Lawnboy's Dall hunt

[Lawnboy]

Day 1 & 2. Flew into Fairbanks late Sunday and drove to the trailhead at 10:30pm. Started hiking to get a head start on the next days brutal hike in. Tried to get the packs to weigh about 35 pounds but couldn't get them lower that 45 lbs each. This hunt was with my dad 65 yrs. old and younger brother who I hunted here with four years ago. Forgot to mention that we spotted from the valley 3 rams up on the mountain not too far up the canyon we were headed. We decided that Monday morning we would hike up the trail a ways then bushwack up the mountain side to hook a ridge that would take us to the sheep we spotted. We walked 2 hours that night and reached this abandoned cabin which was home on Sunday night.



We reached the ridgeline after fighting the bottom brush and steep sidehill 3 hours into our hike on Monday. The north sides of these mountains have spongy moss and rock layers that are son of a gun to walk up. We reached the ridge only to realize that we had one more monster hump to climb. Really depressing. When we reached the top we found a guy and his son camped on top and that deflated our hopes of finding these rams.



Spent the rest of the day glassing mountains farther in and started seeing sheep on them. We spotted two groups of 7 rams each in the head of the valley we were hunting in. They each had a lead ram that looked nice but your spotting from miles away. Maybe the next day we could reach them. We were whooped after day one and camped at the base of a mountain that had two groups of ewes and lambs. They are marked. We reached this spot in 6 hours which was 3 hours faster than when my brother and I came in 4 years ago. We stayed out of the bottom and that made all the difference. We had to climb a lot more but I think it was worth it.

 

[Lawnboy]

Day 3: We have now seen at least 14 rams in the valley we are hunting but only 2 with full curl potential. We are seeing sheep on other mountains that are not on the route we are hunting but we are keeping them as options if our bodies can hold up to reach them. You literally have to walk 8-9 miles across these nasty bottoms and up super steep mountains to reach them. We have also noticed another tent on the side of the valley that the rams had come from. They must have spooked them and they actually moved closer to our direction. We had to continue sidehilling and crossing the valley to get to were the rams had disappeared the previous night. We started the hike and saw the two guys across the valley heading in the direction we were. It was getting depressing. I just started up the mountain to were the sheep had disappeared when I heard a shot from one of the two guys. It wasn't any of the rams that we had watched as they hadn't even come close to were we saw them go in. Wonder what they could have gotten?

Continued up the mountain to the top ridge were they had disappeared. On the way up I found a cool Caribou shed set and walked on to a small bull feeding. I crested the top and sure enough found 3 rams feeding off the backside. One was a 3/4 curl and the others were smaller. Bummer. Continued on the ridge peering off the edges and found a group of 21 ewes and lambs eating just below me about 300 yds. I layed on my belly and watched them over the ledge when I noticed 7 more rams tucked up under the rocks about150 below me. Again I could only find 1 3/4 curl and the rest were smaller halves and less rams.

We spent the rest of the day waiting to see if anything else would pop up. Sure enough this nice ram comes up the ridge we are on. He was alone. We were looking from above so it was hard to see if he was even close to full curl but he looked nice. He move up the ridge to 150 yds and bedded down. I had the spotter on him and could tell he was just to his eye. I could only count maybe 7 rings and so was bummed thinking this was the biggest one so far. They need to be full curl or at least 8 which is almost impossible to tell without holding them.

This picture of my dad shows were we came from that morning. We had camped just below that middle mountain and walked across that valley and up this bruiser of a hill to get to these rams. That day was a butt kicker as well. My dad was holding up surprisingly well
.
camp that night no cover whatsoever.

Looking up another valley called the Moody. This is were Coke Wallace guides.

 

[Lawnboy]

Day 4: With no legal rams to be found we decide to move camp around the basin farther. We are now heading toward the side we saw the two guys come from. I end up spotting them packing a ram out. The shot I heard. It sure didn't look full curl on his back but maybe. We need water bad and can't find anything but this nasty caribou wallow. Yikes.


Walked onto this Ptarmigan while getting water. I hadn't ever seen one. Pretty cool.

We did have one monster hill to climb this day and then we would sidehill around the back. Sheep sometimes don't believe in swithbacks as we found out. The mountains don't look near as steep in the picture as in real life.



We saw 2 more 3/4 curl rams and some smaller ones. It's getting frustrating but we are seeing lots of sheep. Where are the new crop of legal ones?

Dinner and camp that night.

 

[Lawnboy]

Day 5: Starting to rain off and on and it's getting hard to spot anything with the cloulds dropping in. We see 36 ewes and lambs on a mountain across from us. 15 more rams show up as well with no legal ones. With the view and weather getting bad we take a group photo and decide to start off the mountain.


My brother fighting his way out the bottom. Doesn't help having a caribou horn on your back. The bottoms are thick and nasty to walk in.

We saw 3 bull moose in the bottom and came across this huge moose rub.


There was a trail part of the way up the bottom. We had to cross the creek many times with no choice but to walk through the water. We use gators to avoid water in the boots. It works well. This is actually the trail I'm in.


We came home empty handed but had a good time. I have no idea how far we walked but it was a ton. My legs are still aching and I'm nursing some blisters. We saw a total of 41 rams with 7 being 3/4 curl. I have no idea what happened to this years crop of legal ones. We only heard that one shot, so I know that others weren't getting whacked. My dad did great and was a trooper considering his age and diabetes issue. I hope that Dinkshooter is having more luck than I did. Wish I had a dead ram picture but only had these and the story to share. Maybe next time.

 

[rosco]

Thanks for the write up, looks like a good trip even without a kill.

no way you coulda bagged one o fhtose moose as a door prize?

 

[Lawnboy]

The biggest bull wasn't quit legal but you couldn't have paid me to pack one of them out that far. They are huge and we had 5 hours out still from were we spotted him. My brother wants to take me on the Caribou migration hunt next time using our bows. He says that is a great hunt as well.

 

[Oak]

Looks like you guys had a great time. There's more timber up that way than I expected, although I'm not sure why.

Thanks for sharing the photos. Is your brother pretty well planted up there, so that you'll have more opportunities?

 

[Grady]

Tough hunt, but looks like fun for sure. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

 

[Buschy]

Thanks for the story Lawnboy. Are you going to try again anytime in the near future? It loos like quite an adventure!

 

[elk_hunter]

Sounds like a great time for sure! Even though there was no kill, it's always good to get out and enjoy everything.

 

[----]

Cool pictures. Looks like a great time.

 

[Spitz]

Great pictures. Stinks that you worked that hard to not find a legal ram, but I'm sure some quality family time was spent and lasting memories created. Thanks for sharing.

 

[1_pointer]

That looks like a blast!!! Definitely better time than I've been having. Heck, anytime chasing critters in country like that beats working.

 

[Lawnboy]

My brother just got a job teaching at the University in Fairbanks so I think I'll have more opportunities in the future. My dad is still up there with him and is trying to go out one more day this week. We must have not worked him hard enough I've still got some sore toes from Friday's hike. Thanks for the feedback. It is by far the hardest type of hunting I've ever done. My hats of to anyone who hunts Dall sheep. It will make my Missouri Breaks ram tag seem a little easier (when I draw)

 

[1_pointer]

Good deal!! I need to convince my brother to get a teaching job up that way instead of in IN...

 

[ashersdad]

Sounds like a great/hard hunt. I love the pictures and story. Thanks.

 

[duckhead59]

wow lawnboy...sounds like a great hunt even w/o gettin a ram...well...now you've got some experience at it, hope you'll get another try. thanks for sharing the story and the pics...

 

[Ridge Runner]

Lawnboy sounds like a great adventure. I am trying to plan something up there for next year. Have a friend that keeps telling me to get my butt up there before he sells his plane and cabin. Sounds like I am going to have to take him up on it. Great photos and thanks for the story.

 

[TBinKodiak]

Confusious say "The white ram is the goal, but the journey is the reward".
Congrats on the adventure and I hope your next trip brings you your goal. Looking forward to pounding ground in a couple days chasing the rams.

 

[Oak]

Good luck on the hunt, TB. Looking forward to another big ram picture from you, sans the bullet groove this time.