Lost Creek Elk Ranch Hunt  

February 17, 2007

On Saturday, February 17, 2007 Outfitter Carl Higgenbottam hosted four of my grandsons on their very first hunt. I had promised the boys, that if they passed their hunter safety courses, I would take them on their first big game hunt, which also happened to be the very first hunt they had experienced. Two of the boy's father (Dr. Ron Oglesby) and I arrived with the boys on Friday evening. The boys were excited. Carl decided to give the boys their own cabin which they deemed their CRIB and went rapidly to work playing pool, getting reacquainted with their cousins, and listening to loud music until well after midnight.

At 4:00 a.m. sharp the boys appeared in the main cabin fully dressed and ready to hunt.

The rest of us scrambled out of bed and prepared for the days mission while the boy's excitement continued to mount. At daylight we entered the field and attempted to surprise a flock of sheep but the were wise to us and meandered past us into a field adjacent to the woods.

First hunter to set up on a ram was Chase Skelton who spotted a Barbados Ram that was quite impressive. After what seemed like an eternity the ram finally worked his way clear of the other animals and provided a broadside shot. The only problem was that Chase had never practiced a shot at more than 100 yards and this ram was now approaching a 200 yard distance from Chase's stand. Chase took careful aim and dropped the ram with a single shot, placed perfectly in the vitals.

While Gabe and I helped Chase conduct his hunt Ron and his two sons Ben and Mitchell were stalking another flock of sheep on the other side of the mountain but were unable to get into a shooting position. About 10:30 a.m. we decided to go back to headquarters and secure Chase's trophy and enjoy a delightful breakfast prepared by Carl's wife Debbie.

After breakfast the boys were quite anxious to resume their hunt. I took Gabe Oglesby and Chase and Ron took his two boys to try to locate the flocks of sheep. With Carl as our guide, Gabe and Chase saw a flock of sheep sunning on a hillside as we descended from the top of the mountain. We quickly set up for an ambush and by 12:00 noon Gabe had successfully harvested a magnificent Jacob's Ram or Four Horn with a single shot at approximately 50 yards.

While we were loading Gabe's Ram, Dr. Ron Oglesby and his two sons had encountered yet another flock of sheep and the older son, Ben picked out a Black Hawaiian Ram that he wanted to harvest. Ben got a shot at the ram on the move but shot him a little far back and the ram led them on a footrace through the woods and up a hill side for over a mile. Our group of hunters caught up with them and while Ben and his guide searched for the Black Hawaiian Ram, the rest of us took Mitchell in search of another flock of sheep.

Only about a half a mile away we encountered another flock of sheep with a very large four horn or Jacobs Ram in the lead-Mitchell took perfect aim and with a single shot put his trophy in the record book. Meanwhile, Ben and his guide found the Black Hawaiian Ram on the side of the hill where he had finally dropped. Final score cousins - 4, Rams - 0.

The remainder of the day was spent processing the animals giving the boys a full experience of not only the harvesting of a trophy animal but the need to respect that animal and care for him completely and of course taking a few choice photographs for the album.

The evening saw four very tired boys fade into a deep sleep as we parted for home, thankful to our great hosts Carl and Debbie and their staff.