Just got back from my second bighorn sheep scouting trip in southern Colorado. This time there were no mishaps except for my ATV battery going dead. We got to try out my new travel trailer for the first time on this trip, and work out some of the bugs in it. Overall, it was a great trip. It's a little over 4 hours down there from home and we didn't have much trouble with traffic on Thursday morning.
The first afternoon we got rained out, so we were not able to scout. We started up the trail that goes to the top of the peak (over 13,000 feet high) and got soaked so we turned around went back down. The next day we got an early start and got up to near the top of the peak, then headed out cross-country on foot looking for sheep along the mountain range. This is the view from on top of the mountain range at about 12,900 feet. You can see the road and lake below...that's where we were camped.
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This part of my sheep unit is about 10 miles north to south, with several high basins in it. Another part has a couple of volcanic peaks in it that also hold sheep. I scouted part of that two weeks ago. Here's a pic of those peaks...we climbed nearly to the top of the one on the right....
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Here's what I was after (pics taken through my spotting scope)....
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We found a few nice rams the first morning and we stayed up there until early afternoon hiking and looking into other basins for more sheep but only found elk.
The next day we drove to another access point and climbed above timberline after the trail ended. We checked out a couple of basins, and only found one ewe bighorn sheep. This is that area and me behind the spotting scope looking for sheep...beautiful country.
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That evening I hiked into another area to check out a few basins. I found about 50 ewes and lambs, and over a dozen elk but no rams. Here's some pics of the ewes and where they were. Check out how they cling to those cliffs! There's a bunch of sheep in the middle picture, which is a section in the middle of the first picture.
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I'm hoping to go scouting one more time before my hunt starts in August. Then the hard part starts. I have to find the rams again, and get close enough to put an arrow into one of them. I'm not sure how I'm going to do that, but I have about 3 weeks to figure it out after I get there. Hope I find the big one. In the meantime I'm working on building more arrows, practicing shooting, getting the ATV and trailer ready to do, and working out at the gym.
The first afternoon we got rained out, so we were not able to scout. We started up the trail that goes to the top of the peak (over 13,000 feet high) and got soaked so we turned around went back down. The next day we got an early start and got up to near the top of the peak, then headed out cross-country on foot looking for sheep along the mountain range. This is the view from on top of the mountain range at about 12,900 feet. You can see the road and lake below...that's where we were camped.
20140704_007.jpg
This part of my sheep unit is about 10 miles north to south, with several high basins in it. Another part has a couple of volcanic peaks in it that also hold sheep. I scouted part of that two weeks ago. Here's a pic of those peaks...we climbed nearly to the top of the one on the right....
20140705_018.jpg
Here's what I was after (pics taken through my spotting scope)....
20140704_004.jpg20140704_006.jpg
We found a few nice rams the first morning and we stayed up there until early afternoon hiking and looking into other basins for more sheep but only found elk.
The next day we drove to another access point and climbed above timberline after the trail ended. We checked out a couple of basins, and only found one ewe bighorn sheep. This is that area and me behind the spotting scope looking for sheep...beautiful country.
20140705_013.jpg20140705_014.jpg20140705_016.jpg
That evening I hiked into another area to check out a few basins. I found about 50 ewes and lambs, and over a dozen elk but no rams. Here's some pics of the ewes and where they were. Check out how they cling to those cliffs! There's a bunch of sheep in the middle picture, which is a section in the middle of the first picture.
20140705_028.jpg20140705_027.jpg20140705_020.jpg
I'm hoping to go scouting one more time before my hunt starts in August. Then the hard part starts. I have to find the rams again, and get close enough to put an arrow into one of them. I'm not sure how I'm going to do that, but I have about 3 weeks to figure it out after I get there. Hope I find the big one. In the meantime I'm working on building more arrows, practicing shooting, getting the ATV and trailer ready to do, and working out at the gym.
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