Staring up at the steep rock chute and cliffs above me, the revelation suddenly hit me that I had been making a mistake for many years in my sheep applications. This summer, my son, Mark, drew the only sheep permit in Oregon's Hurricane Divide, famous for producing 200-point plus rams, such as "Spot," "44" and others. I had applied there myself many times over the last four decades but had never been drawn. So, I accompanied Mark on his hunt.
Standing there at the bottom of that mountain, I had to finally admit that I was no longer capable of climbing and hunting as hard as success in this unit requires. I am shocked that I am writing this, but I was lucky that I hadn't drawn one of these once-in-a-lifetime permits, and simply wasted the opportunity. Thankfully, I still have time to evaluate my health and current capabilities, and change my applications to match. You may need to do the same!
This self-assessment should be done long before the application deadline to make sure that any permits you draw allow you the maximum chance of success.........(continued)
