{"id":14693,"date":"2017-12-20T22:04:49","date_gmt":"2017-12-20T22:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/?p=14693"},"modified":"2017-12-20T22:24:05","modified_gmt":"2017-12-20T22:24:05","slug":"poor-mans-sheep-hunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/empty-cases.com\/blog\/poor-mans-sheep-hunt\/","title":{"rendered":"Poor Man’s Sheep Hunt"},"content":{"rendered":"

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One of the surest ways to go broke or get a divorce it to book a sheep hunt. A big horn sheep hunt can set you back about $ 10,000, an Alaskan dall 20,000, stone sheep $ 30,000, and a desert sheep hunt can cost an astonishing $ 50,000! The combination of all these hunts \u2013 if successful \u2013 is known as the grand slam; typically reserved for millionaires and successful men who are single and not infatuated with any particular lady. The grandness of the slam is not so much that you killed four sheep, it’s that you spent $ 100,000.<\/p>\n

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Every hunt is a lot about the animal, but for me it\u2019s always mostly been about the hunt; the experience, the effort, and all that sort of stuff. I\u2019ve always wanted to hunt sheep. I never will; gun writers are paid about what they\u2019re worth, and I have three kids to put through college. For me, the hunt for a North American sheep is a dream but it\u2019s also one I can almost experience while hunting for something else \u2013 an aoudad.<\/p>\n

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The aoudad or Barbary sheep is a species of caprid (goat-antelope) native to Northern Africa. It was introduced to North America after World War II. Initially they were found on high-fence exotic hunting ranches but eventually established themselves on the free range. They are ideally adapted to the rugged terrain of West Texas. Its estimated there may be as many as 30,000 free-range aoudad roaming the rimrock and mountains north of the Mexican border.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019ve hunted aoudad three times, and each time I was in the Apline\/Marfa area of Texas. Typically the hunt is very similar to a sheep hunt. Rugged mountain terrain, lots of climbing, falling, and cussing, and ultimately, a shot that is on the long as opposed to the short side. Aoudad seen to have this force field around them that extends out to 450 yards in every direction. Once you step inside that circle, they run.<\/p>\n

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Amazingly, my first aoudad was taken at a distance of seven feet. He stood up as my guide and I were walking down a mountain. I think he had been asleep, dreaming of Miss Aoudad 2010. Almost just as amazing was another aoudad I took at about 15 yards. We caught him asleep under a juniper tree. He busted out on a run and I shot him with a 450 Bushmaster of all things.<\/p>\n

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My last aoudad hunt with Backcountry Hunts<\/a> was more typical of the adventure. We spotted two rams just under some rim rock about 1200 yards away. My guide and I worked behind the mountain, come up over the top, and spooked them at about 150 yards. I dropped to a seated position, threw my rifle over the guide\u2019s pack frame, and poked a 165 Remington HTP Copper (Barnes TSX bullet) through the front of his shoulder as he was running away.<\/p>\n

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The ram turned and thundered down the valley. I hit him again, mid body, on the run, and then missed the third shot. He slid to a stop like a cartoon creature and the fourth shot put him down. It was an exciting and challenging hunt. We looked at, drove over, and walked across a lot of amazingly spectacular country.<\/p>\n