JEFF’S HUNT:
In the late spring of 2017, I was referred to Rob Brown of Timber King Outfitting by my friend, Bryan Martin, for my Mexico Desert bighorn sheep hunt. On January 22, 2018, my wife, Dasha, my best friend, Jonathon Lujan, and I boarded a flight to Hermosillo, Mexico. There, we met up with Rob Brown’s Mexican partner, Carlos, and one of Rob’s guides, Elijah Anderson.
We made the three and a half-hour drive through the beautiful Sonoran desert to camp, got unpacked, and settled in for the evening. Within half an hour after breakfast the following morning, we were already glassing the first bachelor group of rams on the mountain. An hour later, as we glassed the second group of rams, there appeared to be several in the 160" range or better. Time to put on a stalk! As we closed the distance to less than 300 yards, the wind switched and off they went.
After lunch, we decided to glass the low country for a Coues deer buck for Dasha. We jumped a couple of nice bucks but weren’t able to study them long enough before they would disappear into the cactus. Later that evening, I spotted two nice rams at 500 yards. Both of them were shooters, but one was a no brainer. The wind was blowing very hard, so we tried to close the distance and get a shot before we ran out of daylight. We didn’t make it in time, so that was it for day one.
The next morning, we returned to try to relocate that ram, and although we found his running mate, we couldn’t find him. We did find another bachelor group in another area later that day with some good rams, but we decided to try and find the other ram from the night before again.
The following morning, Jonathon spotted our ram on a hillside at about 500 yards, but he managed to slip away. As we were hiking out of the drainage, we spotted him in the bottom about 350 yards away. Due to all the shrubbery and cactus, my only shot opportunity was off a bipod in a sitting position. The shot was a little low. The chase was on! We spent the rest of the day glassing both the low and high ground. Although we found him late in the day, it wasn’t until midday the following day that we were able to locate him again and get into position to put him down for good. What a fantastic ram! Everyone had pitched in and played their part. My Grand Slam was complete.
DASHA’S HUNT:
In 2016, while at the SCI show, I signed up for my first ever sheep hunt for Dall sheep with Jim and Adrienne Fink of Blackstone Outfitters. I was still nervous, knowing that sheep hunting was one of the most challenging experiences, both physically and mentally.
On August 21, 2018, we took off to Whitehorse and then took a two-hour charter flight to base camp where we met all of the guides and staff. Upon arrival at camp, we found out that my hunt would be a horseback/backpack combo. On my first hunting day, we met our senior guide, Warren, and assistant guide/wrangler, Harrison. We were flown out to the Big Valley camp where we spent several hours packing our horses and getting everything organized. From there, we set out on a five- hour ride over a steep pass towards our spike camp.
For the next several days, we hunted hard. We would ride out every morning, find a mountain to climb, tie off our horses, and set off. Day six was the longest and hardest day of my life, which also yielded the biggest reward, my ram! We checked out a group of rams that we had seen earlier and realized there were no mature rams in between them. Then we saw two other rams very far away, and, while trying to close the distance, Harrison spotted yet another ram. Warren and Harrison confirmed that he was old enough. The ram walked over the pass and out of our sight, and we ran after him. Warren hiked to the bottom to try to spot the ram from below, while Harrison, Jeff, and I kept following the ram’s path. All of a sudden, Jeff saw our ram above us only 100 yards away. We all dropped to the ground, and I found a steady rock and chambered a round as fast as I could. The ram was quartering to us. My shot hit him on the point of his shoulder, dropping him dead on the spot. What a moment!
This was an unbelievable, life-changing experience for me. I am so lucky and am extremely thankful to Blackstone, Warren, and Harrison for going above and beyond to make this hunt as special and successful as it was. Thanks to my husband, Jeff, for making this hunt happen and for being there for me every second of every day.
BLAIR’S HUNT:
In April 2018, I drew my once-in-a-lifetime bighorn sheep tag in New Mexico. The hunt was scheduled for January 2019, which felt like a lifetime away.
There was no question that Jonathon Lujan and Mike Brazil of Intense Trophy Hunting were the outfitters for my bighorn sheep hunt. Jonathon’s crew consisted of him, his son, Tanner, Mike, Mike’s son, Amador, and another up and coming hunting guide named Emilio. My crew consisted of my dad, Jeff, my husband, Scott, and me.
Finally, the morning of my bighorn sheep hunt had arrived, and before I knew it, we were off. We hiked to the top of a ridge until we found a good place to stop and glass the neighboring hillsides. The radios were silent. No one was seeing anything. After a couple of hours of glassing from this spot, Jonathon and Mike spotted 20 bighorn sheep about 800 yards away. Jonathon decided we’d better get closer to check them out. Jonathon, Mike, Dad, and I set out towards the sheep to close the distance. The rest of the hunting party stayed back to keep an eye on the sheep through the spotting scope.
As we got closer to where we last saw the sheep, we radioed the rest of the group. They informed us that the sheep had moved around the side of a rocky cliff and they didn’t have them in sight anymore. We decided to hike to the top of the ridge so we could peer down over the cliff where the sheep were last seen. The top of the ridge was only a couple hundred yards above us. We hadn’t been at the top for long when we radioed the boys again. They saw a big ram, the same big ram they’d seen when they were scouting in this area a few days prior. The hustle was on. Jonathon found him just a couple hundred yards from where we were standing, and it was almost too good to be true. He was standing as still as a statue out on a flat, rocky ledge. We found a spot where I could sit, get my rifle positioned, and before I knew it, it was time to shoot.
At only 180 yards, the ram looked giant in my scope. A sense of calm assertiveness came over me. I’d made longer, harder shots than this before. I lined up my crosshairs, took a deep breath, exhaled, and squeezed the trigger. Boom! The ram went down. As quickly as the jubilation came, it went away as we watched the ram tumble over the edge of the rocky cliff.
As we were walking towards the cliff where I had shot him, we could not see anything beyond the ledge. Not until the toes of our boots were at the very edge could we tell that he had only fallen about 40 feet onto a landing below. Once we got down to his final resting spot, we could finally breathe a sigh of relief. His horns were intact. He was a bruiser, an old ram that had been through a lot.
I have no doubt in my mind that many hunters out there have reached goals they never dreamed they could accomplish. That is how I feel about this hunt. It was extraordinarily special for me and will always be a major milestone in my life.
So much of my successful sheep hunt was due to the hard work of Jonathon and Mike, who had spent countless hours scouting for sheep in an area where they had not previously hunted and who led me to a fabulous ram that day. I also would not have had the confidence, knowledge, and strength without the help and support of my dad, Jeff, and my husband, Scott. I am forever grateful.
Login