Check out our sponsors and advertisers!!
The Other Free-Range North American Sheep Slam
I’ve never been interested in hunting sheep. It’s not that I don’t find the animals unattractive or the idea of their pursuit lacking in excitement, it’s just that the majority of sheep live where it’s too damn cold. Of the Grand Slam of North American Sheep (Dall, Stone, Desert, and Rocky Mountain) three of the four required species live in climates that regularly have snow during hunting season. Keeping in mind my aversion to shivering and a strong dislike of being uncomfortable, I had long ago accepted the fact that sheep hunting just wasn’t in the cards for me. But after watching Sportsmen on Film’s The Other Free-Range North American Sheep Slam I think I may be a sheep hunter yet.
In this hour long adventure, host and Sportsmen on Film’s founder Ken Wilson introduces the audience to four free-range sheep that live in more welcoming climates. First up is a hunt for Red Sheep and Armenian Mouflon with Jim Boulton on a sprawling West Texas ranch owned by oilman and former Texas Gubernatorial candidate Clayton Williams. Here the wind howls as Jim and guide Rowdy McBride drive, walk, crawl, and stalk over cactus, gravel, thorns, and briars in pursuit of trophy rams. In addition to some great action and extremely long shots, this segment offers an informal around-the-kitchen-table discussion with Clayton Williams and guide McBride covering the sheep’s actions, how they got to west Texas, and the best way to hunt them. Unfortunately for those of us who remember Williams’s bid for Governor, Williams fails to throw out any of his famous West Texas zingers (When I was a kid the only way to get serviced…).
From West Texas it’s on to the big island of Hawaii where Ken comes from behind the camera to assume the role of hunter in pursuit of free range European Mouflon with the assistance of guide Gene Yap. Also taking a trophy ram is Yap’s 11 year old son Matt who reveals that despite his having never taken a trophy Mouflon he has already taken the Big 5 of Africa (maybe this is just jealousy rearing its ugly head but let me say, I hate that kid). With two exceptional trophies taken on camera it’s back to the mountains surrounding Marfa, Texas where Ken embarks on a strenuous quest for trophy free range aoudad.
With the help of Steve Jones of Blackcountry Hunts Ken tries again and again to stalk trophy rams spotted at distances as far as two miles. As Jones puts it, “Aoudad are easy to find and hard to stalk.” Viewers may laugh when they discover how true this statement is when Ken and Jones fail to find the aoudad they were stalking until they look behind them.
The only downside to this edition from Sportsmen on Film has to do with the audio during first two hunts on Clayton Williams’s ranch. The howling wind of West Texas is just too much for the microphones being used and hearing the hunters is a tad on the difficult side.
To purchase a copy of The Other Free-Range North American Sheep Slam or any of Ken Wilson's Sportsmen on Film's videos visit his website at www.sportsmenonfilm.com