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Author Topic: Scoutin' for sheep! 7-29-07 Where'd they go?  (Read 2412 times)

Offline Todd Brickel

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Re: Scoutin' for sheep! 7-29-07 Where'd they go?
« Reply #40 on: June 21, 2007, 11:06:00 AM »
Good Luck on your hunt Elksong - savor every moment.  I had a tag last year in S-12 and even though I didn't fill, it was by far the very best hunt of my life!  What unit are you in, 44?

SteveO, I haven't heard from you on your hunt in S-12, do you need info?

Ramhunter
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Offline Steve O

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Re: Scoutin' for sheep! 7-29-07 Where'd they go?
« Reply #41 on: June 21, 2007, 01:17:00 PM »
Heck yes I need info! PM on the way!
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Offline Elksong@work

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Re: Scoutin' for sheep! 7-29-07 Where'd they go?
« Reply #42 on: June 27, 2007, 05:36:00 PM »
Well I ended up gettin' some sort of bug this last weekend and didn't get to go scouting. I did however have a little time this morning to take a quick drive up to have a look around.  What I saw blew me away. I have been looking at the higher elevations the last couple of times I have been out,and that is where I started today also.  After I glassed the higher elevations I went for a drive into a couple of ther spots that I had not looked into yet.  What I saw got me pretty excited!
 
 
This big old dude was right on the asphalt!
 
What an awesome sight they were!  I bet I won't find them down by the roads in September! Not sure I would want to anyway.
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Offline steadman

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Re: Scoutin' for sheep! 7-29-07 Where'd they go?
« Reply #43 on: June 27, 2007, 05:40:00 PM »
That is awesome!! That's enough to get a guy fired up!!I miss CO. Thanks for the pics and good luck!!
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" Just concentrate and don't freak out next time" my son Tyler(age 7) giving advise after watching me miss a big mulie.

Offline Jeff Holchin

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Re: Scoutin' for sheep! 7-29-07 Where'd they go?
« Reply #44 on: June 27, 2007, 06:20:00 PM »
You hit the jackpot!  They were hiding in plain site!  Nice photos.

Don't mean to brag......but I got a date with Janet George on Monday for the sheep count.  And I'm gonna hike up and camp out saturday night at my planned bivy camp location, and test my legs and lungs in the high country.  Will take some photos and share next week.
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"He has also made me as a select arrow, He has hidden me in His quiver." - Isaiah 49:2

Offline W.Tim

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Re: Scoutin' for sheep! 7-29-07 Where'd they go?
« Reply #45 on: June 27, 2007, 06:22:00 PM »
Jeff, looking foward to the pic's
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Offline Elksong@work

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Re: Scoutin' for sheep! 7-29-07 Where'd they go?
« Reply #46 on: June 27, 2007, 06:32:00 PM »
Jeff, good luck!  I hope you have a great time and look forwardto the pic's!
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Offline Elksong

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Re: Scoutin' for sheep! 7-29-07 Where'd they go?
« Reply #47 on: June 28, 2007, 10:38:00 PM »
I sent my pic's to the The DOW today along with some of my notes - Head count of sheep and location and time seen.  They seemed pretty happy about it and gave me some good info on where the sheep could be in Sept.
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What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to man. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the children of the earth

Offline geno

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Re: Scoutin' for sheep! 7-29-07 Where'd they go?
« Reply #48 on: June 28, 2007, 11:18:00 PM »
Elksong,
Are you that close to these sheep or is your camera just that good? Those pics are like you are in a petting zoo.We all know how thing change come huntin season    :pray:  Best of luck
G
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"Learning how to shoot a bow is easy if you learn the right way"..Howard Hill

Offline Shell

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Re: Scoutin' for sheep! 7-29-07 Where'd they go?
« Reply #49 on: June 28, 2007, 11:31:00 PM »
Now that is a sight to see!! Beautiful!!
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Offline Elksong

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Re: Scoutin' for sheep! 7-29-07 Where'd they go?
« Reply #50 on: June 29, 2007, 12:41:00 AM »
I'm that close geno!  I was less than 20 yards.
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What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to man. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the children of the earth

Offline Elksong

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Re: Scoutin' for sheep! 7-29-07 Where'd they go?
« Reply #51 on: July 01, 2007, 04:27:00 PM »
It was another amazing morning.  Right off the bat I jumped a good sized bear, but he wasn't interested in being "america's next top model" and I could not get a pic of him.  I also saw several turkeys at first light.
 
There were also Alot of grouse, I'm hoping they stay around.
 
I also found more sheep!  I found two 3/4 curl rams in the  red and white cliffs were I saw the very first ram of the year.  They were bedded and seemed content to survey their kingdom. I watched they for around 30 min. then moved on.  Then I ran into this group.
 
 
 
There were three that were real nice sheep and three younger ones. I also saw another full curl that I couldn't get a picture of. So 9 rams today.  Things look good so far!
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What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to man. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the children of the earth

Offline Elksong

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Re: Scoutin' for sheep! 7-29-07 Where'd they go?
« Reply #52 on: July 01, 2007, 04:29:00 PM »
It is always a treat to spend time in the high country.  I feel blessed every time I get to go.
 
 
 
 
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What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to man. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the children of the earth

Offline Elksong

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Re: Scoutin' for sheep! 7-29-07 Where'd they go?
« Reply #53 on: July 01, 2007, 04:32:00 PM »
The high country -
 
And the low country -
 
I have seen sheep in both.  It will be interesting to see if they stay put or really change things up before Sept.
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What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to man. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the children of the earth

Offline W.Tim

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Re: Scoutin' for sheep! 7-29-07 Where'd they go?
« Reply #54 on: July 01, 2007, 05:04:00 PM »
GREAT PIC'S  :thumbsup:    :notworthy:
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Offline Elksong

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Re: Scoutin' for sheep! 7-29-07 Where'd they go?
« Reply #55 on: July 09, 2007, 10:58:00 PM »
ttt
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What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to man. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the children of the earth

Offline Jack Shanks

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Re: Scoutin' for sheep! 7-29-07 Where'd they go?
« Reply #56 on: July 10, 2007, 06:46:00 AM »
Jason,

 Great pictures, thanks for the updates. They inspire me to keep up the training.
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Jack Shanks

Offline Jeff Holchin

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Re: Scoutin' for sheep! 7-29-07 Where'd they go?
« Reply #57 on: July 10, 2007, 10:59:00 AM »
I'm finally back to a computer, after the Colorado scouting trip and family vacation.  I have some photos to share, but I wish my camera was of better quality.  Elksong's photos are very good and a new digital camera is on my "must have" list for the hunt.

I spent 3 full days exploring Colorado's sheep unit S32, meeting some experienced sheep bowhunters, and testing myself and my equipment.  I rented a Jeep 4x4, but still couldn't access some areas due to very rough roads....

 

This area is much different that Elksong's area, with a fair amount of snowpack remaining from the winter...

 

I found that small mule deer rack while hiking on the first day.  My plan was to take it easy the first day and just drive around, since I live at about 1000 ft. and I was worried about altitude sickness in the 11,000 to 12,000 ft. mountains.  However, I spotted a large herd of elk and some mule deer bucks in this basin, and I couldn't resist hiking in for a closer look.....

 

The hills grew steeper and steeper...

 

About 5 hours later I stumbled back to the Jeep, not feeling so good.  I didn't see any sheep but the scenery was great.  I drove around some areas of interest and saw a nice brown-phase bear and a mountain goat.  I headed up a very rough jeep trail for the evening, planning to glass a mountain and camp out for the night.  My friend Jeff Davis was nice enough to lend me camping gear, but it took all I had to set up the tent and crawl into the sleeping bag.  My head was pounding and I didn't eat because I didn't think any food would stay down.
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"He has also made me as a select arrow, He has hidden me in His quiver." - Isaiah 49:2

Offline Jeff Holchin

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Re: Scoutin' for sheep! 7-29-07 Where'd they go?
« Reply #58 on: July 10, 2007, 11:10:00 AM »
After a long night, I awoke felling slightly better but not really wanting to climb the nearby mountain for sheep.  I had seen no sheep the prior day and was a little discouraged.  Finally I got going and was rewarded with the sight of 4 young rams skylined on the ridge I was headed for, plus 6 bull elk on another ridge.  This mountain didn't have much cover, but by noon I had spotted 19 rams on it......

 

I was pretty happy to get within 100 yards of 15 of those rams - 2 in one group and 13 in another group, but getting much closer would be tough.  There were some rock outcrops that could provide some cover, but I really need to practice the extremely steep shots with my recurve.  I was happy with the new boots I was wearing, but my scope and binos were disappointing.

I spent Sunday afternoon exploring the jeep trails in another part of the unit, visiting with the Renfros, and relaxing at Jeff's house in Denver.  Jeff is a whitetail fanatic and we spent hours talking about them and looking at his mounts and shed antlers, plus his self bow collection.  I needed a little rest before meeting Janet George the next morning at 5:30 am for the sheep count.
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"He has also made me as a select arrow, He has hidden me in His quiver." - Isaiah 49:2

Offline Jeff Holchin

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Re: Scoutin' for sheep! 7-29-07 Where'd they go?
« Reply #59 on: July 10, 2007, 11:30:00 AM »
I felt great when I finally met Janet at the trailhead, pretty much recovered from the altitude effects on my body.  Over the next 9 hours we hiked, saw sheep and other animals, looked at good spots to hunt including where Janet herself had killed sheep previously, and traded bowhunting stories.  It is fun to meet and spend time with serious traditional bowhunters like Janet.  Luckily she had mercy on me and let me stop and rest often......

 

Janet knows about every foot of this unit and many of the sheep, so it was no surprise that we saw sheep right away.  There were 5 rams in one group and 6 in another, and it was fun to watch their behavior and interaction.  I finally realized how poor my optics were after looking through her Sworo scope and binos - everything was crystal clear in her binos especially.  I decided I must at least get some good binos.

She spotted 3 bedded rams from at least 1/2 mile away, from the ridge to the left of her in this photo......
 

We circled the basin and eventually stood less that 100 yards above them - sitting ducks with a rifle but untouchable with my recurve.

Janet also pointed out something that was not obvious in this photo but could be seen from the saddle over this ridge.....a sheep fence built by native americans to funnel the driven sheep through a saddle and into range of archers...

 

I was thrilled to know that I'll be bowhunting sheep on the same mountain as the native americans had done for many years prior.  What I'd give to go back in time and watch those sheep hunts!

We climbed higher and higher, finally ending slightly above 13,000 ft., and yes, we climbed that "hill" behind me....

 

Overall I think my physical preparation is working but I need to step it up a notch or two.  We ended the day seeing 15 rams and not a single ewe.  Just my kind of luck, I finally got a bighorn ewe tag, and the rams were in full view and the ewes had disappeared.  Janet explained that the ewes have their lambs hidden in the timber but will be out on the slopes soon.  I sure hope so!  I'll be back in September to find out.
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"He has also made me as a select arrow, He has hidden me in His quiver." - Isaiah 49:2
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