So you want to hunt sheep? Part 8 – Full Draw

Kyle Sinclair-Smith

Back at camp after day one, we were quick to get a fire going and a stiff drink poured. Our spirits were still high after the day’s events; even the soggy sandwiches couldn’t lower our spirits. We spent a good couple hours sitting around the fire discussing the should have’s, the would have’s and the could have’s, hind sight is always 20/20. The conclusion that we came to is that the rams were still on the mountain, we were feeling good, and tomorrow was a new day. After a big first day, it didn’t take us long to fall asleep. No matter how few hours of sleep you get on the mountain, somehow you always seem to wake up fully rested; my theory is the fresh mountain air along with your surroundings puts you into a deep slumber.

Right at 4:00 am my alarm went off. Even though the anticipation was high, I managed to sleep right to the point of it going off. This morning we were able to get packed up and ready a little quicker. Before we came off the mountain the night before, we elected to stash our bows, spotting scope, clothing, full water bottles and uneaten food. There was no point in hauling this all back to camp for the night, just to pack it back up in the morning. The other thing we had going for us is we knew where we left the rams and we had a degree of certainty that they would be fairly close when we returned this morning. This was one of the questions that I had asked a few different friends during my research and learning period. The general consensus was that if you put rams to bed that weren’t spooked or agitated, they would probably be within a couple hundred yards the next morning.

The hike up this morning was going faster than yesterday. Mostly because we left about 20 pounds of gear on the mountain the night before, but also because we knew there was a legal ram up top. We got to our gear stash in just over an hour. With about 45 minutes left until legal shooting light, we packed up our gear for the day and had a quick snack. We didn’t want to rush up in the dark in case the rams were out in the open grazing. As light started to break the horizon, we started glassing the open ridges looking for black shapes on the open slopes. By the time legal shooting light came around, we had determined that the band of rams was not out in the open. We didn’t expect them to be, but we didn’t want to chance it. From our gear stash, it would only take us about 15 minutes to get to our glassing spot where we left the rams from the night before. As we got close, we dropped all our gear, grabbed our glass, and slowly snuck up to our perch. 

Within 30 seconds we had eyes on the rams and they had hardly moved at all from last night. The bad part was that they did move a little bit. They moved on to a little grass covered bench that has a sheer 100ft cliff drop on 3 sides, and the 4th side, the one they came down, was not fit for a man. This was a state of mixed emotions. Here we had a band of rams about 300 yards away and one ram was legal; this same band of rams was inaccessible to hunt due to their location. I had to give them props though, they did pick the ideal spot to protect themselves. We could tell that for the time being, we were the only ones up on this side of the mountain so far. We got the rest of our gear up to our glassing spot as we figured it would be a long day of watching sheep. Our glassing spot was ideal, we could see the rams and watch them from a safe distance, and we could see most of the trails coming up the mountain to watch for other hunters coming up. Since we were bowhunting, we wanted to keep an eye on the trails coming up the mountain especially for rifle hunters since they could end this hunt in a hurry. 

For the most part, the morning was pretty uneventful. The rams would feed for a bit, then they would bed down for a bit and then go back to feeding. There was a couple of times that we got really excited because it looked as if they were going to leave their perch of safety, the excitement was short lived as they turned around and bedded. We had discussed a couple of times whether we should move or not and get into a closer position. Now would be the perfect time as they are preoccupied either eating or sleeping, and we could take our time moving in. The problem was, there was two ways they could leave their perch. Each of the ways would lead them to very different areas so there really wasn’t any way we could setup and cover off both routes. Long after this day, I was telling a friend the story and he said that unless they are pushed, they will back track on how they got in there. I wish I would have known that, because that is exactly what they did.

Just prior to noon, right as I was in the middle of building my sandwich masterpiece, one ram decided it was time to leave his ledge of safety. All it takes in one, I can now attest that all of the sayings about sheep following each other are completely true. Once that single ram started to climb the face off the ledge, the rest were quick to follow. It was about that time pure panic set in. The sheep were on the move, and I had my entire backpack spread across the mountain. I kept a sharp eye on the sheep as I was tossing everything into my bag without any sort of rhyme or reason. By the time I got packed up, I had a pretty good idea where the sheep were going and were I needed to be. The band looked as if they are going to back track their path from yesterday when we spooked them. All we had to do was stick to the trees, drop down the ridge a couple of hundred yards, and then wait for them to walk right past us. It was a solid plan. 

We spared no time in kicking this plan into over drive. We made it to the trees without being spotted and began picking our way down toward our destination. Every once in a while, the trees would open up and we could see the rams slowly working towards us. Things were going much better than anticipated as they were not moving fast, but we were. We made it to our planned spot and the rams were still a good two hundred yards away. It took us another five minutes to get our gear sorted, all the leaves brushed away and an arrow nocked. Shortly after we got all setup, the sheep disappeared from our view. This was expected, as they worked towards us, a small cliff and roll in the slope would take them out of site. The concerning part was, after an hour of waiting, they still hadn’t surfaced. We made the decision to pack up only the essentials and slowly move downhill to see if we could get eyes on them. We grabbed one liter of water, a small snack, binoculars, range finder, and the bows. We knew that the rams were close, like with in a hundred yards close, so we were sure to make sure we were careful. Each movement was pre planned and each step precise. With being so close, any noise could have this mountain side erupting with sheep. We were about thirty yards downhill and a ram became visible. He was about 70 yards away, facing away from us and grazing. We decided to continue moving down as we were in no danger of him spotting us. We continued picking our way through the sparse trees getting closer and closer to the cliff band. We would move a couple of yards and then look around very carefully to ensure we weren’t overlooking something. We got to 15 yards from the cliff and that is when we started spotting curls. The rams had moved over to the edge of the trees that we were working down and bedded right below a 20 foot cliff. We were in a good spot but we could only see the top of the heads of a couple rams. Over the next 45 minutes, we moved another 5 yards until the majority of the rams became visible. My heart started racing as the rams were now between 20 and 50 yards, all bedded and completely unaware of our presence. Ever so carefully I started glassing the rams looking for the legal ram. At this point, I could see 11 rams, but I couldn’t see the legal ram. I figured he was more so directly below us and not off to the side where the other rams were. There was no way that I could move lower to try and get eyes on him; we just had to wait. The wind was perfect so we were comfortable with our plan. Sit here ready, and wait for the rams to naturally move around. Thirty minutes into our wait, we heard rocks rolling below us so we knew there was movement. A few seconds later, two small rams emerged feeding over to the other bedded rams. This got me excited as I anticipated more rams would start stirring and moving from bed to bed. Not long after that, a third ram appeared. It was him, it was the legal ram and he was only 20 yards from me. At this point, everything but his head was covered and I had no shot. He moved more into view, he was joined by a small ram that gave him protection from a shot. The rams slowly moved around, every time a shot opportunity would open up, it would quickly vanish due to another ram either in front of him or behind him. He then took a few steps and opened up, no rams around, quartering away, and standing at 35 yards. I got ready and started the process of drawing back. Just as I was about a ¼ of the way drawn back, the ram spun a ¼ circle and laid down. I slowly and very cautiously let my bow down. Luckily, I was able to do this undetected. My head was going a mile a minute and I was shaking violently. The legal ram laying down was a blessing in disguise. I had to compose myself because I had ram fever and in a bad way. All the rams were bedded with the exception of two small banana heads about 80 yards away and they were grazing. I took deep breaths, controlled the exhale and slowly started to calm down. It took me about 5 minutes to stop shaking like a leaf in the wind. So, at this point, I had eyes on the legal ram and he was bedded quartering hard towards me. There was no opportunity for a shot like this. I was on my knees facing uphill with my bow in my hand and my release on the string. I was prepared to sit like this until he stood up. It wasn’t an overly comfortable position but I was committed to not moving. Not ten minutes later, the legal ram took his stretched out back leg and tucked it under his body. This told me that he was getting ready to stand. As he made the movement to start standing I came back to full draw and anchored solid. I’m now a full draw, anchored, and I have my 30 yard pin sitting a touch high on where I want to hit. The ram is now standing and still quartering hard towards me with no shot. He stood there just looking around for a few seconds and then he started to turn. In a single and fluid motion, the ram went from quartering hard towards me, to facing straight away from me. Now I had a decision to make. I had a legal ram at 35 yards, facing straight away from me, a clear shot with no other rams obstructing him, and my 30 yard pin settled right where his turd cutter was; shoot or pass. I held the shot hoping that he might turn, I held as long as I could and then slowly let down. To me, this was not a shot I was willing to take. I would wait him out and hope for a better shot angle. Within a few minutes of letting down, the ram slowly walked straight away from me following the cliff ledge around the corner. The rest of the band slowly followed him and soon we were sitting there tucked in the trees sheepless. This was a defeating moment for me. The second time in two days that I had been in bow range on a legal ram and no shots fired. I don’t regret the decision that I made, I just wish that he had given me an angle to take a shot. On the plus side, the rams didn’t spook and they had no idea that we were even there. We hiked back up the ridge to get a better vantage to glass the mountain from, I wanted to get eyes on them before it got dark. By the time we got to our glassing spot, the rams had already taken up fortress on their grass bench surrounded by cliffs. It was late in the afternoon, the rams were inaccessible, so we made the decision to head back to camp. Given how the rams stayed bedded there the day before until dark, we were confident they would do the same. We were somewhat keen on getting back to camp, having a good meal and turning in early. We were heading over to stash our gear again when my buddy stepped on a loose rock and it rolled out from under him. I watched it all go down and his knee gave out like a cheap lawn chair. Right away I knew this wasn’t good. It even looked painful from where I was. I got over to him and he was in a lot of pain. We got his pack off and rolled his pants leg up, the knee was already starting to swell. Something wasn’t right. We decided we would take all the gear down to camp incase his condition didn’t improve over night. The hike to camp should have taken us 30 minutes, it took us almost an hour and a half. We got back to camp and put some cold creek water on the knee to help the swelling and took an above average dose of anti-inflammatory meds. We decided that we would wake up in the morning and make the call to keep hunting, or head out and get his knee looked at. Deep down inside I already knew what the plan was. A knee doesn’t swell up that big that fast and you’re good to go by morning. By the time the morning rolled around, he could barely put any weight on his leg. We packed up camp, and started the hike out. What was supposed to be a five day hunt got cut short after two days of hunting. The back country isn’t a place that you want to mess around with injuries and we were both comfortable with the decision that we were making. This might have been the end of the trip, but it sure wasn’t the end of my sheep season.