"In April, I experienced a great desert bighorn sheep hunt on Carmen Island with Mexico Hunts & Ovis Company, owned by the Sada family from Mexico City. The organization was the baby of patriarch Adrian Sada until he died in October. It is now owned by his sons, Adrian and Frederico Sada, and run day-to-day by Sergio Jimenez from Monterrey.
"My adventure started in early January in Sonora at their ranch, called El Plomito. Three days before I was supposed to go, I developed a deep vein and superficial vein occlusion in my right leg. Of course, they wanted to admit me to the hospital and dose me with heparin, an anticoagulant. I'm not recommending this, but I refused, took along a bunch of heparin shots to give myself and an instrument to measure my clotting time. Off I went to Sonora to give it a try.
"The lodge and food were fabulous, and the guides were great. But it turned out I could only walk about 100 yards before having severe pain in my right leg. I had taken my other three North American sheep over 25 years ago. Somehow, I thought the desert bighorn would be easier, but it was a difficult hunt. Every bush had thorns, the mountains were steep and every step was on unstable rocks. I could not do it.
"Fortunately, I'd taken my son, Jeff, who has been an outfitter and speaks Spanish. Jeff took over the hunt, and despite probably being the best hunter they had ever hunted with, was unsuccessful on the sheep. Jeff did take a book-quality Coues deer, however.
"At the end of the hunt, Jimenez came and said he would like for us to return to another of their concessions, gratis! Of course, we........(continued)
