Story By: Cruz Gallegos
One day, my dad picked me up from school with exciting news: I had drawn two hunting tags, one for a bull elk and another for a ewe, which I learned was a female bighorn sheep. Curious and eager, we practiced shooting, and I was doing well. October could not come fast enough. Soon, we traveled to the wilderness area where my dad’s friend, Josh, an expert familiar with the area, would be our guide.
Opening morning began with a challenging two-hour horseback ride to the mountain summit in the dark. The saddle ride left me sore, but the views and rugged landscape made it worthwhile. We glassed a few basins but saw nothing. The weather was harsh, with strong winds and cold temperatures. We finally spotted some sheep, but they were two mature rams. After riding some more to check some other places and freezing without success, we settled for lunch in the last basin. My dad had just fired up the Jetboil when, suddenly, Josh spotted some sheep. We quickly dropped our food and began stalking them carefully.
We observed the sheep from about 500 yards away, which was farther than I had ever shot. My dad suggested moving closer, so we closed in to 400 yards. We were at the last bit of cover, and, although my usual shooting range was 200 yards, I decided to take the shot at 400 yards. My dad set up his pack for a steady rest while Josh kept eyes on the sheep and called out the ranges. My dad gave me the okay to shoot whenever I was ready and—boom!
What the heck? Someone had just shot from the top of the basin. Josh knew there was another guide in the same area with another youth hunter. We saw the ewe run down the basin and bed down at the bottom. Josh was able to quickly get in touch with the other hunting group and ask if they would stay put so I could shoot. They graciously did, and we could now focus back on the sheep.
I was prone and got the ewe back into the scope. Dad gave me the okay again, and the sheep dropped and tumbled down the mountain. It was an exciting moment. Meanwhile, Josh was in contact with the other guide, and the other group started to walk down the basin to finish off their bedded ewe. Wow. I could not believe the only two youth hunter tags were filled in the same basin from the same group. We met up with the other youth hunter, his dad, and their guide at their ewe, as it was closest. It turns out they were from Alaska. The other youth hunter was ten, and I was eleven. We then hiked up to mine, took some pictures, and dragged it down to the other to take some side-by-side pictures!
The rest of the day involved packing out both ewes to the horses tied up in the timber. By the time we finished packing up and got back to the trailhead, it was dark and all of us were worn out! We had traveled eight miles in and seven miles back on horseback. On the way out, we heard a few bull elk bugling and even met another hunter who had also taken a ewe. We loaded up the horses and headed back to Josh’s house for some dinner.
This hunt was full of many firsts: my first time hunting in the wilderness, my first hunt on horseback, and my first bighorn sheep. I was frozen and sore than sore from the horse ride but would not trade it for anything. Time to get ready for that elk hunt!