Cody Johnson Shares Emotional Footage From Once-In-A-Lifetime Hunt That Made Him A World Record Holder

A little behind-the-scenes of how country music star Cody Johnson became a world-record-holding hunter.

The Covered S Ranch in Synder, Texas is one of the premier big game hunting preserves in the country. It costs a pretty penny (more on that in a bit) to gain access to the land and guides that work there, and it appears that Cody Johnson didn’t mind paying the hunting and trophy fee, especially considering the fact that he now holds a world record after his hunt.

CoJo describes his trip there as “the hunting experience of a lifetime.”

The “Dirt Cheap” singer took to his Instagram to share a picture of the Transcaspian Urial ram that he downed during his trip. The bearded ram (that’s typically native to Central and South Asia) he bagged was massive, and ended up being recognized in the Safari Club International record books, as Johnson explained in his caption:

“I wanna thank my buddy Patrick Smith for introducing me to Chet Pharies with the Covered S Ranch. The experience I had there will go down in history, not only in the Safari Club International record books, but it will go down in history as my greatest hunting accomplishment so far in my life!

I never thought in a million years that I would hold a world record, and I’m so grateful not only to Patrick and Chet, but to Mark and Andrew at the Covered S ranch for their hard work and preparation that made this hunt possible.”

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A post shared by Cody Johnson (@codyjohnson)

What a beast… and what a harvest by a real-life cowboy.

In typical, social media fashion, many online tried to shame CoJo for killing the animal and sharing it on Instagram. Some took issue with the idea of high-fence hunting exotics (which is super common in Texas), but a good amount of people also congratulated the country music artist on his successful hunt. The comment that summed things up perfectly? That’d be this message below, which was shared in the comments section:

“You’re telling me that y’all are following a cowboy on Instagram and get mad when he does cowboy things? Make it make sense.”

Exactly.

Another account that championed the world record ram hunt? That’d be the Covered S Ranch themselves. They were overjoyed that Cody Johnson chose their reserve for his hunting trip, and couldn’t have been happier that he ended up leaving the Covered S Ranch as a world record holder:

“We have been fortunate to host some incredible guests at the ranch over the years, and this experience is no exception. COJO and a new world record! A heartfelt thank you to Cody for choosing us as your retreat during your hectic schedule. This is truly a magnificent Transcaspian Urial ram of a lifetime.”

And just because the Covered S Ranch has their pricing posted on their website for all to see, it appears that this hunt cost Cody Johnson somewhere around $20,000 to $30,000. The Transcaspian Urial ram has a trophy fee of $20,000 to $25,000. It’s also possible that CoJo got a a little bit of a celebrity discount, since he can share this post with his audience and hopefully bring the Covered S Ranch some more business.

In the video that covered Johnson’s hunt at the exotic game ranch, the country star said that downing the ram was truly a pinch-me moment:

“People ask me in interviews all the time, ‘Do you ever have a pinch-yourself moment?’ I assume they’re talking about music. That’s my job. That’s my passion. That’s the talent that God gave me and that’s what I love to do. So I don’t really have those pinch-me moments. But moments like shooting a ram that you know is big, and then when you look at him and go, ‘Wow, think about all the blessings you had to have to get here.'”

The footage of the hunt shows that Johnson got a little more than he bargained for when he signed up for the hunt on the ranch. As you’ll see in the video below, CoJo and the rest of the guides that were with him had to traverse some serious terrain to get into perfect position. Johnson even described where they were as a “mountain,” only because that’s what it felt like to him as they climbed up.

Before the release of this video, all we knew was that the country music star had killed the Transcaspian Urial ram. With this footage from the hunt, we now know that the ram ended up running right up on CoJo and the group, and that Johnson had a hard time finding the animal in his scope because it got so close.

But when the time was right, the country music star took the shot and successfully downed the beast. His hands were shaking as he came to the realization that he had killed the trophy ram, and Cody even said a quick prayer as he held the horns of the animal he just took down. The footage also captured the moment that Johnson and the rest of the Covered S Ranch crew realized that the Urial ram would provide the country star with a world-record.

Check it out:

The post Cody Johnson Shares Emotional Footage From Once-In-A-Lifetime Hunt That Made Him A World Record Holder first appeared on Whiskey Riff.