Washington has a new record bighorn sheep.
The world of bighorn sheep hunting has some exciting news with a new state record for Washington confirmed by Boone and Crockett Club. The organization announced in a press release that Gary Guerrieri's 202 4/8-inch monster ram from 2020 is the second largest currently entered in the club's 31st game awards period.
A Pennsylvania resident, Guerrieri grew up hunting whitetail deer like many residents. Although he still pursues deer every season, he decided to expand his horizons several years ago, and set his sights on bighorn sheep as his next challenge.
"Once I started sheep hunting, it turned me topsy turvy," Guerrieri said in a statement on the B&C website. "Just seeing them, and then figuring out how to get to them is not very easy. It's very emotional."
For this hunt, Guerrieri was drawn for Washington in 2020 and headed for the farthest southeastern county of the state, Asotin. There he enlisted the help of Bailey & Landrus Hunting Company as guides. It took the hunting party roughly a week of hiking and glassing in some rugged terrain to locate the big ram, which he took using a McWhorter 7mm STW rifle.
This was Guerrieri's fifth sheep overall since he first began hunting the animals back in 2012. He also has a Dall's sheep, a Stone's sheep, a desert ram, and another bighorn to his credit. According to B&C, his first four rams gained him a place among sheep hunting's elite as part of the elusive 700 club. He is only the second hunter to do it with their first four rams.
However, this latest ram from Washington may be a once-in-a-lifetime animal. Not only is the animal the new state record for Washington state, when the dust is settled it will rank in at number 21 all-time in Boone and Crockett's record books.
"I tell everyone that I have been blessed by the sheep gods," Guerrieri told B&C.
It's hard to argue with that given the animals on his resume now! Congratulations to Guerrieri on his new record book ram!
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