They'd heard reports of a massive ram – a potential state record – living somewhere out there in the rugged terrain of the Little Missouri National Grasslands in western North Dakota, but they didn’t see it until late that afternoon.

Days later, Nick Schmitz says he gets goosebumps just thinking about the encounter.

It was Friday, Oct. 31, the opening day of North Dakota’s bighorn sheep season, and Schmitz, of Grand Forks, had been lucky enough to draw one of the eight tags available in 2025 for the once-in-a-lifetime hunt.

Joining him was his dad, Jeff Schmitz, of Mekinock, North Dakota; brother-in-law Tim Spicer, Cavalier; and buddy David Suda, of Fargo.

Suda, who drew a bighorn tag in 2020, shot a 7-year-old ram with horns that measured 186 3/8 inches, setting a record as the high

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