Dale Matson
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Four Magnificent Sierra Rams
This was an out and back course on a game trail in a canyon in the Sierra. I had pretty much given up looking and was headed back to my truck when I decided to sit and glass a portion of the hill across the canyon on the other side of the creek, one more time…and there they were. There were six rams high above me grazing. I must have past them outbound and just missed seeing them. These endangered sheep are crafty.
It was one of those moments in time when the temperature was a mild 50 degrees and half way through my photo shoot, the sun came out too. I sat and photographed for one and a half hours hand holding my Sony 200-400mm lens with a 1.4X teleconverter plus I shot cropped with the A7R4 which still gave me good sized files. The rams would look at me from time to time but were not bothered by my presence. It reminded me of the close encounter on Tully Creek a few years ago.
I wanted to move on to another location but resisted the urge since the sheep are where you find them. What a day! As it turned out, I would see no other sheep that day in the other two locations I usually go.
I watched a single ram straighten up and stiffen. About three seconds later I could hear the clash of horns across the canyon. Although it is no longer rutting season, they still bash heads now and then.
How blessed I am at age 75 to see such sights. It quelled my “sheep fever” for that day.
Looking East
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