Return to Ram Nation #4

If you double click this pic you'll see the group of rams through the rocks we were hiding behind.

The storm put us a half day behind where we had hoped to be so it wasn't until afternoon on the 9th that we got our first look into Ram Nation where we saw...nothing. Disappointment set in as we headed back to camp for some rest. A few hours later we hiked back to a good vantage point to glass for the evening and just caught 3 rams heading over a ridge into another valley. We didn't see the big ram from last year but at least we knew there were rams to hunt and had a direction to go in the morning. The morning of the 10th (opening day) we climbed the same knife ridge as last year, past the Sheep Gate and and over a high peak to see into the valleys beyond. We spotted 6 rams right off the bat. A little later, a distant snow patch turned out to be another 13 rams, then 3 more at the bottom of the valley, they just kept materializing. Then we saw Him. The ram we had come back for was still here. We were pretty amped. Eventually all the rams worked their way into the valley below us, 25 in all with several legal rams and a few real nice ones. We were approximately 650 yards away, with no good approach. So we waited. It was freezing cold. About five hours later the rams began to drift toward a ridge we could ambush them from. Some sketchy climbing and spider-man work landed us directly above the big ram about 400 yards away. The next biggest ram was under 300 yards. We continued to wait. We still had several hours of daylight and the rams were unaware of our presence. A couple hours later the big ram got up and began slowly to feed toward us. When he got to 350, Scott was ready to take him (I got first shot last year so now it's Scott's turn). To be continued...