A Fall of Adventure: Wild Sheep and Goat Hunting 2024

[Gerald G]

Really enjoying the write up!

[slayr]

Great write up thus far, Ethan!

[diamond10x]

Day 10 I locate the band of rams within seconds of opening the vestibule of my tent. Today is much more clear and sunny. They have moved a couple peaks closer and are now about 2.5 miles away. I spend the next hour meticulously going over each ram in the group. To my disappointment there is only one remotely close to the legal full curl requirement. I study him a bit and get some pics but its obvious he needs a couple more years. So close but also so far. I’m pretty bummed but I now have some renewed hope that I could still find that needle in the haystack. Luckily the rams are across the valley and the opposite direction I need to go to start hunting my way back to the truck. I slowly get my gear together by about noon and set out hiking again in some different drainages. I hike the rest of the afternoon and evening with what seems nothing to show for other than some beat up and worn-out feet and several thousand burned calories.
Day 11 I’m up and at ‘em early. All my gear is packed and ready by 8:30 and I’m on the move. I have two passes that I need to go through and 14 miles to cover if I am to be within a days hike of the truck tomorrow. I have to be back because I have another sheep hunt with my dad right after this one. This day is spent covering ground stopping every mile or so to take a break and glass some more. I glass up sheep sign but no actual sheep, just like previous days. I do however wander upon a bull moose and his cow about ¾ of the way through the day. He was a younger bull, in the low 40’s, but still enjoyable to watch. Other than the two moose, the day is pretty uneventful.

[diamond10x]

[diamond10x]

Day 11 I’m up and at ‘em early. All my gear is packed and ready by 8:30 and I’m on the move. I have two passes that I need to go through and 14 miles to cover if I am to be within a days hike of the truck tomorrow. I have to be back because I have another sheep hunt with my dad right after this one. This day is spent covering ground stopping every mile or so to take a break and glass some more. I glass up sheep sign but no actual sheep, just like previous days. I do however wander upon a bull moose and his cow about ¾ of the way through the day. He was a younger bull, in the low 40’s, but still enjoyable to watch. Other than the two moose, the day is pretty uneventful.
Day 12 I have from what I remember about 12 miles to the truck. I can’t tell exactly because I’m having some major phone issues and can’t use my maps for more than about 4 or 5 seconds before my phone shuts off. I know the way I need to go but I don’t know the exact distance. I eat a big breakfast and get my boots to moving. I have come to the realization I won’t be going home with a sheep and that my goal now is to get back in time to get a little bit of rest, see my wife and son, and repack some gear before I leave again. I’ve also got to get back to the truck before some weather comes in that could keep me out for another two days or so. I make pretty good tracks throughout the day. So much so that I start heading up the drainage by which I came in from about 3:00 pm. I make it a couple miles up it until I come across a creek that has a lot of iron in it. I think to myself “that’s weird, I don’t remember seeing that on the way in”, but I hop across it and keep going. About 15 min later I come across another creek just like it. At this point something is wrong. I didn’t pass any creeks that had iron deposits on my way in. I stop and start glassing up the drainage I’m headed up. It turns to the right and not the left, this isn’t the correct drainage. At this point it is now 5:30 pm. I quickly turn around and head back the direction I came. I was in such a hurry that I completely passed up the drainage I came in from. I backtrack and finally get to the drainage I meant to hike up, now having burned all that energy and time. This puts me almost 5 hours behind and if I don’t hike through the night I won’t make it back in time to be able to go home and could possibly be stuck in the coming storm for a few days.
I finally make it to the head of the drainage by 9:15 pm or so. All I have to do is climb this last 1000’ through the saddle and its all down hill the rest of the way. When I hiked in I went down one side of this little finger ridge that was all small pieces of loose shale where you sink down with every step if your foot doesn’t end up sliding, which makes for a real pain to climb. I decide I will take the other side of this ridge as it is more so boulders with patches of grass. I got about 400’ up and realized I may have taken the wrong side as this side is extremely steep. I try to block it out of my mind and keep focused on climbing. My hope is I can make it to the top and through the saddle before the storm blows in. With about 250’ left to climb the wind starts to pick up big time. Its blowing at my back enough to make it difficult to hold myself off the rocks to step up. All of a sudden a gust comes through and slams me into the mountain side and pins me against this face that I’m on. At first I just sort of shrug it off and once it lets up I continue up. It would happen a few more times. After about the fourth time I began to worry a little bit. I eventually reach the top of the ridge, by now its dark enough that I need my headlamp. From the top of the ridge to the saddle is about 100 yards away and about 50’ of elevation gain. By this time I can only make out shapes because of the dark, I can see the ridge above me seems less steep than the one that is the direct path to the saddle. I’ll climb a little higher to hike across from there as it seems the safest route. The wind is picking up, along with a driving rain that’s beginning to get to the point if I stand straight up I can’t balance, I have to use my trekking poles to stay on my feet. I begin to try to work my way up the slick wet scree but its feeling way too dangerous. I slowly start crawling backwards the way I came as I can’t turn around and walk due to the wind and rain. All sorts of thoughts begin to go through my head. I try to keep my composure and wits about me praying I make it out of here and in one piece, without search and rescue. I hit the check in button on my zoleo so that my wife has my location coordinates, this way if anything happens she at least has my last known location. The rain begins to turn to sleet, ice is forming on the scree, and the wind has not let up. I get the idea I’ll crawl around up here on all fours until I find a little depression, put on all of my clothes, pull out my emergency bivy and crawl in there and ride this thing out. At this point that is the safest and most logical thing I can think of. As I’m crawling around I find a sheep trail, low and behold it even goes in the direction of the saddle I need to cross over. I make the decision to take that trail, basically bear crawling the whole way, stopping every few steps to say a prayer. I finally make the saddle and get to the back side out of the wind. I sit down to take a minute and gather myself to comprehend the serious situation I had just got out of. The rest of the night was pretty uneventful as it was all down hill and I was sheltered from the storm in that drainage. I reached the truck at 5:30 am, marking 20 hours of continuous hiking. I started my truck up, changed into dry clothes, and headed home to see my family.
Just that last day alone I learned some very valuable lessons that I will never forget or allow myself to be caught in a situation like that again. That night there near that pass could have ended very differently, to this day I know my prayers were answered and I will never be convinced otherwise. Overall, I enjoyed the solitude and just being able to live out a dream I’ve had for so long whether I put my tag on a ram or not. I’m bummed I didn’t get a ram, but in my heart I know I gave it all I had. The roughly 100 miles and 65,000’ of elevation change I hiked in those 12 days was some serious effort. It just wasn’t in the cards for me on my first trip to get a sheep. I saw more sheep than most anybody I talked to, all in a place I found all on my own without the help of a guide or outfitter. I didn’t exactly get to reflect on this hunt like I normally would as I was turning around and leaving for another so quickly. The biggest thing I’ll take from this hunt is the memory of my first sheep hunt, I can pass on to my son, and be the example of never giving up on your dreams no matter how wild or crazy they may seem to others. I still haven’t decided if I’ll be back in there to hunt again or not. If I know myself, I probably will be, part of me feels I have a score to settle and something to prove.

[diamond10x]

It’s hard to take landscape photos that even come close to capturing the actual scenery to truly appreciate it.

[diamond10x]

The one ram that I came across that I got to lay my hands on. I sat and pondered for a bit what brought him to his death. Whatever it was, I felt the only worthy thing to do was lay it back where I found it, as it wasn’t mine to keep, returning it to the mountain.

[Greenheadless]

Wow, thanks for taking us along. We are all looking forward to your next adventure now!

[Chew]

Awesome adventure. Despite not getting a sheep, you can pat yourself on the back for actually living. So many of us get into ruts where we only exist and fail to live. You were definitely living for those 11 days.

[diamond10x]

Sheep Hunt #2 w/ my Dad

A little back story to all of this, the reason my dad didn’t go with me on my original plans was because he was having some heart issues late last fall and early on in the new year. It took a while, and they finally thought they had everything figured out and he had an ablation procedure done at the end of May. It had scared him a little bit when I told and showed him my hunt plans for my first trip, he didn’t know if his heart could handle it, he felt it best he sit that one out. I think, and know now, he was pretty bummed he didn’t think he could go with me on my first sheep hunt. Being able to be flown out, he knew the area we would hunt should theoretically be smaller with less distances to cover. I was nervous to say lets do it but at the same time I wanted to do it for my dad, I could just tell that him going on this hunt was basically a test for himself as well as our family that his heart was healed and he was back to being healthy. To say I was nervous and worried was an understatement, but I knew this is what my dad wanted and I was just ecstatic to be doing it with him.

I got home in time to spend a day with my wife and little boy between the time I got back from my solo trip and before I left to go with my dad. It wasn’t quite long enough but my wife understands, we spent half the time getting my food and gear all packed up again as a family. Early the next morning my dad and I caught a commercial flight to take us to our pilot for our bush flight. We landed at the airport, grabbed our checked luggage, and hurried over to meet our pilot for the bush flight. We loaded the plane, all we had was our packs, 1 small soft sided duffel bag that had our food, and one rifle case. Once the plane was loaded, we piled in and taxied over to fill up on fuel. After that we were quickly off and up in the air. Our goal was to get in while we had good weather as well as our pilot get out while there was still good weather. As luck would have it, and I should have known given the circumstances, when we got to the airstrip I had picked, there was several other planes already parked there. Other hunters with their personal planes were already there as well as some outfitters and guides with their clients. In all there was a total of 14 people at one time around this strip. Not the sight or scenario one would imagine when you think of Alaskan backcountry. We got our stuff unloaded, talked to a few of the other guys around, mainly seeing what directions they were headed, and we set out hiking. My dad and I were both pretty discouraged from all of this but we knew we couldn’t let it bother us if we were to be successful.

[diamond10x]

[Paycheck]

Just got caught up. Love your write ups.

[roberts]

Great write up. Thank you for taking us along for the ride. Looking forward to the rest of the story.

[MooseontheLoose]

Still following. This thread is delivering.

[diamond10x]

Day 2 we woke up with some urgency. The plan was to get further away from the strip with so many other hunters around. We picked a drainage that headed north towards two areas I had previously done some serious e-scouting in the last couple years. If we got close enough to glass some of that area, we figured that could be far enough from others as put us in a position for a ram. We spent most the day covering ground by boots and ended up doing about 14 miles which put us 18 or 19 miles from the strip. Hopefully this would allow us to have a lot of the area to ourselves as well as be around some sheep that hadn't been messed with yet. With time slipping we made the plan to camp low and we would sit and glass the rest of the evening giving our feet a rest. We would go on to not find any wildlife the rest of that evening before going to bed. After me personally not getting a sheep, I wanted so bad for us to find a legal ram so that my dad could get a chance.

Day 3 we woke with anticipation since the plan was to climb up high and glass all day. It took a little bit for us to climb up the mountain we chose but we made it. This was the first test for my dad and his heart. He did pretty good being 59 years old and not having trained one bit for this hunt or any other in the last 25 plus years or so. We sat up in the crags near the top glassing the nearby ridges, bowls, and other drainages the next 12 hours. We glassed up two small rams a couple miles away as well as a ewe and her lamb in a different direction. This had us both excited, we are in sheep. When we finally got hungry enough, we climbed back down to our tents so we could enjoy a warm dinner and get some rest in hopes of finding more sheep the next day.