He scores just at 160". Hunt was unguided but had help from Mike Daily, Bob Nash, and Jon Tate. Taken in unit 45A in Arizona. I had 11 bonus points.

MORE PICTURES AND THE FULL STORY BELOW

Todd

BEAUTIFUL! How about some hunt details....quit the teasing for crying out loud!!

Nice looking old sheep!
I too am waiting for the details: shot distance, the stalk, what rifle, scouting leading up to it, how many years to draw the tag etc...........
From one Sheep hunter to another congrats nice Sheep!

Just freaking AWESOME!! Congrats!

Wow... beautiful sheep! Congrats!

Congratulations!! Nice ram.

That is a SUPERB trophy! Congrats!

But like Doc said, how 'bout those details???

Tell us the story PPPPlease

Very nice!!!

160??? That ram sure looks bigger than that! Congrats on getting selected and thumbs up on bringing home a real trophy!!

That is a regal ram!!

ddj

Outstanding! And only 11 bonus points. Like the others, we need some details .

Ken....

Great animal! Congrats

OK,OK,OK so you guys want the story eh?

I have been putting in for a desert bighorn tag for the past 9 years so I had 9 bonus points plus 1 hunter ed point, and 1 loyalty point, total 11 points. I put in for units that were within 4 hours drivng distance from home so I could scout it more easily if drawn (not that I ever expected to be drawn).

So one morning my 18 month old son got up at 5AM and my wife told me it was my turn. So while he was playing on the floor I decided to check my email. After checking email I decided to see if I got drawn for deer so I logged on to the AZGFD website and noticed I got drawn for deer in 30A and almost clicked off when I noticed I got drawn for something else. I blinked a few times to clear my vision and to my amazement...I got drawn for a desert bighorn tag!!

Now here's the problem...it was 5AM. Who the heck can you call at 5AM to tell them you got drawn for the most coveted big game tag in the US?? Pretty much nobody, because anyone who knows what it is will be so jealous they want to kill you, and the rest of the world couldn't care less!

So I waited until football signup for my 8 yeard old son later that morning. That's when I told my business partner and hunting buddy Jon Tate. He was so jealous he wanted to kill me. But then in a few days he was starting to help me plan the camp, and scouting trips etc.

I thought about hiring a guide but decided that I would rather do it on my own with friends. A friend of mine who is a well known hunter and conservationist in Yuma AZ suggested I call his brother-in-law Mike Daily to see if he would help. Mike is a sheep nut who lives in Yuma. He knows about almost every ram killed each year in AZ and tracks sheep populations around the state. He is especially knowledgeable about what is going on in the Kofa NWR and the other areas around Yuma. Mike told me that the Mtn lions had hit the Kofa sheep pretty hard but that we could still get a good ram in there.

Mike sent me a bunch of data going back to 1990 on sheep killed in the unit we would be hunting 45A and the average ram was about 153" so I figured anything over 155" should do, especially since sheep numbers there are well below normal. The AZGFD survey flights flown in November confirmed the numbers were down.

A few scouting trips to the area by myself and Mike continued the bleak outlook. We saw 2 ewes and Mike saw 1 ram pre-season. So when Jon and I set off for camp I figured it would take every bit of the 31 day season to find a shooter.

We had alot of helpers. For the 2 days before the Dec 1 opener we had about 8 guys out glassing different parts of the unit. We glassed every hour of daylight for 5 days and saw a total of about 5-6 ewes and 2 very young rams. I was starting to get a little discouraged but Mike, Jon, and Bobby kept my spirits up.

Jon wanted to check out a particular part of the unit which was a pretty long drive on some rough roads. So when Mike went to town to go back to work for a couple of days we tooka shot at this new place. We stopped the truck in a very nice valley to have lunch. It was still midday so we were waiting for prime glassing time. I went to set up my tripod and binos so I wouldn't have to later and when I focused on the mountain I instantly saw a ewe, then when I glassed a bit I saw 2 rams, and then Bobby saw a 3rd!! We hit paydirt!


Rams and one ewe through the spotting scope.

Now I really wished Mike was with us because he was the best at judging rams on the hoof (although Bobby was right on)so i ran to try to find cell service to call Mike back out there. But no service, so we watched these sheep and "put them to bed" at dark.


Ram bedded

Mike met us at about 5:30 the next morning and we drove within a mile or so of the spot, then we hiked on in to a glassing spot we had marked. At sunrse we found the sheep almost immediately and Mike and I started the stalk while Jon and Bobby stayed back to keep an eye on them. After about a 2 hour stalk in some pretty rough stuff we were within 400 yards and Mike was able to see the biggest ram. He confirmed he was a 160" class ram which was my personal minimum and we stalked in a bit further.


My ram scores about 160"

At 325 yards I set up for the shot. But the ram was bedded looking away from us, so I had to wait another 15 minutes or so till he stood. As soon as he stood I fired and broke his shoulder and clipped the heart. He wobbled a bit and stood there. I've shot enough animals to know that if they're still standing, I'm still throwin' lead. So I took a final shot to anchor him and he was down. Now came the real work!! It was a great hunt and a great experience. Thanks to Jon, Mike, Bobby and the rest of the guys for all their help.


Packin him out

Todd

GREAT STORY and PICS!!!!

Great Story and great pics. Good hunt. Thanks for sharing.
What did you shoot him with? Caliber etc?

I forgot to say what rifle and caliber, thanks for the reminder Ryan.

I shot him with my HS Precision Pro Hunter in 300 WSM.

TR

Todd, you could have called me.. It is 8am in Pa. and I would be coming home from coffee at the dinner with friends...

See you in Dallas...Dad

Mike

Great sheep Todd. We have a city park here in Nevada, in Boulder City and near the Dam, that the bighorns love to come down to from the nearby muddy mountains surrounding Lake Mead and spend most of the winter in. Last time I was over there I counted 110 sheep. The Nevada DOW has now transplanted many of them due to the large number. There was some huge rams in the group, and seeing them really gets your hunting blood going. You have a real trophy, my friend. Congratulations. By the way, the .300 WSM is a great caliber!

Next time I will call you Mike!!! If there ever is a next time. I am lookin forward to Dallas!!

UEG that 300 WSM is a great caliber. I really like it.

Todd

Awesome! Thanks for sharing your story and beautiful pictures. Are you going to lifesize mount him?

I'm gonna do a shoulder mount with rocks and cactus around him.

TR