2023 Wild Sheep Meatpole Photos

[robby denning]

Hey all, if you have a wild sheep hunt photo that’s not quite worthy of our 2023 Best Sheep Photo contest here, please post it here.

Good luck to all you lucky dogs with a tag!

 

[venado mula]

I have some pics of some booner rams observed while scouting for big bucks, does this qualify? Just kidding.

 

[robby denning]

I have some pics of some booner rams observed while scouting for big bucks, does this qualify? Just kidding.

We’ll have a big buck photo contest and a meatpole thread going soon.

 

[venado mula]

We’ll have a big buck photo contest and a meatpole thread going soon.

Yay! Thanks Robby!

 

[Loco4dux]

NWT

 

[tam9492]

A couple more of my Sonoran ram from February ‘23:

 

[devobrodie]

My wifes desert sheep, Dec 23

 

[Kotaman]

Yukon Peak

 

[OutdoorsMD]

Yukon Peak

Nice Ram and great talking to you in Whitehorse! Always fun to meat fellow sheep nut and hear about some of your adventures.

 

[Kotaman]

Nice Ram and great talking to you in Whitehorse! Always fun to meat fellow sheep nut and hear about some of your adventures.

Same here and congrats to you as well. You’ve got a couple great rams the last couple years.

 

[Deleted member 8-15-23]

My wifes desert sheep, Dec 23 View attachment 583135View attachment 583135View attachment 583136View attachment 583140

Nice ram. But Dec. 23???

 

[realunlucky]

Nice ram. But Dec. 23???

Yes December 23rd it's an important distinction for this thread.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

 

[kphunter]

Helped a friend get his first ram.

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

Aug. 10th, 7:15 AM

Had a great solo hunt & packout.
Just getting some cell service after 9 days in the field. Will give more details later.

40 1/2” x 13 1/2”, 9 years old. B&C Green Score of 165 2/8.

Edit*
Finally finished with this hunt after 15 days.
Started hiking in on Aug. 5th. After 4 days, 41 miles and 21,000 vert climbed, I was on this ram. I had climbed 4 6,000ft+ peaks and glassed a ton of terrain. This was the only mature ram seen.

Aug. 9th I spent the entire day watching and patterning this guy. I wanted to make absolutely sure he was older than 8. I have a self imposed 9 or older standard that I am adamant about sticking to. He ended up on a face directly above where I had my Hilleberg Niak set up, so was able to glass from inside my vestibule the whole day.

Aug. 10th.
He was lower on the face at 3 am, yet a mountain goat was gracing beneath him, making him uncomfortable. I had a stable shooting position and perfect environmentals for a long shot. However I couldn’t get an accurate ring count before he was pressured too far up the face and the morning started to brighten. Eventually he worked the entire way up the face and out of sight. I gathered my gear and went straight up the 1800 ft face. Eventually I was able to locate and get above & downwind of him. I made a slow stalk along the spine of the ridge and found myself directly above him at 70 yards. At 7:15 am on opening morning, one shot from my Fieldcraft 6.5CM brought him down, 10 1/2 months after the last ram!

Due to the rugged terrain and massive vertical relief, it required a double carry the entire way out. Even between 65-80 lbs for each of the two loads, depending on how I loaded, required huge amounts of concentration and effort. I experienced everything from sunny & 70 to torrential rain to a full winter storm above 6,000 ft that lasted 3 days, delaying the retrieval of the second load until it broke and I was able to navigate the terrain in a safe & responsible manner.

Overall, the packout involved 54 miles and 24,000 vertical ft of elevation gain, over the course of 4.5 days.
I was completely out on Saturday Aug. 19th.

* All mileage and vert tracked and verified from a Garmin watch. I find it interesting to track for my own reference and also to share, as I think it adds to the story being told.




^ The start of the storm moving in.

 

[AK Troutbum]

Aug. 10th, 7:15 AM

Had a great solo hunt & packout.
Just getting some cell service after 9 days in the field. Will give more details later.

40 1/2” x 13 1/2”, 9 years old.


View attachment 588648

Right on brother, way to get it done! That's a stud!

 

[kphunter]

Aug. 10th, 7:15 AM

Had a great solo hunt & packout.
Just getting some cell service after 9 days in the field. Will give more details later.

40 1/2” x 13 1/2”, 9 years old.


View attachment 588648

Congrats man! Another hog.

 

[adamkolesar]

A benchmark ram, solo. Just amazing!

 

[mtnwrunner]

Aug. 10th, 7:15 AM

Had a great solo hunt & packout.
Just getting some cell service after 9 days in the field. Will give more details later.

40 1/2” x 13 1/2”, 9 years old.


View attachment 588648

That is an absolute stud! Ram looks good too.

Randy

 

[Vanstepm]

Alaska, Aug 11 2023. Haven’t got a tape on him yet.

 

[AK Troutbum]

Alaska, Aug 11 2023. Haven’t got a tape on him yet. View attachment 590391

Man, that thing's got some serious flare, I'm curious to hear how wide he is. Congratulations!