
THANK YOU, ALL!

Even though my bighorn hunt is just a short 2 months away, we've done much more work on my son's hunt. Mine is a Wyoming wilderness hunt and by necessity will be outfitted.

I've been hiking almost every day and 3x per week I've got a backpack strapped to my back. I can see the gains and feel like I'll need even more since my hunt if a full-blown backpack hunt at 10,000'+. I'll need all the advantage that this old body will give me.

Thanks for looking,
Zeke
 
Summit of Mahogany!
3800"+ elevation gain from my starting point on the valley floor AND 3800"+ decent! All in about 5.5 miles RT. I'm tired but pleased.

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Now if I'd just lose the gut!

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Zeke
 
My bighorn hunt is only 7 weeks away and I've been hitting the hills pretty hard (by my standards).

I won't bore you with all the little details but I'm out 5-6X per week to coax this old body up the mountains.

The air is thinner, the belt-line is thicker, the mountains are steeper and my eyes aren't quite what they used to be. Oh well, I'll work with what I have.


Here's the top of my climb for the day. 1.5 hour assent and a full hour to get back down.
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Thanks for looking,
Zeke
 
Top of Box Elder Peak!
It's a long ways from the valley floor and round-trip makes quite a day.

(of course I'm ready with camo & binos)

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I haven't talked much about my son getting physically ready to hunt sheep....

Here he is on his Tuesday run to the top of Timpanogos and back. He's running to the summit and back TWICE in a couple days. 30 plus mile of high altitude running as a training run for a mountain 50K race (for those of us who are Americans, that's about 31 miles).

He's an amimal, Boston Marathoner, mountain peak runner, race pacer, married-father of 3 and a damn good man!

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Proud pop,
Zeke
 
The workouts continue!

My son ran the summit of Timp twice on Friday! I'm not sure he'll even bother taking a rifle on his sheep hunt, maybe just a knife. haha

He ran into some guys scouting mountain goats on Timp and started a short discussion with them. They were very reluctant to talk about "hunting" goats until my son told them he had a desert sheep tag. They opened up after that.

I've been on a few fine hikes in the past few days but most notable is my Saturday hike with 40Lbs (water jugs) in the pack, 1500' elevation gain over 2.6 miles. Total trip took 3 hours to cover the 5.2 mile loop. The 1500" of decent was almost as tough on the old body as the assent but I recovered well and will be hack on the hill tonight.

Thanks for coming along on our journey!
Zeke
 
My son says he's ready for his 50K mountain race on Saturday. I hope he does well and doesn't get hunt. HE HAS A SHEEP HUNT UPCOMING FAST!

Here he is under the ice on one of his Tip adventures:

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My trudging also continues. I've been doing most hikes with weight. I hope I'm ready enough to enjoy my backpack sheep hunt, which is just over 5 weeks away.

Zeke
 
My son completed his hardcore 50K (31 Miles) mountain race! He didn't die or even get hurt.

There were about 450 contestants and about 300 finishers and he was 116 overall.

He calls that "middle of the pack running". I call it "freaking awesome" and so far beyond my abilities that I can hardly comprehend it.

Thanks for letting me brag on my son a bit more.

I finished a grueling mile hike up and down the dirt road with 5 of my grand sons while my son was racing! Okay, not quite in the same class but we had lots more fun!!!!

A good friend leaves in the morning on his Stone sheep hunt with his son. There's something special about hunting with the kids.

Thanks for looking,
Zeke
 
I was just starting my mountain hike above the cabin last night and got "rushed" by a cow moose with a calf. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was a "charge" but she was certainly unhappy and it caused a couple tense minutes for both of us.

She finally went back to her calf and watched me carefully as I skirted around her. Whew!

I managed to make 7+ miles, with lots of elevation, in 3 hours and 10 minutes. I had on my daypack with the usually supplies so it was more of a "speed" hike although if you'd seen me it was more like a snail's crawl up the really steep spots!

I'll do some city walking tonight on some hills around town after I play with the glass-bedding on my 280 AI sheep rifle. I'll be shooting it by Sunday or Monday before work.

Zeke
 
It's a love/hate relationship!

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Here's some of the crew on a little hike that turned into a pretty good one for the kids.

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Zeke
 
My wife goes with me on a few of my hikes and I made her take this pic of me. She's not really into the photos of sweaty old men but I told her it was for me to share with other sweaty old men! LOL

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By the way, that pack-load might not look like much but it's filled with 4 gallons of water jugs, gun, optics, ets.

That pack is older than many dudes on this site. I first used it on a caribou hunt and packed out 2 bulls with it in 1977. It's been re-build a couple times abut still hauls the freight.

Zeke
 
Last night I finished my 7+ mile loop in 3 hours flat but my knees are a bit sore from 5 out of the last 6 days of hiking mountain trails. I think I'll either take a light city-hike or layoff altogether tonight. The old body can only handle so much.

The packing list is being refined but my brother and I will need to buy very little since we've been setup for backpacking through the years and we've tried to stay up with the latest and greatest stuff (except for my 4.5 decade-old Jansport D3 frame pack).

I've shot my "new" 280AI rifle on two occasions since Sunday and plan 2X per week for the next 3. It'll work just fine.

Only 3 weeks and 2 days until we embark on our Wyoming bighorn journey! Oh, sweet anticipation.... tempered with knowing how physically difficult it will be!

Zeke
 
I've shot my 280AI the last couple days and the groups are as follows: .75". .43", .65" and finally .40".
Not only is it shooting well but I'm getting 3070 fps average, very acceptable ES, 150 BT Nosler with the new IMR 7977 powder. Since it's such slow burning powder I went with the Federal 215 Mag match primer.
Yessir, I'm pleased with the little light custom! It'll be on the sheep mountain in 2 weeks from Friday!!!!

Zeke

PS: I'll have to post some pics of the rig and groups because I know what you're thinking.... it didn't happen without pics! Haha
 
Recycled and blueprinted Remington 700 action

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Fluted, stainless #2 Lilja cut 20 25" with 1" of the shank removed before chambering. It's not a featherweight but it is a lightweight and the recycled Brown Precision Kevlar stock help keep the weight down.

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The thing really like to shoot! .75 is the largest group of the last 5 groups I've shot. I'm pleased with the overall results of the project. I'm far from a great BR shooter.

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It's such a glorious year for rams that someone minted a coin to help us celebrate! haha

Actually a good friend and fellow sheep nut handed this to me a few days ago. Thanks Mike!

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I've done the hiking, shooting, packing and other preparations for my hunt. It's only 11 days away and I've done what I can and pray it's enough.

We went to the desert and popped a cap at "long range" early on Saturday before heading to the mountains for my big hike of the day. I shot at +/- 400, 500, 600 and 700 yards. Let's just say I still have a big smile on my face!

Some groups were too good to be true but it was true. Some groups were pretty average but everything was under MOA except 1 (it was barely over MOA) and every shot would have been a vital hit! Yessir, I'm very pleased with my 280 AI.

Zeke
 
Here are 50 of the little beauties ready to do my bidding!

Those who find comfort in "rolling their own" should enjoy this photo.

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Zeke
 
Here are some moose pics from a couple of my recent hikes.

I've seen these two before! This experience was a bit more tame.

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This is a pretty darn good bull for the Wasatch!

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Zeke
 
Only one week until I leave for Wyoming! I'm almost too ready.

My son and I went to the desert today for a little 500 yard shooting. His was hitting a bit high (as shown by the taped holes). We've made a slight adjustment and we'll shoot again when I return from my hunt. He still would have been deadly but we want it just a tad lower.

Mine shot pretty well with a 2.74" groupd at 500 yards. I also shot one group at 100 yards that was .37". I still have the smile on my face to prove it!

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The sun is about to rise on my Wyoming bighorn hunt! I leave day after tomorrow and will not be posting on my Adventure thread until I return.

We've had to deal with the smoke from the fires in Oregon and Washington but our hearts go out to our neighbors up there who have been negatively affected.

The smoke makes for a red sunrise.


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LAST EDITED ON Sep-08-15 AT 07:36PM (MST)[p]I know most guys don't care for the story, much less the back-story, so I'll let the pics do most of the talking.

For you "stats" guys: 11650' elevation, 430 yard one shot kill, 280 AI semi-customized 700 Rem, hours and hours and hours of backpacking over the roughest terrain I've ever seen! Physical beyond words yet above it all I loved every second of it!

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I'll add some more pics and story tomorrow when I have a bit of time. I'm scrambling a bit today since it's the first day back to the office in well over a week.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Zeke
 
We were only gone a week total yet it was the most physically challenging hunt of my life. Maybe I'm just getting older or it really was as difficult as I remember.

The elevation was significant since we were always above 11000' and we were at 11650' exactly when I shot my ram.
The trip was a grand adventure and the scenery was second to none!

Everything we took worked fine including my little 280 AI rifle. I had to call on it to make a one-shot kill at 430 yards!

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Here I'm taking a break on our way to the high country

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Thanks for coming along!
Zeke
 
My brother and I have been blessed to share many sheep hunts! This might be one of the last!

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Next up is my son's Utah desert sheep hunt. Because of kids and work schedules we'll be going down after the season has been open for 5 days. That's okay with me. maybe some of the other hunters will score and be out of our way.

Zeke
 
Now that I'm home and all cleaned up, I just can't imagine a better adventure!

The mountains were steep, canyons deep and my pack always seemed too heavy but through it all a smile was on my face!!!


We had to crawl through countless rock slides.

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Zeke
 
We ended up dropping into the canyon on the right and then climbing out past that glacier. My ram was taken in country left and beyond of the picture.

BIG ROUGH country!

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Here I'm doping off after a 5.5 hour climb

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We saw lots of "girls" and they all had lambs. To this casual observer they looked to be in great shape with a crop for future hunters

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The planning and excitement for my son's fast approaching desert sheep hunt continues.

We spent last night with 2 good friends and great sheep hunters who will be joining us on the hunt. (Awesome friends)

My brother, 2 sons-in-law, and another sheep hunter will also join us on this hunting trip.

Thanks to all for your welcome contribution!

My wife and I went to our son's house for most of the night of planning. I doubt we got much planning done but we sure reavelled with the thoughts of hunting desert sheep again!

Life's good
Zeke
 
I was up late last night (early this morning) planning, worrying, anticipating my son's upcoming hunt for desert sheep. I wrongfully assumed that sleep would be easier after my sheep hunt but the sweet anticipation still gets the best of me.

His sheep season opened today and we're not hunting yet. Kids need to be taken care of and we had to work around spouse's schedules to make it happen.

I hope a few guys smack some rams before we get there so we can have the place to ourselves. That's selfish but I do hope the others score.

I was thinking about the sheep, elk, and pronghorn hunters today since many of those seasons opened while we were shooting a handful of rifles. A few friends have already text pics of elk and pronghorn. Congrats to them!

My son and I will be back out on Momday morning for the final trip to the rifle range before his hunt. I don't know why but it can't hurt.

It's going to be good,
Zeke
 
We shot in the desert yesterday at 100, 300, 400 and 500 yards. My son's 7mm rem Mag is on the money! (No excuses)

He fired 13 shots and "wasted" ammo but built even more confidence in the load and his abilities. That rifle really shoots and my son is no slouch either.

The seasoned bore will be left as-is until cleaning after the hunt.

We leave day after tomorrow for this first hunting trip and we have some apprehension since the area has been hit hard with flash floods! I hope we can penetrate the country!!!!

I won't be posting to this Adventure forum until we return from this trip. We'll have some pics to share and maybe even some sheep pics if we get luck and see something we like.

Thanks for sharing our adventures!
Zeke
 
Pretty cool country!
Awesome animal and an honor to hunt!

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I'm having some serious uploading pics issues and I don't know why!!!!

That's as far as I can get until I resolve my technical issues!

Thanks,
Zeke
 
We took pics with 2 different cameras so some of the files ended up too large to load. Let's hope this works.

No roads here!

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Lots of hiking but we went slowly and never blew anything up.

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We saw lots of the girls and it looked like most had lambs. That's good for the future.

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Wow, what a wonderful season this year and it was my pleasure to share the desert sheep leg of the hunt with my son, brother, son-in-law and some really good friends (Littlebighorn and his son).

It really was the "A" team and it ended with 5 of the 6 of us having killed desert sheep!

It all came down to one shot at 269 yards at about 35 degrees downhill. Zac controlled the nerves and made a perfectly placed shot!

Well done son!

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Super-proud dad!

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Here's 4 out of 6 of the crew. My brother and son-in-law were off scouting around for another ram just in case we couldn't re-find this one. They didn't get the message that we'd killed one at 1:30 pm until they were headed back to base camp. Sadly they were not there for the kill site pics.

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I hope it was worth spending your time to come along on our 2015 "year of the ram" adventures!

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Thanks!!!!
Zeke
 
Here's the point from which my son fired his one and only shot!

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Another pic of the ram with the magnificent views in the background.

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It's truly a once in a lifetime experience which MIGHT be repeated but NEVER duplicated.

Zeke
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-24-15 AT 03:17PM (MST)[p]*****Special thanks goes out to our good friends, Littlebighorn and his son! They are simply fun to be around and they're seriously excellent sheep hunters and have many rams between them!****

LBH's son has some MAD camera skills. I have video, which he took, of the ram the night before we killed him and he took additional pics and footage including video of the 1-shot kill!

The other guys on the team are my brother and son-in-law who are simply awesome too! What can I say, I've share near countless sheep hunts with my brother dating back to 1980!

The next generation is here and they're excellent hunters and fine people! It almost make me feel irrelevant in my ripe old age. Oh, and today is my birthday and a great time to be alive!

Sincerely, Zeke
 
It looks like my 2015 sheep season isn't over just yet.

My son-in-law, CJ N, and I will be leaving right away to assist on a hunt for a "slam" desert ram for a NR hunter in Utah!

Hopefully we'll have some stories to tell and some pics to share... if permitted.

This should be good!
Zeke
 
We just returned from our desert sheep hunt with Bob!
He realized a life-long dream of taking all 4 NA wild sheep which started with his first ram 52 years ago!
He had some shooting challenges and physical limitations but through it all he was a trooper!

The country is vast and rams were spotted which were inaccessible to Bob.

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Awesome and big country!

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Here I'm doing my job

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Success, finally!

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The sun setting on another great sheep hunt!!!

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Thanks for coming along on the ride!
Zeke
 
Maybe, just maybe, I'll be going on another desert sheep hunt in about 2 weeks.

I've been invited (actually I invited myself and didn't get turned away) to help on a desert sheep hunt in a unit that I know pretty well.

I'll post-up a report and some pics if I can find the time to go.

We shall see.

Zeke
 
Here's a pic of my semi-skinner working on Bob's ram. Not the biggest sheep on the mountain but one he can be very proud of.

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I thought I'd get out one last time hunting sheep with a good friend and his hunter but life got in the way.

They spent a week and had all kinds of weather but thought it all found a great trophy ram and got the job done with style.

Well done men!

I did spend the weekend hunting an elk with a young friend and he killed a fine 6X7 bull. It was awesome!

Zeke
 
For you numbers guys:

My Wyoming bighorn was aged at 9.5 and I scored him multiple times and came up with 164 6/8". I'm pleased!

Zac's Utah desert bighorn ram was officially measured and scored 166 5/8" gross and nets 165 5/8" making it an B&C awards ram! We're ecstatic about the beauty and pleased with the score.

Those were two awesome adventures!

Thanks for coming along,
Zeke
 
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