I knew I would miss some hunting this year with arrival of baby #1 and new position at work, so I applied with an outfitter for Barbary to ensure I had a tag come February. My first Barbary hunt was 2 years ago and was physically dominating, so I was both excited and nervous for the hunt. Left CA on Wed , about 9pm we are driving through Tucson and radiator blows up. I add coolant and park across from a Ford dealer. Bring truck in first thing in morning and we dont leave till 4pm. Arrive at camp at 2 am, get 3 hours of sleep and wake up for hunt. Meet my guide and realize I brought my tags, but not the license IDIOT!! So we drive an hour, print out license and head back to camp to pick up my brother in law who came to tag along. Before we reach camp we see 2 ewes on a hillside. We get out and start flashing and I spot a group of 7 rams about 1/2 mile away creating a ridge. We see the general direction they head, but decide to go get my bro in law then return to go after them
We find a road that parallels the direction the rams were headed and begin hiking up a canyon in the hope of cutting them off. We slowly move up flashing as we go. We start to come around a bend and I spot the rams feeding in the drainage we are headed up. I get prone and range them at 374, pick out the largest one and let the .338 RUM fly. Hear a thwack and fully expect to see a ram down, but guide says I hit him a little back. Ram steps out from a Bush, I hold left and send another, hitting him a little high, he runs down into the dry river bed. I walk the river bed and he pops out and starts trotting away, I put one in the vitals and he drops in a rock pit. Felt really bad about not putting him down on first shot, but I think the rough road into camp may have bumped my scope a little. Or maybe buck fever got me , either way I finally got my hands on him and was thankful to take such a cool animal in some rough country. Packed him out and went out with guide to scout the afternoon for his next client. Saw a nice muley buck, some antelope, and even an off range Oryx. The other group in camp shot an Oryx the same day. Cant wait till next year!
We find a road that parallels the direction the rams were headed and begin hiking up a canyon in the hope of cutting them off. We slowly move up flashing as we go. We start to come around a bend and I spot the rams feeding in the drainage we are headed up. I get prone and range them at 374, pick out the largest one and let the .338 RUM fly. Hear a thwack and fully expect to see a ram down, but guide says I hit him a little back. Ram steps out from a Bush, I hold left and send another, hitting him a little high, he runs down into the dry river bed. I walk the river bed and he pops out and starts trotting away, I put one in the vitals and he drops in a rock pit. Felt really bad about not putting him down on first shot, but I think the rough road into camp may have bumped my scope a little. Or maybe buck fever got me , either way I finally got my hands on him and was thankful to take such a cool animal in some rough country. Packed him out and went out with guide to scout the afternoon for his next client. Saw a nice muley buck, some antelope, and even an off range Oryx. The other group in camp shot an Oryx the same day. Cant wait till next year!