You are Unregistered, please register to gain Full access.
Welcome to MyOutdoorForum.
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to our site. By joining our free community you will have access to our video/photo gallery, outdoor blogs, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content, monthly contest prizes, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.
My trip to Thompson Temple's started at 2:30 am Friday January 18, 2008.
I headed for Tim and BJ's to meet up with them and Aaron. We headed out from their house at about 5:45 am. After 6 hours of driving we arrived at Thompson Temple's ranch. Jason, Wes, and Duane were already there. We got all set up in our cabins then decided to hunt that evening. Everybody headed off in pretty much the same direction but I decided to head up a canyon in a different direction on a spot and stalk hunt. I eased up the bottom of the canyon for about 200 yards then had to climb up the side of the mountain to glass for Rams. I glassed the sides of the canyon for about 10 minutes when I spotted a heard of Catalina's moving away from me about 3/4 of the way up the other side of the canyon. I dropped down into the bottom and moved as fast and quiet as I could to get ahead of the Catalina's then I climbed up the side they were on and set up in a spot maybe 10 yards below the trails they were using. I waited about 5 minutes listening to the rocks clatter around as they moved toward me. The first goat came into view about 15 yards above me then the rest of the herd filed by single file never noticing me. I didn't see anything in the herd that I wanted to take so I let them get out of sight and slipped back into the bottom of the canyon and moved on toward the back of the draw. I came to a fork in the canyon and took the left fork away from the Catalina's. I moved about 150 yards up into the fork and then climbed up to glass the sides of this draw. I made it to the back of the canyon without finding anymore rams so I worked my way back out of the canyon to camp. I arrived back at camp to see that Rod and his son Kyle and Dave Johnson had made it into camp. We ate hamburgers and shot the bull for quite awhile. We all had a great time and I enjoyed meeting more of the MOF family. Tims brother Nathan and his wife and son along with their father convoyed down with us. Since we all had driven several miles that morning we turned in early after Thompson Temple came by and we all met him for the first time for most of us. Thompson led us in a prayer for a safe and succesful hunt and visited a little while then headed home to bed. All I can say is it was one of the most enjoyable birthdays I have ever had.
Saturday morning we woke up to a brisk 28 degree morning. Thompson arrived and took the folks that wanted to go up top to their spots and the rest walked to where they wanted to hunt. Once again I decide to head up the canyon I had hunted the evening before. I made it about 100 yards when I heard what I thought were rams moving ahead of me. I worked as quickly and quietly as I could to catch up with them but they stayed ahead of me until we reached the back of the canyon. I slipped up the side of the canyon to glass for them and was looking at a couple of ewes when the herd of catalina's came walking right up to within 5 yards of me. I didn't see anything I wanted to take again but when I turned around to look at the ewes I saw a Mouflan that I wanted to try to take so I slipped back down into the bottom of the canyon and worked my way toward the ram. I got to within 23 yards of the ewes but couldn't locate the ram I wanted. I had a shot at a mouflan that was smaller than the ram I wanted so I passed on him. I waited and watched but I never got a clear shot at my ram. I could have taken a neck shot but decided not to try it. The herd moved off and I followed them and got another close up shot at the small ram but passed. I lost them as they went over the top so I worked my way back to camp. We all gathered back up at camp and had lunch and took pictures of the rams that had been brought in. For the evening hunt everybody went their way and I headed back into the canyon to look for the Mouflan I had seen that morning. I worked my way into the back of the canyon and found the catalina's again. I had decided I would take one of them if I was able to get close enough again. I was on top of the mountain at the mouth of the canyon when I spotted the catalina's at the back of the canyon so I had to work my way toward the back of the canyon down into the bottom and half way up the other side. The catalina's had made it into the right fork of the conyon so i climbed up the side of the left fork to the top a slipped around to where I had a 30 yard shot. I was drawn on a nice catalina when a black hawiian ram came walking right up on me from my left. He was a real nice ram so I tried to turn and get a shot at him but he saw me and ran off. I worked my way into shooting distance of the ram 6 times over the course of 3 hours but could not get a clear shot at him. I finally gave up after I lost him in the thick brush on top of the mountain. I headed back to camp worn out but excited and happy. Tim and BJ were headed over to try and get their son Chance a shot at a ram with his cross bow so I hopped into the back of the truck to go do some videoing with them. I was smart enough to bring my bow along because on the way to the spot they were going to hunt I spotted the Mouflan I had been after that morning up on the side of the mountain. I banged on the side of the truck to get Tim to stop and jumped out with my bow in hand. I worked my way toward the Ram with Tim, BJ, Chance, Quinton, and Dave all watching. I worked to about 20 yards below him and he started to head up the mountain. I gruted at him and he stopped quartering away. I came to full draw on him and let the arrow fly. The Rage broadhead hit him in the stomach on his left side and came out of his right shoulder. Every body lost sight of me but theysaw the arrow flash out of the brush and smack the ram. I dont have the words to describe the shot the only thing I can think to say is it was the most awesome shot I think I will ever take with a bow. They all headed out to get chance a shot at a ram and I headed up the mountain to get my ram. I found hi about 50 yards from where I shot him laying on a rock ledge. I drug him down the mountain to the bottom and walked back to camp to get my truck to pick up my ram. Shortly after I got my ram loaded in the truck I headed up to the top just in time to see chance hammer a nice ram with his cross bow down below us. We loaded his ram up and headed back to camp. After the pictures and stories were swapped we set in dressing our rams. I watched BJ cap my mouflan that will hang on the wall in our hotel here in town. While BJ was working on my ram the rest of the group cooked pork chops, Boudin, backed potatos and corn on the cob. The food was wonderful and the felloeship was awesome. We hauled the remains of the rams to the gut pile and later that night Jason, Aaron, Nathan, and Me set up on the ledge above the pile for a hog/varmit hunt. After about an hour nothing had come in and it was colder than hell so we gave up and went back to camp and off to bed. I forgot to make mention of the Pope and Young rat that was trying to chew his way through the walls friday night. So I will let you know now that he showed back up Saturday night also. We woke up to another brisk cold morning on Sunday morning. I headed out with Aaron to set up in a Bouble Bull blind to try and get him the ram he had decided to take. We had been there about an hour when the rams finally decided to come in to the alfalfa hay we had put out when we got there. The Ram Aaron wanted stayed in the back of the herd for what seemed like forever. Finally something kind of spooked them and Aaron got a clear shot at his ram. He whacked him and he ran off with the rest of the herd but they didn't go far. I had seen a Painted Desert ram in the group that I wanted so we stayed put and hoped they would come back. After about 10 minutes they came walking back in. The ram I wanted wouldn't give me a clear shot so sfter about 15 minutes I decided to take a huge Rambo ram that was with the group. I came to full draw on him and a little ram walked right in front of him. Then the Painted Desert gave me a clear shot and I came to full draw on him just in time to have another Rambo step in front of him. I decide that I would take the first one of the two rams I wanted that gave me an open shot. I was lucky enought to get a clear shot at The painted desert and put a Rage broadhead into him. He just humped up and stood there so I stuck him with another arrow. I put the second arrow into the same hole that the first arrow went into and it cut my first arrow in half. The ram walked about 5 yards and fell over. We went back to camp and the rest is just boring stuff.
01-21-2008 10:48 PM