12-28-2013, 05:31 PM
I got a great Christmas present this year!
On the 19th of Dec I got a call from the fish and game. A mature bighorn Ram migrated out of his normal range, and found a new home on a mountain where there are domestic sheep grazing. The animal had not been seen with the domestics, but just having him in the area posed a risk of the Ram picking up disease, and then continuing migration into a new area and spreading the disease to more bighorns. Then, they offered me a depredation tag to try and find and kill this Ram! They would only give me 7 days to get it done, and that would include Christmas day on which I wouldn't hunt. I understood that there was only 1 bighorn on the mountain range and it might be dang near impossible to find him, but if I didn't kill then I would still be eligible for my once in a lifetime hunt, but If I did kill the ram, that is my only mountain bighorn for life. I also still had to buy the tag for full price, $513, which is a lot of money for me but i figured it's a gamble I can't resist.
I set out on the 21st to hunt the Grassy Mountains. I had several buddies to help me the first day. I found the sheep herds first thing in the morning and asked the herders if they had seen a Bighorn around. They told me they saw one about 5 yrs ago, haha. Ok next I went to the last area the Ram was seen. We split into several groups and started glassing. We drove the desert roads and glassed all day and never turned up even a track.
Sunday came and I had 1 friend to help. We drove up onto the top of the Grassy Mountains and split up and hiked all day, searching for any sign of a hooved animal but found nothing again.
Monday I parked on the west side of the range, and hiked for 10 hours zigzagging all the way to across the range to the east hoping to cut a track or jump him out of bed. A friend was able to pick me up over there after glassing for me all day and drove me around to my car.
Well, I decided that tues and wednesday I should spend with my wife and 1.5 yr old daughter and our families. I wanted to be out chasing sheep, but memories with my daughter are even more important so I enjoyed opening presents with a very animated little girl.
Thursday I rolled out of cache valley at 3 a.m. and made the drive once again. I had my Dads cousin to help today and he was going to meet me out there. I decided to try the next range to the east, Lakesides. After dealing with rock hard snowdrifts and dense fog all morning, I decided to head back over to the grassies and spend my last day and a half in the same area.
I had a good feeling about a rocky rugged section of the range and had looked over it several times but hadn't hiked right through it yet. I parked my car and had my my cousin drive me up an old two track road, my plan was to hike across this rocky cliffy hill and back down to my car after dark. It was already 1 pm when I got in his truck. He dropped me off and I loaded my pack and headed out across the hill. I walked maybe 200 yards and was cresting the first ridge when I spotted him. He was staring at me at 118 yards, I dropped to prone shooting position, verified he was a good ram, and sent my 168gr Berger VLD through his chest. He ran about 25 yards and stopped, just for insurance I pumped another into his shoulder and he was done!
UNREAL! I couldn't believe it. I literally had just killed a MONSTER Ram that was the only bighorn on the entire mountain as far as anyone knows.
He is also the most unique ram I've ever seen. He broke his horns years ago, and it grew down against his face. Because of this, it never broomed off on that left side and is amazingly long. His right horn is 35.5", and his left is over 41" long! It sounds like he is one of the biggest California Bighorns ever shot in Ut. The fish and game believe him to be 10.5-11.5 yrs old, maybe older. He was tagged on Antelope Island 7 years ago and transplanted to the Newfoundlands. I've been told that he lived out on the Hill Training Range for several years, and they are going to send me a bunch of trail camera pictures from their guzzlers out on the range.
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On the 19th of Dec I got a call from the fish and game. A mature bighorn Ram migrated out of his normal range, and found a new home on a mountain where there are domestic sheep grazing. The animal had not been seen with the domestics, but just having him in the area posed a risk of the Ram picking up disease, and then continuing migration into a new area and spreading the disease to more bighorns. Then, they offered me a depredation tag to try and find and kill this Ram! They would only give me 7 days to get it done, and that would include Christmas day on which I wouldn't hunt. I understood that there was only 1 bighorn on the mountain range and it might be dang near impossible to find him, but if I didn't kill then I would still be eligible for my once in a lifetime hunt, but If I did kill the ram, that is my only mountain bighorn for life. I also still had to buy the tag for full price, $513, which is a lot of money for me but i figured it's a gamble I can't resist.
I set out on the 21st to hunt the Grassy Mountains. I had several buddies to help me the first day. I found the sheep herds first thing in the morning and asked the herders if they had seen a Bighorn around. They told me they saw one about 5 yrs ago, haha. Ok next I went to the last area the Ram was seen. We split into several groups and started glassing. We drove the desert roads and glassed all day and never turned up even a track.
Sunday came and I had 1 friend to help. We drove up onto the top of the Grassy Mountains and split up and hiked all day, searching for any sign of a hooved animal but found nothing again.
Monday I parked on the west side of the range, and hiked for 10 hours zigzagging all the way to across the range to the east hoping to cut a track or jump him out of bed. A friend was able to pick me up over there after glassing for me all day and drove me around to my car.
Well, I decided that tues and wednesday I should spend with my wife and 1.5 yr old daughter and our families. I wanted to be out chasing sheep, but memories with my daughter are even more important so I enjoyed opening presents with a very animated little girl.
Thursday I rolled out of cache valley at 3 a.m. and made the drive once again. I had my Dads cousin to help today and he was going to meet me out there. I decided to try the next range to the east, Lakesides. After dealing with rock hard snowdrifts and dense fog all morning, I decided to head back over to the grassies and spend my last day and a half in the same area.
I had a good feeling about a rocky rugged section of the range and had looked over it several times but hadn't hiked right through it yet. I parked my car and had my my cousin drive me up an old two track road, my plan was to hike across this rocky cliffy hill and back down to my car after dark. It was already 1 pm when I got in his truck. He dropped me off and I loaded my pack and headed out across the hill. I walked maybe 200 yards and was cresting the first ridge when I spotted him. He was staring at me at 118 yards, I dropped to prone shooting position, verified he was a good ram, and sent my 168gr Berger VLD through his chest. He ran about 25 yards and stopped, just for insurance I pumped another into his shoulder and he was done!
UNREAL! I couldn't believe it. I literally had just killed a MONSTER Ram that was the only bighorn on the entire mountain as far as anyone knows.
He is also the most unique ram I've ever seen. He broke his horns years ago, and it grew down against his face. Because of this, it never broomed off on that left side and is amazingly long. His right horn is 35.5", and his left is over 41" long! It sounds like he is one of the biggest California Bighorns ever shot in Ut. The fish and game believe him to be 10.5-11.5 yrs old, maybe older. He was tagged on Antelope Island 7 years ago and transplanted to the Newfoundlands. I've been told that he lived out on the Hill Training Range for several years, and they are going to send me a bunch of trail camera pictures from their guzzlers out on the range.
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