wildwoody Report post Posted December 14, 2015 Living the dream.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
208muley Report post Posted December 15, 2015 Screw the score..... Shoot a look!!!! It's once in a lifetime and for the rest of your life you want him to have the look you want..... The score will fade over time and won't be discussed in a few years but the mount will last a lifetime!!!! I just got done helping a friend on a sheep hunt and the ram that was killed had the look!!!!!! And oh my did he have a score!!! So sometimes you get both!! Good luck and enjoy the whole experience!! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coues 'n' Sheep Report post Posted December 15, 2015 Enjoy your hunt! Sounds like you are doing fine! I know a few guys I would want with me if I had your tag. I would say shoot an old ram... nothing more cool to me than age rings and heavy overlay. Good Hunting! 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
40-year-AZ-hunter Report post Posted December 28, 2015 I thought I'd wrap this up. My wife and I spent 30 days out in 44BN, 23 days during December. Our main objective was to enjoy this sheep hunt. One fellow said "you're getting your moneys worth out of that tag". We looked at many sheep and took a bunch of pictures (with very limited photo equipment). Just as the hunt started, it ended with us having no idea how to field judge the score of these rams. I really tip my hat to the guys who can do it accurately. On December 25, we decided that it was risky to put off taking one much longer. While we had seen rams on most days, some were out of our capability to reach and successfully retrieve and twice during the season we had gone 3 days without seeing any rams. The weather was turning cold and very windy and the forecast was for more of the same. So on Christmas morning we spotted a group of 6 rams, some of which we had seen before, some not. It seemed like late in the season the rams would enter and leave different groups or wander off on their own. In spite of our limited ability to identify individual rams, we could see that was going on. It was howling wind so we just watched them all morning. About 11:30 we broke it off and went back to camp for lunch and let our 3 pet dogs out for a stroll. About 1:30 we returned and found them not far from where they were in the morning. After watching them for another 30 minutes or so, I decided to make a stalk on the oldest of the group. It was about 3/4 mile away and about 1/3 way up the face of a mountain. The wind was still blowing, altho not as hard so I wanted to get within 200 yards if possible. When I got there, there was too much vegetation in the way so I tried to get to the next small ridge about 125 yards away. When I got there, the two rams I was watching buggered and started running. I found a big rock and laid my coat over it for a rest and when the ram I had selected stopped at about 200 yards I pulled the trigger. He started running, but I knew it was a good hit. He stopped again about 30 yards further out and I was ready to shoot a second time, but he just fell down and expired. It was a good lung shot from the .257 Weatherby with 100gr Nosler Partition. As an aside, the rifle I chose to take hunting was left to me by my long-time hunting partner who passed away this past summer. He will be in the 150s with a bunch of deductions due to chunks out of his horns. I guess I could have killed as good a ram on the first day or many days thereafter, but the real objective after 51 applications was to hunt sheep. We might have stretched it out another few days, but I really did not want to go home with this tag in my pocket, so timing was important as the end of the month got closer. As a footnote, a good friend ( and I mean good, it's times like this when you really find out who your friends are ) from Kingman drove down the next morning with one of his protégées and helped my wife and I haul the ram off the mountain. Thanks so much Don and Laura! I've attached 3 pics, the first is the ram just before the stalk at about 3/4 mile thru the spotting scope. The second is my wife and I with the ram, and the third is Don, Laura and I with the ram. It seems a bit anti-climactic now that it's all over. No more anticipation every year of finally drawing a desert bighorn tag. 15 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trphyhntr Report post Posted December 28, 2015 nice ram. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Swivelhead Report post Posted December 28, 2015 Great looking ram, congrats. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZkiller Report post Posted December 28, 2015 Sweet! You left my ram there for me next year! Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arizona Griz Report post Posted December 29, 2015 A very nice ram. Congratulations. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wish2hunt Report post Posted December 29, 2015 Great ram congrats!!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kaffer62 Report post Posted December 29, 2015 Great Ram! Sounds like you had a great time. Nothing like being out there chasing sheep. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Old Buck Report post Posted December 29, 2015 Great ram, congratulations! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector Report post Posted December 29, 2015 Nice ram and way to enjoy the hunt. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Heat Report post Posted December 29, 2015 Great Job Bruce! Congratulations on your sheep hunt! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shedhunteraz Report post Posted December 29, 2015 Well thanks for the update and what a great story. Sounds like you had the hunt of a lifetime. You will always have the memories. Huge congrats to you and your wife for getting to do what so many of us wish we could. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chris Report post Posted December 29, 2015 Congrats on getting and fulfilling the tag. Priceless. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
