AKHUNTER
Lil-Rokslider
In late August I assisted a friend harvest his first Dall sheep. He had drawn the early Delta tag (story later - maybe). After doing so, I got the bug to go hunting for myself - so I did.
Day 1: low clouds, drizzle, can't see the peaks - ugh.
Day 2: Stayed in tent until 2 p.m. - ugh. I climbed into the next drainage and spot 3 rams one of which needed a closer look. I get on them about 7:30 p.m. and determine that the biggest ram is at least 9 yrs old. I decide to take the 310 yard, bedded down, mostly facing away shot and missed! They spook and give me shot shot ops at 200-400 yards, but I can't ensure which one is the legal ram so I decline. Bummer.
Day 3: I found the 3 rams rather quickly and 2 ridges over and in the direction that's closer to the pickup - yahoo! I moved camp closer to the rams, drop the camp, and put the "indian" on them. I figured they bedded in a really small saddle, you know, the kind that's so small that you will be right on top of them before you see them. I peek over the rise and see white at ~ 40 yards - yikes! The swirly wind got them moving, but then they started to feed giving me time to get the spotter out to verify legality again. At 260 yards I put one through both lungs like you're supposed to do and it was ram down at 11:57 a.m. Missing the day before was a blessing in disguise because now I had plenty of daylight and sunshine to cape, butcher, get him to the creek, bump camp to the creek, and the pack out would be shorter. Oh, and when caping it out, I found a bullet graze right down his side that cut the hair to the hide. I did not compensate for the wind and/or slighty pulled the shot the day before. The lesson being that bedded shots do not provide as much room for error as do broadside or quartering away shots. Something I knew, but the message was real.
Day 4: I packed the meat out to the trailhead and sunk it in the Cr again (I use HD contractor grade trash bags). Then I hiked back to the creek camp for the night. As you can see I have to "leap frog" my camp and meat out of the Mts. I cannot and will not attempt to pack my entire camp and a ram out of the Mts in 1 trip.
Day 5: Pack out my camp and drive home.
Here's a link to a slideshow that I put together: https://youtu.be/stKBj-7FrkE
Day 1: low clouds, drizzle, can't see the peaks - ugh.
Day 2: Stayed in tent until 2 p.m. - ugh. I climbed into the next drainage and spot 3 rams one of which needed a closer look. I get on them about 7:30 p.m. and determine that the biggest ram is at least 9 yrs old. I decide to take the 310 yard, bedded down, mostly facing away shot and missed! They spook and give me shot shot ops at 200-400 yards, but I can't ensure which one is the legal ram so I decline. Bummer.
Day 3: I found the 3 rams rather quickly and 2 ridges over and in the direction that's closer to the pickup - yahoo! I moved camp closer to the rams, drop the camp, and put the "indian" on them. I figured they bedded in a really small saddle, you know, the kind that's so small that you will be right on top of them before you see them. I peek over the rise and see white at ~ 40 yards - yikes! The swirly wind got them moving, but then they started to feed giving me time to get the spotter out to verify legality again. At 260 yards I put one through both lungs like you're supposed to do and it was ram down at 11:57 a.m. Missing the day before was a blessing in disguise because now I had plenty of daylight and sunshine to cape, butcher, get him to the creek, bump camp to the creek, and the pack out would be shorter. Oh, and when caping it out, I found a bullet graze right down his side that cut the hair to the hide. I did not compensate for the wind and/or slighty pulled the shot the day before. The lesson being that bedded shots do not provide as much room for error as do broadside or quartering away shots. Something I knew, but the message was real.
Day 4: I packed the meat out to the trailhead and sunk it in the Cr again (I use HD contractor grade trash bags). Then I hiked back to the creek camp for the night. As you can see I have to "leap frog" my camp and meat out of the Mts. I cannot and will not attempt to pack my entire camp and a ram out of the Mts in 1 trip.
Day 5: Pack out my camp and drive home.
Here's a link to a slideshow that I put together: https://youtu.be/stKBj-7FrkE
