Everything went great… When we flew in into camp there were sheep all around us.
Unfortunately the next day despite 8 miles of hiking up and down in the mountains we didn't see a single one.
Day two proved to be a 13 hour hike in the mountains that left me with a sprained left knee as well as Exhaustion. The knee didn't really hurt much until the middle of the night when I realized I could not bend at all due to what felt like either the lateral meniscus or the lateral collateral ligament. At the beginning of day three, I was losing a substantial amount of weight as we were eating Mountainhouse, beef jerky, and trail mix only. My guide was concerned I wouldn't be able to make it as I was in severe pain with a terrible limp.
However Kelly had sent me an article about how it was really about mental toughness and I just kept repeating that to myself over and over and over. The evening before we had spied a good ram at a mile and a half distance on the next mountain peak, just beneath a 200 foot sheer vertical cliff. Nathan, my guide, and I felt that if we could get above them I would have a great chance at success.
6 miles later this proved to be true. Unfortunately, I had to pull myself up the mountain using only my right leg and a walking stick to help my left knee. It took me forever as I could not go straight up the hill and had to keep zigzagging. Climbing up the rocks on the cliff was a real challenge but we got there and eventually found the Rams under the cliff on the far side of the peak.
They had no clue we were there and we were able to sneak in close and get a really good look at all of them and then was able to harvest this 10-year-old 38 inch ram with ease.
The EXCEPT In the story is this:
Obviously I sprained my knee and I knew when I was going up the hill that I would not be able to do it again on this trip so that this was really a one-shot deal…
Also, I forgot to mention that united airlines lost my luggage and not only did I not have my bow, I had to borrow pants shirts socks and use the guides gun. I have been loaned a bow by someone else but it was his wife's and was very short and max out at 60 pounds and the site wiggled up-and-down. Shooting down at 70 yards did not give me much confidence with a low strength loaner with a site that had a lot of wiggle to it, and I put the bow down and shot the ram with a rifle. Oh well, it was almost the exact same..... I was a little scared that if I injured it and it ran off, I would not be able to recover him.
Next time......
