Rhett Goolsbey is a young, hard-working ranch kid from Powell, Wyoming. He plays football, wrestles, and is a 4H member. And he\u2019s now the youngest hunter in Wyoming history to kill a bighorn sheep. Rhett harvested the ram alongside his dad Bill after drawing a lottery tag.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s only in the 7th<\/sup> grade and weighs just 62 pounds,\u201d Bill tells Outdoor Life<\/em>. \u201cBut he\u2019s a good shot, with lots of experience hunting geese, ducks, and pheasants. I knew when he got that ram tag it was maybe a once-in-a-lifetime chance at a bighorn. So we planned for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Bill contacted Wyoming\u2019s Ishawooa Outfitters, and they arranged a father-son mountain hunt with guides T.J. Redder and Jonas Began. The group headed into the Absaroka Range in early September, where they set up a high-elevation base camp. Bill, a rancher with five other sons, says they rotated through horses daily.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy Bill Goolsbey<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n They spent days covering a lot of miles and glassing for sheep in rugged terrain. Luckily the weather was decent\u2014they had just one rainy day but no snow. \u00a0<\/p>\n On Sept. 6, the eighth and final day of their mountain hunt, they spotted two large rams in the distance. It was bright and sunny out.<\/p>\n \u201cIt took us 90 minutes to work into position for Rhett to get a shot at one of the rams,\u201d Bill says. \u201cIt was 6 p.m., and he used the outfitter\u2019s precision long-range rifle to make a perfect shot on the ram at 416 yards.\u201d<\/p>\n Rhett used a 6.5 PRC rifle loaded with 142-grain Winchester ammo.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a perfect hit behind the shoulder, and the ram made just a couple steps, then fell far down the mountain side,\u201d says Bill, who adds that it took them around 20 minutes to even reach the ram. \u201cWe figured we were at about 9,000 feet of elevation when he shot his ram.\u201d<\/p>\n Photo courtesy Bill Goolsbey<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n It was getting dark by the time the hunters got to Rhett\u2019s bighorn. After caping and de-boning it, they decided to set up a spike camp rather than trudge back to base camp in the dark.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t have much food with us, so we ate some of the [ram meat],\u201d Bill says. \u201cRhett thought it was great.\u201d<\/p>\n The hunters estimated the ram\u2019s weight around 150 pounds. Bill says a full shoulder mount of the sheep will be made and hung proudly in their family home.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.outdoorlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/youngest_ever_wyoming_sheep_hun-ter_3.jpg?strip=all&quality=85&w=1000\")
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.outdoorlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/youngest_ever_wyoming_sheep_hun-ter_4.jpg?strip=all&quality=85&w=850\")