Took 2 1/2 days to get into the really good sheep country. By far, I busted more brush on this trip than any other.
The weather we had the entire time was gorgeous, except for the last three days, which was clear, but windy. At one point, recorded winds were 70 miles an hour.
Seen many rams, as mentioned before, but very little in way of legal rams. Gonna be some fine specimens in there in the next few years.
Didn't see any wolverines, grizzlies or black bears. No moose, or any other critters besides sheep.
Greg shot this ram the evening of our 4th day out. Unable to retrieve the ram that night, we returned the following morning to pack it out. Seems the ravens got to him before we did, and did a number plucking the hair from the entry and exit wounds. Greg was very upset about it, but I told him there was hope. Either a patch, or a habitat pedestal mount with the damage facing away and possibly shielded by some artificial rocks would do just fine.
Got the ram back to camp, pulled the skull, fleshed the cape and tended to the meat. We stashed the entire head in the creek to keep the bugs and birds from tampering with the skull. The meat lay nice and cool about five yards from the skull.
Days of hunting went by, and the trip was coming to an end. One evening, after spotting another individual that morning, in the drainage we hunted, we returned to camp. Walking by the area we cached the horns, I realized they were GONE!
Very upset, and in a state of panic, Greg and I searched the area over for the horns with no luck. Later that evening, the individual we spotted that morning trekked through our camp. When we told him of the situation, all he could say was, "Oh, how unfortunate".
I really don't like pointing a finger at anyone without proof, but I do believe this individual took Greg's horns.
Tis very odd, horns are missing and the meat, which lay five yards from the horns go untouched. Turns out the weirdo, we appropriately named "The Ax-murderer and Ted Kaczynski" seen us pack the ram out a few days prior, so he knew we had a ram in camp. I believe once he seen us leave camp in the a.m., he quickly paid a visit to our little home and took the horns. An animal would not of travelled far with the horns. It might of only gone as far as a bush where it would feel secure, nibble on the find, then leave it. We searched an area the size of a football field with no luck.
Kinda hard to sleep that night, but we finally dozed off. The following morning, we awoke to the termination dust at the higher elevation. We packed up camp, searched for the horns some more, and headed back to the pickup point.
During our 8 mile decent, the Unibomber caught up with Greg and I. Feeling uncomfortable with the guy behind me, I constantly kept my eyes turned over my shoulder in hopes to get somewhat of a glimpse of Ted if he decided to push me off the 300' gorge we crested.
What took us four full days to get to our final camp hole, took us one full day to get back. We humped it back hard, and my ugly, flat, blistered and sore feet were proof, we did some work that day. I expected the decent to take two days, so when we made it to the pick up point, we had time to hunt bear.
What looked like prime bear country, may have been just a little late in the season for Yogi. We seen a good amount of sign, but never any critters.
Instead of waiting two days at the lake, we were on hold for three. The heavy winds prevented the pilots from getting out.
Although, when it is time to go, I am ready to get home and get cleaned up, the trade off to our extra day in the field, was one more glorious night there. Mars and the moon were heavily visible. The Aurora Borealis danced above us all night...the sounds and smells were wonderful.
The trip was a blast. We couldn't of had a better time. The downfall was obviously the horns, but the bottom line is we had fun, made it out safe, and got some good pics.
Enjoy more of the shots we got...Jim
http://www.huntandlodge.com/gallery/albun15
The weather we had the entire time was gorgeous, except for the last three days, which was clear, but windy. At one point, recorded winds were 70 miles an hour.
Seen many rams, as mentioned before, but very little in way of legal rams. Gonna be some fine specimens in there in the next few years.
Didn't see any wolverines, grizzlies or black bears. No moose, or any other critters besides sheep.
Greg shot this ram the evening of our 4th day out. Unable to retrieve the ram that night, we returned the following morning to pack it out. Seems the ravens got to him before we did, and did a number plucking the hair from the entry and exit wounds. Greg was very upset about it, but I told him there was hope. Either a patch, or a habitat pedestal mount with the damage facing away and possibly shielded by some artificial rocks would do just fine.
Got the ram back to camp, pulled the skull, fleshed the cape and tended to the meat. We stashed the entire head in the creek to keep the bugs and birds from tampering with the skull. The meat lay nice and cool about five yards from the skull.
Days of hunting went by, and the trip was coming to an end. One evening, after spotting another individual that morning, in the drainage we hunted, we returned to camp. Walking by the area we cached the horns, I realized they were GONE!
Very upset, and in a state of panic, Greg and I searched the area over for the horns with no luck. Later that evening, the individual we spotted that morning trekked through our camp. When we told him of the situation, all he could say was, "Oh, how unfortunate".
I really don't like pointing a finger at anyone without proof, but I do believe this individual took Greg's horns.
Tis very odd, horns are missing and the meat, which lay five yards from the horns go untouched. Turns out the weirdo, we appropriately named "The Ax-murderer and Ted Kaczynski" seen us pack the ram out a few days prior, so he knew we had a ram in camp. I believe once he seen us leave camp in the a.m., he quickly paid a visit to our little home and took the horns. An animal would not of travelled far with the horns. It might of only gone as far as a bush where it would feel secure, nibble on the find, then leave it. We searched an area the size of a football field with no luck.
Kinda hard to sleep that night, but we finally dozed off. The following morning, we awoke to the termination dust at the higher elevation. We packed up camp, searched for the horns some more, and headed back to the pickup point.
During our 8 mile decent, the Unibomber caught up with Greg and I. Feeling uncomfortable with the guy behind me, I constantly kept my eyes turned over my shoulder in hopes to get somewhat of a glimpse of Ted if he decided to push me off the 300' gorge we crested.
What took us four full days to get to our final camp hole, took us one full day to get back. We humped it back hard, and my ugly, flat, blistered and sore feet were proof, we did some work that day. I expected the decent to take two days, so when we made it to the pick up point, we had time to hunt bear.
What looked like prime bear country, may have been just a little late in the season for Yogi. We seen a good amount of sign, but never any critters.
Instead of waiting two days at the lake, we were on hold for three. The heavy winds prevented the pilots from getting out.
Although, when it is time to go, I am ready to get home and get cleaned up, the trade off to our extra day in the field, was one more glorious night there. Mars and the moon were heavily visible. The Aurora Borealis danced above us all night...the sounds and smells were wonderful.
The trip was a blast. We couldn't of had a better time. The downfall was obviously the horns, but the bottom line is we had fun, made it out safe, and got some good pics.
Enjoy more of the shots we got...Jim
http://www.huntandlodge.com/gallery/albun15
