# got my bighorn!



## joebobhunter4

sorry for the long story but i was excited and had to type it all

well the 14th of september me and my friend set off on our what we call our "antelope and muley expedition" but this year i was fortunate enough to draw a sheep tag so we had limited time to hunt antelope and muleys. we stayed just north of grassy butte ND.
so first off we started muley hunting that morning and seen a few but nothing to do anything with and thats about how the whole weekend and week went... i did get lucky at a waterhole and got a nice 13-14" goat. then once we got him all cut up and in the freezer we met my grandpa and dad in dickinson and stayed there for the night. the plan was to go antelope hunting in the morning and be back for the meeting which we were to attend for the sheep hunt at 2. so to my buddies luck.... he got a 9" goat off the road in the ditch around 10:45ish i think it was. lol... which yes is legal to shoot them in the ditches or road if the land on the side is not posted. 
so we got him all cut up and in the cooler and headed to dickinson for the meeting. 
so the meeting lasted for about an hour and a half which it was pretty interesting, learned a lot of things i didnt know about sheep. and seen the sheep that was killed in december by a female mountain lion and her kitten. which would have been a state record if someone has shot it. and the sheep biologist guy tought us what we had to do when we got our sheep. like we had to swab its throat for a certain disease they get and weigh them and all that stuff... so after the meeting we went and scouted at the place we had planned to hunt in the morning. when we got there we were surprised to see 3 sheep on the other side of the butte which we planned to hunt (which 1 of them is what i went on and shot eventually) but we got out of there as fast as we could so we didnt spook them. 
so friday morning we wake up to it pouring... of course nobody wanted to go out but i did... so we went out almost went off the road a few times becuase the clay stuff we had to drive on was horrible from the rain... so we wakled up to the hill which seemed like forever. because we had to walk about 3 miles to it because we couldnt drive any further because of the rain. when we finaly got there we were already soaked but we all sat there trying to find some sheep. about an hour into it my buddy fell asleep so i got bored and started walkin around the butte to see if i could see anything on the other side. when i came around the corner i seen a white butt about 300 yards away. my first intinct... o its just a mule deer. but then 2 more butts showed up. so i quick grabbed my binoc's up and looked. sheep! i quick turn to sneak to cover then out of nowhere to my left. the big guy we had seen in the summer. about 400 yards away stood high on a cliff looking around. i just dropped and laid there. watching in amazement he started walking kind of downhill and into some evergreens and vanished  
of course they dont get that big by being dumb... so i snuck back to tell them there were sheep in the other side of the butte. so we watched the 3 for a while and they bedded down. after a while we were all freezing so i said well you guys watch the sheep and ill go get some food and drinks. so i went to go get drinks and i came back... which took about an hour and half from the long walk. when i get back my buddy and my granpda are both sleeping. i wake them up and say. where are the sheep? they both look at eachother and go i dont know... so there kinda went that day... so after a few more hours we left and headed back to camp. we woke up saturday morning to still crappy roads but got a little further this time but still had a long long walk... as we were wakling up to our spot i spotted 3 sheep on the cliff. i told everyone to get down and after a while the sheep walked over the other side. so to make this day short... we sat for like 12 hours and seen nothing after that. now sunday. woke up to a nice blue sky morning and could drive as far as we wanted. but still parked about a mile away to not spook any sheep. so we get up there and we heard a shot... which sounded like a big gun. i just thought... crap the only other guy in the unit probably just shot at the sheep and there gone now... (because only 6 tags were issued this year in north dakota, and my unit was the only one with 2 hunters). so i laid down and tried to sleep and my buddy was already sleeping again lol. so i wake up to my dad saying KYLE KYLE!!! in a hard whisper. "grab your gun and range finder real slow and come over here". so i start reaching for my gun and i hear. NO STOP! just dont move there to far. so i get stuck laying there for a good 15 minutes as the sheep slowly but surely come down the butte. so i slowly grabbed my gun and range finder and brought it to the edge of the evergreens we were hiding in to get ready to shoot. my buddy was laying in the open and had to lay there for about 30 mins before then went down a little hill and we had him roll over to us lol. so when they were down the hill i grabbed a backpack to rest my gun on and we waited... and waited. and waited... finally we see on looking over the hill right at us... this was about say 10 o clock... my dad had spotted them at about 9. anyways they would take turns looking over the hill to make sure of no danger... and would go back down. they did this for about 3 hours or so. finally all 3 were on top... this was about 230 yards away... i got ready to shoot but i could tell which one was bigger  there was 2 nice ones and a little guy. so i got stuck deciding and by the time i did they went back down the hill again but kept on going... everyone just thought... well there they go we aint gonna see them again... so about 30 minutes later my grandpa says. LOOK DOWN BELOW US! all 3 were out there in the open about 180 yards away. i quick switch positions and get the gun on 1. they both were standing by eachother now so i could see which one was bigger. when i did decide they were both in line with eachother so i couldnt take a shot or i would have hit both of them... finally the one stepped out. BOOM! my grandpa, dad, and my friend all said at the same time. which one are you shooting at!!! BOOM! BOOM! i said. that 1. which was now laying on the ground. that was the coolest moment i think ive ever had hunting in my life... everyone jumping around screaming and hugging eachother. well about 5 minutes later we started our way down. of course me running. down like straight cliffs and straight up. they were all yelling at me to slow down and not get hurt. i didnt care i was bolting to the sheep. but the time i got to it i looked back and the rest of them werent even half ways there yet. i was the proudest kid in the world when i had his huge horns in my hands :grin: 
while i was inspecting it there was no need for a 2nd and 3rd shot... the first shot had went thru both lungs... and it was just wobbling so i shot him again and it just stood there. and my 3rd shot i shot as he was falling lol. like my grandpa always said though... you can only kill an animal once... so i kept shootin til he was down... well we had the biologist come and plug his horn and then he was officially mine! well sorry again for the long story i was just excited and had to type it all and finally here are the pictures!!!


























and here is my antelope










and heres my buddies and mine together


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## ruger1

That is absolutely fantastic. Good for you. That truely is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Unless you have $30,000 to shell out for a tag. I am kicking myself for passing up on a $17,000 (down $10,000 from $27,000) stone sheep tag this year. The outfitter told me that next year they are doubling to almost $54,000 per.

Those pictures are great. Congratulations.


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## Sasha and Abby

Awesome. I know you are still on cloud 9 from that one. I am envious...


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## roostman

Great story Kyle, now you are one step closer to your Grandslam. I know your Grandpa has the Slam would-be cool to have two in the family. Nice goat also, you are one lucky hunter.


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## woodpecker

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


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## Habitat Hugger

Way to go! Great story! Should submit it to ND Outdoors or Dakota Country!


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## sotaman

Way to go that is one heck of trophey.. Did you ever figure out what the other shot was??


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## R y a n

Nice sheep!

Ryan


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## joebobhunter4

sotaman said:


> Way to go that is one heck of trophey.. Did you ever figure out what the other shot was??


do you mean the other one in my unit? 
if thats what your asking the guy hadnt got it yet.


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## Nate

Great story, thanks for sharing! Glad it all worked out for you.

Congrats!!


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## sotaman

joebobhunter4 said:


> sotaman said:
> 
> 
> 
> Way to go that is one heck of trophey.. Did you ever figure out what the other shot was??
> 
> 
> 
> do you mean the other one in my unit?
> if thats what your asking the guy hadnt got it yet.
Click to expand...

No you said in your post you had heard a shot and figured the other guy in your unit shot the sheep you were after. Sorry about the confusion.


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## Horsager

There are not enough ways to say congratulations!!! A ND sheep is a very special trophey, and to have involved family on the hunt is about as good as it can get. I am also very ENVIOUS as many are. Not to the point of controversy, I just really hope I get to have a similar experience some day.


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## joebobhunter4

sotaman said:


> joebobhunter4 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> sotaman said:
> 
> 
> 
> Way to go that is one heck of trophey.. Did you ever figure out what the other shot was??
> 
> 
> 
> do you mean the other one in my unit?
> if thats what your asking the guy hadnt got it yet.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> No you said in your post you had heard a shot and figured the other guy in your unit shot the sheep you were after. Sorry about the confusion.
Click to expand...

oooo. we figured either a youth hunter or at coyotes... cuz we had heard a buncha of coyotes howling in the next butte earlier where we had heard the shot from. but by the sounds it heard like a pretty big gun so im thinking it was at a deer.


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## NDTerminator

Congrats on a once in a lifetime trophy!...


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## bigpaws

Kyle,
Truly amazing and majestic trophies! There must of been qute a celebration! Thanks for sharing!


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## Scott Schuchard

congrats i got my moose in ND when I was 14 and i would have to say that has been my favorite hunt yet to date. and I hunt Elk in MT everyyear Congrats again


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## bigpaws

drdeerhunter,
Got any pictures?


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## swift

That's a great story congratulations.


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## Duck Commander

joebob, where were you hunting? Down by Grassy Butte?


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## joebobhunter4

southwest of grassy butte


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## deacon

Awesome!!! :beer:


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## bigbuck144

great animals ... congratulations kyle. you are how old ?


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## huntingdude16

Awesome! Congratulations on a once-in-a-lifetime trophy!


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## joebobhunter4

15 at the time. 16 now


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## bigbuck144

cool you were 1 lucky 15 year old. happy 16th birthday for whenever it was...


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## jgat

Great job! Thanks for sharing.


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## dtlwheels

awesome sheep!!


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