# Ram Down! Nine Mile Range Creek



## SatchSquatch (Sep 24, 2013)

In May of this year I got the unexpected surprise of a $513 charge on my credit card. I had nowhere near max points for Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep on any of the units in Utah but someone has got to be lucky and I'll volunteer to be that person. I had drawn a once-in-a-lifetime tag to hunt these awesome animals.

With the rarity of these tags, I've never been on a sheep hunt before. I didn't have any clue where to start. I started talking to friends, and friends of friends, and eventually our buddies up at Strawberry Bay Marina put me in touch with someone who knows a thing or two about sheep.

Trips to the unit in June, August, and the first parts of October yielded no sheep. We kept on hearing that the sheep would show up as the hunt approached and we trusted that advice but I couldn't wait to see my first sheep and hoped each trip would be the one.

Finally on October 25th, just a week before the hunt we saw our first sheep and we kept on seeing them after that just like we were told. Even still, these things are difficult to see.

The hunt started on Halloween. Opening morning had us locating 18 sheep that had 5 mature rams with the group. We found them from a long way out but one of them appeared big enough that he needed a close look. About 3-4 hours later after hiking over two miles on the tops of cliffs, we were on top of the sheep. The rams were all bedded behind a large rock and we only got a few glances of their horns every once in awhile. Suddenly they all got up and made their way out of the draw and into the next. We only got to look at the one ram for a short period of time before he was out of view. Our window of seeing him was not long enough for us to get comfortable to take a shot but we did think that he may not have had the mass we were hoping when we'd seen him from so far away. His length was good enough but our thought was he was below average on mass. We went into the next draw that all the rams went into and they appeared to be gone. We still don't know where then went but we imagine that they dropped all the way into the bottom of the canyon and out of view to go to water. The stalk turned out to be an all day endeavor and we didn't get back to camp until well after dark.

Sunday brought a few small rams but nothing that piqued our interest enough to get a closer look.

Monday morning, same story. Another hunter that we were in communication with ended up taking a beautiful dark ram in the morning. I heard him shoot so i ended up spending the next several hours helping them out with their sheep and taking pictures for them etc. Not that I was expecting any payout or my willingness to help, but it ended up getting me four more sets of eyes to help with finding sheep which were needed since the last helpers from my camp had to head home after Monday evening for other obligations at home for a few days and wouldn't be back until the weekend.

After getting his ram back to camp we had a quick lunch and went back to glassing to find a great ram.

We all spread out along some faces on Monday evening and a couple of the new helpers located some sheep from a long distance (this seems to be a common theme of sheep hunting) right before dark but weren't able to make a good assessment of the ram. We set out to the same place to look for the sheep Tuesday morning to get a closer look. We got within about 1000 yards and still thought he deserved an even closer look.

We put together a plan and and got up the draw just to the north of the sheep. As we got to the top of the ridge that separated the two draws, we were holding our binoculars on the ground with the brims of our hats and tops of our heads the only things that would have been visible on the skyline for the sheep. We were only 125 yards away. The ewes thought something was up but the ram was completely unaware as we took our time looking at him and coming to the conclusion that I needed to take him.

We had to wait him out since he was laying facing away from us. After about 10 or 15 minutes he stood up and turned broadside as he moved uphill closer to the ewes. I made sure the spotters on each side of me were ready for the shot and lined up the cross hairs where I wanted to thread the .270 150 grain Nosler Partition. With the final OK I let it fly and it was true to the mark and dropped the big ram in his tracks.

My hunt ended up with virtually every box that I wanted checked. It was an awesome experience and I am so thankful for the opportunity that I had to take this great ram.

I want to thank everyone who was involved with my hunt and also my wife and kids who have endured through nearly 4 months of hunting weekends.


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

congrats on a very nice ram.


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## hunting777 (May 3, 2009)

Beautiful!!! Congrats


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

GREAT looking ram there. Well done and thanks for sharing.


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## torowy (Jun 19, 2008)

Nice!


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## MWScott72 (May 23, 2011)

Very nice ram. Big congrats on a job well done. I' m headed back out to the Stansburys this weekend to try and find mine. It's been hard to concentrate at work this week!!!


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

What a beautiful ram! Thanks for sharing the story and the pictures!!


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## elkmule123 (Aug 14, 2013)

Congratulations on your ram :mrgreen:


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## Broadside_Shot (Feb 22, 2010)

Pretty Cool!!! Thanks for Sharing.

Do you think it would be possible to kill one with a Bow on this Unit?


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## Buckfinder (May 23, 2009)

Congrats!! What an awesome experience.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

What a dandy ram!


-DallanC


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## AJ13 (Apr 28, 2015)

Congrats on an great ram. Awesome story. Thanks for sharing.


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## stimmie78 (Dec 8, 2007)

Broadside_Shot said:


> Pretty Cool!!! Thanks for Sharing.
> 
> Do you think it would be possible to kill one with a Bow on this Unit?


Just get with one of the many pumpers out there... They see them on location regularly and get 15 yards from them..


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## Blackie6 (Jul 7, 2014)

Great story. I sent you a pm.


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## hunting777 (May 3, 2009)

Do you have pictures of the other hunter's ram?


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## SLCHunter (Dec 19, 2013)

That's a really beautiful animal, congratulations. 

For those who've had the chance, how does a ram like that taste?


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## BradN (Sep 25, 2007)

Well done!


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## tallbuck (Apr 30, 2009)

Awesome Ram and story to boot! Thanks for sharing your adventure with us.


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## neverdrawn (Jan 3, 2009)

Love the coloring, that is a beautiful animal!


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## bowhunt3r4l1f3 (Jan 12, 2011)

Man you and your family draw more good tags than just about anyone else out there! Congrats!!!!!


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## Clarq (Jul 21, 2011)

Awesome. That's a fantastic ram. 

I hope I end up getting to hunt them eventually. Of course, I would have to either get lucky and draw a tag here (which would be ridiculous, since I'm trying for desert bighorns first) or pay the big $ and hunt them in Canada.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Wow, that's a beauty!

.


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

That's a nice looking ram. Congrats.
What did the DWR age it at?


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## El Casador (Aug 27, 2009)

Congrats! nice Ram! 8)


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## goofy elk (Dec 16, 2007)

ridgetop said:


> That's a nice looking ram. Congrats.
> What did the DWR age it at?


Beautiful ram...
Curious to what the DWR aged it at?
I came up with 9 1/2 on rings.


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

Gud one!


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## Truelife (Feb 6, 2009)

Congrats and thanks for sharing. Your story and pictures are as close as most of us will ever get to a sheep hunt.


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## Billy3136 (May 31, 2015)

That was a great story. All those hours and miles really paid off. Congratulations on a fantastic ram!


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## SatchSquatch (Sep 24, 2013)

goofy elk said:


> Beautiful ram...
> Curious to what the DWR aged it at?
> I came up with 9 1/2 on rings.


The DWR aged him at 8 1/2 based on rings but there is some questions as to whether one of the rings is false or not so he could be 7 1/2. We'll have to wait for tooth data in the spring.


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## goofy elk (Dec 16, 2007)

SatchS,

It would be WAAAAAY cool if you could follow up on this thread
when you receive the tooth age data......

I would love to know , Tricky one to read and I think the false ring will go the other way....


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## Natural Born Killer (Oct 29, 2015)

Hey Mike, it's about time someone took a photo of you to prove that you were on Nine Mile,

" AWESOME "


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

I think 8-9 years looks about right to me.


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

Beautiful ram!! Congratulations on a once in a lifetime hunt.


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## 300 Wby (Aug 14, 2008)

Congratulations on your gorgeous ram


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## SatchSquatch (Sep 24, 2013)

goofy elk said:


> ridgetop said:
> 
> 
> > That's a nice looking ram. Congrats.
> ...


Will do goofy. The ring in question is pretty prominent and its symmetrical on both sides. The weird thing about it is that it's got less growth that year than the next which is abnormal. You'd think it would be longer than the next year. He could have had a bad year or its false or any number of things. Maybe he's just like that goofy elk on your other profile .


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## Luvtohunt (Nov 9, 2015)

SatchS, would you be willing to give me some advice on this hunt? We have a second season tag and haven't seen near the sheep that we thought that we would. Interested to get your take on the hunt.


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## SatchSquatch (Sep 24, 2013)

Glass, glass, glass, and then glass some more. The sheep could be sitting in the same spot you've been watching all day without you seeing them. Then they move 5 feet and they're suddenly visible. Get a good vantage spot and watch over everything you can see. We found my ram from about 2 miles away then went to get a closer look the next morning. 

Hunt all day. The sheep definitely moved more in the morning and before dark but even when they were down in the middle of the day, there was always a couple up and moving around in the herd. If you find one sheep, keep watching because there are probably a bunch more that you don't see right away. 

Look everywhere on the faces of the canyons. We saw sheep in places you'd think they had no business being. Of course they won't be on a sheer cliff, but there are tons of little spots they used to get up and down around them. 

Listen for heads knocking too. 

From all the people I've talked to, the sheep disappear in a hurry as thanksgiving approaches too. 

I'm definitely no expert but these are some of the things I've learned through this hunt and the people that helped me. 

Where have you been hunting?


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

SatchSquatch said:


> Glass, glass, and then glass some more. The sheep could be sitting in the same spot you've been watching all day without you seeing them. Then they move 5 feet and they're suddenly visible.
> 
> Hunt all day. The sheep difinately moved more in the morning and before dark but even when they were down in the middle of the day, there was always a couple up and moving around in the herd.
> 
> What areas are you hunting?


I agree and the nice thing about bighorn sheep, is that they are active throughout the day.


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## Luvtohunt (Nov 9, 2015)

Thanks for your advice! We have been hunting out of Woodside. There are several places that we have looked at but I think there has been a great deal of pressure there. I have heard that 3 rams where killed in and around the Woodside area. We had a good deal of hunters sitting on the same Long Canyon on the opening morning of the second season hunt. They all left because of the lack of sheep. Was a lot of fun!


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## SatchSquatch (Sep 24, 2013)

Luvtohunt - PMs sent.

Give me a call or text me.


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