Hello all,I don't know if there are any fellow hunters on this site but this is such a big deal to me I thought I would share. For those who are not big game hunters I will say this. Of all the big game animals in North America the desert sheep is the hardest animal to obtain a permit to hunt. Some people have put in the drawings for over 40 years and have not drawn a permit.
Here are some photos of my Desert Bighorn Sheep from AZ. The short story is... I won a raffle that provided me the opportunity to hunt any of several zones in northern AZ for a season of 365 days beginning in August. I had great help from a few guys from the AZ Desert Sheep Society, my brother and a friend. We hunted 8 days and saw 55 rams in several different zones. I missed this ram at 350 yards then chased/stalked him for 3.5 hrs and over 2.5 miles up, over and around mountains, cliffs, rocks and cactus in 90 degree heat before killing him at 215 yards with about 15 minutes of light left. I was pushed to my physical and mental limits. I then had to hike out in the dark with no GPS or moon for guidance. The ram was the leader of the band and the biggest ram I saw of the 55. He is 10.5 years old and rough scores between 155-160". The ram was taken in Zone 15D near Kingman, AZ. The AZ game and fish wildlife biologist was surprised by the age because there has been drought for the last 12 years and many sheep are not living this long. If not for the drought this ram would have probably scored in the Boone and Crockett record book (168" min). This hunt had it all, great people, great animals, great terrain, great adventure and ending with great success. Sorry, the photos all have a blur in them because apparently the lens got touched by a bloody finger and the blur could not be seen on the little camera screen. Thanks for looking...and remember, dreams can come true.
