Dall Sheep Hunt

[couesfever]

beautiful long horn ram. Congrats.

 

[Basser]

Great story and pics!

 

[Dinkshooter]

Great ram and great hunt!!!!!!!

Those AK mtns really beat the piss out of ya. When you are from Colorado it is hard to deal with the rain up there. Kinda depressing at times.

My sheephunters leaked like a beotch as well, I don't think anything will stay dry in Ak rain. Although my $120 Cabela outfitters seemed to stay dryer last year.

One thing I have learned over the years when it is pouring rain. I will roll up my pant legs under my rain pants. The water can't soak up my pant legs and into my boots. keeps me dryer longer.

Again nice ram. My brother started his hunt in there today.

 

[FLIPPER]

Congrats Oak!

This was a truly awesome story and unbelievable pics. hump

 

[Big Fin]

Bump.

Oak:

Not sure what would top this hunt, if even possible. I have read the story many times and I still am amazed at the adventure and the hunt, but equally amazed how well you told the story with words and pictures.

Doesn't get any better than that! If you do top that hunt, I am anxiously waiting to read about it.

 

[T Bone]

Thanks for bringing this back to the top. Reminds me that I've a ways to go to prep for August's hunt.

Congrats Oak again on a hunt well done.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Oak, I just read this for the first time. That was an incredible adventure and a great story. Reading your narrative and seeing the pictures makes me wish I was standing on top of one of those ridges with the wind in my face instead of sitting here watching it rain. Thanks for sharing!

 

[N_8]

Just what I needed this morning. Cheers!

 

[Nameless Range]

This thread was before my time here. I'm glad you resurrected it. Thank you. What an adventure!

 

[OverlordBear]

Amazing write up and story, great ram and an even better adventure!!!!! I felt like I was there as you described the cliff.

 

[Jc2020]

I really enjoyed reading this that was a awesome adventure and a great ram nicely told

 

[duckhunt]

Great adventure

 

[Bambistew]

Take a look at that young skinny dude... This was arguably one of the best sheep stories on the net a the time, and still one of the best chronicled.

 

[JColony]

Another home run of a write up!!!! Congrats on the great ram! 1 year an 1 month and I will officially be a resident of the great state of AK!!! Your stories are getting me fired up!

 

[406dn]

All I can say is wow.

Not one of us in a hundred will ever match the experience you completed.

Well done and compellingly told.

 

[buffybr]

Oak, very well written story and beautiful pictures that fit well in your story. Thanks for sharing!
Congratulations on a great, well earned ram. You're mount will bring back the memories of that hunt for many years.

 

[wyomagic]

All these years later and this story is still amazing.

 

[Oak]

Take a look at that young skinny dude...

I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.

 

[Slate]

Congrats on a beautiful animal and awesome adventure

 

[NoKidsAfter40]

September 5 (opening day)

We got up early, scarfed down some instant oatmeal and hot Tang and climbed the ridge above camp. We hoped the rams would come down out of the cliffs to feed in the adjacent bowl. When we got to the top we quickly located both rams high up in the cliffs. Although it looks like solid rock, there's quite a lot of grass growing on small benches in the cliffs, and there's really no reason for the sheep to come down Here's where they were, just to the left of the sunny spot on the cliff:

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A closeup to give you an idea of just how big this mountain was:

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All we could do was sit and watch, hoping they would get down into a place that was accessible. The back side of the ridge they were on had no access. I don't mean difficult access, I mean NO access without climbing gear and about 4 days to get there. So, we sat and watched. Soon the rams moved to the top of the ridge and bedded, giving me an opportunity for a couple of shots through the spotter. Did I tell you this ram was big? These pictures honestly don't do him justice. He's not nearly as tightly curled as he looks in the photos...we're just about 2000' lower in elevation. You also can't see how far his horns flare out after they go over the bridge of his nose. The near horn (his right) was broomed off about 2-3" shorter than his left.

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The rams took a nap, so we decided to do the same. At one point I heard Doug stir and looked up. A ewe ran past us at about 8 yards and out of sight behind the rock we were sitting near! I peeked over the rock:

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Thirteen ewes and a sickle-horned ram were feeding between 20 and 100 yards from us. The goofy things would run away about 50 yards, then spin around and start walking back towards us. Several times one of the ewes got within 10 yards of me.

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They finally wandered off. We took another look at the rams and found them bedded together now:

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All we could do was sit and watch the rest of the day. The rams stayed on top and were quite safe from us novice mountaineers. The scenery really sucked.

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That is awesome. What a turn of events. Great story.