From The Editor
A Young Man and His Ram
column By: Lee Hoots | November, 19
Like traveling to Africa in search of otherwise unusual game such as kudu and Cape buffalo, sheep hunting can become somewhat of an addiction, especially for globe-trotting adventurists. Such hunting represents a sort of pinnacle (no pun intended with regard to sheep) to sportsmen all over the world. After having “been there and done that,” addiction (the good kind if money is available) sometimes comes into play.
For example, a friend has shot more than this share of African elephants and Cape buffalo. He once told me there is no longer interest in elephant hunting. When asked if he was done with buffalo as well, his response was “Not even close!” The question of wild mountain sheep and goats seemed a no-brainer because this fellow, I know with certainty, would hunt them every year if possible. Most any hunter would pursue sheep given half a chance. This is known from experience, having successfully bagged what is most likely my one and only white ram in the Alaska Range a decade ago on perhaps the most personally rewarding hunt I’ll ever make.
Yet all hunters (and editors) can live vicariously by reading tales spun by other sportsmen. In this issue, for example, award-winning writer/photographer Jack Ballard shares a heart-felt recollection of a most important bighorn ram – shot not by the experienced hunter/writer, but by his oldest son Micah. While Jack had been applying for a sheep hunt for more than 30 years, Micah had beaten the one in 1,000 odds.
Time was not on their side, however. Without spoiling the story, Micah made several important decisions that directed the outcome of the hunt – decisions that would make any father of a school-age son sit up and take notice.
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