July 2026
First of Four : Arizona Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Hunt
Story By: Wyatt Gisi
Winning a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep tag in Arizona is something most hunters only dream about. For us, it started as a joke. For weeks, my dad and I had been joking back and forth that we were going to win the Arizona Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep raffle tag. Neither of us actually expected it to happen. Then, one day, everything changed.
At the time, we were staying at one of my dad’s buddies’ cabins in Utah. The place had no cell service at all, which meant we had no idea what was going on back home. Meanwhile, people were trying to call us nonstop. When we finally got service and heard the news, it almost didn’t feel real. My dad’s name, Jason Gisi, was the name on the winning ticket.
I was extremely lucky in two ways. First, I was seventeen years old when the raffle was drawn. And second, my dad decided to pass the tag onto me since he had completed his Grand Slam. We had actually won the Arizona Rocky Mountain sheep statewide tag!
Something we had joked about for weeks had suddenly become a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The first call we made after hearing the news was to the guys at A3 Trophy Hunts. Payden Zufelt and Tyler McKay were immediately excited to help us find the best ram possible and, hopefully, try to kill him with a bow. From that moment on, the hunt had officially begun.
Scouting Arizona for a Trophy Bighorn Ram
The first time we headed out to scout, things didn’t exactly go as planned. I had pneumonia at the time, which meant I couldn’t backpack with the rest of the group. While the guys packed deep into the mountains searching for sheep, I had to stay behind.
As frustrating as that was, it turned out I didn’t miss a whole lot. The group that backpacked in got their butts kicked the entire trip. They covered a ton of country and glassed hard but struggled to find any sheep at all.
Toward the end of the trip, they finally spotted sheep and thought they had located a group of rams. Everyone was excited, and they made a plan to move in on them the following morning.
When the sun came up and they got eyes on the sheep, it turned out to be nothing but a group of five ewes. After several days of hiking and backpacking, everyone was tired and pretty disappointed.
After that trip, we decided to try a completely different area where we had heard rumors of big rams and lots of sheep. The area sounded promising, and we were excited to check it out.
Then the weather forecast changed everything. Three inches of rain were predicted over the next few days, which would make scouting nearly impossible. Rather than wasting time fighting the weather, we decided to wait a couple of weeks and plan another scouting trip. A few weeks later, we headed back out.
This time, I went with Payden, Tyler, and my friend Brody Halford. The plan for the weekend was simple: cover ground, glass as much country as possible, and hopefully locate a ram worthy of using the tag on.
The first day was incredible. We ended up hiking about fifteen miles, and we saw sheep throughout the entire day. Watching so many sheep move through the cliffs and hillsides was amazing in and of itself.
Finding Two Giant Rocky Mountain Bighorn Rams
The next morning, we decided to go look for some big rams that a local rancher had said were in the area, so we figured it was worth checking out. To cover more ground, we split up. Payden and Brody headed one direction to try to locate sheep while Tyler and I made a longer hike to a glassing knob that overlooked a lot of country.
After making the climb and reaching the top, something happened almost immediately.
I heard a loud thud above us. When I looked to my right, I could see the backsides of sheep shining against the cliff as the morning sun started to rise. Tyler and I instantly threw up our binoculars. Sheep were scattered all across the hillside.
As we started carefully picking through them, trying to sort out rams from ewes, we realized something incredible: there were two absolutely giant rams in the group. Even better, they were positioned in a way that actually gave us a chance to get a shot with a bow.
We knew right away that this was an opportunity we couldn’t ignore. We called Payden, told him what we had found, and asked him to get up to us as fast as he could. Most importantly, we asked him to bring my bow.
When Payden and Brody finally arrived, Payden took one look through the binoculars and immediately pointed out the ram he liked.
“The long ram,” he said. “That’s the one.”
Everyone agreed. That ram was absolutely worthy of putting this special tag on.
With the decision made, Tyler and I began our stalk.
Stalking a Bighorn Sheep with a Bow
Payden told us the rams had been bedded, which meant we had a good chance of getting close if the wind held. We worked our way down the mountain slowly, using every fold in the terrain to stay hidden. Eventually, we closed the distance to about fifty yards.
Then the wind swirled.
I looked up and saw the rams beginning to filter out of the brush. I quickly drew my bow and waited for Tyler to give me the range. As soon as he called it out and the ram stepped into an opening, I released the arrow.
The shot hit a little farther back than I had planned, but it slowed him down. I immediately grabbed another arrow, nocked it, and came back to full draw. The ram was now at seventy-two yards and quartering away.
I settled my pin and released.
The arrow slipped perfectly behind his last rib. That second shot finished the old ram.
When the ram died, he rolled down the hillside, and for a moment, we thought he had gone completely over a huge cliff. When we walked over there, we realized he had barely caught himself right on the edge. Only his back legs were hanging off the cliff.
We carefully tied off his horns and worked together to pull him back up to a safe spot.
Once we finally had him secured and could really look at him, the moment truly set in.
The ram was incredible.
His horns were full of character and chips from years of fighting and surviving in the mountains. After taking pictures and soaking in the moment, we loaded up our packs and started the long pack out to the trucks.
An 11-Year-Old Ram and an Unforgettable Hunt
Later that night, when we made it back to the cabin, it really hit us. What had just happened—very few hunters ever get the chance to experience something like that. The 184” score was cool, but to me, that’s not the most important part.
The coolest thing about this hunt for this once-in-a-lifetime ram was being able to do it with people that I truly enjoyed being around. It was so awesome being able to share those experiences with people who truly love and live for this kind of stuff, just like I do.
This ram’s age, eleven and a half years old, was also really cool. That means I was about six years old when that ram was born. Being able to harvest an animal that old and experienced is something I will always be proud of. Most importantly, it’s something I will never forget.
I want to thank my dad for giving me the opportunity and making this hunt possible. I also want to thank Payden Zufelt and Tyler McKay for the incredible amount of work they put into helping me try to kill the biggest ram possible with a bow.
And thank you to everyone else who helped make this dream a reality. I feel very fortunate to kick off the pursuit for a Grand Slam in my home state of Arizona.
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