2023 Wild Sheep Meatpole Photos

[Vanstepm]

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

Thanks man, 33” wide

 

[mtwarden]

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.

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.

View attachment 588648
View attachment 591206View attachment 591207View attachment 591208View attachment 591209

^ The start of the storm moving in.

Nice work Ben and congrats on a great ram!

 

[mtwarden]

Brooks Range

 

[MosquitoCoast]

 

[7mm-08]

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

Absolutely beautiful ram - what character! Congratulations to your wife.

 

[7mm-08]

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.

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.

View attachment 588648
View attachment 591206View attachment 591207View attachment 591208View attachment 591209

^ The start of the storm moving in.

Ben: the data you provided in your post is remarkable. You, sir, are the real deal. Congratulations! What an adventure...

 

[sargent]

Had a great solo hunt & packout.

Another epic adventure and example of hard work paying off. Thanks for sharing.

Looks like you found the pot of gold!

 

[KINGSNAKE]

First sheep!

 

[ACK8]

Yukon 8/24/23

 

[Cspraggins]

Alaska 9/4/2023

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Murtfree]

NWT September 23, 2023

 

[ld2507]

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

What a slammer ! What part of Alaska ?

 

[ld2507]

Brooks Range

That's an awesome ram !. What outfitter did you go through ??

 

[mtwarden]

That's an awesome ram !. What outfitter did you go through ??

Luke Tyrrell- Tyrrell Trails; recommended to me by several Roksliders and I can say I was thoroughly impressed

 

[Vanstepm]

What a slammer ! What part of Alaska ?

Alaska range

 

[dukxdog]

I just finished an Altai Argali hunt in north Mongolia. Then I had time so they offered me a deal on a Gobi desert hunt. From north by Russia to south by China! Two hour plane flight to Ulaanbaatar then 12 hour drive half of which was desert sand.

I'll write something up about both of the rams later.

 

[schmalzy]

I just finished an Altai Argali hunt in north Mongolia. Then I had time so they offered me a deal on a Gobi desert hunt. From north by Russia to south by China! Two hour plane flight to UlaanbaatarView attachment 607507View attachment 607508 then 12 hour drive half of which was desert sand.

I'll write something up about both of the rams later.

So cool!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TL406]

I just finished an Altai Argali hunt in north Mongolia. Then I had time so they offered me a deal on a Gobi desert hunt. From north by Russia to south by China! Two hour plane flight to UlaanbaatarView attachment 607507View attachment 607508 then 12 hour drive half of which was desert sand.

I'll write something up about both of the rams later.

Congratulations, sir. Very cool.

 

[PNWGATOR]

I just finished an Altai Argali hunt in north Mongolia. Then I had time so they offered me a deal on a Gobi desert hunt. From north by Russia to south by China! Two hour plane flight to UlaanbaatarView attachment 607507View attachment 607508 then 12 hour drive half of which was desert sand.

I'll write something up about both of the rams later.

Amazing! Congratulations andI look forward to your trip report.

 

[7mm-08]

I just finished an Altai Argali hunt in north Mongolia. Then I had time so they offered me a deal on a Gobi desert hunt. From north by Russia to south by China! Two hour plane flight to UlaanbaatarView attachment 607507View attachment 607508 then 12 hour drive half of which was desert sand.

I'll write something up about both of the rams later.

Very unique coloration on the ram in the first photo. Congratulations and PLEASE tell the story when you find the time.