You just never know when you are going to get to see the sheep really fired up fighting in full rut. This morning we saw these nice rams fighting. It was a great stalk and was high energy and stressful which added to the drama. Bryce and I drove to a good look out and could hear the sheep herd so we hiked the way to them so we didn’t spook them with the truck. We could hear the sheep whacking their horns together as they fought above us.When we got to the top of the rise the sheep appeared. They were moving fast towards us and turned up at the last second. During the rut I carry my cameras hoping to capture something out of the ordinary. Today I would get a chance. We had a 150 sheep working towards us with these nice rams at the back of the herd. 5 nice rams stayed on a hill posturing and fighting at a 120 yards while young rams and ewes came within 20 yards. Within minutes we would be busted and the sheep would spook. We were set up on the big ram but he wouldn’t give us a shot. The four younger rams all were fighting this nice ram at the same time. One would hit horns with him and another would follow. They mixed together so much Bryce had a hard time taking his shot. With young sheep at our feet at under 10 yards Bryce had to take his shot. Not our favorite but we had to shoot due to our time frame being cut short by the other sheep. He was quartering towards us and was walking when the 243. fired. The shot went off and the sheep ran. I got surprised by the shot and didn’t see the big sheep go down. When things came into focus for me a didn’t see the big ram in the herd. I was kicking myself because I am supposed to see the hit and follow the animal. I just got surprised this time and with the commotion of the close sheep I didn’t see the sheep go down. We found some blood and tracked the herd. We stalked the herd for 400 yards and the big sheep wasn’t with them. He had to be down behind us. We looked working our way back and found him. What a nice sheep! His mass and width made this guy impressive. Looking at his head turned when he was fighting the width was as wide as he stood tall. The photos I got were not what I was hoping for. The light was so low and the speed of the sheep fighting was so fast it wasn’t a winning photo moment for me. If the light was better and I could have concentrated a little more on my settings instead of hunting maybe I could have froze the sheep in action during the fight. Many times at the moment of truth while fishing or hunting I can get the shot we are hoping for. Today the drama was high and the hunt wound up tight. With the shots I did get you can get an idea of what we got to see. I was able to get part of the fight on Bryce’s video camera as a consolation. In person it was an awesome sight and with the other sheep around us an incredible hunt.
