Gastro Gnome - Eat Better Wherever

Bury Me In The Mackenzie Mountains

Randy, what an epic adventure and hunt to the great north. The pictures bring back great memories of a couple of hunts to the Stone Mountain area in northern BC! Thank you for sharing!
 
It is reassuring that such a pack trip into truly wild country to hunt big game, is still available in today's world. I hope that remains so, far into the future. The overhead required to conduct this sort of hunt is substantial. Just the number of horses required, is a significant expense that occurs every day of the year.

imo, it is the use of the horses that makes a hunt like this so epic. It slows everyone down into a rhythm each day. While horses walk faster than a man, they are still slow enough to allow a person to soak in everything they are immersed in. The trip I did in northern BC, well over 40 years ago now, we had horses, but were based out of a cabin. I also spent some of it back pack hunting for a ram.

Regarding the horse that rolled on the rifle, the photos show that the horse was tied pretty low and fairly long. I am sure that in the far north, finding a tall stout tree is not easy to find. Horses will find a way to get into trouble if they are tied that way. When I tie up a horse, while hunting, I search for a tree with good sized branches that are above their heads. Then they are tied short enough so that they can't walk around the tree trunk. The more horses you need to tie, the more challenging it is to find a tree(s) suitable for the job.

I think that more than any other endeavor, hunting big game connects us to our proper place on this earth. It is who we have always been. We owe everyone involved in this trip a big thank you and for bringing us along. The photos are so stunning and the prose is every bit as exceptional.
 
Glad Andy was successful on his ram but damn, I cannot imagine passing up that first ram! Both rams are crankers and that 'bou is awesome as well.

Nothing like the Mackenzie's, unbelievable country.
 
@Big Fin you said said Andy's was 1/2" longer and 1/4" bigger around. What were the specs on yours? Both are super rams, and I think I may be underestimating them, pictures are hard to judge. Looking forward to the video of this one.

What a great adventure, thanks for writing that up and sharing.
 
That is a pretty amazing dream hunt! Glad you were able to connect on a couple of great animals and had a good time doing it. Truly beautiful country that I'd love to see someday.
 
I'll never get to experience that country in person but thanks to you and Marcus I got a real good glimpse of it in my mind. Great writing and pictures and congrats to you and Andy.
 
Beautiful country, beautiful animals, beautiful photos, and amazing story telling! Dream hunt for sure.

This hunt is currently on the top of my bucket list!
 
Bambistew said:
@Big Fin you said said Andy's was 1/2" longer and 1/4" bigger around. What were the specs on yours? Both are super rams, and I think I may be underestimating them, pictures are hard to judge. Looking forward to the video of this one.

What a great adventure, thanks for writing that up and sharing.
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The outfitter measures every animal they take and he keeps meticulous records.

They had my ram at 38 3/4. One guy had it at 39, but he's not the "official" for that camp. They tried to get mine to 14" of mass, but he was just short. They put it at 13 3/4. For score they had mine at 160 1/2" gross.

Andy's was 39 1/4" and 14 1/4". The way his ram dropped down lower was deceiving to me. That ram carried its mass out further than most, which I think disguised its length. For score they had Andy's at 165" gross.

The caribou they came up with 397", not counting 11" on the second shovel. The official guy who keeps the scores wasn't sure if the height of the second shovel counted, so he stuck with 397. Which with velvet, is probably 8-10" that wouldn't be there if he was hard horned.

I pulled teeth on all of them and I will be dropping them off at Matson's this week. Will be interesting to age them and compare to the rings. The rings were so tight at the bases they were conservatively estimating both rams at 9+. The caribou only had one salvageable tooth, so who knows what age he will be.
 
Congratulations to you and Andy!! Looks epic, glad to see people fulfilling there dreams. Both amazing rams. Hope to see a video on this hunt and imagine you will have one at some point.
 
What epic country to have such an adventure.
The story telling and pictures had me riding right along.
 
Big Fin said:
The outfitter measures every animal they take and he keeps meticulous records.

They had my ram at 38 3/4. One guy had it at 39, but he's not the "official" for that camp. They tried to get mine to 14" of mass, but he was just short. They put it at 13 3/4. For score they had mine at 160 1/2" gross.

Andy's was 39 1/4" and 14 1/4". The way his ram dropped down lower was deceiving to me. That ram carried its mass out further than most, which I think disguised its length. For score they had Andy's at 165" gross.

The caribou they came up with 397", not counting 11" on the second shovel. The official guy who keeps the scores wasn't sure if the height of the second shovel counted, so he stuck with 397. Which with velvet, is probably 8-10" that wouldn't be there if he was hard horned.

I pulled teeth on all of them and I will be dropping them off at Matson's this week. Will be interesting to age them and compare to the rings. The rings were so tight at the bases they were conservatively estimating both rams at 9+. The caribou only had one salvageable tooth, so who knows what age he will be.
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Both are amazing sheep, thanks for sharing the stats. Did you get them measured and sealed? Curious to know what the bios say compared to the outfitter. They pulled a tooth on mine as well, but the margin of error on teeth and judging rings is the same at 1yr. Its so hard to guess them from pics. I thought both were 38-40, and right near 14 on the bases. To be honest when they are B&C it really doesn't matter that much if they are a touch bigger or not. I still can't believe Andy passed on your ram. I can't imagine anyone passing on that one. When they get that big it really doesn't matter IMO.

That caribou is amazing as well. One tooth as in all or just the front? I wish I would have had a few of mine aged.
 
Great write up, really put into words everything that part of the world has to offer. I hunted the concession north of there in 2022, and my thoughts for months after I got home were "How on earth do I ever get back up there again?" It really made me rethink some goals I had for hunting and thankfully I'll be starting a 15 day hunt three years from today.

Again, congrats on great trophies and a proper tribute to the area.
 
Totally amazing hunt and write up. You sure know how make the best out of the living part you spoke of.
Congratulations!!!!!
 
Pure curiosity on the caribou.

From the pics and description it seems more like high country deer and elk hunting rather than what ypu typically here of miles in bogs for barren ground.

I guess the name implies high country, but I've never paid much attention to it I guess.

Also, congratulations on it all. Great rams!
 
Big Fin said:
The outfitter measures every animal they take and he keeps meticulous records.



The caribou they came up with 397", not counting 11" on the second shovel. The official guy who keeps the scores wasn't sure if the height of the second shovel counted, so he stuck with 397. Which with velvet, is probably 8-10" that wouldn't be there if he was hard horned.
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8 to 10 inches might be a bit much. It is my experience that you will loose on every circumference measurement, but will often stay the same or even increase on tine length dew to lower base lines.

Thanks Randy for taking us for a ride on this adventure to places many of us will never get to see in person.
 
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