I'll start the "rest of the story" upon our return from the desert......
Rick M
Has Mrs. JakO heard anything? Is she monitoring this thread?
John
I can say that Ned and Tom sure were a lot of fun to hunt with......and the stories that our shoes could tell.....LOL!!
OFFHNTN
Something about a worm and a large hat!
Sharpstick
Hey Guys, does Jake sound like a politician or what? LOL, Mike
Did you get my PM....
We are not holding back....we are having computer problems....AND we cannot get a hold of Ty to determine if we should board the plane, wait for paperwork, or what. If you were OR are able to reach Ty, have him call, text, or email us so we know what we should do.......i.e. wait for Victor to return from LaPaz, board the plane or what. If nothing else, we need to speak with Antonio - Ty does not arrive until this afternoon and we need to know if we should check out and prepare to fly.....or if we need to stay a couple more days. No problem either way, but we need some input on how to proceed.
Send me a text if you have spoken with Ty, and let us know what he wants us to do.
Jake
John
I'll tell Bigdan and Matt & Ike (sounds like the start up for an ice cream company?) to keep an eye out for you guys on the AZ border.... you might need a lift... =D
Upon arriving in Loreto, we stopped for an introductory beverage of choice at Del Burachos....a local watering hole. We got a room for the evening and the following morning Ty Miller picked us up and we started to shop for some supplies that would be needed for the hunt.
This first photo shows Tom in front of a store that sells nothing but tortillas. However, they are such a staple of the Mexican diet that they actually have a good business.
500 Post Size exceeds the maximum limit. Post Size exceeds the maximum limit.
I'll take a break for a while and try again later.
Despite the best of intentions, the ram busted and Tom did not get a shot opportunity. However, the sheep did not bugger before Tom and Jorge were within 10 yards of some ewes. While a couple other rams were spotted wayyyy up high, the decision was made to leave the Agua Verde "basin" and spike out up on top.
Arctichill,
We didn't actually disturb the spiders home at all....that photo is from a different spider in a different place. The lid wasn't compromised. I just showed a photo from a previous arachnid to illustrate what lives in such a structure......
Our plane is preparing to board....I'll type more when our flight from LAX to Chicago touches down at O'Hare.....
Who were your guides?
I continue to have difficulty posting photos....I was going to post a photo of Tom shooting his bow to prepare for his next stalking opportunity and for the third time, I have gotten the following message:
500 Post Size exceeds the maximum limit. (JRUN Servlet error) Post Size exceeds the maximum limit.
Is this a new challenge since the home page was upgraded? I have used this camera previously and posted photos from it to Bowsite without ever encountering this problem before. I am wondering if I should type the remainder of the story to a word processor, and then just refer everyone to the link? I am open to any and all suggestions.....It almost looks like the maximum photo file size is 5 MBytes.....is that possible?
Regardless, at least for the next couple photos, we'll keep plugging away. The attached photo shows that Tom's accuracy at 35-40 yards is just fine. The foam block is about 7 inches wide and 10 inches high.
City Hunter (Lou),
That poor snake was only 4"-5" long....we used to have lots of milk snakes where I live in western NY, but ours had more white on them. Regardless, I should have just grabbed the thing with my hand, instead of trying to expose it with my boot. Careless on my part....
I was surprised at the number of satellites that are visible at night down there. I saw about 7 different satellites one evening while I was stargazing and waiting to doze off.
Up to this point in time, I have been including photos of just about everything OTHER than the one thing that many of you want to see the most......sheep.
That is about to change.....
About an hour before dark, Victor spotted two nice rams....and one of the two was exceptional. We glassed those rams for the remainder of the evening. The following day (day four), we glassed for a few hours and just could not find them. Assuming that they had gone up and over the top of the mountain, we went up and over as well....and only found a ewe. The guides thought that they might have heard something of interest, so they took Tom on a exploratory stalk....but only kicked up a forkhorned mule deer.
This is a picture of Tom finishing off some tuna fish near the top of our climb on that fourth day.
Upon returning to our previous spikecamp, we found the rams just before dark....about 400 yards from where we had seen them the previous evening. They were there the entire time!! They probably got quite a laugh as we scoured the mountains, while they rested in the shade.
I am now going to post several photos....the rams are not always going to "jump out" at you. Keep looking, and I am sure that you will find them....eventually. Picture clarity should be decent for the most part, but the rams will be small in the photos. I do zoom in for one photo, and while that photo will be fuzzier, I hope that you'll understand why I still decided to post it.....
The weemsi subspecies of Desert Bighorn Sheep is not known for getting as large as the mexicali subspecies. This is an exception to that rule....at least, we felt that it was.
I realize that it may be tough to see it well enough to know what you are looking at. If there is a way to post the photo that I can see on my computer (when I use the "full screen"), I will gladly do so.....if someone can tell me how to do it....or I will even e-mail the photo to someone, if that will help.
Tom and Jorge are in the right half of your red circle. The ram is below and to the left.
John (Greendeem),
I used the Stealth MF 44 that you and Mike let me use. I'll be sending you guys a PM in the next day or two.
#165 The attached photo shows me holding the lens of the sheep's left eye. Can you see how it magnifies the text on the paper? It helps to explain their eyesight.
Life really is too short, and that is a damn shame.
Jake, as always, a superb job recording of the adventure. Thanks for sharing.
Nick
Looking forward to Tom's summation.
Congrats
Good luck, Robb
When Jake and I loaded my truck to head for the Pittsburgh airport, it was 10 degrees F. Because my typical work day finds me leaving home in the dark and getting home long after dark, the ability to practice long yardage shots was greatly constricted. The cold, windy weather did not help much either. To say that I was a bit apprehensive about my preparation would have been putting it mildly.
When we arrived in Mexico, we discovered that the prior hunter was still in the field and that we would have to cool our heels for a couple of days in town. So as one would expect, we gravitated to the famous Del Burachos bar. I got to see first hand the line of arrows sticking out of the infamous beam. Bowhunting legends by the names of FOSS, ENSIGN, GREER, FULCHER, COLLINS, FROMME, etc. had arrows proudly sticking in the beam. The pressure just got ratcheted up a notch. The people in the bar were very friendly and wished us the best of luck.
We arrived at camp and met the guides. My tent literally faced a small bay in the Sea of Cortez. I felt a little guilty thinking about my family back in Pennsylvania facing 10 degree temps... But only for a moment. I was hard to believe that this was a sheep hunting camp.
After an hour or so, a good ram was spotted and Jorge hollered "Vamos" and we grabbed our packs and headed towards the ram.
The terrain was sandy and rocky. Rocks the size of softballs sometimes made it difficult to walk. I was glad that I had my Meindels on. The guides on the other hand, had very worn shoes. Jorge's looked like old work boots. Victor's looked like hiking tennis shoes and one shoe had a huge tear in it. Sarro was wearing tennis shoes.
We did not find that ram and spent the remaining portion of the day about a third of the way up the mountain glassing. At Jake's recommendation, I had packed a thick seat pad which protected my butt from the cactus thorns. I was surprized to see the amount of vegetation that abounded. A variety of cactus bushes - small and large existed. I had to be careful navigating the bow through the brush. I had a sling on the string to protect it from the sharp rocks.
As that first day came to end, we watched two very good rams go over the top of the mountain.
That morning in camp was a bit of a circus as we were deciding on what gear to pack and making sure that we had enough food and water.
About four or five miles down the road in the truck, I noticed how comfortable my Meindels felt that morning. Then, I looked down in shear horror to discover that, in the rush to get everything packed, I forgot to put my Meindels on and was still wearing my camp shoes. I can't tell you how hard it was to tell Victor to turn the truck around so I could go back and put my hiking boots on. Those guys just roared with laughter. Jake and Ned will never let me live that one down.
Well finally we arrived at the place where we had started glassing from on the first day - and I was ready with my boots and even remembered to bring my bow. The plan was to glass that area again and if we didn't see anything, we would get in the truck and drive around to the back side of the mountain range.
It didn't take long for a good ram to be spotted. Soon Jorge,Victor and I were headed towards the mountain where the ram was last spotted.
It probably took us an hour to hike across the somewhat sandy basin that separated our glassing area from the base of the mountain. When we got to the base of the mountain, we started to climb a dry creek. I doubt that it rains much there, but when it does, I imagine that it is a sight to see. You could see where the water had cut large ravines into the mountain. This dry ravine, lined with huged rocks, made a convenient path of attack that would allow us to get above the ram.
As we hiked along this ravine, we started to gain altitude. Jumping from rock to rock made it relatively quiet going. As we continued to climb, I started to get a bit uneasy. For those of you who don't know me, I have a problem with snakes. I maintain that I have a relay in my brain that automatically trips at the sight of a snake. If that snake has rattles, it can get ugly fast and if there is a firearm involved... well we won't go there.
Anyway, as we continued to climb, I could not help but wonder how many rattle snakes called this place home. I later found out that Jake hiked that very drainage during his hunt and they saw one. Thank God we did not.
As we continued to gain altitude, we encountered a sheer rock wall that brough a halt to our progress. Not to worry, Jorge climbed it like a spider. I was amazed, yet puzzled as to how he expected to get me and my bow up that wall. Then a rope dropped at my feet. The next thing that I know, I was doing my best batman impression climbing the wall. Soon the three of us were on top of the wall to continue our climb.
The remainder of the climb involved some hand-over-hand climbing and a few cactus encounters, but soon we were at the top overlooking the cactus and brush ladened mountainside where the ram was last spotted. I was sucking wind, but sat down in relief and somewhat in unbelief that I had made it intact.
Jorge started wending his way down the relatively steep hillside through the cactus brush. He was walking on all fours like a crab. He never slipped. He motioned me to follow him. I was carrying a bow. I am not graceful. The hillside consisted of loose rocks and gravel and he wanted me to follow him and to be QUIET. Fat chance man. I am too old and stiff to be graceful and that loose hillside terrain was like standing on ice. Still I tried. Damn the cactus brush and thorns. I assumed the crab-like position and started to creep towards Jorge who was about 4 yards below me. I was proceeding well and darn proud of myself when Jorge through his hand up signaling me to stop. About 20 yards below Jorge lay a "senorita" or ewe. I could barely make out its horns through the brush. I stopped. We waited. My legs started to cramp. I had to move. I slowly came to my feet to relieve the cramp. The ewe did not see me. I was feeling good but had both feet pointing down the mountain. Not a good position for maintaining good footing. All at once, both feet gave way and I did my best "two-footed punt" immitation. Now there was this cactus the size and shape of a bowling ball behind me. The cactus had large protruding thorns that each terminated in a hook. My butt could not have been more perfectly aligned with it. My butt hit it with a thud. There was pain. There was blood. Jorge looked around at me. What could I do? I gave him a thumbs up signal and never made a peep. The ewe never moved.
Jorge slowly proceeded. He was now 6 yards above the unsuspecting ewe. He was looking to see if the ram was bedded nearby. I was four yards above Jorge. My further advancement was not as graceful as Jorge's and a second ewe that we had not seen before jumped up and started staring at me. This lasted for what seemed to be a year, but it was only a few minutes. Both ewes decided that they had enough and then made a quick exit. The ram was nowhere to be found.
After some more rope work and some climbing where the "pucker meter" was pegged, we made it back to the crew just about at dusk.
Rick M
The first evening that we spiked out, Victor and Jorge spotted the two sheep that are shown in the scope photos above. The photos don't do the big ram justice. We figured that the big ram would score between 160 and 170. The guides called him "muy grande". To say I was excited was an understatement. I didn't get much sleep that night. The stars were bright. I saw two falling stars, but that big ram was emblazoned on my mind.
Congratulations!!!! Looking forward to the rest of the story!
John MacPeak
When we woke the next morning, the rams were feeding above us. Jorge and I started up another drainage to get above them. We finally made it to the part of the mountain that ended with a vertical rock wall and we believed that we were well above the rams. After hiking along the base of the vertical wall, Jorge spotted the smaller ram slightly above us about 150 yards away. We waited and waited until he finally dropped off the ledge and headed below us to where we believed the muy grande to be.
We slowly crept onto this rocky point that jutted out from the mountain. The footing was good and I was in Jorge's hip pocket when we spotted the smaller of the two rams. My angle adjusted range finder said that it was 35 yards away. He was broadside and presented a relatively easy shot. I nocked an arrow. Jorge said "no no - we want the muy grande". It was a beautiful ram and I could have made that shot. I silently hoped that I would not regret passing that ram.
We continued to stalk to the edge of the rocky point while the smaller ram carefully watched us. Then my eyes saw the muy grande. What an awesome ram. I have never been close to a Boone and Crocket quality animal before. This guy had mass out to the end of his horns. The horn tips flared outward. He was bedded and facing directly at me. The drop off to him was very steep and the range finder indicated that he was at an angle adjusted 15 yards. It was a sight that I will never forget.
When Jorge saw the muy grande, he started screaming "SHOOT, SHOOT, SHOOT....". As I put the rangefinder away and started to draw my bow, the smaller ram bolted. The big ram followed and quickly jumped under a rocky ledge where we could not see him. We quickly moved to the end of the rocky point that we were on to see if we could get a glimpse of the big ram.
Please bear with me on the next part of the story as I am presently getting a bit nauseous reliving it.
As we reached the end of the rocky point, I spotted the muy grande below. He was moving away from us. I guessed the yardage at 30 yards and released the arrow. It was perfectly aligned with the boiler room, but flew an inch over its back.
Now I had never missed a Boone and Crocket class animal before, because I had never seen one before. In honor of Jake, I am going to try to tell you what thoughts went through my mind when I saw that arrow fly over its back.
Well the first thought was that I had blown my only chance at a ram-let alone a ram of that quality. Then a vision of my wife popped into my head saying "You spent what on this hunt???". Then a vision of Jake appeared asking "How the heck did you miss that ram?" There were more thoughts and visions. I was and am getting sick.
When Jorge saw the arrow miss the ram, he uttered something is Spanish in disgust and grabbed my left arm sleeve pulling me back toward the mountain face where the muy grande was headed. As I turned, I saw the smaller ram standing well below us. He looked like he was fixing to leave the country.
As we moved toward the mountain face, Jorge spotted the muy grande again and started yelling "SHOOT, SHOOT, SHOOT...". For the life of me, I could not see that ram. Then I spotted a ram body. It was slowly quartering away up toward the mountain face. The range finder read 47 yards. As the ram was moving away, I drew my bow and put the 50 yard pin on the top of his back and released. I can still see that arrow arcing through the air. It smacked the ram in the boiler room and as it turned to run downhill, I could see blood pouring from its far side. I was elated until Jorge exploded in disgust.
Here in the ensuing circus, the smaller ram had come up the hill when we were looking for the muy grande. When I spotted the ram's body, I assumed that it was the muy grande and I knew that I needed to shoot before it got further down range. The last time that I had seen the smaller ram, it was well below us and the thought never entered my mind that it could be him. But I was wrong. I had just shot the smaller ram. Jorge was devastated. Now let me be prefectly clear, I was absolutely elated to have made a good shot on that ram and am damn proud of it. But, I went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows when I saw Jorge's reaction to not getting the muy grande.
First I realize that I am very lucky to have had the opportunity to take this hunt. I am even more lucky to have been able to experience the hunt with my great friends Jake and Ned. These guys really made the hunt. Ned knows enough Spanish to be dangerous. He kept the guides constantly wound up. It was hilarious at times. Jake's positive and never-quit attitude is absolutely infectious. I never once believed that we would not get an opportunity at a ram. Many thanks to both of you guys. This is a hunt that I will take to the grave with me.
Next, I want to say that Ty Miller runs an absolutely great hunt. If I had to pick one word to decribe the experience, it would probably be "magical". Their concern for your comfort, safety and success is second to none. If you want a true spot and stalk desert sheep bow or rifle hunt, you must consider going with TY.
To you died-in-the wool sheep hunters (FOSS), I am in awe and a bit envious. Many thanks my friend for your advice and support.
To those of you who dream about taking a sheep hunt and believe it to be out of reach, don't let your dreams die. Keep entering the draws and save your money. I truely hope that each and everyone of you who wants to get to hunt one of these regal animals gets to do so.
In the words of a legend, "Straight Arrows".
Just out of curiousity, what does your sheep score? Not that it matters, but not being familiar with sheep sizes, I am trying to visualize how much bigger the "muy grande" would be.
Once again congrats on a hunt of a lifetime.
Congratulations,Jake and your write up does not leave much out.Hunting down in Mexico is much more than just another hunt. It is always an adventure and you can never count on things going smooth but that adds to the experiance. Being down there with a couple of friends really adds to the trip. How did you make out getting the ram home? Any issues? Congratulations again
Jim in PA
OFFHNTN
I didn’t get to bring my ram back either, it took about 6 months before I got it.
In your photo of Tom showing the topographical relief is that Carmen Island in the background?
John
That is NOT Carmen Island, but you didn't miss by much. If I had rotated about 15 degrees further to my left (North), Carmen Island would have been visible if I had been at the top of the cliff.
You guys must be just south of Loreto and that is the little island just south of Carmen. That part of Mexico is such a beautiful and rugged place.
John
You nailed it. We were near Agua Verde, which is a two hour drive south of Lareto by road.
BB, that is a GREAT pic! Wow. I just glanced at it and my heart started hammering! Tom, you kept it together pretty good. Good job.
One thing to hunt. Another to do it in front of a live audience! Cacti spines and all....
Thanks for posting the photos in a more manageable size...I was still experimenting!!
Regarding the photos, the ram in the first picture (below the hunters) is the muy grande as he walked uphill closer to Tom and Jorge. He eventually turned to his right and bedded...... facing Tom and Jorge. The second photo shows the the muy grande ram (left) as well as the ram which Tom takes a few minutes later (right).
I never should have sent the last two pictures to Tom....his workday is shot!! LOL!!
Jake
