“Jeff, if this is true, we can no longer be friends,” was Huntin’ Fool’s Robert Hanneman’s response, in jest, as he learned of me drawing my second sheep tag of the year. I could hardly believe it myself. A couple months prior, I drew a Desert bighorn tag in Nevada, and now I had just drawn a California bighorn tag in Oregon. For several years now, I have had the assistance of Huntin’ Fool when applying for draws and was super excited to share the news with Robert. He got me in touch with Dan Blankenship of Sheep Mountain Outfitters (SMO), and we made a plan for my hunt in August.
Time seemed to go by slowly for the next few months, but soon enough, it was nearing mid-August and I was starting to get butterflies. Luckily, my hunting buddy, Justin, was able to come along. We jumped in the truck and made the 1,000-mile drive from Calgary to Southcentral Oregon. What a beautiful state! I couldn’t get over the vast contrast in terrain. We rolled into camp a few days before the season opened and met Dan and Bob from SMO. I could tell right away we were going to get along great.
The guys had done quite a bit of pre-season scouting and had located a few bands of rams. We spent the next couple days spotting sheep, looking for the right ram. Austin from Kryptek showed up to film the hunt. Initially, I was quite nervous about this due to the possibility of fear or ridicule, but it quickly subsided. We also did some shooting to ensure my Weatherby 6.5 RPM was on target. Dan gave me some invaluable tips that greatly improved my downrange confidence.
On the morning before the season opener, we spotted what looked to be a great ram. He would be our target. Now, I had made the mistake of telling the group an old nickname of mine from when I was a young hockey star, The Franchise. From then on, the ram would be named “The Franchise.”
The opening day of the season had arrived, and we had eyes on our target ram. I was filled with excitement, and at the same time, I was nervous about how the day would unfold. After a tumultuous morning, we had The Franchise spotted, standing on a rock outcropping on the side of the mountain around midday. The stalk was on! Temperatures above 90 degrees made the hiking slow. After a lot of miles and many water and rest breaks in the shade, three and a half hours later, we were in position. At 385 yards across a canyon, Dan got me set up on a rock shelf under a juniper tree. As we were waiting for the ram to get into position, I had a bit of time to put some of Dan’s pointers into practice. I calmed myself down, made sure my rifle was canted level, and dry fired a couple times. Soon, the ram stood up and it was game time. Dan confirmed it was the target ram and said, “Whenever you’re ready.” I fired. The next words I heard from Dan were the two best words a sheep guide could ever say, “Smoked him!”
I was overcome with emotion when we confirmed the ram was piled up not far. All the preparation, travel, effort, and help were all worth it, and it all came together on what seemed to be a perfect day. We did it!
As we all gathered and put hands on the ram, I was a little in awe of where I was and what I was doing. We were just a bunch of buddies sitting on the side of a mountain having a cold one, staring at our achievement and reliving the day’s events from our own perspective. I couldn’t think of any other place in the world I’d rather be at that moment. That’s what it’s all about!
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