February 2025
New Mexico Bighorn Sheep Hunt: Mr. CleanIn 2022, a good buddy of mine by the name of Raul Sisneros, or as our son calls him, “Uncle Yeti,” came to me and said, “Man, check out these rams I’ve been videoing and watching.” When he had showed me these rams, I knew they were big but didn’t realize how big. He had let me know where they were, in a unit that had not opened up yet to apply for. I didn’t pay much attention to it because we couldn’t even apply for it yet, but I was still in awe of how big the sheep were.In 2023, my wife had an archery deer tag up north. My other good buddy, Layne Kellar, Raul, and I were just sitting around the house one night when Raul told us he had caught wind that they were going to finally open up the mountains where these magnificent sheep were living. Just joking around, I told the boys, “I’m going to draw that tag. Watch!”It finally came time to put in for hunts, so I went ahead and submitted my application for
Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, just like I did every year. It was now April 17th, and draw results had finally come out. I woke up early that morning, and as always, my phone was blowing up with missed phone calls and text messages. Everyone was telling me what they had drawn and asking if I had drawn anything. I finally got time to get on my computer and check to see if our son and I had drawn anything. Logging into my son’s account, I was absolutely excited to see that he had drawn his first big game hunt. Now it was time to log into mine. I clicked to see if I had drawn anything. I saw the color we all want to see – green for two hunts. One of them said BHS. I had drawn my once-in-a-lifetime Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep hunt.
I called Raul Sisneros, and he was camped out on the mountain. As we were on the phone, he said, “Let me call you back. Some sheep just popped up over the ridge and we’re looking down at his camp.” About 30–40 minutes later, he called and said, “You won’t believe who just topped over the ridge.” I knew right away it was “Mr. Clean,” one of our target rams.The next couple months felt like they had been taking absolutely forever as I was super busy and not going to be able to make it up there to scout until the end of June. The amount of work and effort Raul was putting in, though, keeping tabs on these rams was absolutely insane. I will never be able to repay him for that.The end of June came, and I was finally free and able to get on the road. I got a late start one night and did not get up there until 4 a.m. I met up with Raul, and we hiked down a ridge to where he had seen some solid rams the night before. As the sun cracked over the mountains and we hiked down this trail, so many emotions had been running through my head. We finally get close to where he had seen them the night before. I looked down the ridge about 300 yards and saw two big white behinds. Raul said those weren’t the big ones, and I just laughed because to a lot of people I know they were plenty big enough. As we went around the ridge, we started glassing and saw some more rams back up in a cut. I saw my buddy lift up his binoculars, and right away I knew one of our target rams was there as I saw his eyes light up. Raul said, “There is Mr. Clean.” I set up my tripod and couldn’t believe what my eyes were seeing, My dream ram at 200"+.For the next couple days, Raul and I looked over a ton of rams and ended up coming up with our top three. The names we came up with were “Buster,” “Mr. Clean,” and “Black Ram.” The few days of scouting came to an end, and I was absolutely pumped and anxious to get to the hunt now.I decided to head to camp six days early, not only to scout but most of all to hang out with my buddies. Little did I know the next six days would be the most epic and stressful in a long time because I would have to decide which ram we wanted to hunt.I rolled into camp on August 26th around midday, unloaded all my stuff, grabbed my pack, and hopped in the pickup with Raul. We rolled up to our glassing location and got all of our glass set up. Within about 30 minutes of us sitting there, lo and behold, Mr. Clean stepped out with a couple other rams. With all the excitement between the both of us, we came to realize that now we had to watch him for the next five days.Four days before opening day, we couldn’t dig up Mr. Clean, which definitely made us a little nervous. That night, we came up with a plan to split all the boys up and dig him back up. The next morning, the guys on the other side of the mountain had dug him back up within minutes. A couple of my buddies and I then split up to get different angles. I told the guys I was going to go back up the ridge and look into another little feeder canyon. As I headed up the ridge, I saw movement across the canyon. I sat down and saw Black Ram. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I didn’t know what to do from there. This was a tough but good problem to have. At the end of that day, I had finally made up my mind and knew that Mr. Clean was the ram I had always dreamed of and wanted.
For the next two days, we would keep tabs on Mr. Clean. Those two days leading up to the hunt were the most fun because all of the guys had finally made it. I want thank Raul Sisneros, Alex Granado, Aidan Granado, Chris Ponce, Tyler Mott, Trevor Mineer, Greg Tompkins, and Jesse Ortiz. All the laughs and jokes just on those two days alone with these men made it that much more memorable and special for me.Finally opening morning came, and the excitement and nerves definitely started to kick in. We all got to our glassing location, and right away, we dug up Raul and Jesse were going to be the ones bailing down into the canyon with me as everyone else stayed up at the glassing point. As we started making our way down the ridge, I felt absolutely confident. As we popped up through the saddle, there was Mr. Clean facing away at 120 yards. I grabbed my bow and started towards our ram. We finally were able to get within 47 yards, but the one problem was that two of the other rams were covering him. As he stood up, I got ready to draw and waited for the other rams to move out of the way. I felt like he knew something was wrong, and he took off running up the nasty face with three other rams.The sheep were working their way to the top and the race was on. I grabbed the rifle from Jesse and gave him my bow. Raul and I started flying up the mountainside to see if we could catch up to them. Finally, making it up to the top through a saddle, we saw one of them bail off. We snuck to the edge and knew they were close, just holding tight. As I started walking, I looked down to my left and there he was at 80 yards looking right up at me. As I went to shoot, they both took off. I dropped down to the edge off the rock edge as they ran out from underneath me. I set my crosshairs on him as he was standing there at 200 yards and squeezed it off. As Raul and I watched him tumble through some brush, we looked at one another and the emotions kicked in. A dream had come true.The sheer size of this ram is something I’ll never forget, both body and horns. As I put my hands on Mr. Clean, I instantly said thank you to him. I would like to thank my beautiful wife, Danni Conklin, for supporting me and letting me do and enjoy what I love to do. I would like to thank each and every one truly from the bottom of my heart who was involved in helping me enjoy and make a dream come true, especially Raul.
I called Raul Sisneros, and he was camped out on the mountain. As we were on the phone, he said, “Let me call you back. Some sheep just popped up over the ridge and we’re looking down at his camp.” About 30–40 minutes later, he called and said, “You won’t believe who just topped over the ridge.” I knew right away it was “Mr. Clean,” one of our target rams.The next couple months felt like they had been taking absolutely forever as I was super busy and not going to be able to make it up there to scout until the end of June. The amount of work and effort Raul was putting in, though, keeping tabs on these rams was absolutely insane. I will never be able to repay him for that.The end of June came, and I was finally free and able to get on the road. I got a late start one night and did not get up there until 4 a.m. I met up with Raul, and we hiked down a ridge to where he had seen some solid rams the night before. As the sun cracked over the mountains and we hiked down this trail, so many emotions had been running through my head. We finally get close to where he had seen them the night before. I looked down the ridge about 300 yards and saw two big white behinds. Raul said those weren’t the big ones, and I just laughed because to a lot of people I know they were plenty big enough. As we went around the ridge, we started glassing and saw some more rams back up in a cut. I saw my buddy lift up his binoculars, and right away I knew one of our target rams was there as I saw his eyes light up. Raul said, “There is Mr. Clean.” I set up my tripod and couldn’t believe what my eyes were seeing, My dream ram at 200"+.For the next couple days, Raul and I looked over a ton of rams and ended up coming up with our top three. The names we came up with were “Buster,” “Mr. Clean,” and “Black Ram.” The few days of scouting came to an end, and I was absolutely pumped and anxious to get to the hunt now.I decided to head to camp six days early, not only to scout but most of all to hang out with my buddies. Little did I know the next six days would be the most epic and stressful in a long time because I would have to decide which ram we wanted to hunt.I rolled into camp on August 26th around midday, unloaded all my stuff, grabbed my pack, and hopped in the pickup with Raul. We rolled up to our glassing location and got all of our glass set up. Within about 30 minutes of us sitting there, lo and behold, Mr. Clean stepped out with a couple other rams. With all the excitement between the both of us, we came to realize that now we had to watch him for the next five days.Four days before opening day, we couldn’t dig up Mr. Clean, which definitely made us a little nervous. That night, we came up with a plan to split all the boys up and dig him back up. The next morning, the guys on the other side of the mountain had dug him back up within minutes. A couple of my buddies and I then split up to get different angles. I told the guys I was going to go back up the ridge and look into another little feeder canyon. As I headed up the ridge, I saw movement across the canyon. I sat down and saw Black Ram. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I didn’t know what to do from there. This was a tough but good problem to have. At the end of that day, I had finally made up my mind and knew that Mr. Clean was the ram I had always dreamed of and wanted.
For the next two days, we would keep tabs on Mr. Clean. Those two days leading up to the hunt were the most fun because all of the guys had finally made it. I want thank Raul Sisneros, Alex Granado, Aidan Granado, Chris Ponce, Tyler Mott, Trevor Mineer, Greg Tompkins, and Jesse Ortiz. All the laughs and jokes just on those two days alone with these men made it that much more memorable and special for me.Finally opening morning came, and the excitement and nerves definitely started to kick in. We all got to our glassing location, and right away, we dug up Raul and Jesse were going to be the ones bailing down into the canyon with me as everyone else stayed up at the glassing point. As we started making our way down the ridge, I felt absolutely confident. As we popped up through the saddle, there was Mr. Clean facing away at 120 yards. I grabbed my bow and started towards our ram. We finally were able to get within 47 yards, but the one problem was that two of the other rams were covering him. As he stood up, I got ready to draw and waited for the other rams to move out of the way. I felt like he knew something was wrong, and he took off running up the nasty face with three other rams.The sheep were working their way to the top and the race was on. I grabbed the rifle from Jesse and gave him my bow. Raul and I started flying up the mountainside to see if we could catch up to them. Finally, making it up to the top through a saddle, we saw one of them bail off. We snuck to the edge and knew they were close, just holding tight. As I started walking, I looked down to my left and there he was at 80 yards looking right up at me. As I went to shoot, they both took off. I dropped down to the edge off the rock edge as they ran out from underneath me. I set my crosshairs on him as he was standing there at 200 yards and squeezed it off. As Raul and I watched him tumble through some brush, we looked at one another and the emotions kicked in. A dream had come true.The sheer size of this ram is something I’ll never forget, both body and horns. As I put my hands on Mr. Clean, I instantly said thank you to him. I would like to thank my beautiful wife, Danni Conklin, for supporting me and letting me do and enjoy what I love to do. I would like to thank each and every one truly from the bottom of my heart who was involved in helping me enjoy and make a dream come true, especially Raul.
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