Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Wyoming - Bighorns (Laramie Peak) help !

Got a call from my cousin today around noon. The long 2-day drive over to the Laramie unit was fairly smooth. They had to set up an initial camp about 3 miles from where they had hoped to. Main forest/desert roads were better than expected ... side roads .. not so much.

First day was mostly orienting ... driving roads to verify what was actually open. Second day was scouting (2 x 2) and climbing ridges ... one rattlesnake, 3 Rams in a bachelor group. Two were not shooters, the third was too far away to judge and darkness and intervening private lands prevented getting any closer. Third day scouting (also 2 x 2) one herd of 19 with a single smaller ram ... and when returing to teh rig, 8 close by (no rams).

Temps low 80's ... Very Dry ! Need to carry lots of water away from the rig.

No cell coverage in camp ... only from some of the higher ridges. Opening day is tomorrow (Sept. 1st).. Game on !

... Silver Bullet

Whack-em .. Stack-em ... and Pack-em

Awesome good luck to you guys that sounds amazing!!!!

Spent last Saturday with Mike. He has two bruisers found and only two sheep hunters for the season. Good luck. They are there.

Watching this thread with interest. Keep us updated!

Yes,updates as this sound exciting...

wyoelk: .... and the GPS-coordinates of those 2 “bruiser” Rams are ... ? <grin>
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Here’s an item I forgot to add from his call on the 31st. While out scouting, they have met one other tag holder, who has one buddy along for scouting/packing ... as they are also DIY hunting. So if the guide (Mike) has 2 clients and 2 others are accounted for ... that only leaves 4 other Bighorn hunters in the entire unit.
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Received a brief text-only message this am ... They have moved their area of focus about 15 miles away (as the Vulture soars) and have no new Rams yesterday or this am. He is working his way along a ridgeline that he says: Looks like it should be re-named “Bighorn Paradise”. Yesterday, he nearly stepped on a 4-foot rattler ... <--- one of the hazards of actually getting out and hunting vs. truck scouting. Maybe you really need 4 people along to hunt this country ... a gun bearer, a water-boy, a Snake-wrangler and a great B’wana.
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I always felt that rather than spot-stalk, he would most likly end up shooting a Ram that he intercepted (while bedded) ... by sneaking up on it, while out scouting (through prime country) and shooting one at 75-100 yards.

They only have 2 rigs, so rather than continue to scout as two “pairs” ... they are dropping 1 person off ... to hike/climb to a vantage point and glass, while the second person goes on to another spot, to do the same.

... Silver Bullet

Book-em ... Danno

If they are finding ewe groups with half-curl or less rams, they need to keep moving on and looking elsewhere. The large rams are unlikely to be near, and not actually with, the ewe and lamb groups right now. Find ram groups, and keep looking at the leader of the group as that will be the best ram.

While I was out, my confuser received a brief (async) text-message from my cousin (at an elevated glassing point), around 11am today. Summarized below ...
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We had rain yesterday and the mountains were socked in with clouds and low fog, but that might have got these animals moving. So far, we've hunted all of Southeastern, Wyoming ... at least my "feet" feel like it.

We've spotted another group of bachelor Rams this morning, near ******* <--- (redacted by H. Clinton), but by time we got over there, they had turned on their Romulan cloaking devices. We're taking a stand in the area, because the last time we saw them, they were bedded and didn't look like they were in a hurry to go anywhere.
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Finally .... it sounds like the Fat-Lady may be out in the hallway, warming up !
I would say that I'm just waiting for the phone to ring, but even if they shoot one today, it would likely get taken out some canyon bottom and they wont be back in any cell coverage
to place a call, until Friday or Saturday.
Since its 3 O'clock there now ... my guess is they will probably stay there till dark ... either trying for a shot or to positively GPS this groups bedroom.
PS. ... Don't forget to wear your red headlamps and drop bread-crumbs ... on your hike out.

... Silver Bullet

Launching precision hand-loaded (All copper) boolits ...
into adjacent Zip-codes, since 1994 ...

Time for an update.

This has me watching and I am not even a sheep hunter!

Guessing the tag got eaten.

No way. Too good of a unit.

Wyoelk ... you got that right ... Too-Good a unit !
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When we last left (er: heard from) our intrepid adventurers, they had spotted a bachelor group of Bighorn rams and
decided to home in on them. They dropped off to the "invisible" side of a separating ridge and had carefully worked their way down into position. Chris initially left his brother behind and snuck up and over the ridgeline. He was surprised that he was only 125 yards from the spot where the Rams had previously been feeding and milling around. Not spotting the rams, he waved his brother up and they hunkered down .. as the clouds increased and the weather deteriorated.
At nearly 8,000 feet, the winds gusted to 75-80 mph and the rain blew in your face and up your nose. They stayed just short of dark, but no rams re-appeared. They assumed that the animals sensed the impending weather change and had taken shelter as only a wild animal can. The following day, hunting (in a slightly different area) brought only Ewes and lambs.

They spoke with (2) other (60-something year old) hunters, who had planned to bug out ahead of the weather and were not sure if/when they would return. Those hunters had spotted Zero rams during the season. Chris and Bro now had spotted a total of 8 rams (over 9 days), all in bachelor groups. This concluded the first phase of his Bighorn hunt.

He had a chance to call and talk with the biologist the day they left ... and there were no reports of rams being checked in from this unit ... (yet). They towed the trailer back to the Salt-Lake City area and temporarily stored it. Then drove non-stop back to the Portland area, the next day.

Here's where it gets doubly interesting .... Since he has been consistently applying out-of-state (in 6 or 7 states) for multiple species, for the last 20 years or so ... this year in addition to the Wyo-Bighorn tag, he also drew a muzzle-loader Beeeg-Bull tag in Arizona ... For those of you familiar with the Eastern edge of the state, ... it includes Units 1, 2B, 2C. I'll start a separate thread to report on this hunt, but its only a 7 day season and offers the opportunity to hunt during the tail end of the rut and potentially "whack" <--- (a technical term) ... a 340-380 class bull. Think National Forest, public-lands ... bordering the White Mountain Apache lands, as well as the Escondilla mountains (along the AZ/NM. border).

While he has hunted with a muzzle-loader in Oregon (decades ago) ... you are limited here to "primitive" open ignition, no scopes and no saboted bullets. So while we were busy preparing him for his first ever Bighorn hunt ... in the background, we purchased a new CVA Accura-V2 front stuffer (with a 30" barrel), scoped it, sighted it in (in 5 shots), then played with pelletized Triple-7 powders, removable breech-plugs, primers and 250gr Barnes saboted TEZ "boolits" . When it was Good-to-Go ... we filed the knobs off and returned to thinking Bighorns.
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At home between hunts, there was just enough time for he and his (dedicated) brother, to stop by their work for a week ... re-introduce themselves to their respective Bosses and explain how they were about to hit the road (again) for a couple more weeks of hunting. They are leaving at O'Dark-30 tomorrow (Sat) ... back to Utah to get the trailer, then on Sunday, tow it down to Alpine, Arizona and start Elk scouting (for 4-days). The season is only 7 days long (23-29th) ...so after he takes a Bull, they plan to hustle the trailer over East to Alba-turkey ... then North on I-25 ... through Denver and back up into the Laramie country ... for Wyoming Bighorns part-Deux !

Will have more updates tomorrow ... including that there has now been one Ram checked in.

. . . Silver Bullet

That's' my Story ... N' I'm stickin to it !

During their week of recuperation at home ... a follow-up call to the Wyoming biologist revealed that a ram had been checked in, by a client of the well-recommended guide out of Wheatland. It was measured (green) and should be in the mid 170's. While that would be above the average-ram for the unit (<-- if there is such a thing) ...not sure if that is considered to be one of the two "bruiser-class" rams previously referenced ... as located by the guide ?
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Some things learned during their first foray.

Several "Large-ish" Bull Elk were spotted in the area, while glassing for Rams. They included a symmetrical 7x7 and several 6x6's. Most of the area is steep, rocky and with little timber for cover ... not your typical Elk country. I was sent a few digi-scoped photos of the Elk. Another picture shows a small band of ewes and lambs, all up and feeding in the immediate presence of several bedded down Elk. They are right out in the open, on a steep low-grass and sagebrush hillside ... again, not a scene we typically observe.

Maneuvering around in that steep and rocky country often requires balancing along lichen covered boulders and jumping onto and off of those same rocks. Note to self: When wet ... (even by a light mist) lichen covered boulders are Really-Slippery !

They have had much better success using Spot/stalk ... (at least from the "Spot" aspect). It really requires glassing Long and Deep, to be able to pick out any bedded (non-moving) sheep at distance. If you do spot a Ram and can't immediately rule him out a shooter ... close some distance until you can. As he might be the "ONE" and you may not get another opportunity to clearly see him.

You have to keep a constant eye-out for SNAKES ! They don't all rattle first and offer you a warning ... perhaps some
snake-gaiters would provide a little peace of mind ... considering how much country he has been covering.

The game plan for Part-2 of this Bighorn hunt, is to have his brother along until at least Sunday the 2nd. Beyond that, he will be hunting solo. The remoteness had him considering picking up a PLB or SPOT unit, just in case he were to fall somewhere in the rocks ... or down in a Hell-hole and need an emergency response.
Stay tuned ... as they say, we hope to have film-at-11.

.. Silver Bullet

"Wax-On ... Wax-Off"

Looking forward to the updates,great story,and good luck

Watching this thread with great interest. A sheep hunt is on my bucket list.

Heard this morning that one nice ram was taken the 2nd day of season. No pictures though.

Well, the Rams in the Laramie unit of Wyoming should be nervous. The dynamic duo whacked a 7x7 Bull on the opening evening of his Arizona Muzzle-loader Elk hunt. You can read the brief details, in the thread: "Truth, Justice and ... etc." in this same forum.

They will be driving up to/through Wheatland tomorrow and Chris will then have 5 days with his brother along, to help scout. If he stays past that time, he will not only be hunting DIY, buy also Solo. Sure hope the planets align and he gets a shot opportunity at one of the Rams they spotted on his first trip.

wyoelk: any updates on additional Ram harvests in the unit ?

Silver Bullet

Racing has been popular, since they built the second car - R. Petty

Spent the weekend with a friend that helps Mike at times. He hasn't heard of any new rams taken.

wyoelk - Thanks for the update on Ram harvests.
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I found that there was a single photo of his Arizona Elk, "hiding" on my (2G) cell-phone and have just posted it,
on the Arizona hunt thread.
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The boys should be back on station in the Laramies today. If you see an ancient white Dodge diesel, with oregon plates ... and 2 Really-tired looking guys glassing till their eyes perspire ... that would be the A-team.

... Silver Bullet

"I Love it ... when a plan comes together !" - H. Smith