North Dakota Hunter Shoots Pending State Record Bighorn Ram

“I had gotten a name from Recreation and Fish and wasn’t capable of reply,” Schmitz informed MeatEater. “Brett Wiedmann left me a message telling me to name him again ASAP. I used to be nervous I’d accomplished one thing flawed, regardless that I didn’t assume I had. However after I known as him again, he received proper to the purpose and mentioned I’d simply drawn the toughest tag to attract in North America.”

In 2025, 21,221 hunters utilized for the tag, making the draw charge 0.03%. Full of “loopy pleasure,” Shmitz quickly known as David Suda, a buddy he’d initially met again in highschool. Suda occurred to be one of many few folks acquainted with North Dakota bighorn, having shot the present state document after drawing the once-in-a-lifetime tag himself in 2020. Since then, Suda had heard of one other huge ram in Western North Dakota.

“I’ve a bunch of buddies that work on the market, and one in every of them despatched a gaggle chat an image of this ram alongside the facet of the highway within the springtime,” Suda mentioned. “So when Nick known as and informed me he’d drawn the tag, I informed him the hunt was going to be one thing particular.”

By opening day this fall, Schmitz had scouted his hunt space a number of instances however hadn’t seen the large ram. Within the meantime, he and Suda bumped into the hunter who’d purchased the Governor’s Tag—and realized they had been pursuing the identical critter with the assistance of guides.

Schmitz was joined by Suda, his father, and his brother-in-law, Tim, on the hunt. That first morning, after parking the truck, they bumped a ram about 300 yards from the truck. It was snowing, they usually couldn’t inform how large it was. They tried unsuccessfully to catch as much as it.

The group switched spots and glassed up a gaggle of sheep of seven or eight ewes and three or 4 rams. Tim, the brother-in-law, prompt pursuing one of many rams, however Suda inspired Schmitz to carry out for an even bigger one. It’s factor he did.

That night, they went to a different spot, which Schmitz describes as “good sheep nation,” characterised by steep ridges. Suda had seen sheep there earlier than. It was a troublesome spot to achieve, which Schmitz and Suda hoped saved a few of the different hunters from being there. Suda, strolling barely forward, noticed the ram first. Then Schmitz glassed it.

“He had 11 ewes to himself and appeared comfy the place he was at,” Schmitz mentioned. “I used to be simply him and was amazed by the sheer mass. Out of all of the rams we had seen, you possibly can inform, like holy smokes, he had some critical mass to it…Suda turned to me and mentioned, ‘that is the shooter.’ I form of had a panic assault. I used to be bent over on my knees attempting to regulate my respiration as a result of the second was simply, growth, there.”

Schmitz quickly received into place, utilizing his brother-in-law Tim’s pack as a relaxation for his .270 Winchester rifle. He had a 345-yard shot. He received comfy, dry-fired, then chambered a spherical. He took a shot with the ram quartering barely away. Video footage reveals it was a clear miss—simply inches from the ram’s horns—however Schmitz didn’t notice it on the time, for the reason that ram appeared to discover the shot. Because the ram began jogging up hill and away, Schmitz fired one other spherical, after which one other.

“We didn’t know the place he was being hit, however you possibly can inform he was damage at that time as a result of he was slowing down,” Schmitz mentioned. “Then he gave me a broadside shot, and I put the final spherical in my gun proper into his shoulder.”

The ram went down, and Schmitz and his buddies began screaming and celebrating. Attending to the ram on the alternative ridge required a roundabout route in steep nation, and by the point they received to it, it was darkish. However they discovered the ram.

“My first response was, ‘Wow,’” Schmitz mentioned. “Trying by way of the scope was one factor, however seeing the mass in particular person was unbelievable. It didn’t look actual.”

Suda, too, was shocked by the ram’s horns. “I knew he was large from the photographs and the recognizing scope, however he was approach larger after I received as much as in particular person. I used to be blown away by his mass.”

That night, Schmitz and Suda met up with Wiedmann, the NDGF biologist who primarily works with the state’s bighorn sheep inhabitants and coordinates with hunters who draw tags. Wiedmann informed MeatEater that the state boasts trophy bighorn due to considerable forage and restricted searching alternatives. He’d been conscious of the sheep Schmitz shot for a number of years.

“I first noticed him when he was about 5 ½, and he simply had such mass,” Wiedmann mentioned. “I watched him year-over-year. I knew he was fairly good, however after they dropped the tailgate to point out me him, I used to be shocked. I used to be like, man, that ram is definitely a monster.”

The ram was 10 ½ years previous when Schmitz shot it. The horns had a size of 39 ⅞ inches, with base circumferences of 17 ⅜ inches. The ram inexperienced scored 197 6/8 inches, which stands to simply prime Suda’s document sheep, which got here in at 186 3/8 inches. For reference, the most important hunter-killed bighorn ram taped 209 1/8 factors Boone and Crockett and was killed in South Dakota by Clayton Miller in 2018. After the 60-day drying interval, Schmitz will get his trophy formally scored.

“I used to be blessed simply to attract this tag and have the ability to go on this hunt. You’re one of many luckiest guys within the state simply to have the ability to try this,” Schmitz mentioned. “I knew I used to be going to achieve success after I gave Suda a name and he mentioned he would be a part of and assist out. I didn’t have any expectations of breaking a state document. That was all simply bonus, man.”