This hunt really started on April 17, 2024 about 6am. I went in my son’s room and told him to log into his account and check to see if he drew any NM big game tags. He sat straight up in his bed and said “dad, I drew a bighorn tag”! I was in disbelief and had to look for myself. A week or so prior we were at my in laws and I heard Kyle telling my father in law that he didn’t care if he drew any other tags this year, he just want a bighorn ram tag. I told him as we were still sitting there in shock “you must be living right and saying your prayers at night”.

It didn’t take long for word to get out that he had a BHS tag and the calls started coming in. Friends and family calling offering to help out on the hunt (more or less just inviting themselves on the hunt cause EVERYONE wants a chance to go hunt sheep lol), outfitters calling offering their guide services, and lots of calls and texts telling him congratulations.

We almost immediately started doing research of the hunt area. We spent hours looking at maps and onx and google earth, we made calls to our state sheep biologists, calls to others that I knew had hunted and guided in this area, doing everything we could do to put as much information together to make the most of this hunt.

By mid July we had a pretty good idea of how we’d approach this hunt and who would be going with us. I got an email around the same time from a gentleman named Bryan Bartlett. He is the president of the NM chapter Wild Sheep Foundation. In his email was a map with every kill sight from the past 5 years, his phone number, and some other general info to help with the hunt. I called Bryan a few times in the months leading up to the hunt to ask him questions and gather more information for the hunt. We decided we would go in October to scout the area and hopefully see some rams. As usual busy life got in the way, and we never made it down there to scout (I know, sounds pretty stupid to not go put boots on the ground to prepare for a once in a lifetime hunt of like this). Through my research, I knew that this hunt had 100% success rate for the past 4 or 5 years with an average of 3 days hunted, and after visiting with Bryan numerous times, he assured me we would not have a problem killing a mature ram. I was disappointed we hadn’t made time to scout, but I wasn’t to worried that it would effect the success of the hunt.

Kyle’s hunt was the second hunt of the year for this area. The first hunt was Nov. 15-30, and Kyle’s hunt dates would be Dec. 1-15. Our plan was to get to the hunt area the evening of Nov. 29, look for a few target rams on the 30th, and start hunting Dec. 1. Our plan was to hunt the 1st through the 9th of December, and then come back the 14th and 15th if he hadn’t filled his tag already.

The week before the hunt started a friend of a friend, who is one of the best sheep guides in the state, was in the hunt area looking for rams for a hunter that held the governors tag. They did not turn up a ram close to 185”, like the governors tag hunter wanted, but did see a ram in the mid 170’s, and gave us info where they’d seen him. We also had info on a ram that was supposed to be 12 or 13 years old, that had a lot of character, but wasn’t gonna score very good.

We got to the hunt area on Nov. 29 after dark. We made a plan for the next morning to split up into two groups, to go look at and video sheep. The day of scouting went well, we saw around 40 or 50 sheep, with roughly 20 of them being rams. We never were able to turn up the big ram(with a collar), that we had learned about the week before, but we did find another really nice ram, that we guessed would score close to 170”. We never made it far enough south to look for the 12 year old ram, but Kyle wasn’t really interested in the old busted up ram anyways. He had his heart set on the collared ram we hadn’t located yet or the 170ish full curl symmetrical ram we’d seen earlier that day.

Opening morning Dec. 1 we got to the hunt area and split up into two groups. Kyle and myself, along with my dad and a few friends went to where we had seen the nice ram the day before that we guessed was around 170”, this was our target ram #2. The other part of our group posted up a couple miles north of us to see if they could get eyes on target ram #1 that we hadn’t been able to locate the day before. We immediately found target ram #2 and the 3 other rams he was with the day before. They hadn’t moved more that a couple hundred yards from where they’d been the previous day. We hadn’t seen any of the other 3 hunters the day before so we felt like we’d be okay to leave this ram for the time being and see if we could find target ram #1. We drove over to where the rest of our group was glassing. Before we got there I got a text from my brother in law that they thought they had found the ram we wanted but they weren’t 100% sure yet. By the time we walked 1/4 miles from the trucks to where they were glassing they had confirmed it was the ram we were after. He was easy to identify with his full curl and the collar he was wearing. We made a plan and headed around to get into position for a shot.

We left the majority of our group posted up behind glass roughly a miles from the sheep, as me, Kyle, and a couple friends eased our way into position. We closed the distance as much as we could but the sheep were on the move and we had a big canyon in between us and them. We got spotting scopes and cameras set up, Kyle got laid down prone, and we got him a range on the ram. It was gonna be a 720 yard shot(probably gonna hear some negative comments for such a long shot but that’s okay. He shot a buck perfect from 560 the weekend before, and he pracitces precision air rifle and smallbore twice a week and has won state championship the last 3 years, he shoots really good.) but there was no way to close the distance anymore. He dialed his scope, confirmed we had video rolling, and sent one from his 7mm Rem Mag. Half a second went by and dust flew just in front of the ram. The ram and the other sheep he was with ran up the mountain 50 yards or so and stopped. I told Kyle he missed and told him not to take another shot until we figured out what happened. I replayed the video and could see the vapor trail in the video and could tell the wind had moved the bullet a couple of feet right. Where we were laying we could not feel any wind but there was just enough cross wind in that canyon that it was moving the bullet. We decided not to take another shot from there hit instead try to wait for the sheep to get to a spot we could put a better stalk on them. As luck would have it they kept moving up and away from us and topped the mountain and out of sight. We discussed our options and decided time to go find ram #2.

We hiked from where we were across the top of this rim, figuring we were roughly a mile or so from where Ram #2 should be. The other guys went back to the trucks and then the whole group was gonna drive around and meet me and Kyle. We got to where the other big Ram was earlier that morning and posted up and started glassing. The rest of our group drove around and up a canyon and were stopping to glass as they came up the canyon. We had 10 sets of eyes, some up high, some down low, and for over 2 hours we couldn’t find the ram we had just seen in this area that morning. Me and Kyle went ahead and hiked over to the trucks so we could eat some lunch. By this time it was about 1pm. We all ate lunch and talked about what our next plan was. I just couldn’t believe we weren’t able to turn up ram #2 and thought maybe the gun shot from earlier scared him further south.

We finished lunch and made a plan. My dad and my father in law were take Kyle and I in the UTV and drop us off at the base of the mountain where ram #1 had went after the missed shot. Everyone else was gonna stay down low and spread out and look for ram #2. We got in the side by side and only made it about 1/4 mile down a little two track road, and as I looked out my window to the left I saw sheep feeding 200 yds away. I picked up my binos and immediately knew that was the ram we were looking for. My and Kyle jumped out, I threw my backpack on the ground, he laid down and chambered a round and was about to fire before I told him “wait, let me get my spotting scope up and video rolling”, then I said, “the big ram is the furthest to the right if they start moving shoot him”. I got my scope up and phone rolling video and said “okay, I’m on him” BOOM!!! Kyle wasted no time and sent a perfect shot right behind the shoulder. The ram stumbled a few times but was still on his feet. I told him “put another one in him” BOOM!! second shot was another perfect shot and the ram was down!!! Hugs, high fives, and complete disbelief it just happened like that, out of nowhere! And to top it off it was the only way it could’ve worked that both grandpas were right there as it all went down. My brother in law called and said” did you guys just shoot?” “Are you just checking the zero on his rifle” I said “Kyle just shot the big ram from this morning.” Everyone showed up, more hugs high fives, LOTS of pics and then started caping him out.

Kyle’s ram scored 174” and will make the all time Boone and Crockett book. I haven’t heard for sure but I think it might be the biggest desert bighorn ram killed in NM in 2024. After some twisting of my arm and uncles and grandpas all pitching in for it, it is at the taxidermists for a full body mount. It will probably be a year before it’s done but I will try to post pics to this thread when it is done.

Hope you all enjoy the read, sorry it was so long!

Wow that's fantastic. His smile says it all. A head like that must weigh a lot. It looks positively huge. (The ram not the young man's lol)Congratulations to all.
Are those bighorns edible?

Congratulations

Congratulations! That's a nice ram. Was it public land?

I hope to enter a draw for one next year, I'm still getting used to being here in NM.

Very impressive, congrats !!

I did not realize how big they were, what do you estimate the weight of that critter----Good job and nice photo---congratulations......jk

That’s super cool, I have applied in Oregon for years, I’ll probably never get one. Ours are California bighorns and Rocky Mountain bighorns. He is one lucky dude to draw, great job on the harvest of a truly majestic specimen.

wws

I’ll tell you how beautiful that trophy is and a lot more"…….

IF WE GET A GREAT STORY AND RUN DOWN OF THE HUNT!

Sheesh
Jealous
Osky

Turtledale, yes they are edible. So far we’ve seared some backstrap, and my wife made a roast(carne adovada) and both were very good. The head is unreal! Pictures don’t do it justice. When you pick it up and feel the mass it is unbelievable.

Fireplug, yes it was public land. This hunt was in the Caballos mountains. Many people I know have been applying for a desert bighorn for close to 20 years with no luck. This was the 4th year trying for my son. In NM there is no preference points so everyone has the same odds. It’s a once in a lifetime hunt so my son won’t ever be eligible to draw a desert bighorn in NM again.

JK, I would guess it weighed 250 maybe a bit more. The head and horns probably accounted for close to 35 or 40lbs of the weight.

Osky, I’ll do a full story on the hunt later this evening. It’s definitely one that I enjoy telling.

That’s a fantastic ram. Congratulations

That's an awesome animal, can't wait to hear the story. Congrats to all involved.

Outstanding! I'm super jealous!

Fantastic. Congratulations on a great ram.

That’s awesome!!!

Beautiful Ram!!! Congratulations

Incredible animal. Congratulations!! Fantastic eating as well. I hope the horns and many meals allow plenty of reminiscing over a once-in-a-lifetime hunt.

Very nice, did he buy some lottery tickets to? lol

WOW, congrats! Now he's spoiled for life, it'll be hard to get a better trophy than that! That sheep appears to be a seven year old?

Wow...Congratulations. I felt the same thrill 32 years ago...enjoy. OTG