Cabeza Prieta Desert Sheep Hunt 46bw - 2023

July 2023 I officially booked my own client under my own name. I was so excited I immediately jumped onto OnX and google earth finding spots I wanted to scout and hunt in November.  I wasn't a stranger to hunting the Cabeza Prieta Wildlife Refuge but it was my first time in the Cabeza Prieta Range (46bw).  Fast forward to the middle of November everything was ready. I had several caches of water hidden in the range, 10 days of food packed, several routes mapped out on where I wanted to hunt and the days I could go prior to needing more water. The day before the hunt I picked up the hunter Steve from Sky Harbor and we were on our way south bound. Just before dark we pulled off to a spot to make sure his zero was good than eventually got to the CPWR border where we would throw sleeping pads out on the truck beds an catch some sleep before hiking in for good. I was lucky to have my dad and good friend Brad with me to help out on this sheep hunt of Steves who I will mention throughout the story. 

The photo above is us leaving the trucks on day 1 of the hunt. We did about a four to five mile hike before stopping to glass and have some food. I recall the first glassing session resulted in three young rams feeding on the desert floor in the back of a canyon. That would kick off the glassing spree of rams every day.

Hard to tell in the photo but this was night one/second morning in the wilderness. We were fogged in from a late rain that evening. Brad cowboy camped that night so he got a little wet. Cool to see a rare sight like fog this low in Arizona. But it seems every single time ive hunted the Cabeza I have been rained on and fogged out for several hours! 

Camp #2 we stayed a this camp for three nights. We were in a super good location and it seemed every route we took to go hunt for the day we were turning up new rams everytime. Hiking in from the truck we all had about 5 gallons of water on us so I knew that at some point wed need to make a push to the water cache but man was it tough to want to leave knowing how many sheep we were seeing.  At this point we had seen about 12-14 rams. Two being right around 8 years old and one super cool ram. Steve had told me from the get go he wants a fun hunt and old ram. Day four of the hunt Steve and I broke off to go pretty far from camp, I had told my dad to check this one canyon near camp and to Inreach me if he sees anything of size. Well Steve and I had just made a 2-3 mile push when I get a message from my dad "big ram hurry come back!" I show Steve the message and we hauled butt back toward camp. We find my dad on a ridge with an hour of daylight to spare. He tells me where he last seen the ram and what he looked like, I ran off the ridge grabbed Steve and went up the canyon. Just before dark I pick the ram up bedded. He was in shooting distance but I couldn't see his other horn, the ram knew what was going on. I didn't want Steve shooting this ram without knowing what his other horn looked like. We passed an agreed to come back at day break. Only to have the ram literally running away as soon as we could see through our glass!

Day 5 my dad had to leave to head back to work which was a bummer but we all appreciated the help he had given. After the morning glass of day 5 and my dad hiking out we decided to move to the next water drop I had done and hunt from there for the remainder of the time. (My dad hiking out in photo below.)

We moved camp and all of our gear and made it to the next water cache and found a spot to camp for the remainder of the hunt. We called this "Camp Cholla" for obvious reasons, but there was a lot of dead cholla needles throughout the rocks but hell it is the Arizona desert. 

From Camp Cholla to the end of the hunt we constantly set foot on paths we haven't hunted, we found multiple rams every single day but all being around 5-7 years of age. No "no brainer" rams had touched or glass. I believe it was day 6 when we made a 7 mile push from camp in the dark to check a canyon that made a lot of sense to hold a fair number of sheep. The day was hot and that morning we had found sheep but nothing promising. We stopped to have a snack an talk about how we should play the evening out.

We decided that we will split up for the evening hunt in the big canyon. Brad will go one route and Steve and I will go the other way. I'll never forget right before dark Brad called me over pointing at the skyline. I sprinted as fast as one could sprint in a wash. When I got to Brad he told me he saw a big old ram disappear in his BTX as soon as he laid eyes on him. I glassed the range with my 15s and didn't turn up anything. Brad is a seasoned backpack sheep hunter, I knew he meant what he saw. The mystery of what he spotted ate me alive for the 7 mile hike back to camp in the dark. Day 7 was approaching and I laid in my tent wide awake, not hungry when I should have been starving just thinking of what I should do the next day. Fearing as every guide does, what if I don't turn up Steves dream ram. I'll never forget telling Brad "Man after all the miles we've hiked, the sheep we have spotted and how little food I have ate I am so wired and can't fall asleep." Brad looked and laughed at me and said "Man thats motivation, you are willing to do whatever it takes and care about Steve getting his ram!" He was right. 

Day 7 is here and I knew about the ghost ram in the far canyon but decided a closer spot for the day in some country I knew held rams. We did see 5 rams in this canyon one being a super super old grandpa ram with heavy broomed horns. I told the boys lets make a big push to the saddle. About halfway thru the day and the hike I glassed up something I didn't want to glass up. Illegal immigrants in between me and the rams. Four young men hiding in a cave having a snack. I was sick to my stomach, I knew if we kept going that way they would leave the same way and blow the sheep out. I wasn't worried about the illegals doing any harm but I was bummed knowing the route was shot. I told the guys lets turn around and for the rest of day 7 I glassed with my btx near camp hoping a ram would expose himself. We got back to camp that evening and I asked Steve how he was feeling. He said he was feeling great and wanted to know the plan for tomorow. I said well I really think we should go put eyes on the ghost ram Brad had spotted on day 6. Steve was a trooper and didn't even think twice he told me lets go back! 

Day 8 we woke up alot earlier than normal and had some coffee. We headed out for the seven mile canyon again getting into it deeper in the dark. We set up under a palo verde tree where we could glass out of the sun as it rose. On this hunt I brought my 15x56 binos and 95mm spotting scope. Brad had a set of 10x42s around his neck. Brad as the sun was rising started to make us all a cup of coffee. I looked at Brad and asked to use his binos. Brad didn't mind at all. I start glassing across the canyon for maybe five minutes and BOOM I see an old gnarly ram looking at me. I quietly whisper to the boys "do not move I have a real nice looking ram looking right at us, I am going to throw my scope on him." I focus my scope on him and look at the boys, go time! I without a doubt knew this ram was 10+ years old on the hoof. He had two broken ears that hung like a beagle, his ribs were showing thru his thin cape and shoulder and hip bones were pushing thru his hair like he had no muscle mass.

Brad took my spot behind the glass and Steve and I quietly gathered our gear to cross the arroyo to the canyon wall the ghost ram was on top of. Steve and I had about a 500-600 foot vertical climb to make with hopes of having a good shot across at him. As we slowly started to get to the skyline where we could shoot I remember trying to be as quiet as possible. The mountains made of pure granite, its almost impossible to be sneaky. Steve behind me as we make hand signals of where he should lay down to take the shot while my heartbeat is pounding in my ears. Day 8 of the hunt and the moment we have been waiting for is here. Take your time. I peak the corner with my glass, the ram is feeding with no idea we are within range, perfect! Steve quickly throws his pack and lays his rifle down. I confirm its the ghost ram. Steve waits for the perfect shot as im shaking like a mad man. BOOM! Perfect shot the ram is gone. The closer I look his head is tipped up to the sky. The ghost ram is down. Steve and I both get up and hug each other and scream down to Brad hes down. 8 days of the grueling Cabeza Prieta sheep hunt has came to a bitter sweet ending. My body was full of emotion we had one hell of a hunt in the desert and I couldnt have asked for a better adventure with Steve, Brad and my Dad.

It was an absolute gnarly hike getting to Steves ram, we had to pay attention to how we got up so we could get down safely. At that point I didnt care what would happen next, we did it and Steve killed an absolute dinosaur of a ram! 

No teeth left on this old desert ram, sunken hips and shoulders and horns so beat up. His dark red horns chunked out almost looked like petrified wood. I was certain the ram was at least 13-15 years old. Making him the oldest ram killed in the state of Arizona in 2023. After a lot of highfives, laughs, hugs and story telling we took photos made a cup of coffee and took care of the ram in his final resting place before heading off the mountain.

On our trek down the mountain I was up front of the guys picking a safe route to the desert floor and stumbled upon a old crusty dead ram skull seen in the photo. We got back down to the floor and made our seven mile hike back to camp. We got to camp an hour before dark. We thought hell why not pack up and make one more push to the truck! We hit our trucks in the dark, opened the cooler and food bins immediately. We each had multiple mountain house meals and a warm beer or two to celebrate. 

Steve told me when I picked him up from the airport that he got lucky getting a dall hunt in Alaska the year prior and did a 90 mile total hike during his hunt. Jokingly I told him we would do more, at the end of his Cabeza hunt we logged 80+ miles in 8 days of sheep hunting. To say we earned his ram is an understatement! Cant thank my Dad, Brad and most importantly Steve in trusting me in his once in a lifetime sheep tag in Arizona. One of my favorite hunts ive ever been apart of to this day!

In 8 days of hunting we saw 22 rams and Steves ram was officially aged at 13 years old.