Sheep Reports: Post 'em HERE!!
- Thread starter Erik in AK
- Start date
4merguide
Well-known member
Congrats...!!! :topjob:
PacWestFishTaxidermy
New member
Way to go. Great accomplishment to get ram and have help.
pa 5-0
New member
Beautiful ram!!!! Congrats!!!
Antleridge
New member
That is a dude! Congratulations to your son and you, too! I bet when he's 55 he'll remember that day...
Gr is for Greg
New member
Awesome ram picks, and congrats to those who managed to get one. My hunt, unfortunately, was shut down by the weather, but not in a way I ever would have thought possible: due to heat. It's been hot everywhere, but I was in a particularly hot area of the state. I measured temps well into the 80s every day and once over 90, too hot to even consider dropping an animal, especially with an 4 hour hike to a stream large enough to cool off the meat. Many of the smaller creeks in this area have actually dried up - it's incredible. We could hardly move between the hours of 10:00 am and 6:00 pm, and we simply couldn't carry enough water. Above treeline, there was no shelter from the sun, and no breeze. When the air did start to move, it felt like a blast furnace. I haven't ever said this about a hunt, but it was awful. I've been out in sleet, sideways rain, wind, whatever. That honestly doesn't bug me too much; it's what you prepare for. The heat, though? Killed us. Made us miserable. Another side effect is that we couldn't sleep. That just makes things worse when you can't recharge your batteries.
The heat affected the animals too. We found several sub-legal rams, but we really had to look in "odd" places for them, down low, in the trees, and then we realized we were seeing the same rams over and over again, so without getting into a completely new area, we realized we were done. The weather showed no sign of changing, and we were getting our arses kicked by the heat, so we actually cut our losses and came out empty-handed a few days early. Sucked to have the hunt shut down in that fashion, but what can you do. Never saw it coming. Never did I think I would be out in the mountains wishing it would just rain like heck. At least we saw some sheep and learned a few lessons, as always.
Happy hunting and be safe out there folks. Switching gears to moose in September, but already thinking longingly of sheep in 2014...
The heat affected the animals too. We found several sub-legal rams, but we really had to look in "odd" places for them, down low, in the trees, and then we realized we were seeing the same rams over and over again, so without getting into a completely new area, we realized we were done. The weather showed no sign of changing, and we were getting our arses kicked by the heat, so we actually cut our losses and came out empty-handed a few days early. Sucked to have the hunt shut down in that fashion, but what can you do. Never saw it coming. Never did I think I would be out in the mountains wishing it would just rain like heck. At least we saw some sheep and learned a few lessons, as always.
Happy hunting and be safe out there folks. Switching gears to moose in September, but already thinking longingly of sheep in 2014...
Doc
Well-known member
Super congratulations to those who harvested and thanks for sharing your pictures with us!
I just got back from 9 days in the field (some preseason spotting included), 25 miles of back-packing and 8k of elevation up-down. Saw over 60 sheep (about 25% were rams), but nothing full-curl. One went 7/8ths, but no matter how hard I looked at it...it just wouldn't grow. Had a half-curl walk 30 yards from me when I was on top on a mountain...pretty cool. At 61, I'm running out of time, but I'll be at it next year...and I'll have my harvest ticket in my pocket during "mountain moose" season in a few weeks.
I just got back from 9 days in the field (some preseason spotting included), 25 miles of back-packing and 8k of elevation up-down. Saw over 60 sheep (about 25% were rams), but nothing full-curl. One went 7/8ths, but no matter how hard I looked at it...it just wouldn't grow. Had a half-curl walk 30 yards from me when I was on top on a mountain...pretty cool. At 61, I'm running out of time, but I'll be at it next year...and I'll have my harvest ticket in my pocket during "mountain moose" season in a few weeks.
Jerod
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Hiking in Sunday morning for my DS203 hunt. We also have two RC835 tags and won't hesitate to tag a bear or two if we get a chance. I'll be coming back out on the 26th. Got a few good reports on the area I'm headed into, but looks like some sketchy weather for the next several days.
Great job Skinny! Beautiful animal! Was this a permit hunt?
Congrats guys! Here's a preview of our walk in the Brooks...
Opening day and the day after in the Brooks were pretty decent weather wise. We humped it in on the 9th shall we say.... over 10 miles and back in a few drainages. Checked out a couple drainages further back on the 10th, late in the day I spotted two rams quite a ways away down and across a drainage, one looked good. We got closer, determined he was worth going after, made a stalk in the driving rain up a steep, slippery slope, came down on them at 345yds, backed off, skootched down the rocky ridge a ways to level and I ranged em at 277. It was my partners turn as first shooter this year unless we figured I could get within handgun range with my SBH Hunter 45 Colt. I left the 325 Kimber home this trip. With the 2X Weaver scope I'm good out to about 120yds. I've been shooting a 9inch target at 117. But, the nature of the terrain, etc. I decided it was a no go for the 45 so my partner shot him with his 270. That was at 8pm. We were back in our drainage at the tent at 3am after a pretty brutal slog. Spent sunday drying out, tending to the sheep/cape and resting up. Did some glassing and spotted a sub legal. We fought the weather through wednesday looking for another ram but no go, spotted some subs. We were on top of a 6700ft peak wednesday afternoon watching the North Slope fog fill all the valleys below us as the clouds and rain came in from above. We pulled the plug, humped it out 13+ miles back to the rig, crashed that night at 2 am. Home thursday afternoon. I'll post up a hunt story with pics next week.
I've got a buddy, his son and a friend in DCUA now. I hear the smoke is brutal down there. I hope it pans out for them.
Here's a few pics until next week...
Opening day and the day after in the Brooks were pretty decent weather wise. We humped it in on the 9th shall we say.... over 10 miles and back in a few drainages. Checked out a couple drainages further back on the 10th, late in the day I spotted two rams quite a ways away down and across a drainage, one looked good. We got closer, determined he was worth going after, made a stalk in the driving rain up a steep, slippery slope, came down on them at 345yds, backed off, skootched down the rocky ridge a ways to level and I ranged em at 277. It was my partners turn as first shooter this year unless we figured I could get within handgun range with my SBH Hunter 45 Colt. I left the 325 Kimber home this trip. With the 2X Weaver scope I'm good out to about 120yds. I've been shooting a 9inch target at 117. But, the nature of the terrain, etc. I decided it was a no go for the 45 so my partner shot him with his 270. That was at 8pm. We were back in our drainage at the tent at 3am after a pretty brutal slog. Spent sunday drying out, tending to the sheep/cape and resting up. Did some glassing and spotted a sub legal. We fought the weather through wednesday looking for another ram but no go, spotted some subs. We were on top of a 6700ft peak wednesday afternoon watching the North Slope fog fill all the valleys below us as the clouds and rain came in from above. We pulled the plug, humped it out 13+ miles back to the rig, crashed that night at 2 am. Home thursday afternoon. I'll post up a hunt story with pics next week.
I've got a buddy, his son and a friend in DCUA now. I hear the smoke is brutal down there. I hope it pans out for them.
Here's a few pics until next week...
xcrnr
New member
Heading in on Thursday to see if I can make good on my DS 131 tag. Weather looks like it will hold, now hopefully the rams are not all spooked and hiding from the DS 130 hunters. Taking my 60 year old dad w/ me for the father/son hunt of a lifetime I hope. Pack's ready, rifle sighted, and fitness in check - spend a lot of time in the Chugach this summer. I've done all I can do at this point.
FullFreezer
New member
Any TMA reports?? We're Going in Sep 3rd.
xcrnr
New member
I have a student who got in on two 40+ rams but some other hunters spooked them before he could get in for a shot. Lots of rams, but also lots of hunters. I'm not sure which drainage they were in. He also said they were pretty low in the valleys.
pike_palace
New member
Hunted the Brooks for a week. First time I did not see a single legal Ram. Lots of sheep, but tons of ewes and lambs and sub legal rams. BEARS GALORE. Saw 8 in 7 days, never got in position to shoot one though. Saw 4 wolves and 2 of them came home with us, a Black one and a White one.
AK Ray
New member
Morning... opening day.... in a draw permit area.
I didn't have permit.:upset:
I neither shot nor sealed those two big ones... but I'm fairly confident they would have passed with flying colors.
Yk
In TMA I saw so many rams that were so close to these, but their tips did not point up to curl. Mind boggling frustration for a first time sheep hunter. I wish I could have spent another week in there.
SkwentnaMan
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4merguide
Well-known member
Nice...!!! :topjob:
pa 5-0
New member
First time may be luck, second time is knowing what you're doing. Awesome ram!!!! Congrats!!!!
