When the tags came out, I didn’t have my password to access the Game Department’s hunting site, so I wasn’t able to find out right away what draw(s) I got. All my hunting buddies had checked theirs and no one had drawn a tag for a sheep. The next day, I found my password and went in to check what I had drawn. Just like everyone else, I did not expect to draw a tag for a sheep, but I had. I was ecstatic and told all my friends, but of course, they didn’t believe me because this tag took me 20 years to draw.
Now that I had drawn a sheep tag, my plan was to scout out the area. The majority of my scouting trips, I went alone. That first one on the first day, I didn’t see any sheep, so I called it quits and hiked back to my truck to spend a hot night sleeping. The next day, I went out and saw a bunch of sheep. I took pictures and mentally picked which one I thought I wanted. I took the time to enjoy being out on the mountain alone with them and the beauty of it all. I felt so carefree and honored to be watching them living in their habitat. To me, they are different from all the other animals I have hunted. They are silly and unique and a special kind of animal with personality.
I did five scouting trips on my own but shared the pictures I had taken with my hunting buddies to get their thoughts on each one I had singled out. None of them were especially big animals. One of them stood out to me because he had a chip in his horn, so we named him “Chipper.” I also took a liking to one ram that I saw laying all by itself, thinking to myself how beautiful it was.
The last scouting trip I did, I took my son with me. On this particular trip, we took a helicopter ride over the area. The day started off a little messy as we missed the location to meet the pilot and had to trek to another location. Once we were up in the sky and looking down, it could not have been a better experience. After the flight, we went and hiked the area. We met another tag owner who talked about a helicopter being overhead, not realizing it was us. After the hike, we met yet another hunter who had not drawn a tag but offered to take us to watch some rams.
The day before my hunt, my hunting parties rolled in to join my son and me. We hiked the area again and discussed a plan for hunting day. While hiking into the area the next day, dark and early hours of the morning, we caught up with three people, one of which also had a tag. They continued on while we continued our stalk as the sun came up, taking in the beauty of the sunrise at the same time. The first set of sheep we came across were elusive and got away. As much as we kept looking, they were gone. Then, after a little more time, my son noticed two of them on the mountainside. One was dark chocolate and one was milk chocolate in color. They were 425 yards away. One of my hunting partners gave me a green light to shoot, so I aimed my 28 Nosler and took the shot. My aim was for the milk chocolate one, and I hit it right behind the front shoulder. As I shot, he took a step forward, and in my mind, I thought I would hit him too far back. Although this was not the one I had set out to get, I was thrilled with the success. The blood trail was as wide as a dirt road, and we could see it from over 400 yards away. He might not have been the biggest one on the mountain, but he was the most beautiful.
When it came time to pin my ram, we chose 007. Not only did I feel very James Bondish, but my kill stood up to the beauty and thrill of a James Bond movie.
I could not have done this without the support and encouragement from not only my son, Kurt Olstead, but also my hunting partners and friends, Ed Brown and Mark Boon. Additional thanks to Steve Stewart and Garrett Grant.
Washington Sheep Hunting
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