Big Ram from montana
09-11-2005, 11:56 AM
#1
Nontypical Buck
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Norman OK USA
Posts: 3,318
Big Ram from montana
Some of you may have seen this, but I thought I would share it anyway. Pretty neat story that goes along with the photo.
Montana outdoors: Ram of a lifetime
Mark Henckel
MONTANA OUTDOORS
As soon as he learned he had drawn a 2004 bighorn sheep tag, Rob Seelye knew this would be his hunt of a lifetime.
After all, Seelye, 51, of Laurel, had been putting in for a bighorn sheep tag for 25 years.
"I put in all over - the Pryors, Augusta on the Rocky Mountain Front, on Rock Creek in Western Montana," he said. "I never drew."
In recent years, he had been trying for one of the highly coveted tags of the Missouri Breaks in Hunting District 482 - the south side of the Missouri River west of the Fred Robinson Bridge.
But even with that Missouri Breaks tag finally in hand, Seelye knew there would be a sharp learning curve.
"Nobody gets to be a good bighorn sheep hunter these days. If you're lucky, you get a tag like this once in a lifetime. You don't get to practice and learn every year like you do on deer and elk. So I decided I was going to put everything I had into this once-in-a-lifetime hunt," he said. "I was going to hunt with my bow, and I was going to go all out and get a really good one."
The decision to bowhunt for the bighorn - rather hunt with a rifle - was an easy one for him. Seelye hadn't hunted with a rifle in over 20 years. And his bowhunting success over that time span has been impressive, including 21 archery elk - 20 of them bulls.
He works as a sales representative for Precision Shooting Equipment, Inc., which makes PSE bows and arrows. He has won many archery championships in the state, region and nationally.
So Seelye began shooting arrows every day at distances short and long. Knowing that much of the access to hunting areas in the Missouri Breaks was from the river, he bought a jet boat. And, of course, he started scouting the Missouri Breaks.
"I spent every weekend in August and early September up there," he said. "I got to know the land, and I started looking at sheep."
When the bighorn sheep hunting season began on Sept. 15, Seelye began hunting, spending every weekend, and every available day he could spare from work between those weekends, in search of his sheep of a lifetime.
"When I was hunting them in late September and October, the little rams were easy to get close to. The bigger rams, though, were real tough," Seelye said. "You'd spot them and then you'd get out of sight and sneak on them and they'd be gone.
"People who say it's easy to get up on bighorn sheep aren't doing it early in the season, and they're not trying to get within bow range of them," he said.
Seelye knew that it takes a Boone and Crockett score of 180 to make that record book. For Pope and Young's archery records, it takes a score of 140.
As the season wore on and the bighorn breeding season got closer, the sheep began getting less wary. That's what people had told him. Hunting would improve as the rut began.
"I knew the rut was coming, and it was only going to get better," he said. "The bigger rams would start showing up. On the last weekend of October, I got up close to rams that were in the 150 to 160 class. By that time, I'd gotten to within bow range of 20 to 25 rams.
"There was one bunch of sheep that I got close to, and the smaller rams were butting heads. They were making noises and chasing each other. I was within about 30 yards of them, but I didn't shoot. I just took pictures," he said.
Although Seelye knew these were good rams, they weren't the once-in-a-lifetime ram he was looking for.
On the evening of Nov. 2, his friend Dan Moore, of Kalispell, was due in camp and Seelye spent the evening driving the Breaks backroads and spotting with binoculars and a spotting scope, searching for sheep.
He had done that many, many times before during the season -both from the roads and from the river - except that this time he spotted what he was looking for.
"There were three rams traveling together and they were all big," he said. "These rams didn't appear to be real spooky. During the rut, they tend to focus on the ewes rather than what's around them. But there wasn't time in the evening to go after them."
The following morning, Seelye and Moore went looking for those rams again and spotted them. It was time for Seelye to make his stalk.
"All three of the rams were big ones. I figure they went 180, 190 and I don't know what the biggest of them would go," he said. "I got up to within 25 yards of them, but with them moving around, it was hard to pick out which was which. And when I did pick out the biggest one and came to full draw, he was moving and didn't give me a good angle to shoot at him."
The three sheep moved out of sight and Seelye stalked them again.
"I got to within 20 yards of them the second time and came to full draw again," he said. "But the big sheep still wasn't giving me a good angle to shoot at him. I had to let the arrow down again as the sheep moved off.
"My biggest concern was to make sure I shot the right one and made a good, killing shot," he said. "When they move and get together, it's not like elk, where you have a six-point and a five-point. They all have the curl. It takes a while. They're moving all the time."
Once again, Seelye continued to stalk after the sheep. This time, he couldn't get as close. But the big ram was standing there, giving him a good angle for a killing shot. All those hours of archery practice during the summer were about to pay off.
"The big ram was about 50 yards away about on the same level as I was. I put my rangefinder on him and made sure," he said. "This time, when I came to full draw, I let go."
The carbon arrow and broadhead from his 74-pound PSE Scorpion bow hit the sheep perfectly just behind the shoulder. The ram ran about 30 yards, went down and rolled about 60 more yards down a steep hill.
Seelye's time and patience paid off with what is expected to be the new Montana archery record bighorn sheep. It may also wind up right near the top in the world Pope and Young standings and in the top 20 in the Montana Boone and Crockett records.
The horn lengths on the big ram were 40-4/8 and 41-4/8. The circumference of the bases were both 17-3/8. The sheep was aged at 7 1/2 years old.
The gross green score of the big ram's horns was 200-2/8. After deductions, it was 198-4/8. Like all trophies, it can't be officially scored until after a 60-day drying period.
Almost certainly, the bighorn ram will be bigger than the current Montana Pope and Young record of 192-1/8 taken by George Harms from Fergus County in 1998. The Boone and Crockett record for all bow and rifle hunters is 204-7/8 taken by James Weatherly in Granite County in 1993, but Seelye's sheep should make the top 20.
"I bet I passed up four or five rams during the season that were better than the 180 minimum to make the Boone and Crockett book," Seelye said. "The good Lord was looking out for me. I got a chance at this one.
"I'm 51 now and my chances of drawing another sheep tag in my lifetime are pretty slim," he added. "This was pretty much a once-in-a-lifetime deal, and I knew it. This is my sheep of a lifetime."
Mark Henckel is the outdoor editor of The Billings Gazette. His columns appear Thursdays and Sundays. He can be contacted at 657-1395 or at [email protected].
Bighorn facts
Hunter: Rob Seelye, Laurel
Hunting District: 482 (Missouri Breaks)
Date: Nov. 3, 2004
Horn length: 40-4/8 and 41-4/8
Bases: 17-4/8 and 17-2/8
Sheep's age: 7.5 years
Green score: 198-6/8 points
Likely Montana rank: Pope and Young No. 1
Montana outdoors: Ram of a lifetime
Mark Henckel
MONTANA OUTDOORS
As soon as he learned he had drawn a 2004 bighorn sheep tag, Rob Seelye knew this would be his hunt of a lifetime.
After all, Seelye, 51, of Laurel, had been putting in for a bighorn sheep tag for 25 years.
"I put in all over - the Pryors, Augusta on the Rocky Mountain Front, on Rock Creek in Western Montana," he said. "I never drew."
In recent years, he had been trying for one of the highly coveted tags of the Missouri Breaks in Hunting District 482 - the south side of the Missouri River west of the Fred Robinson Bridge.
But even with that Missouri Breaks tag finally in hand, Seelye knew there would be a sharp learning curve.
"Nobody gets to be a good bighorn sheep hunter these days. If you're lucky, you get a tag like this once in a lifetime. You don't get to practice and learn every year like you do on deer and elk. So I decided I was going to put everything I had into this once-in-a-lifetime hunt," he said. "I was going to hunt with my bow, and I was going to go all out and get a really good one."
The decision to bowhunt for the bighorn - rather hunt with a rifle - was an easy one for him. Seelye hadn't hunted with a rifle in over 20 years. And his bowhunting success over that time span has been impressive, including 21 archery elk - 20 of them bulls.
He works as a sales representative for Precision Shooting Equipment, Inc., which makes PSE bows and arrows. He has won many archery championships in the state, region and nationally.
So Seelye began shooting arrows every day at distances short and long. Knowing that much of the access to hunting areas in the Missouri Breaks was from the river, he bought a jet boat. And, of course, he started scouting the Missouri Breaks.
"I spent every weekend in August and early September up there," he said. "I got to know the land, and I started looking at sheep."
When the bighorn sheep hunting season began on Sept. 15, Seelye began hunting, spending every weekend, and every available day he could spare from work between those weekends, in search of his sheep of a lifetime.
"When I was hunting them in late September and October, the little rams were easy to get close to. The bigger rams, though, were real tough," Seelye said. "You'd spot them and then you'd get out of sight and sneak on them and they'd be gone.
"People who say it's easy to get up on bighorn sheep aren't doing it early in the season, and they're not trying to get within bow range of them," he said.
Seelye knew that it takes a Boone and Crockett score of 180 to make that record book. For Pope and Young's archery records, it takes a score of 140.
As the season wore on and the bighorn breeding season got closer, the sheep began getting less wary. That's what people had told him. Hunting would improve as the rut began.
"I knew the rut was coming, and it was only going to get better," he said. "The bigger rams would start showing up. On the last weekend of October, I got up close to rams that were in the 150 to 160 class. By that time, I'd gotten to within bow range of 20 to 25 rams.
"There was one bunch of sheep that I got close to, and the smaller rams were butting heads. They were making noises and chasing each other. I was within about 30 yards of them, but I didn't shoot. I just took pictures," he said.
Although Seelye knew these were good rams, they weren't the once-in-a-lifetime ram he was looking for.
On the evening of Nov. 2, his friend Dan Moore, of Kalispell, was due in camp and Seelye spent the evening driving the Breaks backroads and spotting with binoculars and a spotting scope, searching for sheep.
He had done that many, many times before during the season -both from the roads and from the river - except that this time he spotted what he was looking for.
"There were three rams traveling together and they were all big," he said. "These rams didn't appear to be real spooky. During the rut, they tend to focus on the ewes rather than what's around them. But there wasn't time in the evening to go after them."
The following morning, Seelye and Moore went looking for those rams again and spotted them. It was time for Seelye to make his stalk.
"All three of the rams were big ones. I figure they went 180, 190 and I don't know what the biggest of them would go," he said. "I got up to within 25 yards of them, but with them moving around, it was hard to pick out which was which. And when I did pick out the biggest one and came to full draw, he was moving and didn't give me a good angle to shoot at him."
The three sheep moved out of sight and Seelye stalked them again.
"I got to within 20 yards of them the second time and came to full draw again," he said. "But the big sheep still wasn't giving me a good angle to shoot at him. I had to let the arrow down again as the sheep moved off.
"My biggest concern was to make sure I shot the right one and made a good, killing shot," he said. "When they move and get together, it's not like elk, where you have a six-point and a five-point. They all have the curl. It takes a while. They're moving all the time."
Once again, Seelye continued to stalk after the sheep. This time, he couldn't get as close. But the big ram was standing there, giving him a good angle for a killing shot. All those hours of archery practice during the summer were about to pay off.
"The big ram was about 50 yards away about on the same level as I was. I put my rangefinder on him and made sure," he said. "This time, when I came to full draw, I let go."
The carbon arrow and broadhead from his 74-pound PSE Scorpion bow hit the sheep perfectly just behind the shoulder. The ram ran about 30 yards, went down and rolled about 60 more yards down a steep hill.
Seelye's time and patience paid off with what is expected to be the new Montana archery record bighorn sheep. It may also wind up right near the top in the world Pope and Young standings and in the top 20 in the Montana Boone and Crockett records.
The horn lengths on the big ram were 40-4/8 and 41-4/8. The circumference of the bases were both 17-3/8. The sheep was aged at 7 1/2 years old.
The gross green score of the big ram's horns was 200-2/8. After deductions, it was 198-4/8. Like all trophies, it can't be officially scored until after a 60-day drying period.
Almost certainly, the bighorn ram will be bigger than the current Montana Pope and Young record of 192-1/8 taken by George Harms from Fergus County in 1998. The Boone and Crockett record for all bow and rifle hunters is 204-7/8 taken by James Weatherly in Granite County in 1993, but Seelye's sheep should make the top 20.
"I bet I passed up four or five rams during the season that were better than the 180 minimum to make the Boone and Crockett book," Seelye said. "The good Lord was looking out for me. I got a chance at this one.
"I'm 51 now and my chances of drawing another sheep tag in my lifetime are pretty slim," he added. "This was pretty much a once-in-a-lifetime deal, and I knew it. This is my sheep of a lifetime."
Mark Henckel is the outdoor editor of The Billings Gazette. His columns appear Thursdays and Sundays. He can be contacted at 657-1395 or at [email protected].
Bighorn facts
Hunter: Rob Seelye, Laurel
Hunting District: 482 (Missouri Breaks)
Date: Nov. 3, 2004
Horn length: 40-4/8 and 41-4/8
Bases: 17-4/8 and 17-2/8
Sheep's age: 7.5 years
Green score: 198-6/8 points
Likely Montana rank: Pope and Young No. 1
