Pryor Sheep Hunt Update... 11/17/07

[vermonster13]

Well alright!

[Doug Campbell]

The rest of that day and the next couple we were hammered by winds and cold temps that drove every critter in the area into the deepest holes they could find.  Leo had headed back to the real world but Silas and I kept hammering it looking for a good ram.  We’d been better off taking a hint from the animals and holing up as the wind hit gusts over 60mph.  Tuesday was a bust as I don’t think we saw any rams.

Silas looking over some big windy country.
 

Even with the nasty weather blowing thru the Good Lord blessed us with some incredible sunrises and sunsets.
 
 

[Huntrdfk]

Alright Doug!    Looking forward to reading the rest of this one......


David

[drewsbow]

Way to go Doug :0) Nice pics            

[Doug Campbell]

Wednesday dawned cold but much more promising as about 3:00 AM the wind had calmed, we were out at daylight ready for more action.  About 10:00 we ran into Gary glassing a foursome of rams up toward Sikes Ridge.  He told us there had been five but the biggest had split from the group and headed south.  Well a couple of these rams were pretty good looking so that was all we needed to head off after the loner ram.  After hiking and glassing we finally located him a mile away just desending into a deep canyon to the East.  This is where all the previous miles paid off as I had a pretty good idea where he was going to be coming out of the canyon.  As soon as he went out of site we headed for what I hoped would be the rendezvous point.  

Here he is before dropping into the canyon  

Amazingly enough things worked out perfectly, I was ready as the ram was slowly browsing along passing at 15 yards.  As I watched him come I’d figured out this was the same ram I’d missed Monday morning and prepared to right that wrong if the opportunity presented itself.  Don’t ask why but when the ram stopped in an opening right in front of me something just didn’t feel right and I lowered my bow to watch him walk away….  

The rest of Wednesday and Thursday proved uneventful and it seemed that the rams were only making appearances every other day… Anybody see a pattern forming here.

[hormoan]

WOW awesome pic's and I love a great ending. Look's like this one is going to have one of those. I can only imagine the what if's, going through your head. When you watched him walk away. All things happen for the better, in that I do believe.    

                   Brent

[Roughcountry]

Keep it coming Doug, sure enjoying the pictures of the country as you go.  

[tippit]

Awesome my friend          

I sure wouldn't want you trailing me...Doc

[slayer1]

I've been waiting for this one for a while! I am glad it had a happy ending!

[IB]

Did ya bring out the RIBS ????    

Doc. N Robin ya ready for some FINE EATS    I'll Drive

[Doug Campbell]

Thanks guys, no ribs Buddy but I know where they are if your interested in retrieval  

Friday dawned warm and still, after coffee we headed out to check out an area Gary had seen rams the night before.  It wasn’t long till we spotted a large group of sheep climbing the cliffs to our level after watering in the Lake.  We were able to intercept them and get a good look.  

A poor picture cause it was still fairly dark AM and they were moving…  
 

Although a couple of the rams were decent I didn’t seen any shooters so we just watched them for a while.  It was clear the rut was heating up as the rams chased ewes and had several mock fights.  It was going to be cool when the real head butting got into gear.

[Danny Rowan]

Way to go Doug, cannot wait for the rest of the story and pics.

Danny

[Roughcountry]

Dang Vance, you got me drooling. I've had sheep ribs over a fire.

Doug, after 26 days hunting , you gotta be pretty dang fit. Tougher than twisted cougar sh--
poo   :D  

I'm with Tippet, wouldn't want you on my backtrail  

[Doug Campbell]

I’d been thinking about another trip out to where I’d seen a big herd of ewes just north of the State line so Si and I headed that way.  This ewe herd had been missing all week and I figured they were at the Eastern extreme of their area on the 400’ cliffs above the lake.

The band is at the right extreme of this picture.
 

As we hiked in sure enough we found them out grazing and napping on the 60º slope.  As we glassed from ¾ of a mile away we could tell there were at least a couple of rams in the band.  We moved over the ridge out of site and closed the distance till we could tell one of the rams was pretty decent.  Silas stayed back while I approached the herd and maneuvered close.  I recognized the biggest ram as the same one I’d missed on Monday then passed on Wednesday.  I started taking pictures and never intended to shoot till I looked down at my feet and there lay part of a small red stone arrowhead.  
 

Well when you’ve been immersed in archery as long as I have you have to take this as a sign you just can’t pass up… I had one Marty Horn stone point tipped arrow left in my quiver and out it came.  Just then the ram hit an opening at 15 yards and before I practically knew it the arrow was away.  The ram tore off with the rest of the band over the ridge into the next draw.  Silas and I were able to see him as his rear end started wobbling and he went down under a large Juniper.  We were elated but then he rose and went after the rest of the band as they moved off headed for Wyoming.  

I sure didn’t want him to go across into Wyoming so I made a circle and headed him off as he slowly fell behind the rest of the band.  This was a relief except he spooked and headed for the cliffs above the Lake again.  Amazingly he made the quarter mile to the top of the cliffs and I watched in horror as he went over the edge.

[steadman]

Incredible Doug! Way to go on a hard earned ram. Thanks for takeing the time for this story, I've really enjoyed it. Congrats on a trophy of a lifetime!!  

[swp]

Good thing you are wearing your Sitka Mountain Gear, I think your going to be doing some climbing!

[Shaun]

Its a "cliff hanger" for sure. Thanks for the ride so far. Looking forward to the thrilling conclusion.

[IB]

:eek:    :eek:  Hold up a second Bud, gotta check my Safety Harness.     I'm to close to the edge of my CHAIR on this un      

[Puma Tom]

Sounds like a terrific conclusion, to a great hunt.
 Good luck with the recovery of your hard earned ram, might get a bit hairy.

[Doug Campbell]

Talk about time to back up and punt…  I made the decision to make a fast round trip out to the truck and get a rifle, my pack frame and lots of rope to hopefully salvage my ram.  Silas stayed to watch where the ram had disappeared and reported seeing nothing when I got back.  I slipped out to the edge of the cliffs and noticed a small ledge that ran about 15’ below the rim. Below this there was a shear 200’ drop to another ledge then another 200’ drop to the water.  After thirty minutes of searching I was just sick and sure the ram had fallen.  If this was the case he was pretty much gone but I decided to make one last search to the north.  I couldn’t imagine him going back that direction but had looked everywhere else.  After a couple hundred yards I stepped onto a big rock to peer over the edge and there he lay tucked into a narrow corner.  It was pretty apparent this was his final resting place but I wasn’t taking any chances and shot him in the neck before climbing down as quickly as I could to get my hands on him, one kick and it could have been a 200’ fall, at least.  

To say I was elated is a huge understatement.  After all the highs and lows in the past two months you just can’t imagine what I was feeling finally running my hands thru the hair and over the horns of this ram….

The arrow had entered between the 1st and 2nd ribs, 8” up and angled forward to exit between the 6th and 7th ribs so I’m certain the rifle shot was un-necessary.  I know some folks will be pretty disappointed with me ending this story with a gunshot but like I said at the time I wasn’t taking any chances and was tickled to death being able to retrieve this beautiful ram.  

Here is a look at his final resting place.
 

He’s no monster but like I said I’m tickled with him and he’ll sure have a place of honor on my wall.
 

Thanks for going along on my hunt and I sure hope you enjoyed hearing about it as much as I enjoyed reliving it here.