Tuesday, May 5th, started like most other days, but little did I know the excitement that lay ahead. I was well aware that the Wyoming bighorn sheep draw results would be released that morning, but as a non-resident with 6 preference points, my expectations for drawing a tag were low. I had reminded myself to check the draw results at 10 a.m., but forgetting the one-hour time difference between Iowa and Wyoming, I was an hour early when I attempted to log in. I knew the rest of my workday would be rather busy, so I made the decision to wait until the end of the day to take another look.
My decision to wait until the end of the day turned out to be a good one because had I known the results earlier in the day, I may not have been able to work given my level of excitement. To my amazement, the results on my computer screen said, “Successful!” I had applied for unit 4, knowing at least I had a chance at the one non-resident random license. Of the 413 non-residents who applied for a unit 4 tag, I was the lucky winner!
I wanted to lock in my guide as quickly as possible, so I immediately contacted my best friend who has a friend in Wyoming with sheep hunting experience. I also reached out to the Hunt Advisors at Huntin’ Fool for their advice. After multiple phone calls to get guide recommendations, it quickly become clear the guide to contact for bighorn hunting in Wyoming was Josh Martoglio with Shoshone Lodge & Trails West Outfitters. I gave him a call, and after a 15-minute conversation, I knew who I was going sheep hunting with and locked in my dates.
The anticipation of going on my dream hunt was incredible, but the months passed quickly and before I knew it, I was loading up the F-150 and making the 16-hour drive from Iowa to Cody, Wyoming. I met Josh and his guides, Kenny and Tyler, the morning of Friday, September 11th and we started our drive to unit 4. Arriving at the trailhead, we unloaded the horses and mules and began packing all the gear for a potential 10-day hunt. After a few hour horse ride, we came to the location Josh had planned for our first camp. While Kenny worked to finalize camp, Josh, Tyler, and I decided to do some glassing of the beautiful Wyoming unit 4 wilderness. After a few hours, we had not spotted any rams and decided to head back to camp for the evening and put together our plan for the first day of hunting.
Josh assured me we were in a good area and we would find rams. Morning came quickly, and after a good breakfast prepared by chefs Josh and Kenny, we started the ascent to our first glassing spot. Josh had Kenny, Tyler, and me stay slightly behind him as he glassed over the ridge of the mountain to see if there were any rams in the area. He came down from the ridge and informed us there were two rams bedded approximately 200 yards away, but due to their location, it was difficult to determine their size. Josh said we would have to move a little further away to get a better vantage point to glass the rams and determine whether or not either of them were a ram we would want to pursue.
After moving a couple hundred yards, Josh began glassing from our new location. After a period of time, Josh came down from the ridge and described the rams to me. He said he knew one of them was a good ram, but due to how he was bedded, he was unable to fully evaluate him. He said he wanted to wait until the rams got up from their beds so he could hopefully get a better look at the ram’s horns. After some additional glassing, Josh rushed down from the ridge and said they had gotten up from bedding and had finally given him a good look through the spotting scope. One of them was a great ram and we needed to get into shooting position quickly. Josh and I rushed up to the top of the ridge and got into position for a shot. After getting situated, I was able to get the ram in my field of view but did not feel he was at an angle that would provide an ethical shot. The rams worked down the ridge and into the timber below and vanished.
Josh assured me I did the right thing by not taking a shot I felt uncomfortable with and said we would regroup and locate the rams. After spending a couple hours glassing for the rams and not being able to relocate them, it was decided to move to the other side of the valley to see if we could relocate the rams from a different vantage point.
After a couple more hours of glassing, Kenny’s sharp eye was able to find the same two rams walking in the timber. We watched them for another hour, and Josh said he had a good idea the direction the rams were heading. We made a move to the location where Josh expected the rams to emerge from the wilderness timber.
We got ourselves and our gear into position and then the waiting game began. Approximately 30 minutes after getting situated, just as Josh had planned, the rams arrived. We were both optimistic that I would be presented with a shot soon, but the large ram had a plan of his own. Although the smaller of the two rams would frequently come into the open and offer good shot opportunities, the larger ram was hesitant to emerge from the timber. On three separate occasions, the large ram bedded in the timber. After emerging from his bed the third time, we were certain the ram was going to offer me a shot. It was at that time the smaller of the two rams ran back into the timber with the larger ram in pursuit and both vanished out of our view.
Josh and I continued to glass the ridge and even moved locations a couple of times in an attempt to relocate the rams. Fortunately for me, the sharp eyes of Kenny once again located the rams in the timber and he said they were headed to the opposite side of the ridge into the valley below. Josh and I quickly made our way to the other side of the ridge, and when we looked over the edge, both rams were in the wide-open valley feeding towards us. Josh told me to get ready for the shot, and I got a good rest. Josh told me the ram was at 270 yards and to take the shot whenever
I felt comfortable. I gently squeezed the trigger. The first thing I heard was Josh say, “He is hit good!” The next thing I heard was, “The ram is down.”
At that moment, I am sure anyone in unit 4 could have heard me shouting in excitement. We gathered our gear and headed down the valley to recover my ram. As I walked up to the ram, I felt excitement, appreciation, and accomplishment. Josh only added to my excitement when he got up to my ram and said he believed it was the largest ram a hunter of his had harvested in unit 4. We started taking pictures with my ram and were shortly joined by Kenny and Tyler. Josh and Kenny quickly caped the ram, and the four of us worked together to recover all the sheep meat. We loaded up the mules and horses and were on our way back to camp for an evening of celebrating.
I cannot thank Kenny and Tyler enough for their camaraderie and hard work throughout my hunt. As for Josh, look no further if you are planning a bighorn sheep hunt in Wyoming. There may be a lot of guides who can find an animal to harvest and therefore make the hunt “successful,” but in addition to Josh’s hunting knowledge and skill, he does a fantastic job of reading his hunters and acknowledging what needs to be done to keep them calm and help them be successful. Josh was able to recognize my anxiousness and get me calm and collected for a good shot by offering words of encouragement and advice. In my previous hunting experiences, this has not always been the case. I truly believe Josh is the best sheep guide in Wyoming and cannot thank him enough for all he did for me. Thank you Josh, Kenny, and Tyler, as well as everyone else at Shoshone Lodge & Trails West Outfitters, for providing me with my hunt-of-a-lifetime. I also want to thank my wife and three children for supporting me in my hunting endeavors and allowing me to take the time to pursue them.
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