kevin madison photo |
|||
canyon I made my decision . I can still remember seeing the mass at his base and character of his horns . They were thick , had good length , and showed years of battle scars . I settled into a prone position and dialed my scope up to 15 power . That ’ s when he decided to bed down . For the better part of two hours . Waiting for him to stand up seemed like an eternity . Sensing that we were going to be there for a while , Doug decided to walk around to the other side of the canyon . He brought his binoculars , spotting scope and radio . The plan was if the sheep got up Doug would be in a position to direct us in the direction he went . As it turned out , having Doug on the other side of the canyon proved invaluable . |
The ram finally stood and the next 30 seconds were a blur . When the bullet hit him , he dropped instantly into a bed of shale rock . He laid there for a brief moment , kicked his legs and then tumbled towards the bottom of the canyon . I had an awful feeling in my stomach as I watched him roll over a bluff and out of sight . Fortunately , Doug witnessed the event unfold and directed us to where he ended up . Travis , Kevin and I grabbed our packs and scrambled below to a cliff ledge where I was able to put the final kill shot into him . Months of preparation and countless hours of anxiety ended abruptly . Snippets from the past four months passed through my brain . I thought of the weekly ‘ Full Curl Friday ’ texts from Kevin , each |
accompanied with a photo of a bighorn sheep attached . Hours of scouting we spent in different canyons flashed before me as did the gracious landowners we met . The grueling hikes . Sore feet and oceans of sweat . Watching three cougars chase five mule deer into a draw , and only four emerging . Coveys of chukar we flushed . Hours upon hours of glassing . My mind was like a movie on fast forward .
Months of preparation came to an end with an abruptness of a heart attack . I let out a sigh of relief and the four of us celebrated collectively . Doug on the radio and Kevin , Travis and me in the canyon . When the moment passed , Travis took in our surroundings and matter of factly said : “ Now we get the tar beat out of us .”
|
He couldn ’ t have been more correct . Because the next three hours we did in fact get the tar beat out of us . After we field dressed the ram , divided him into three packs , we made the decision to pack him out down to the river . Doug was able to call a friend of ours who guides steelhead anglers on the Deschutes . Grant Putnam agreed to pick us up at the river . It was a grueling pack out , but worth every sore muscle and drop of sweat . Doug would later meet us at the boat ramp and the four of us were able to take in the moment . The only regret I had was not having Doug with us in the canyon . Check that , looking back on the pack out I wish we had retraced our steps and packed the ram up instead of down . In hindsight , we all |