Western Hunting Journal, Premiere Issue whj001_premiere | Page 55

Leaving the pickup as the
sun rose in the cold, clear skies
of Central Oregon, the four of
us—Kevin, Travis, Doug and
I—walked with loaded packs
three miles through a har-
vested wheat field before we
reached sight of the Deschutes
River. The intimidating can-
yon was off in the distance as
the wind howled and blew up
from the river bottom. We had
scouted the area the day before
and saw several good rams in
the canyon. Feeling satisfied
that there was at least one
shooter in the canyon, we left
undetected with plans of re-
turning in the morning.
After deciding to pass on
the first ram we saw that morn-
ing, a second ram, this one with
a group of ewes, crested a steep
cliff face. From a distance, he
looked promising but when the
four of us studied him through
binoculars and spotting scopes
he wasn’t what I was looking
for. He was a little older than
the first, but his tips were heav-
ily broomed and he lacked
the mass I wanted. We quiet-
ly slipped away and hiked to
where we spotted the rams the
day before, atop a rim looking
down into a steep, unforgiving
canyon.
About the time I started sec-
ond guessing not shooting one
of those rams, Travis waved me
to where he was glassing into
a canyon. It was one of those
waving motions that meant
‘get over here now!’ I crept to
where he was and 175 yards
below us stood an older ma-
ture ram with a group of ewes,
lambs and younger rams. The
wind was right, and the group
of sheep had no idea we were
hoglund photo
Editor. Doug participated on
Kevin’s hunt, as well as mine.
As did Travis. Collectively, I had
three partners with a total of 11
bighorn sheep hunts to their
credit. It truly was a team ef-
fort, and therein lies one of the
most important components
to a sheep hunter’s success:
Assemble a group of like-mind-
ed hunters who are working
toward the common goal of
helping the tag holder fill his or
her tag.
When Kevin was drawn
for his tag in 2014, he began
contacting landowners who
owned property on the east
side of the lower Deschutes
River. Two years later Doug
was drawn for the same tag and
Kevin reached out to the same
landowners and they gracious-
ly granted access to their prop-
erty. Kevin did the same when
I was drawn. Beginning in July,
Kevin and I started scouting
the areas known to hold sheep.
It helped alleviate some of the
stress, but the anxiety doesn’t
end until you have a ram on the
ground.
The country that bighorn sheep
live in is rugged, steep and unfor-
giving.
above them. The four of us were
able to get a good look at him
through binoculars and spot-
ting scopes. Much like the first
two rams we found, there was
a lot of debating to this ram’s
merit. Kevin liked him; Travis
liked him; and Doug liked him.
“But do you like him? That’s
the question,” asked Kevin. I
weighed my options.
There were three rams in
the area and all of them were
beautiful sheep. Each one was
a little different. As I watched
him through the spotting
scope it was a matter of de-
ciding if this one was the ram
I wanted. When he turned his
head to look down into the
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