A friend drew one of the 16 new tags that were offered this year. Heading down tomorrow to scout a bit and see what we can find. Supposed to be some GIANT rams in this unit so we'll see. Hope to have pics on Monday morning for everybody

Hope everybody has a great weekend

Good luck and hope you guys find some giants and get some pictures of them so the rest of us have something to drool over

There are huge rams in all the units, send me your email and I will send a picture of a ram with 17 1/2" bases we net-gunned and relocated with several other rams and 10 ewes a few years ago. The state has been very active and has done a great job of identifying habitat, predator control and relocating sheep from the Red Rock facility to areas now open to hunting....Ladron, Hatchets, Caballos, Pelloncillo etc. Props to NMGF and especially bighorn biologists Eric Rominger and Elise Goldstein for a job well done. They are very active in the Rocky mt Bighorns herds as well.

I have heard nothing but good things about Eric. My email is huntsonora at gmail dot com

Would love to see the pictures

smartest guy i know, Eric is a great guy to share a sheep camp, full of stories, poems and has excellent taste in cigars. I sent the picture, I only had time to take one as it gets a bit hectic during a capture.

Fellow I work with drew one of the desert sheep permits in the
Bootheel.

A number of REALLY good folks here in New Mexico have worked their butts off to get the Desert Bighorn population to the point that they are off the Endangered Species list.
Elise and Eric are deserving of the recognition, and Darrel Weybright, among others with NMG&F, have restored these animals to a huntable population. All progress over the past twenty years was made by dedicated people who "stood on the shoulders of giants."

It would be a real treat to share a campfire or a hunt with any of them. However, after all that work, they are not getting special privileges and aren't getting drawn for licenses!

Welcome to the Campfire, Zia, and thanks for that inside information. You have good friends. You will make some new ones here.

I spoke to a BLM biologist, in Las Cruces, this past April about that area and his input was very encouraging. He spoke of that area as difficult to access from main roads but there is spots where a person can get in. He also said that the state was working with a ranch for access for this upcoming season. I have spent time down there quail hunting and it is grand territory. To draw such a tag is like winning the lotterey. Good luck and have a great hunt. MTG

Thanks Doc!

I agree, from Jim Lane down, the department is doing a good job and work their tails off for NM wildlife. Daryl is the drop-net guru, the problem is he now has too much responsiblity and doesnt get to "play" as much, hopefully he will get to the Taos Rocky Mt bighorn capture in August. I try to film most of the net drops, you can tell Daryl is an experienced sheep trapper...the rookies charge down the mountain as soon as the net drops, most of them trip on the rocks or get tangled in the net plus they get the most boisterous, jumpiest sheep. Experienced guys like Daryl "amble" to the net and get the quiet sheep. Happens every time.

Good luck scouting, sounds like a great hunting opportunity.

Here is ram from yesterday. It's crude as I pulled it from video. I'll get better pics up later this week.

Listen to Mike! He's good people and will put you on the trail to some good sheep.

Speaking of..... I still owe you some big horn backstraps. You want some??

Jon

Hi Jon!,

I will try anything once, how do they taste? Did you draw anything this year? Come by the house or give me a call.

I still have your number. I'm working Mid Shift. I'll give you a buzz this the week. The backstraps are pretty darn good!

I drew a Unit 15 cow tag, MacGreagor range Oryx and Javalina.

Did you guys get lucky?

I saw some nice oryx on McGregor while we were helicopter darting mulies for cwd testing, that should be a fun hunt.
I drew 16a archery elk (first hunt) Wyoming archery elk for the Bighorns (mid-september), my wife drew muzzleloader elk and off-range oryx.

Awesome stuff!!!! How many rams did ya end up seeing??

We saw 18 rams in a day and a half. It was amazing!

Don't know much about field judging sheep but those look pretty good to me.

Those are some awesome rams. Good luck with your hunt!!

Wow, if that didn't get your blood flowing I don't know what would!

My dream hunt right there.....awesome!

I was also drawn to hunt desert bighorn in the Hatchets. Here's a picture from last weeks scouting trip.

Awesome! You should kill a giant

Congats! I'm so jealous of you guys!

That one is a pretty good sheep. Definitely in the 160's.

Sure am glad you're back Mav...we need a resident ex-spurt on everything...

Thanks everyone.

Maverick - Thanks for the score estimate. I was wondering how big he really was. He was the biggest we saw that day for sure. I'm very much a novice at sheep hunting, but I am learning much every day.

Can anyone recommend any good books, articles, internet resources, etc?

Roger In New Mexico:

Yeah, that's a pretty good sheep. I'd like to have a better look at him, all the way around, but I doubt he'll make all-time. Nevertheless, it's a good ram. I've chased a lot of desert sheep over the years. If you think you'll need help while on your hunt, let me know and I can bop over there. Offhand I don't remember the dates for 2012, but I might be available to help you out. In terms of good books, one of the best all-around sheep hunting books is Jack O'Conner's "Sheep & Sheep Hunting".

Mav

I have two books by Jack O'Conner -

1) Sheep and Sheep Hunting
2) The Art of Hunting Big Game in North America.

I also have - The Desert Bighorn It's Life History Ecology and Management by Gale Monson and Lowell Sumner.

These have been invaluable.

I don't have any closer pics. This was our first trip and we didn't even try to get close. We'll leave that for subsequent trips. Hopefully I'll be able to post better pics later.

Thanks for the offer to come out and help. Hopefully I'll be able to do this on my own. I'm fortunate in that I am a state resident and some free time to invest in scouting. So far I'm having an absolute blast learning and scouting these animals.

Well, if you need an extra set of eyes and some long-time experience with desert bighorns, let me know. I can jump in the pick-up and be over there in about ten hours or so. I'll even bring my own camp, as long as you supply the food.

Any input on how this hunt worked out for your guys? Would love to hear about it.

Yeah, I would love to know as well!