Family-Supported Quest for Desert Bighorn Success
It was a sad day when I had to run to the hospital after hearing the news that my mother, Susan, was in the emergency room and not doing well. After exploratory surgery, which resulted in zero findings, she was settled into the ICU to try to stabilize her unknown condition. As the family rallied together to be with Mom and tried to take care of things around the family farm, I received an email from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, “Congratulations on drawing the Desert bighorn sheep tag in the Cady Mountain Range!”
I was speechless as I looked at my wife. After 23 years of applications, I finally got it. After 23 talks with my dad as we both applied, dreaming of the chance to go hunt for such a majestic creature, it finally happened. I was both ecstatic that I finally drew the Desert bighorn tag, while at the same time somber at my mother’s condition. This feeling was quickly resolved on my next phone call with my mother as I told her the news. She was ecstatic that I had drawn the extremely rare tag. This was some good news in a trying time.
As my mother was on the road to recovery, things were progressing along. I began to research different outfitters, wanting to make sure I had someone with expertise to help me with this hunt of a lifetime. I contacted Matt and Cliff St. Martin with Dry Creek Outfitters and immediately felt comfortable with their experience in hunting Desert bighorn sheep.
In the month prior to the season opener, conditions looked favorable to hunt on opening weekend. Cliff St. Martin, Casey Nick, and Matt Divine began scouting a few days before we arrived to get a game plan together. The crew got on some rams early on and spent considerable time glassing and scouting. When my 81-year-old dad Paul, my brother (also Paul), my son Cash, my friend Steve Magill, and I showed up, we were briefed on the crew’s findings as well as a quick game plan for the following day. Little sleep was in store for that night.
Early in the morning, the team was awake and split up to put eyes on two sides of a steep, rocky mountain. The sheep were spotted early on and were following a similar pattern crossing from one side of the mountain to the other. While we were glassing over a mile away through the heat signature, Steve stepped back and started to glass the hills surrounding the crew. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, two nice rams ran by about 400 yards off to the side. Paul (Sr.), super excited, shouted, “Shoot ’em, Bradley!” I looked inquiringly at Casey and Matt, excited to see rams so close; however, they stated these were not what we were after. This calmed me down, and everyone watched as the two new rams trotted away towards the previous rams.
A call came in from Cliff on the other side of the mountain that two rams of interest were spotted. He called one a “No Brainer” and told me, “If it was my tag, I’d shoot it.” Everyone met up and glassed to see if the rams would come out of the draw they were last seen walking into.
After a few hours and no sign of the rams, a plan was put together for Casey and me to try to walk around and get a vantage point where Cliff thought the pair would come out for the afternoon and move back up the mountain. Casey spied a good rock outcropping to set up on and waited to see any movement. After about an hour, the glassing crew saw the rams making their way up to the outcropping. My heart started pumping with the thought that after all this time, I would have a shot at a great ram on the first day. After 45 minutes and no sign of either ram, Casey whispered, “Don’t move.” The rams had unexpectedly dropped down to the bottom of the canyon a few hundred yards away, and with just one horn and part of his face exposed, the ram detected Casey and me. In a flash, he was gone. In this brief encounter, Casey and I could see this was a special ram.
As we slowly walked back down the mountain, slightly dejected that we had spooked the rams and figuring they had left the county, we began glassing up the long canyon about a mile away. Perched at the base of a rocky precipice, both rams were spotted, and they looked like they were bedding down. The dejected feeling left as a new game plan was set for the next day to try and get into position to harvest the ram now named “Eagle Eye.”
Waking early the next morning, spirits were high, as well as expectations. The team again split up to try and lay eyes on the target ram. It did not take long before the pair were located high on the mountain. Exposed as they were, there was no feasible way to get in range. Thinking the rams would follow their previous route, plans were made to intercept them as they moved back over the mountain. Glassing continued until the rams worked their way up and over a steep, rocky pass into a large bowl in a new direction with bleak chances to be able to try and make a stalk on them.
The crew broke up again, trying to figure out a way to line up a shot. Viewing the new side of the mountain from a variety of positions revealed no sign of the rams and just a guess as to their whereabouts. The crew figured they would just watch for the rest of the afternoon to try and set a plan for the next day. Then Cliff contacted Casey, and they came up with the plan for Casey and me to work up the mountain and get into position if the rams made their way back up to the top. The rest of the team would glass the mountains surrounding the bowl where the rams were, making sure they did not give Casey and me the slip.
With little to no cover, Casey and I surreptitiously made our way up the mountain, stopping every few yards of elevation to glass the massive boulder field that was increasingly visible. As we climbed higher, almost to the rim of the bowl, we dropped our packs and gear to be as quiet as possible. Casey and I could now see most of the bowl, and it seemed as if the rams had slipped away yet again.
After about 15 minutes sitting on the edge of the bowl, I heard a faint noise and notified Casey. This happened again about two minutes later. It was a noticeably light sound, but notable as it was the sound of small rolling stones. Out from below Casey and me under the sheer edge of the bowl… rams! I scrambled to get a rest as the rams made quick work running up the boulder field. At this point, the sheep were 175 yards away with only a view of the ram’s rear end. I waited with my scope on the target ram. 210 yards, 250 yards, still facing straight away. The rams were gaining more and more elevation as I lay prone. With very few rocks in front of me to steady my rifle, I put my 270 WSM on top of my hand. My heart was beating out of my chest. Finally at 270 yards, Eagle Eye turned his head to his left, looking back briefly at Casey and me. This afforded me the opportunity to pull the trigger in a fraction of a second.
With no sound of the standard “Thwomp! another round was quickly bolted in as the rams disappeared over a slight hill. As I scanned in my scope, only one ram was now visible. The one visible ram continued up the boulder field and up and over the mountain. Casey and I started down and across the bowl, and when we crested the small hill, there was the downed ram. A rush of relief settled over me knowing I did not blow the chance I was given. Then there was a rush of excitement knowing that all the years of applying, getting the tag, and now harvesting this once-in-a-lifetime ram was complete.
I would like to thank the Lord Jesus for his provision, mercy, and grace and my wife, Michelle, for watching over things in my absence. I would also like to thank my dad, Paul, for getting me to apply all those years back and faithfully taking me hunting and exposing me to the outdoors. Also, thanks go out to my brother Paul, son Cash, and friend Steve who made the trip all that much more special experiencing this together. And finally, this could not have happened without Dry Creek Outfitters. I have done various hunts over the years, mainly low country deer hunting and bird hunting, and this was a foreign environment. Cliff, Casey, and Matt brought a wealth of experience to the table that made this an exceptional hunt.