got my bighorn!

joebobhunter4

By joebobhunter4
in Big Game & Exotics

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joebobhunter4 10-Pointer

joebobhunter4

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sorry for the long story but i was excited and had to type it all

well the 14th of september me and my friend set off on our what we call our "antelope and muley expedition" but this year i was fortunate enough to draw a sheep tag so we had limited time to hunt antelope and muleys. we stayed just north of grassy butte ND.

so first off we started muley hunting that morning and seen a few but nothing to do anything with and thats about how the whole weekend and week went... i did get lucky at a waterhole and got a nice 13-14" goat. then once we got him all cut up and in the freezer we met my grandpa and dad in dickinson and stayed there for the night. the plan was to go antelope hunting in the morning and be back for the meeting which we were to attend for the sheep hunt at 2. so to my buddies luck.... he got a 9" goat off the road in the ditch around 10:45ish i think it was. lol... which yes is legal to shoot them in the ditches or road if the land on the side is not posted.

so we got him all cut up and in the cooler and headed to dickinson for the meeting.

so the meeting lasted for about an hour and a half which it was pretty interesting, learned a lot of things i didnt know about sheep. and seen the sheep that was killed in december by a female mountain lion and her kitten. which would have been a state record if someone has shot it. and the sheep biologist guy tought us what we had to do when we got our sheep. like we had to swab its throat for a certain disease they get and weigh them and all that stuff... so after the meeting we went and scouted at the place we had planned to hunt in the morning. when we got there we were surprised to see 3 sheep on the other side of the butte which we planned to hunt (which 1 of them is what i went on and shot eventually) but we got out of there as fast as we could so we didnt spook them.

so friday morning we wake up to it pouring... of course nobody wanted to go out but i did... so we went out almost went off the road a few times becuase the clay stuff we had to drive on was horrible from the rain... so we wakled up to the hill which seemed like forever. because we had to walk about 3 miles to it because we couldnt drive any further because of the rain. when we finaly got there we were already soaked but we all sat there trying to find some sheep. about an hour into it my buddy fell asleep so i got bored and started walkin around the butte to see if i could see anything on the other side. when i came around the corner i seen a white butt about 300 yards away. my first intinct... o its just a mule deer. but then 2 more butts showed up. so i quick grabbed my binoc's up and looked. sheep! i quick turn to sneak to cover then out of nowhere to my left. the big guy we had seen in the summer. about 400 yards away stood high on a cliff looking around. i just dropped and laid there. watching in amazement he started walking kind of downhill and into some evergreens and vanished confused.gif

of course they dont get that big by being dumb... so i snuck back to tell them there were sheep in the other side of the butte. so we watched the 3 for a while and they bedded down. after a while we were all freezing so i said well you guys watch the sheep and ill go get some food and drinks. so i went to go get drinks and i came back... which took about an hour and half from the long walk. when i get back my buddy and my granpda are both sleeping. i wake them up and say. where are the sheep? they both look at eachother and go i dont know... so there kinda went that day... so after a few more hours we left and headed back to camp. we woke up saturday morning to still crappy roads but got a little further this time but still had a long long walk... as we were wakling up to our spot i spotted 3 sheep on the cliff. i told everyone to get down and after a while the sheep walked over the other side. so to make this day short... we sat for like 12 hours and seen nothing after that. now sunday. woke up to a nice blue sky morning and could drive as far as we wanted. but still parked about a mile away to not spook any sheep. so we get up there and we heard a shot... which sounded like a big gun. i just thought... crap the only other guy in the unit probably just shot at the sheep and there gone now... (because only 6 tags were issued this year in north dakota, and my unit was the only one with 2 hunters). so i laid down and tried to sleep and my buddy was already sleeping again lol. so i wake up to my dad saying KYLE KYLE!!! in a hard whisper. "grab your gun and range finder real slow and come over here". so i start reaching for my gun and i hear. NO STOP! just dont move there to far. so i get stuck laying there for a good 15 minutes as the sheep slowly but surely come down the butte. so i slowly grabbed my gun and range finder and brought it to the edge of the evergreens we were hiding in to get ready to shoot. my buddy was laying in the open and had to lay there for about 30 mins before then went down a little hill and we had him roll over to us lol. so when they were down the hill i grabbed a backpack to rest my gun on and we waited... and waited. and waited... finally we see on looking over the hill right at us... this was about say 10 o clock... my dad had spotted them at about 9. anyways they would take turns looking over the hill to make sure of no danger... and would go back down. they did this for about 3 hours or so. finally all 3 were on top... this was about 230 yards away... i got ready to shoot but i could tell which one was bigger blush.gif there was 2 nice ones and a little guy. so i got stuck deciding and by the time i did they went back down the hill again but kept on going... everyone just thought... well there they go we aint gonna see them again... so about 30 minutes later my grandpa says. LOOK DOWN BELOW US! all 3 were out there in the open about 180 yards away. i quick switch positions and get the gun on 1. they both were standing by eachother now so i could see which one was bigger. when i did decide they were both in line with eachother so i couldnt take a shot or i would have hit both of them... finally the one stepped out. BOOM! my grandpa, dad, and my friend all said at the same time. which one are you shooting at!!! BOOM! BOOM! i said. that 1. which was now laying on the ground. that was the coolest moment i think ive ever had hunting in my life... everyone jumping around screaming and hugging eachother. well about 5 minutes later we started our way down. of course me running. down like straight cliffs and straight up. they were all yelling at me to slow down and not get hurt. i didnt care i was bolting to the sheep. but the time i got to it i looked back and the rest of them werent even half ways there yet. i was the proudest kid in the world when i had his huge horns in my hands grin.gif

while i was inspecting it there was no need for a 2nd and 3rd shot... the first shot had went thru both lungs... and it was just wobbling so i shot him again and it just stood there. and my 3rd shot i shot as he was falling lol. like my grandpa always said though... you can only kill an animal once... so i kept shootin til he was down... well we had the biologist come and plug his horn and then he was officially mine! well sorry again for the long story i was just excited and had to type it all and finally here are the pictures!!!

Picture097-1.jpg

Picture098-1.jpg

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and here is my antelope

Picture028.jpg

and heres my buddies and mine together

Picture167.jpg

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Guest Colorado Bob

Guest Colorado Bob

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Posted

Re: got my bighorn!

joebob------Are you the same ND hunter, who posted a couple photos of bighorns asking what they would score this past summer? I think you are. Pretty sure this ram was one of those you scouted all summmer. Conglads on a job well done & welcome to the sheep hunting society. Sheep hunting is an addiction & it's only cure is advancing age.

A couple of question---Is that a Remington 700 ? What caliber & type of bullet did you use?

I understand on the taking an extra shot. I hit my ram @ 161 yards with a 180 grain bullet out of my 30/06. He just stood there---like nothing was wrong. I put another just behind the shoulder about 3" from htre first round. His legs buckled after that.

What did the game dept age him at? 5 or 6 year old? How big were the bases?

He's a good ram & you should be proud. I could feel your excitement thru your retale of the hunt.

Conglads, my man---CB grin.gifgrin.gifgrin.gif

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joebobhunter4 10-Pointer

joebobhunter4

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Re: got my bighorn!

[ QUOTE ]

joebob------Are you the same ND hunter, who posted a couple photos of bighorns asking what they would score this past summer? I think you are. Pretty sure this ram was one of those you scouted all summmer. Conglads on a job well done & welcome to the sheep hunting society. Sheep hunting is an addiction & it's only cure is advancing age.

A couple of question---Is that a Remington 700 ? What caliber & type of bullet did you use?

I understand on the taking an extra shot. I hit my ram @ 161 yards with a 180 grain bullet out of my 30/06. He just stood there---like nothing was wrong. I put another just behind the shoulder about 3" from htre first round. His legs buckled after that.

What did the game dept age him at? 5 or 6 year old? How big were the bases?

He's a good ram & you should be proud. I could feel your excitement thru your retale of the hunt.

Conglads, my man---CB grin.gifgrin.gifgrin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

yes i had posted pics asking the age and stuff. the one i was asking was 10 1/2 years old and would have scored in the 160's the biologist said. this one that i got ages 6 1/2 (youngest of all the ones that were shot so far) but had the biggest bases of them all. 14 1/2" bases.

my gun was a 25-06 i think the grain were 117? or something like that... not a real heavy bullet... but i mean... a 200-300 pound animal aint gonna drop with that low of a caliber but it will kill it. i just kept shooting because i wanted him down lol.

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Guest Colorado Bob

Guest Colorado Bob

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Re: got my bighorn!

Joebob---------Again conglads on the ram. I was thinking he was one of the one's in the earlier photos from the summer. Also, I see he has an ear tag-----was he released by the game dept there or was he trapped by them at the site & tagged then? Just curious---I'm sure the game dept. has his history-----That would be pretty interesting. CB

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