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Alaska sheep hunt

You can't tease us with an opening paragraph like that and not tell us every detail!!! Sheep is my dream hunt (I'm sure there are a lot of us)… we need to live vicariously through stories of those that have gone. Sounds like you had the full sheep experience, can we hear about it?

Awesome Ram, well done!
 
The unit that we hunted does not allow planes to fly into it during season. So we started hiking about 5 miles from the unit boundary. We went about 6.5 miles on a hiking trail and stopped to take a break. Then the hiking really started. We went around 4000 ft pretty much straight up. Probably covered about 8 miles that day. The next day was another grueling hike up and down the mountain. It wasn't hard to sleep that's for sure. The third day was more of the same. Hike up a saddle to look into the valley on the other side. This time we found 2 bands of rams but the good one was in a place no man could think of going. We watched the rams walk off over the hill and had no idea what would happen. We hiked for about 6 more hours to get around the mountain to look for the rams. As pure luck would have it the rams moved to a spot that was easy to get to. We had to wait over night as the next day was the start of my season. We took off at 3:45 in the morning and hiked about an hour in the dark. Again as pure luck would have it the rams were in a great spot. We got in position and waited for confirmation. 420 up hill. Dialed to 400 which was about 7moa. Ram went down and we packed him up. Here's the scary part of the story. We started hiking the opposite direction from where we needed to go because it was supposed to be easier. Come to find out we were walking on a glacier and there were spots we couldn't pass without taking a lot of time to find a path. When we got to a river we had to cross the best path was about knee-waist deep water. I was so exhausted and didn't want to get my boots wet that I tried to cross quickly. The river wiped me right out. I was sideways with my pack pinning me to the bottom. Thankfully Charlie and Brandon were prepared and quickly grabbed me from the river. I needed a bath anyway. 16 hours of hiking that day and we stopped. The next day was just more hiking. 12 hours and we were back at the truck. I couldn't walk for a week after coming out.

Side note: it rained almost the hole time we were there. I was wet within 30 minutes af being there and never got dry unless I was in my sleeping bag. I had kuiu rain gear and stone glacier. But it didn't matter because you sweat so bad you are wet anyway.

I learned a lot on this hunt about gear. Unfortunately I'm probably done sheep hunting the north because my body can't handle it again.
 
Threejs said:
The unit that we hunted does not allow planes to fly into it during season. So we started hiking about 5 miles from the unit boundary. We went about 6.5 miles on a hiking trail and stopped to take a break. Then the hiking really started. We went around 4000 ft pretty much straight up. Probably covered about 8 miles that day. The next day was another grueling hike up and down the mountain. It wasn't hard to sleep that's for sure. The third day was more of the same. Hike up a saddle to look into the valley on the other side. This time we found 2 bands of rams but the good one was in a place no man could think of going. We watched the rams walk off over the hill and had no idea what would happen. We hiked for about 6 more hours to get around the mountain to look for the rams. As pure luck would have it the rams moved to a spot that was easy to get to. We had to wait over night as the next day was the start of my season. We took off at 3:45 in the morning and hiked about an hour in the dark. Again as pure luck would have it the rams were in a great spot. We got in position and waited for confirmation. 420 up hill. Dialed to 400 which was about 7moa. Ram went down and we packed him up. Here's the scary part of the story. We started hiking the opposite direction from where we needed to go because it was supposed to be easier. Come to find out we were walking on a glacier and there were spots we couldn't pass without taking a lot of time to find a path. When we got to a river we had to cross the best path was about knee-waist deep water. I was so exhausted and didn't want to get my boots wet that I tried to cross quickly. The river wiped me right out. I was sideways with my pack pinning me to the bottom. Thankfully Charlie and Brandon were prepared and quickly grabbed me from the river. I needed a bath anyway. 16 hours of hiking that day and we stopped. The next day was just more hiking. 12 hours and we were back at the truck. I couldn't walk for a week after coming out.

Side note: it rained almost the hole time we were there. I was wet within 30 minutes af being there and never got dry unless I was in my sleeping bag. I had kuiu rain gear and stone glacier. But it didn't matter because you sweat so bad you are wet anyway.

I learned a lot on this hunt about gear. Unfortunately I'm probably done sheep hunting the north because my body can't handle it again.
Click to expand...
You did it, and regardless how long you live, you will always remember even the smallest details of that hunt. When I killed my first Dall sheep I felt total fulfillment and knew that if I never took another animal for the rest of my life that I wouldn't feel cheated. Fortunately, I'm still hunting, but never forgot how deeply I felt at that moment. Congratulations on your great accomplishment. Lots of people don't try, lots quit, but you did it!
 
Congratulations and thanks for sharing.
I too flinch at the thought of being so miserable while chasing a Dall.
 
Threejs said:
I wasn't going to even talk about this hunt as it was the most brutal thing a human being should ever go through. That being said I wanted to give a big shout out to my outfitter Lance Kronberger at freelance outdoor adventures. Also my guides who I literally owe my life to. Brandon, Charlie, and Luke. But if you ever think you are super human and want to apply for a 14c sheep tag call Lance. He is very organized and they know the unit well.
Click to expand...
Congratulations..! Well earned!
 

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