Western Arizona Desert Sheep Adventure...

Buxndiverdux

Old Mossy Horns
Not many hunters here in this state have one of those trophies. Notice how good of shape everyone is in. My buddy at 64 just finished his Slam with a Dall. He paid an extra guide to carry his pack due to his knees. You worked for that trophy.
I'm 51. The ages in that picture are 22, 40, 28, 37. Definitely helps to be in shape. I've been in the gym lifting 2 days per week (for the last 3 years) and once I drew the elk tag I added 2 more days of cardio. I weigh the exact same as I did when I got married at 28 years old. Being in decent shape is a priority for me, just to be healthy. I do tend to be more focused on it with a strenuous hunt on the schedule.

This sheep area was a lot more accessible that you would imagine. The mining industry of yesteryear cut roads all over the place in western Arizona. All of these roads are navigable by UTV, ATV, and a truck if you have no care in the world for the body, paint, or condition. The sheep hunt wasn't as much walking as the elk hunt. These sheep find shade and don't move around a whole lot. Their rut is in the summer, so this time of year they are looking for food, water and rest. Those elk were on a mission every day traveling miles up nasty stuff. The elk hunt was much more difficult from day to day basis.

When we did find a sheep that needed a closer look, the climb was every bit as difficult as the elk hunt, especially considering navigating the rock/marbles on a side hill. Both areas equally as steep in places, but the desert was tougher to navigate due to all the rocks, shale slides and cactus to avoid.

So yes... I did work for it. Months of planning, 2-4 days per week in the gym, range time, scouring maps, calculating statistics from game and fish. In the end, I still have to give all the credit to the guys that helped me. They scout these sheep year round on the weekends for fun. They participate in all the habitat and water catchment improvements in sheep country. They are the reason I got the quality of sheep I got. I don't have enough experience to judge them accurately.

A friend asked me if I could have done it DIY. I absolutely could have. It would have been a lot more logistics planning, but I would have shot a pretty good ram I think. But no way would I have known what I was looking at when I pulled the trigger. Which is precisely why I recruited some help that does know what to shoot.

The bolded statement above. "These sheep find shade and don't move around a whole lot." This was something I learned pretty quick, which is what made this hunt challenging. We had to pick apart every nook and cranny, to find them. Many times they were concentrated in areas you couldn't see from a trail. If there was a hidden pocket, they were in it somewhere. And it wasn't a coincidence that the older rams were in these hard to find areas. Most people never look, because it's a grind to get up there, and easier to search out the next opening in the flat land.
 

jug

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Very cool hunt .
Probably the best hunting story I have ever read. Congrats again.
I had to show my wife who don't give crap about hunting but she was impressed.
 

Buxndiverdux

Old Mossy Horns
Got my official mandatory check in, horn plug and green scores from Arizona Game and Fish.
They obviously have the gross and net reversed, but you get the idea.
96Lfd4X.jpg

The horn plug is what makes it legal to possess. Neat data. State, tag #, year.
GJtTB4q.jpg
 

kilerhamilton

Old Mossy Horns
Congrats man. To nerd out a bit. Run us through some rifle and caliber info. What yardage was the poke? How did you practice for that weather and angle.. Data on the rifle and situation. Was the hunt a lottery? Do you put in for wild tags yearly?

Cheers
 

Firedog

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Congrats..sounds like a great time. on the white board. how is the Net higher than the gross.. assume just written backwards?
 

Buxndiverdux

Old Mossy Horns
Congrats man. To nerd out a bit. Run us through some rifle and caliber info. What yardage was the poke? How did you practice for that weather and angle.. Data on the rifle and situation. Was the hunt a lottery? Do you put in for wild tags yearly?

Cheers
Here is some rifle info from another thread in Reloading Forum.

It’s a custom .300 Win Mag throated chamber for the 215 Berger. 74grs RL26, 215M, ADG brass running at a 3021 average with ES of 8-9.Defiance Deviant Hunter with Wyatt’s Extended Box, Bartlein 3B Fluted 26”, Trigger Tech Special, Manners EH1 Adjustable Carbon with Lite fill. Pillar Bedded with Marine Tex. Night Force ATACR 5x25. It’s been a fun project.
Built it for a AZ Elk tag I’m gonna draw sometime in the next decade. I hope.

Shot was 134 yards. Not much to figure for angle since it was so close. Rangefinders do it anyway. My tag was a draw tag. It's available for anyone that wants to apply. Odds of drawing are stupid like ~ .002 %. It is the only way I'd ever be able to hunt sheep. You can also get sheep tags via auction (usually north of $250K) or raffle. Almost every state with sheep has a draw, auction and raffle tags for fund raising.
 

wolfpacker

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Bighorn Sheep are majestic animals. The sheep that you see in my avatar are preferred by many that like domestic livestock when the co eds aren’t cooperating. 🤣


Sorry, meant he is as big as that OJ sheep. Was trying to congratulate you and commend your avatar in same post.
 

Raging Bull

Four Pointer
I realize this may be a dumb question, but you mentioned the tags can be bought in auction for as high as 250k. Does that mean you could have auctioned off your tag instead of going on the hunt? Or are the auctioned tags done by the state or an organization?
 

Buxndiverdux

Old Mossy Horns
I realize this may be a dumb question, but you mentioned the tags can be bought in auction for as high as 250k. Does that mean you could have auctioned off your tag instead of going on the hunt? Or are the auctioned tags done by the state or an organization?

Auction tags are allocated by the state. Draw tags are non transferable.
 

Buxndiverdux

Old Mossy Horns
Great looking mount Now tell about the longbows in the picture
Bamboo backed Hickory and a bamboo backed Osage that I built 10 years ago or so. Back when it seemed like I had more free time. I can see building a few more in the coming years if I have more spare time. Killed a few deer and turkeys with them and haven't done much with them since.
 
Top