noharleyyet
Well-known member
Nice Alfred Hitchcock'ing the story Oak...eagerly awaiting the 'bang.'
Absolutely amazing pictures.
Absolutely amazing pictures.
Dall Sheep Hunt
- Thread starter Oak
- Start date
csutton7
Active member
great pics, great story and awesome hunter's resolve to not pull the trigger..to that you must be commended and I nominate you for the 2007 HUNTALK Badge of Merit.....chris
September 12
We talked about our options the previous night after returning to camp. We figured the small legal ram in the next drainage was still nearby, but there were 6 days left in my season. I wasn't willing to end it yet with a small ram. From previous scouting trips we knew of a herd of 6 rams in a valley 14 trail/bushwhacking miles away, with two legal rams that Doug and Dan had estimated at 38". Whether they were still there was anybody's guess. I decided I wanted to push for them. We broke camp in the morning and hit the trail. We had learned of another incoming storm the night before and hoped to make as much headway as we could before it arrived. Our goal for the day was the top of a pass which would put us within 4 miles of the valley where the rams had last been seen. There we would meet another guide, Hank, who would be hiking in from another trailhead with a restock of food for us. Hank would continue on with us until I got a ram, as he had finished up guiding goat hunters.
Doug and I descended the 2 miles and 2000' back down to the trail, then began the 8-mile, 2700' climb up the canyon to the rendezvous point with Hank. Approximately 5 miles into our trip I began to feel a pain on the inside of my right knee. I took some ibuprofen, but as I climbed the pain increased. The storm soon arrived and we were hiking in a steady, cold, wind-driven downpour.
With 3 miles and 1500' of climbing to do, I was beginning to doubt I was going to make it. The pain in my knee was bad going uphill, but excruciating every time I took a step downhill. I was using both hands on my trekking pole to take as much weight as possible off of each step. It was extremely frustrating as I felt my chances at a ram slip away with every step. We finally made it to the meeting point shortly after 7pm. Hank arrived about 20 minutes later. I ate some more ibuprofen with dinner and went to bed hoping I would feel better in the morning, but doubtful.
September 13
We took our time getting around the next morning. I tried out my knee and found it to be extremely stiff, but free of pain. I hiked up and down the hill near camp a bit and decided that we needed to continue. It was still raining lightly and appeared to be snowing up high. We didn't get out of camp until almost 12:30. We had to drop about 800' in elevation to get to the creek we needed to hike up. Then it was over 2000' up to a high pass and down into the head of another drainage. By the time we got to the top of the pass it was fogged in and snowing. Dan had told us that we just had a relatively short and steep shale slide to go down to get to where we wanted to camp. He said we couldn't get in trouble. We began down the other side in 50' visibility in the fog. The steep shale slope was getting icy and snow was beginning to stick. Soon we were coming upon cliffs, and there appeared to be a glacier below that. We made our way back to the top and talked about what to do. Although we were only 0.8 mile from where we wanted to camp, we decided that the best thing to do was to camp in the pass and wait until we could see where we were going.
The idea of camping in the pass was not pleasant. As I'm sure you know, it is the windiest spot you could pick, and the wind does tend to blow during those Alaska storms. We found a circular pile of stacked rocks where somebody had camped in the past and set up our tent within that minimal protection. We rocked everything down heavily, including the entire bottom edge of the rainfly, and climbed in our sleeping bags. Hank forgot to bring the stove in and none of us wanted to venture back out into the miserable weather, so dinner was peanut butter sandwiches. My knee had held up remarkably well throughout the day. A few twinges of pain here and there, but I kept myself well medicated.
It snowed until about 3am.
September 14 (4 days left of the season)
Although it snowed most of the night, it didn't amount to too much. But it was cold when we got up!
We walked over and looked down the slope we had abandoned the night before. Once again, the pictures don't do the steepness justice:
After packing up camp we found a way down through the rocks. The shale was extremely slick with the covering of snow and ice, but we made it down safely. Here are a couple of pics looking back up to the pass. Our trail is barely visible in the first, and obvious in the second.
We found a good spot to set up camp, dried everything out, had a hot meal and then set out to climb up and over into the next drainage to our south where the rams had last been seen. We left camp about 1:30pm. Here's a look back at camp from the divide between the drainages:
Doug and Hank up on the divide where we began glassing for sheep:
We found two rams and two goats bedded together almost immediately. A quick look showed one legal ram and one that we were unsure about. We were pretty sure that the bigger of the two was one the the 38" rams Dan and Doug had seen the week before the season. He was dark-horned, somewhat tightly curled and carried good mass through the first two quarter measurements. His right horn was broomed back to just short of full curl. I decided that if we could make it happen I would be darned happy to take him home.
The rams and goats were bedded out on a bald green knob in the middle of the valley (in the middle of this picture, with the small pond on top):
Here's a bad close-up view. The two goats and smaller ram are obvious on the right side of the knob. The bigger ram is harder to see, bedded at 10 o'clock from the others, about 100 yards away:
At first look, we thought it would be relatively easy to get within rifle range. However, they were bedded there for a reason. Hank thought that if we got to the black moraine ridge visible in the first photo between the rams' knob and the closeup rock we would be in range. I was skeptical, but we decided to give it a try. It was very easy to get down there, but as I chambered a round and slowly peeked over the edge of the moraine, disappointment set in. The rams were still over 800 yards away! Distances are deceiving in that country.
By this time the goats had fed out of sight over the knob, leaving only two sets of eyes to contend with. We discussed possible options, but the only one that seemed like it had a chance of working was to drop back down into the creek we just crossed and try to slip downstream along the creek until we were low enough to be out of sight of the rams, which were now bedded together right on top of the knob. Then we could sneak across the main creek bottom to the base of their hill and hopefully get up on them for a shot.
We made our way down the creek but quickly ran out of cover. We had made it out of sight of the small ram, but the big ram was right on top and facing our direction. It was now after 5pm, and we discussed our options. We thought about backing out without spooking them and trying again in the morning, but there were so many things that could go wrong before the next day we quickly scrapped that idea. It was now or never. We decided to play a game of cat-and-mouse with the ram. He would occasionally lower his head to the ground and close his eyes, or turn away, towards the out-of-sight ram. We would watch him until he did this, then while the third guy watched the ram, the first two would sneak down the hill a bit and stop, watch the ram while the third guy came down, then repeat. By doing this, we were able to make it into the creek bottom and out of sight without alerting the ram.
We quickly hurried across the creek and back upstream until we had the wind in our favor to begin climbing the hill. I was going to go most of the way up before dropping my pack and crawling to the top. The ram would be close if it worked...within 200 yards. Now it was getting exciting! As we began climbing the steep slope, with Hank in the lead, me in the middle and Doug in the rear, I kept my eyes on the hilltop where I knew the ram lay just out of sight. Suddenly he was standing there, staring down at us only 200 yards away! I hissed at the other two to stop, but we were busted. I threw my pack down on a rock, jacked a shell in the chamber and flopped acrosss the pack. As I picked up the ram in the scope, he turned, took three steps and was out of sight.
We talked about our options the previous night after returning to camp. We figured the small legal ram in the next drainage was still nearby, but there were 6 days left in my season. I wasn't willing to end it yet with a small ram. From previous scouting trips we knew of a herd of 6 rams in a valley 14 trail/bushwhacking miles away, with two legal rams that Doug and Dan had estimated at 38". Whether they were still there was anybody's guess. I decided I wanted to push for them. We broke camp in the morning and hit the trail. We had learned of another incoming storm the night before and hoped to make as much headway as we could before it arrived. Our goal for the day was the top of a pass which would put us within 4 miles of the valley where the rams had last been seen. There we would meet another guide, Hank, who would be hiking in from another trailhead with a restock of food for us. Hank would continue on with us until I got a ram, as he had finished up guiding goat hunters.
Doug and I descended the 2 miles and 2000' back down to the trail, then began the 8-mile, 2700' climb up the canyon to the rendezvous point with Hank. Approximately 5 miles into our trip I began to feel a pain on the inside of my right knee. I took some ibuprofen, but as I climbed the pain increased. The storm soon arrived and we were hiking in a steady, cold, wind-driven downpour.
With 3 miles and 1500' of climbing to do, I was beginning to doubt I was going to make it. The pain in my knee was bad going uphill, but excruciating every time I took a step downhill. I was using both hands on my trekking pole to take as much weight as possible off of each step. It was extremely frustrating as I felt my chances at a ram slip away with every step. We finally made it to the meeting point shortly after 7pm. Hank arrived about 20 minutes later. I ate some more ibuprofen with dinner and went to bed hoping I would feel better in the morning, but doubtful.
September 13
We took our time getting around the next morning. I tried out my knee and found it to be extremely stiff, but free of pain. I hiked up and down the hill near camp a bit and decided that we needed to continue. It was still raining lightly and appeared to be snowing up high. We didn't get out of camp until almost 12:30. We had to drop about 800' in elevation to get to the creek we needed to hike up. Then it was over 2000' up to a high pass and down into the head of another drainage. By the time we got to the top of the pass it was fogged in and snowing. Dan had told us that we just had a relatively short and steep shale slide to go down to get to where we wanted to camp. He said we couldn't get in trouble. We began down the other side in 50' visibility in the fog. The steep shale slope was getting icy and snow was beginning to stick. Soon we were coming upon cliffs, and there appeared to be a glacier below that. We made our way back to the top and talked about what to do. Although we were only 0.8 mile from where we wanted to camp, we decided that the best thing to do was to camp in the pass and wait until we could see where we were going.
The idea of camping in the pass was not pleasant. As I'm sure you know, it is the windiest spot you could pick, and the wind does tend to blow during those Alaska storms. We found a circular pile of stacked rocks where somebody had camped in the past and set up our tent within that minimal protection. We rocked everything down heavily, including the entire bottom edge of the rainfly, and climbed in our sleeping bags. Hank forgot to bring the stove in and none of us wanted to venture back out into the miserable weather, so dinner was peanut butter sandwiches. My knee had held up remarkably well throughout the day. A few twinges of pain here and there, but I kept myself well medicated.
It snowed until about 3am.
September 14 (4 days left of the season)
Although it snowed most of the night, it didn't amount to too much. But it was cold when we got up!
We walked over and looked down the slope we had abandoned the night before. Once again, the pictures don't do the steepness justice:
After packing up camp we found a way down through the rocks. The shale was extremely slick with the covering of snow and ice, but we made it down safely. Here are a couple of pics looking back up to the pass. Our trail is barely visible in the first, and obvious in the second.
We found a good spot to set up camp, dried everything out, had a hot meal and then set out to climb up and over into the next drainage to our south where the rams had last been seen. We left camp about 1:30pm. Here's a look back at camp from the divide between the drainages:
Doug and Hank up on the divide where we began glassing for sheep:
We found two rams and two goats bedded together almost immediately. A quick look showed one legal ram and one that we were unsure about. We were pretty sure that the bigger of the two was one the the 38" rams Dan and Doug had seen the week before the season. He was dark-horned, somewhat tightly curled and carried good mass through the first two quarter measurements. His right horn was broomed back to just short of full curl. I decided that if we could make it happen I would be darned happy to take him home.
The rams and goats were bedded out on a bald green knob in the middle of the valley (in the middle of this picture, with the small pond on top):
Here's a bad close-up view. The two goats and smaller ram are obvious on the right side of the knob. The bigger ram is harder to see, bedded at 10 o'clock from the others, about 100 yards away:
At first look, we thought it would be relatively easy to get within rifle range. However, they were bedded there for a reason. Hank thought that if we got to the black moraine ridge visible in the first photo between the rams' knob and the closeup rock we would be in range. I was skeptical, but we decided to give it a try. It was very easy to get down there, but as I chambered a round and slowly peeked over the edge of the moraine, disappointment set in. The rams were still over 800 yards away! Distances are deceiving in that country.
By this time the goats had fed out of sight over the knob, leaving only two sets of eyes to contend with. We discussed possible options, but the only one that seemed like it had a chance of working was to drop back down into the creek we just crossed and try to slip downstream along the creek until we were low enough to be out of sight of the rams, which were now bedded together right on top of the knob. Then we could sneak across the main creek bottom to the base of their hill and hopefully get up on them for a shot.
We made our way down the creek but quickly ran out of cover. We had made it out of sight of the small ram, but the big ram was right on top and facing our direction. It was now after 5pm, and we discussed our options. We thought about backing out without spooking them and trying again in the morning, but there were so many things that could go wrong before the next day we quickly scrapped that idea. It was now or never. We decided to play a game of cat-and-mouse with the ram. He would occasionally lower his head to the ground and close his eyes, or turn away, towards the out-of-sight ram. We would watch him until he did this, then while the third guy watched the ram, the first two would sneak down the hill a bit and stop, watch the ram while the third guy came down, then repeat. By doing this, we were able to make it into the creek bottom and out of sight without alerting the ram.
We quickly hurried across the creek and back upstream until we had the wind in our favor to begin climbing the hill. I was going to go most of the way up before dropping my pack and crawling to the top. The ram would be close if it worked...within 200 yards. Now it was getting exciting! As we began climbing the steep slope, with Hank in the lead, me in the middle and Doug in the rear, I kept my eyes on the hilltop where I knew the ram lay just out of sight. Suddenly he was standing there, staring down at us only 200 yards away! I hissed at the other two to stop, but we were busted. I threw my pack down on a rock, jacked a shell in the chamber and flopped acrosss the pack. As I picked up the ram in the scope, he turned, took three steps and was out of sight.
northwestalaska
New member
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2006
- Messages
- 104
Oak:
Fantastic story and great pics! It’s amazing how much work and effort goes into a sheep hunt and even is your not successful the experience is worth the effort, a trophy adds to that experience. I would hope that everyone who comes up here for a hunt will have this type of experience.
Walt
Northwest Alaska Back Country Rentals
Your best bet for Rafts, Canoes and Camp rentals
www.northwestalaska.com
907-442-3944
Kotzebue, Alaska
Fantastic story and great pics! It’s amazing how much work and effort goes into a sheep hunt and even is your not successful the experience is worth the effort, a trophy adds to that experience. I would hope that everyone who comes up here for a hunt will have this type of experience.
Walt
Northwest Alaska Back Country Rentals
Your best bet for Rafts, Canoes and Camp rentals
www.northwestalaska.com
907-442-3944
Kotzebue, Alaska
SPOTTED OWL
Active member
Oak,
Whatever you do for a living, you need to quit your job.
You are a born outdoor writer! Awesome stuff indeed!
I am guessing your not quite done with the story!
Whatever you do for a living, you need to quit your job.
You are a born outdoor writer! Awesome stuff indeed!
I am guessing your not quite done with the story!
AZ402
Well-known member
Well done so far Oak.............
September 14 cont'd
When the ram stepped out of sight I jumped up and sprinted up the hill. I soon had a ram standing in view a short distance from where the big one walked out of sight. I flopped down prone again and frantically asked Hank if he was the right ram. "Yes! No, wait. NO!! That's not him!" I jumped back up and ran further up the hill. The second ram was suddenly in view to my left, over 100 yards from where he had went out of sight. He was standing near the top of a moraine pile and about ready to go out of sight. I hit the ground again and Hank confirmed that it was the right ram. The crosshairs touched his shoulder and I squeezed one off. Missed! I jacked another round in as the ram turned, took three steps, and miraculously stopped again broadside, right on top of the moraine. Take your time, breathe, bang! The sound of a solid hit. The ram picked up his front shoulder and took two steps out of sight.
We jumped up quickly and hurried across the hill. We were sure he was hit good, but wanted to be positive that he couldn't get down into the next creek. When we reached the area he had been standing, the smaller ram was watching us from about 100 yards away. I knew the big ram was down somewhere. We quickly found him piled up in a deep fold in the moraine, just over the top and about 15 yards from where I hit him.
I can't describe to you the overwhelming feeling I felt as I sat down next to that ram. After 13 days in the mountains I felt like I must be dreaming. As I sat there and the other two went back for our packs, I looked across the canyon and spotted two previously unseen rams making their way up the steep slope. One was the other legal ram that had been seen in the area earlier. He was nearly my ram's twin, a little more tightly curled and maybe a little less mass, but broomed on the right horn as well.
It was time to get to work. I killed the ram at 6:20, and we were over 2 miles from camp. We spent time trying to get good photos. Unfortunately the ram was absolutely covered in blood. We caped and boned him out, packed up and began the trip back. It was now almost 8:30, and would be dark by 9:00. We had come up and over some pretty hairy cliffs when we left camp and didn't think it was wise to try to cross back in the dark. It had fogged up again and was beginning to rain, so we made our way down into the creek bottom and began gathering alder wood. We soon had a fire going tried to make ourselves as comfortable as possible. It would be a long night. I think the most sleep anybody got was about 3 hours. I slept for 1hr 15 minutes when we had the fire going good, but that was all I could manage. It was cold and wet.
September 15
When it was light enough to see the next morning, we loaded up and headed back to our nice dry camp which we didn't even get a chance to use. We made a hot meal, packed up camp and began the climb back up the pass. It was now snowing again, and another 2-3 inches had accumulated on top during the night. It was one steep, miserable climb to the top, but those dark horns curling out of my pack made it a little easier. Here are a couple pics from the top of the pass where we had camped in the snow two nights earlier.
We made it the 7 miles out to the nearest trailhead by 5pm. We were 26 trail miles from where we had started 14 days earlier. We estimated conservatively that we had hiked at least 80 miles. What an adventure!
The AK Fish and Game aged the ram at 10.5 years old. He measured 38 2/8" on the long side and 4" shorter on the broomed side. His bases are 13 6/8", first quarters of 12 5/8" and second quarters of 9 7/8". I couldn't care less. I couldn't have done this without the two guys that were with me. Especially Doug, who kept me going when I was on the brink of giving up, more than once. I did things on this hunt I didn't know I was capable of, and learned a lot about myself. I hope I can do it again some day, but it can't compare to this trip. Thanks for being patient!
When the ram stepped out of sight I jumped up and sprinted up the hill. I soon had a ram standing in view a short distance from where the big one walked out of sight. I flopped down prone again and frantically asked Hank if he was the right ram. "Yes! No, wait. NO!! That's not him!" I jumped back up and ran further up the hill. The second ram was suddenly in view to my left, over 100 yards from where he had went out of sight. He was standing near the top of a moraine pile and about ready to go out of sight. I hit the ground again and Hank confirmed that it was the right ram. The crosshairs touched his shoulder and I squeezed one off. Missed! I jacked another round in as the ram turned, took three steps, and miraculously stopped again broadside, right on top of the moraine. Take your time, breathe, bang! The sound of a solid hit. The ram picked up his front shoulder and took two steps out of sight.
We jumped up quickly and hurried across the hill. We were sure he was hit good, but wanted to be positive that he couldn't get down into the next creek. When we reached the area he had been standing, the smaller ram was watching us from about 100 yards away. I knew the big ram was down somewhere. We quickly found him piled up in a deep fold in the moraine, just over the top and about 15 yards from where I hit him.
I can't describe to you the overwhelming feeling I felt as I sat down next to that ram. After 13 days in the mountains I felt like I must be dreaming. As I sat there and the other two went back for our packs, I looked across the canyon and spotted two previously unseen rams making their way up the steep slope. One was the other legal ram that had been seen in the area earlier. He was nearly my ram's twin, a little more tightly curled and maybe a little less mass, but broomed on the right horn as well.
It was time to get to work. I killed the ram at 6:20, and we were over 2 miles from camp. We spent time trying to get good photos. Unfortunately the ram was absolutely covered in blood. We caped and boned him out, packed up and began the trip back. It was now almost 8:30, and would be dark by 9:00. We had come up and over some pretty hairy cliffs when we left camp and didn't think it was wise to try to cross back in the dark. It had fogged up again and was beginning to rain, so we made our way down into the creek bottom and began gathering alder wood. We soon had a fire going tried to make ourselves as comfortable as possible. It would be a long night. I think the most sleep anybody got was about 3 hours. I slept for 1hr 15 minutes when we had the fire going good, but that was all I could manage. It was cold and wet.
September 15
When it was light enough to see the next morning, we loaded up and headed back to our nice dry camp which we didn't even get a chance to use. We made a hot meal, packed up camp and began the climb back up the pass. It was now snowing again, and another 2-3 inches had accumulated on top during the night. It was one steep, miserable climb to the top, but those dark horns curling out of my pack made it a little easier.
Here are a couple pics from the top of the pass where we had camped in the snow two nights earlier.
We made it the 7 miles out to the nearest trailhead by 5pm. We were 26 trail miles from where we had started 14 days earlier. We estimated conservatively that we had hiked at least 80 miles. What an adventure!
The AK Fish and Game aged the ram at 10.5 years old. He measured 38 2/8" on the long side and 4" shorter on the broomed side. His bases are 13 6/8", first quarters of 12 5/8" and second quarters of 9 7/8". I couldn't care less. I couldn't have done this without the two guys that were with me. Especially Doug, who kept me going when I was on the brink of giving up, more than once. I did things on this hunt I didn't know I was capable of, and learned a lot about myself. I hope I can do it again some day, but it can't compare to this trip. Thanks for being patient!
csutton7
Active member
again awesome story of the hunt and mega congrats on a very nice ram......chris
T Bone
Well-known member
Alright Oak! Fantastic finish to the adventure of a lifetime.
Very well narrated and excellent photos to boot.
Nice work man!
I'm now officially fired up to hit the high country next week!
Very well narrated and excellent photos to boot.
Nice work man!
I'm now officially fired up to hit the high country next week!
AZ402
Well-known member
That is way to cool. The HT regulars are putting some special animals down this year..........
Nut
New member
I hooked up to the internet late 2000. I started going to hunting sites soon afterwards to look ,learn and enjoy others stories. I will say that I enjoyed this adventure the most. (No offense toward anybody else since I enjoys theirs also)
Congrats Oak
Congrats Oak
GFHunter
Member
WOW!!!!. Man that was awesome.
Dropping that 30 pounds was really a big key to your success here! Great job prepareing and carrying out this special hunt for your memories. What a post good job!!!
Dropping that 30 pounds was really a big key to your success here! Great job prepareing and carrying out this special hunt for your memories. What a post good job!!!
IdahoBugler
Well-known member
Man o man, what a freakin great story and trophy. You impressed the hell out of me on that one many times over. You deserved that trophy and I'm glad you came out successful.
Thanks again for the story and pictures. It was well worth the wait.
Thanks again for the story and pictures. It was well worth the wait.
TBinKodiak
Member
Oak that was an awesome story. It sure brought back some memories of my hunt. Any legal ram is a trophy and a 38" ram is something to be very thankful of. The way you earned him is something to be very proud of.
Ok Ok
I have been reading HuntTalk for nearly two dang years and never have joined up until I read this thread. Oak, that is an awesome sheep and one to be damn proud of. I thoroughly enjoyed reading and following your hunt as it progressed. Being here in the sheep, goat and elk desert of Tn, I cannot get enough of your hunts in beatiful Alaska. I have been bitten by the sheep bug badly here lately and to read about hunts like this only make it tougher to be nearly 3500 miles away.
I have been reading HuntTalk for nearly two dang years and never have joined up until I read this thread. Oak, that is an awesome sheep and one to be damn proud of. I thoroughly enjoyed reading and following your hunt as it progressed. Being here in the sheep, goat and elk desert of Tn, I cannot get enough of your hunts in beatiful Alaska. I have been bitten by the sheep bug badly here lately and to read about hunts like this only make it tougher to be nearly 3500 miles away.
WHT_MTNMAN
Member
Holy Smokes.. What an awesome story and Ram... That is my dream hunt there.. Hopefully I'll be able to do that soon. Nice job.
Ridge Runner
New member
Oak that was an awesome adventure.. Thanks for taking the time to put it in story form for all of us to enjoy. Truly a lifetime adventure. Many times throughout your story I felt like I was along on the hunt also. When you peeked over and saw your ram but decided not to shoot him and to just admire him in all his glory shows that you are a true amdassador to the sport. Then to push on and take a trophy ram that was well earned was fantastic. Thanks again for sharing it with all of us. First class in my books.
Wazzu_Cougar
New member
That was an incredible story and a fantastic trophy!! Congrats!!
ashersdad
Well-known member
What an awesome hunt. Those are great pics and a great story. Thanks for sharing.
jkhunterid
New member
Fantastic story and pics, thanks for sharing.
