December 2025
California Bighorn Sheep Hunting | Oregon
Story By: Fred Hitchcock
This story begins like so many others in this magazine. It was early June 2024, and I was tending to some chores outside when my phone rang. It was Dan Blankenship with Sheep Mountain Outfitters. He proceeded to inform me that I had drawn a non-resident California bighorn sheep tag in Oregon for the East Deschutes River unit. This was a huge surprise as I had not checked the draw results and had no realistic expectation to draw a sheep tag in Oregon. After my initial shock and confusion, I realized this wasn’t a joke. I was in complete shock. I peppered Dan with questions and told him I would contact him soon. The following day at work was very long because I don’t think I slept at all the night I got the phone call from Dan.
The following day, I called Huntin’ Fool and spoke to Robert Hanneman. He assured me that Dan and his team were the guys to go with. I called Dan back a day or two later and contracted their services for my once-in-a-lifetime sheep hunt. After a few days of calling close friends and family members, the shock of how I was going to pull off the financial aspect of this hit home. I live in Michigan, so logistics and travel expenses played a significant role.
I am an Ironworker by trade and also have a small pumpkin farm on the side. I became hyper focused on finances, training, and reading everything I could find about sheep hunting in Oregon. I was working six days a week/10 hours a day and doing everything I could to keep the deer out of my pumpkin fields. I don’t think a day went by the following four months that I didn’t think about my sheep hunt.
Over the summer, I intermittently kept in contact with Dan. During one of the conversations, he stated that a 160” class ram was a good one for the unit I had drawn. I really wanted to kill a 170” class ram; however, I accepted that a 160” class ram would be sufficient. The days wore on and on, and pumpkin season started. By the time I left for the hunt in mid-October, I was worn out!
I arrived in Oregon and met Mike, one of Dan’s guides. I had arrived two days before opening day at Dan’s request to scout and look at some rams. I was following Mike in my vehicle, and as we entered the unit, Mike pulled over and pointed out three rams bedded a couple hundred yards off the road. I took this as a very good omen and joked with Mike if they stage sheep there for all of their clients to see. Mike and I got camp set up and met Marty, our jet boat driver, and we scouted for four hours downriver from our campsite. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. We saw 30 different rams. We returned to camp, and Dan met us there. We got acquainted and planned on scouting the next day.
The following morning, we arose, ate, and started scouting from the road. We saw sheep everywhere, and one particular ram piqued everyone’s curiosity. After watching this ram for several hours, everyone was questioning just how big he was. It was then that I heard Dan say something and everyone jumped back on the spotting scopes. The ram had risen from his bed and began eating and sniffing around a ewe. As he turned his head and presented different angles to look at, Dan and his team seemed to get more and more interested. That evening, we scouted down the river some more, and at the conclusion of the day, we had looked at over 50 different rams. It was at this point that I quit wondering if I would kill a ram and realized it was just a matter of which ram.
That evening, I decided, and Dan agreed (although I think Dan had already decided), that we should pursue the ram we had studied for so long off the road. All the other hunters in my unit and the adjoining unit were camped by us and were going to hunt downriver. I don’t like competition, so I felt we should go where nobody else was going to hunt.
Opening morning arrived, and we went to where my ram was the previous night. We located him about 500 yards away from where he was the night before. Two other members of Dan’s team, Josh and Luke, joined us that morning. We studied the ram for a while and then it was go time. Dan, Mike, and I started our ascent. The terrain was steep and mostly loose rocks and shale. Marty, Luke, and Josh stayed on the road to spot for us. It took an hour and a half or so, and we were close to being in position. We had 200 yards to go, and I was starting to get a little nervous. We made the next 200 yards undetected. Dan and Mike were studying the ram and ranging him. I purposely did not look through my binos. I did not want to get the shakes.
I got set up for the shot, and Mike moved my shoulders. I was looking through the scope at the wrong ram. Once I was on the right ram, I settled in and centered the crosshairs. Mike called the range at 360 yards, and I slowly squeezed the trigger. The rifle boomed, and I immediately jacked another round in the chamber and got back on the scope. All I could see was rocks rolling downhill and sheep running upslope. I frantically asked where the ram was as I couldn’t see him. Dan calmly said, “He’s dead in the rocks.”
I looked up in disbelief, and Mike started slapping my shoulders, telling me what a great shot it was and how he couldn’t believe how calm I was. That made two of us. We gathered up packs and headed towards the ram.
Mike and Dan were whispering a couple times prior to the shot and afterwards. They got to the ram first and sat above it. I was a few minutes behind them. When I got to my ram, words cannot explain my feelings. He was huge. I was so happy and chided Dan and Mike for sandbagging me on how big this ram really was.
Marty, Josh, and Luke hiked up to the kill site, and we did a lengthy photo session and skinned and quartered the ram for the pack out. These guys were amazing. They absolutely would not let me carry anything off the mountain, with the exception of the heart and part of the liver. Boy did Luke rag on me for wanting to try the liver. We had a lot of laughs coming down off the mountain.
That evening, we arrived at camp and most of the other sheep hunters were successful. It was a great experience, and surprisingly, my ram was bigger than anyone else’s.
Oregon Game and Fish scored my ram at 174.5”, a true giant, especially for that unit. I would like to thank Dan and his team at Sheep Mountain Outfitters, a truly great team and good men. This was an unbelievable experience. I would also like to thank Huntin’ Fool. If it wasn’t for this publication, I would have never drawn this tag. Most of all, thank you, Lord, for this opportunity.