Luckily the sheep were in a spot that I thought I had a good chance of getting close to them, unluckily they were at the top of huge cliff and the rocks and scree were going to be difficult to move over quietly.  Since this was the only option, I grabbed my stuff and took off .  The climb was longer than anticipated so I was very nervous the sheep were going to be gone by the time I was in postition.  After I quickly adjusting the camera settings I slowly crawled on my hands and knees to peer over.  To my excitement not only were the sheep all laying there but there were 3 more that had joined their ranks during my stalk.  I set up the camera and began shooting. With the sheep having no idea I was there I got to watch sheep doing what sheep do.

The king of the herd was definitely the grey one I had seen bullying the others earlier.  From my new vantage point about 50 yards from the sheep I watched as the big ram pawed out a bed, throwing rock and dirt about 20 feet behind him.  Once the bed was completed the second biggest ram in the herd came and layed down right in it.  The big ram looked at him for about 5 seconds then rammed him right in the hind quarter.  The ram jumped up and couldn’t get out of the bed fast enough, the big guy, who was taking no guff, immediately laid down in the newly vacated bed.  Later all the sheep stood up and the big ram continued to demonstrate his dominance.  I snapped the photo above seconds after the big ram and the second biggest ram smacked heads.  If you look close you can see dust that was kicked up during the collision still hanging in the air.  It was an awesome experience to watch the herd dynamics of these bachelor bighorns.  I also never knew how many different noises sheep can make.  They were doing a lot of talking as they fed, beat up on each other and wandered around.  The big ram might be going grey and look a little beat up but he is still the undisputed big shot.

There I sat, trapped in the truck by a torrential downpour, occasionally clicking the windshield wipers on as if there was something to see.  Just after one of these random clicks of the wipers, to my surprise, I noticed a ewe standing on the hill directly in front of me.  It was as if she fell from the sky with the drizzling rain.  Excitedly I watched her and waited, hoping more sheep would follow her over the small hill.  It wasn’t 10 minutes later and a few more ewes and a small ram fed over the hill right towards me and my truck.  It was at this point that I decided I needed to sneak out of the truck and get the camera set up just in case a nice ram were to pop over.  Looking at the sheep through the scope, which was positioned under a towel to try and keep it dry, I made a mental note of how cool their coats looked as they were all matted with the soaking rain.  I thought about how unique the photos would be if a soaking wet ram were to join them, as they fed in the continuing drizzle.  I only had to sit protecting my camera and scope from the rain for about 3 minutes when this ram crested the hill.  I was thrilled not because of the great photo op, or the size of the ram although these things were very exciting, I was thrilled to see my old buddy had made it through all the hunts for yet another year.  I have seen this ram several times before and he has eluded me on every occasion.  I have not seen him in about 4 months so I was excited to see him again.  He is hanging out in a very strange place, a location where I have never seen sheep before.  He has also had a rough time of it as he has really broomed his horns back since the last time I saw him.  He is still a great looking ram and I love how the photos turned out.  It was also nice to finally get back on the board with some photos!

This is one of the coolest nature experiences of my life. I was lucky enough to pull up on these two rams as they were fighting their guts out. Before the dust had settled I was out of my truck and assembling my camera gear. I snapped a few photos then moved closer and snapped a few more. As I continued this pattern of snap and sneak, I realized that the rams were so involved in beating each other up that they could care less what I did, so I got in a good spot and photographed them until my camera battery died. Another amazing side note is that the rams continued to fight and scuffle for over 8 hours!

This is one of the coolest nature experiences of my life. I was lucky enough to pull up on these two rams as they were fighting their guts out. Before the dust had settled I was out of my truck and assembling my camera gear. I snapped a few photos then moved closer and snapped a few more. As I continued this pattern of snap and sneak, I realized that the rams were so involved in beating each other up that they could care less what I did, so I got in a good spot and photographed them until my camera battery died. Another amazing side note is that the rams continued to fight and scuffle for over 8 hours!

Due to my camera set up I was unable to get any photos of the rams crashing together. The set up I have right now wouldn’t allow me to shoot at a fast enough speed to freeze them at the speeds at which they came together. I am currently working on getting my hands on a nice lens but until then this is the best I can do. It was incredible to hear the crash as the rams hit horns together at full speed. It sounded like someone was rolling boulders off a cliff. The percussion after each hit would echo through the canyons surrounding their battle ground.

I quickly noted the way the ram was headed and marked the spot mentally, using a unique rock outcrop. I then drove as close to those rocks as the road would get me and began to hike. I reached to rocks not knowing if the ram had already passed or perhaps gone a different direction; all I could do was sit, wait, and hope. I only sat for about 10 minutes when the ram rounded a rocky bend exactly where I had predicted he would. My only problem was that he was too close to fit in the lens I had on, so, I had to wait for him to get a little further out so I could snap some photos. It was awesome to watch him feed along as I patiently waited for my chance. When he was where I wanted him, I bleated at him and he turned perfectly for one last look prior to disappearing over the ridge. Above are the results.