Years back while in the military and deployed on assignment, my military buddies and I would joke about the time remaining on our tour. The terminology would be X amount of days left plus a wake-up. The wake-up day was when we would be rotated out. I’m sure all my Veteran brothers and sisters can relate to this.
I used that same process while anticipating the Arizona Game and Fish sheep draw results. I started applying for Desert bighorn sheep 27 years ago and remained disciplined over the years. Finally, on that “wake-up” day, I checked my credit card activity and saw a charge for $300 to Arizona Game and Fish. Excitement is an understatement, but I had also applied for other family members with my credit card, and my son, Patrick, always seems to be the lucky one. I was feeling the anticipation all over again. Who had drawn a sheep tag? All I knew was that someone in the family was going sheep hunting.
After numerous wake-ups, the results were posted on the Game and Fish Portal. It was mine! I was finally going Desert bighorn sheep hunting in Arizona. After the shock wore off, the fun began. I started contacting friends and outfitters to assist me in the hunt. The list of friends who were ready to help me was beyond belief. Picking an outfitter, though, was a no-brainer. Dan Adler and Diamond Outfitters of Arizona, a large full-time guide service in Arizona, jumped onboard with me right away.
In preparation for the big hunt, I also attended the Arizona Desert Bighorn Society’s annual ram recognition/clinic in early fall. I met additional sheep hunters who were willing to assist me in scouting, all of whom I now call friends. During numerous scouting trips over the summer and early fall, we saw numerous class four rams in the 170-180" range, so the anticipation of opening day felt like my first deer hunt many years ago.
Other commitments kept me out of the sheep mountains until December 13th. Friends from Arizona, Alaska, and New Mexico converged into the hunting camp. After strategizing with Diamond Outfitters and friends on the evening of December 13th, the hunt was on. After sending out groups to glass different parts of the unit, everyone was coming back with reports of numerous sheep with gorgeous rams being seen. The only piece of this hunt missing on opening day was my son. On Friday morning, he called me and said he would be joining us Friday evening but would have to leave Monday morning due to his commitments. Before hanging up, he made one thing very clear, “Dad, don’t go shoot a ram until I’m there. I want to be a part of the hunt.” On Friday evening, we all converged at hunting camp and now my son was in camp. We compared notes with a lot of excitement and planned for the Saturday hunt.
After a hearty breakfast, we all headed out to different parts of the unit. Naturally, my son was with me. Throughout the day, we were getting reports of great rams being seen by my friends and the Diamond Outfitters team. We were also seeing numerous rams. Based on the history of this unit, I was passing up on rams that would definitely be opening day shooters in other units. On Saturday evening, we all converged at hunting camp with high excitement and anticipation for the next day’s hunt. Weighing on my heart and mind was that my son only had one more day to hunt with me.
After a hearty breakfast on Sunday, the groups dispersed to different parts of the unit. We concentrated our efforts where we’d seen some great rams during our scouting trips. The anticipation was epic. We arrived at our destination in the dark, got loaded up, and took off. After walking a mile or so, we arrived at a beautiful box canyon. Being Coues deer hunters at heart, we all agreed to glass the area carefully. The mountain was full of our glassers. It looked like a Swarovski Optics and Huskemaw Optics commercial out there! After glassing for a few minutes, we glassed up a band of sheep across the canyon approximately 450 yards away but bedded in an area where it was difficult to see. The band consisted of 13 rams and some ewes and lambs. There were numerous shooter rams, but none of them seemed to surpass the 180" range. However, one ram was impressive and was worth a second look.
After glassing the band for a few minutes, they caught our scent and got nervous. They got up and started milling around. I turned around and told my good friend, Gabe, “I’ll give up 10-20 inches of horn so my son and I can experience this together.”
As the band started moving away, I was set up with my Best of the West 7mm Rem Mag with my Husekmaw 5x20 Blue Diamond scope and Gabe and Dan were ranging the band. While the sheep were milling around, I lost sight of the ram that had piqued my interest. Then, as if the sheep gods knew that I had to kill this ram with my son present, the ram took off, separated himself, and stood on a rock outcropping. Gabe and Dan gave me the final distance reading of 475 yards. I made the final adjustment to my Huskemaw scope and gently squeezed the trigger. With 27 years of waiting behind this shot, this was the moment. The ram was down instantly. I could hear echoes of the shot through that canyon for minutes in my mind as if even the canyon itself was congratulating me. All I could think was that my son was here to be a part of this.
It took the group over an hour to hike to the most beautiful ram on the mountain. The younger hunters, which included my son, were the first to arrive at the ram. They stayed back 30-40 yards until I arrived to show the respect they had for me. They wanted me to be the first one to put my hands on him. I thanked all my friends and hugged my son, who said, “Dad, I don’t think the ram is as big as you hoped for.” I told my son that I killed the perfect ram on the perfect day because he and my friends were with me. The ram later green scored 170".
I want to thank the team at Diamond Outfitters of Arizona and my long list of friends from Arizona, Alaska, and New Mexico who converged to help me on a hunt-of-a-lifetime. Thank you, all! I also want to thank the Arizona Game and Fish Department and the Arizona Desert Bighorn Society for the phenomenal job they do managing Arizona’s wild sheep.
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