Who would have thought a 16-year-old girl would get a California bighorn sheep tag? Well, I got one and it was going to be the first big game animal I shot. I don’t think any 16-year-olds get this kind of opportunity or even get a bighorn sheep as their first big game animal. Not many people get the opportunity to shoot one or even get the tag. When my grandpa, grandma, and I found out I got the tag for a bighorn sheep in California, that’s when the adventure started. We went to the shooting range every weekend for about five months and spent hours there working on shooting off the ground and different situations. Let me tell you, it really helped me.
Day one and day two of hunting, we were looking so hard for rams but just couldn’t find a good one. Meanwhile, Cliff St. Martin and my grandpa were looking for rams and we were on some sand mountains. My grandpa was using a bucket as his chair, and we all saw him sink in and fall over backwards. His binoculars also took a big fall. We all looked away so he wouldn’t be embarrassed. He got up smiling like nothing had happened, but did he know we all knew what really happened? Anyway, here’s how the whole day went for me getting my first big game animal.
We left camp at about 5:40 a.m. on December 31st and got to our spot. All of the guides were talking about what we were doing today. The plan was for Matt and me to go in after two rams. Nate, Eli, and Jonston went up another mountain close by to watch for the rams. Cliff also went up a mountain close by to watch for the rams at a different angle. My grandma, grandpa, and Julissa waited by the truck to watch from there. Casey was across the road using his spotting scope, watching what was going on. As Matt and I were walking up a wash, it started to rain. We couldn’t see any of the mountains because of the fog, and nobody knew where the rams were. We sat down by some rocks in a wash and had a bunch of conversations.
Matt said, “Yeah, a lot of people miss or are not prepared.”
I replied, “I’m not going to miss.” Then we finally heard back from the guys on the cliff that we could start walking slowly up the mountain where the rams were. We finally got to a big rock at the top of the mountain, and the guides said to be careful and to be ready because the rams were right in front of us.
We waited in that position for about two hours, and mine and Matt’s legs were asleep and our knees were hurting so bad. Finally, we got an OK to move up about 40 yards to some other huge rocks in front of us. We sat there for about an hour, and then Nate said, “The rams are getting up.” Matt told me to get up and get ready. I got up and positioned myself on top of a rock, and Matt was right there next to me. He said, “I’ll tell you when you can shoot and let you know which one to shoot.” One ram got up and went over the wash in the mountain. The other ram came out of the wash, and he started to eat a barrel cactus. Then, he put his head down. He was finally in a position where I could shoot.
I said to Matt, “I’m good.”
He replied, “I’m good if you are.”
The ram was 218 yards away, so I shot. Matt said to stay on him, but I couldn’t. I was so excited and knew I had him. Then I said to Matt, “I told you I wouldn’t miss.” Matt came up to me with tears and gave me the biggest hug. He said, “I’m so proud of you , Kaylee.” It was the best feeling ever. After that, Matt couldn’t stop saying, “You smoked him!” My ram ended up scoring 172 5/8".
I’m so thankful for everyone who was there. It was a blast getting to experience hunting a bighorn sheep. I couldn’t have done it without Dry Creek Outfitters. They are the best people out there. Big thank you to Matt, Cliff, Nate, Casey, Eli, Jonston, Julissa, my grandpa, and my grandma.
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