Greg Kilinger - Desert Big Horn Sheep

Hunting Friends,

I received this very nice email from Greg Killinger, a non-resident sheep hunter from Alaska. Greg really paid the price to take this great Utah desert trophy. He is a great guy and I’m very happy that everything worked out for him, especially after his wife’s accident last year. Super job Greg. You definitely explained very well how difficult desert sheep hunting can be in very difficult terrain with wild variations in weather. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us! Take care everyone.

Randy

HIGH DESERT WILD SHEEP GUIDES

Hello Randy,

I enjoy all the notes and photos you send on successful outdoor adventures by fellow hunters.   Don’t know if you remember me, but met you briefly last year on the outskirts of the Zion unit while looking for desert sheep at the beginning of the season.  I had the unbelievable good fortune to draw the only nonresident sheep tag for the newly opened Zion hunt in 2010.   A few days after I met you, things went from great to terrible at the drop of a hat when I found out while up on the mountain that my wife had a life threatening bicycle accident (fractured skull) back at home in Alaska and was medivacked 1,000 miles to a hospital in Anchorage for emergency brain surgery.  I heard you were contacted last year while searchers were looking for me in Utah, and I thank you for helping provide information.  A year later, my wife is nearly fully recovered, and we realize what real fortune and being thankful is all about.

The rest of the story is that the great state of Utah gave me a variance to postpone this once in a lifetime tag until fall 2011.   I just spent two weeks there at the beginning of the season, hunting solo most of the time.  Luckily, I met a resident in the Zion unit last year who was helping his son with his sheep hunt.  We made a connection, and he and his cousin were out with me the weekend I finally got a ram.  Their moral support and help packing him out was invaluable, and they did it all for the love of the hunt and just to be out in the mountains.  The hunters, guides and new friends I met in Utah over the past year have been some of the finest, most helpful and generous people you could hope to run across anywhere.

Here are a few photos of the Zion unit Utah desert bighorn that I started hunting in Sept 2010….and finally connected with in Sept 2011.    Southern Utah is certianly dry, hot country with shade and water hard to come by, and it took 9 days of hunting to finally connect with this great 9 1/2 year old desert ram.   Hunting was at about 6,500 ft elevation in/near beautiful wilderness areas adjacent to Zion National Park.   I backpacked into and camped in four different areas of the unit during this hunt getting to know some of the area fairly well.  Counting the 6 mile pack out with the sheep, I can truly say this desert ram hunt took as much endurance as most Dall sheep hunts I’ve been on in remote areas of Alaska.

Desert sheep hunting is an absolutely wonderful experience, getting to pursue some of the most majestic big game anywhere in one of the most beautiful areas in the United States.  I must express sincere gratitude to the UT Wildlife Board for granting a variance after my wife’s accident, and to all the great people in Utah and the help they provided me in successfully completing this challenging do-it-yourself hunt.  Everyone I ran into on or near the mountain was ready to lend a hand or share information.  Outdoorsmen, State biologists, guides and a lot of other people I met while in UT were friendly and provided information and help throughout the trip.   I am very thankful!

Good luck on all your adventures,

Greg Killinger – Sitka, AK

Tags: Desert Big Horn, Desert Big Horn Sheep, High Desert Wild Sheep Guides, Utah, Zion Big Horn Sheep Unit, Zion Unit Utah