# Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep



## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

Well, the NM draw results have come and gone and my dad drew an OIL Rocky Mountain Bighorn tag for the Rio Grande Gorge hunt unit. He has the Sept 1-15 hunt with one other tag holder.

Dad will turn 73 in October this year and if this tag is not well deserved, I don't know what is. In March of this year his wife (my mom) of 52 years passed away after a 6 year bout with cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. His life for these past few years has been as her primary caregiver at home.

So, this is one heck of an anniversary present to him (53 years in June).

As the hunt unfolds, I will keep all upraised. Should be fun!


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## Hunttilidrop (Jun 12, 2018)

My condolences. Congratulations on a fun hunt to be had! Can’t wait to here how it goes. I hope to go on at least one more good hunt with my dad before he hangs it up for good.


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## goofy elk (Dec 16, 2007)

Wow
This could turn into a REALLY cool thread!

And I hope it does.


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## Kwalk3 (Jun 21, 2012)

Awesome! These threads are what this forum is all about!


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## MadHunter (Nov 17, 2009)

I am sorry for your loss. I do look forward to hearing about your dad's hunt and the memories you will make with him. Ear to the ground.


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

Thanks for the comments. Dad is planning on his first "recon" trip in a couple of weeks so hopefully I will have a few pics to post up.

We are all adjusting still, it was expected but sooner than we thought. Mom went quick, her heart just gave out and not slow and painful from the cancer, so a blessing really.


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## jason21 (Sep 18, 2018)

I cant think of a more deserving person for that tag, looking forward to the updates in the future! good luck and enjoy every minute of it.


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

Well, dear 'ol dad left this morning for his first look and see trip. Count so far is 16 nice rams, a couple are "big ones". Attached is a pic of one of the rams he is seeing.


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## 9er (Nov 12, 2007)

😳. I’ll be following this thread.


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## goofy elk (Dec 16, 2007)

Sweet!


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

That's a good looking ram!


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

Awesome ram!


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## MadHunter (Nov 17, 2009)

That ram looks awesome. He seams to sweep out wider than normal. Amazing specimen!


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## brisket (Mar 3, 2015)

That’s a great ram. Not a pretty boy, but a fighter, being chipped up a bit. Looks like his nose has been broken a time or two as well. I’d keep tabs on him.


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

More sheep. Sorry for the "grainy" picuture quality. He got back at 6:30 yesterday evening and saw around 85 sheep, most were bachelor group rams.


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

Just got back from a scouting trip, saw some nice rams and one smaller guy.

Will probably go at least once more before the hunt. The clock it ticking...

Hopefully these short videos work.


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## goofy elk (Dec 16, 2007)

Im thinking,
4th pic,
2nd one from the right.
Boom.......!


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

goofy elk said:


> Im thinking,
> 4th pic,
> 2nd one from the right.
> Boom.......!


Yeah, he was the only one in the group broomed off. The other had "lamb tips" but carries mass.


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## 300 Wby (Aug 14, 2008)

High Desert Elk said:


> Well, dear 'ol dad left this morning for his first look and see trip. Count so far is 16 nice rams, a couple are "big ones". Attached is a pic of one of the rams he is seeing.


BOOM!


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## MWScott72 (May 23, 2011)

Wow...that is a heavy and wide flaring ram! You guys are going to have a blast. I hope you are able to get everything out of the hunt that you are trying for. It will be fun to follow along...even if it's just over the internet. Go get'em!!


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

3 weeks and counting. Saw these sheep last Friday. Spoke to one of the hunters whose hunt began last Saturday on the 10th, seemd like a decent guy from Santa Fe. Also spoke to the outfitter who is guiding the other hunter, also seemed like an upfront type guy.

We'll see if the "big one" survives the gauntlet for the next two weeks. Seeing as the two other hunters were in the same area, they were likely keeping and eye on this guy...


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## goofy elk (Dec 16, 2007)

Quick ring count I've got him at 8..
Beautiful Ram!


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

Yeah, that's what I'm seeing as well.


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## brisket (Mar 3, 2015)

My first impression is his bases look a little thin, but he looks like an old ram. I’d like to see a few more pictures at different angles.

Good luck! I sure miss bighorn hunting. #jealous


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

Most sheep in this unit that are in the 8 yr old range come in at 175 avg. Definately study him in detail before shooting.


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

One week to go and had an almost detour and regroup. The other day, dad was messing around on the backhoe and started having pain in his left arm, tightness in his chest, difficulty breathing, and sweating profusely - yep, all the tale tale signs of a heart attack.

A quick trip to the ER showed it wasn't a heart attack, but a blood clot about 1/2" in his left lung. After being admitted and spending the night with a blood thinner drip, more tests were ran the next morning. These tests revealed even more, another clot hanging in his heart above a valve. The cardiologist reviewed these tests and scheduled an emergent surgery in the cath lab at the hospital. His concern was the lung clot would work it's way to his heart and create a blockage with the one in his heart. He said he had two other patients with the exact same thing and elected to postpone the procedure. Neither one made it. 

So, yesterday, dad was whisked away and an hour later came back in the room with a two foot cath inserted into his chest. The doc was able to break the clot up and remove most of it. Last night they kept a timed injection going to continue to break it up so it would flush through.

This morning, they removed the cath tube and he is up and moving around, and will likely be discharged tomorrow evening or Sunday at the latest.

So, worst case scenario today is he will hunt the second week of his hunt rather than the first week, which begins on the 1st of Sept.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Glad that they caught everything early enough to be able to do something about it. 

As we age we all face new challenges and medical ones are not to be taken lightly. 

Here is to a speedy recovery and a great hunt.


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## ns450f (Aug 28, 2018)

Sounds like he got lucky, good luck and good health


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

Whoa - thank goodness he is ok. 

Crazy that the other two individuals elected to not have the procedure...


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## brisket (Mar 3, 2015)

Man, that sucks. Hopefully he’ll recover quickly and still get a chance at a ram.


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

Wow, glad that he was able to get treated and that it didn't progress into something from which he couldn't recover.


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

TtT.

Full recap of the hunt coming, need to upload some video and pics of the hunt. Needless to say, nice ram down!


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## BGD (Mar 23, 2018)

Oh man! I can’t wait. Excited to hear the story and see the pics!


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

High Desert Elk said:


> TtT.
> 
> Full recap of the hunt coming, need to upload some video and pics of the hunt. Needless to say, nice ram down!


Well....

Can't you at least give us an appetizer?


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

Left Friday morning last week on the 30th and got set up for what would be planned to be for the next 7 days. An afternoon scouting/recon trip found two rams north of where we were staying and one fairly large ram to the south. The afternoon was windy that day, so I apologize for the shakiness of the video feed. Binos and a phoneskope can only do so much...


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

The next morning on Saturday, day before the hunt opened, we spotted one small ram and 4 ewes about a mile from camp. We also spotted 4 larger rams about 2 miles out and after a quick breakfast, we went to get a closer look at the large rams. We drove as far as we could and then put in a short hike to where we thought they should be. After walking over a little rise, or cresting a small ridge, we looked down into a draw and they were standing about 75 yds below us. Mind you, these sheep are pretty "tame" and don't get too excited when they see people until you really push them by hanging around for too long.

We watched them for about 15 minutes and then backed out. The daytime temps were in the upper 80's, so by late morning until early afternoon we found ourselves back at camp an in the shade or whatever coolest temps we could find.

My plan for Saturday evening was to go and try to locate the one I had seen Friday evening. The other hunter on this hunt was from Virginia and was being guided by the outfitter dad meet at the beginning of August. We saw him Saturday morning on our way back and they swung by around lunch to touch base with us so we didn't step on each other by going in the same area and chasing the same sheep. The ones they were after were much farther out so that didn't seem like it would be an issue.

These two rams were the largest of the 4 we spotted Saturday morning.


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## T-dubs-42 (Sep 8, 2015)

Love the look of that second ram


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

Saturday evening was pretty eventful by finding the ram from the evening before on Friday. Started by walking to the edge and looking up and down a bench before falling off down into the gorge. Saw a ewe that could've easily been shot with a bow at 30 yds and a group of 6 or 7 ewes and a small ram across from the draw where the large ram was at Friday at around 150 yds out.

Went to the next draw/canyon that feeds into the gorge and spotted these three rams, one of which was the one from Friday and the other two showed to be about the same size, on was more broomed on his right side and the left showed to be broke a little above where it should've been broomed off.

We watched these rams for about an hour and a half to two hours until dusk light started to set in. When we left, another 4th ram was up above them in the sage flats feeding to the south.


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## MadHunter (Nov 17, 2009)

Awesome pics and vids. Looks like you guys are having a blast. Keep the updates coming.


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

September 1st - opening day of the sheep hunt. We woke at 4:30 am to ensure we were in position to spot the sheep from the evening before and move to where we would be able to get a shot. We were in the general area waiting for it to get light enough to start glassing and spotted one lone ram in the direction the one the evening before was heading. Not too much later the one ewe with the group showed up, with another ram, and then the other two. They were right where they were supposed to be, to the south of where they were and heading in a NW direction.

We cut some distance (yes, the area is accessed by vehicles rather than walking as much which made this hunt perfect for a guy recovering from an pulmonary embolism) and parked where we had the evening before where we walked to the edge of a draw that held the sheep we watched. I was going to get up on a rise to spot the sheep one last time before getting dad into position and pretty much walked right up on them about 40 yds from me - they cut the distance much faster than I thought they would. I saw the tops of their horns and quickly got back to where dad was. We set up and watched them feed for awhile until one of the rams positioned himself for a shot.

The video is very amateur to say the least, but you get the idea of how this story will end...


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## MadHunter (Nov 17, 2009)

Wow! Can't wait to see pics. Congrats to your dad.

Edit: TOTP!!!!!!


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## stillhunterman (Feb 15, 2009)

Wow is right! So glad your dad is doing well and he scored on his hunt. Great looking ram! Congrats all around...


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

Man, what a cool experience to share with your dad!


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

The ram ran about 30 yards or so before going down with a high lung shot. Shot distance was around 75 yds and these sheep could easily have been shot with a bow by "stalking" in to 40 yds. He used a .25-06 with a 110 gr Accubond. As you can see in the video, I tried to pan over to get him in the frame again but he was already down by then.

Even though the hunt was over in less than an hour, it was a cool experience leading up to it, watching sheep from the perspective of filling a tag. 

This ram has 16" bases and was aged at 6 years old - so on the lower end of a class III ram. Dad's target was to get a good solid representative ram which he did. This guy was broke on his left side, making this side 4 inches shorter than the right. He also has a scar on the bridge of his nose which tells me he was a scrapper.

The other hunter watched the shot as they were coming over the ridge that dropped off into the small basin we were in. They drove up and helped carry the ram over to the truck so we could have an easier go at skinning for a full body life size mount. One of the guys with the other hunter was also some kind of an outdoor photographer that took a lot of pictures of the ram and of us with it. He will send those to us once the other hunter is done.


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## 3arabians (Dec 9, 2014)

Beautiful Ram! What an awesome time. Congrats to you guys!!! Thanks for doing such a great job of sharing also!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## AJ13 (Apr 28, 2015)

awesome Ram!!! Family hunting trips are the best memories!!!


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Congrats to your dad and the rest of you for sticking with him and getting it done. 

I have always said that the hunt is secondary to all the scouting a prep work that has to be done to make this kind of hunt successful. Usually there is no pressure on the scouting other than needing to get out and get it done and for most of us there is a lot more scouting than there is hunting, so that is the fun part.


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## Buckfinder (May 23, 2009)

Congrats!! What a great experience!


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

Awesome - congrats! Thanks for all the videos and pictures for the rest of us to see!


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## MadHunter (Nov 17, 2009)

That is an awesome RAM. The brooming on the left horn is awesome. Along with that scar on the bridge it shows this guy was a warrior and a credit to his species. He'll make a great mount for sure.

Thanks for sharing this experience with us. From the moment the tag was drawn most of us have been watching and waiting for this to come to fruition. You guys have a great ram and a lot of great memories and stories to tell around the campfire. I hope your dad recovers fully from his health issue.

Thanks for letting us follow it.


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

Sounds and looks like an incredible time was had by all of you throughout this process. Congrats, and thanks for letting us ride along!


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

Yep, fun taking everyone along for the ride. Quite the experience actually doing it rather than watching on t.v. 

Next year I will have a better idea of what to do early on and scout out some more areas...;-)


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## BGD (Mar 23, 2018)

Thanks for sharing all the pics, video, and the adventure. For many of us this is as close as we will ever get to it. Thanks for bringing us along on your adventure.


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