Marine4life
WKR
Many of you have likely followed my questions and comments for the last year and a half as I researched, decided and planned my first sheep hunt. I want to say thank you for all the great info and advice I got from Rokslide members that helped me in my journey. 2020 has been a crazy year with COVID and the uncertainty of this hunt even taking place. Now that it is over I have not one regret in the total experience except for the fact I could not take my son so we could have enjoyed this incredible adventure together.
My outfitter, Luke Tyrrell and his family, are simply awesome. Although I can’t compare him to other Outfitters since I don’t do guided hunts I am extremely pleased with the great service, their hard work and the flexibility he has to put his clients on game. They run a great operation and everything exceeded my expectations.
On the morning of 8/7 I met my guide, Britton, at the air charter service in Fairbanks. It was great getting to know each other as we passed the time with two other of Luke’s hunters waiting for our flight to Luke’s lodge. I was also surprised to learn that we would have another set of eyes and strong legs with us on the hunt. Britton’s brother, Brooks, was going to be our packer.
After arriving at the lodge we grabbed chow, shot the rifle, went through my gear and were shuttled to a tiny little “air strip” in a valley. We spent that first night at the “air strip” and from there spotted the first white dots a few miles away high in the mountains. I hadn’t expected to see sheep so quickly so my confidence was high.
The next morning we moved up the drainage and climbed into a high saddle to look over the basin we believed the sheep were in. Eight beautiful rams were together and we spent the day watching and observing as they went through their routine of feeding and bedding. I was impressed with how Britton studied each ram throughout the day and shared information and opinions on each one. There were two rams in the group I would be very happy to harvest; one that appeared to be the oldest and had heavy dark horns with a full curl on one side and heavily bloomed/broke on the other. The other was the one I really had my eye on because he was well beyond full curl and had the classic flare of the tips. As we watched the rams It rained on and off all day but the weather wasn’t too bad.
After little sleep for me that night due to the excitement of seeing the rams we climbed into the saddle again the next morning to find them in the same spot. This was the day before the season and our plan was to sit on them until late afternoon and then begin the long climb up and around them in order to be in position to make it happen when the season opened. Time was slow to pass that day but the sheep spent the day in the same general area. We left them and headed down the hill to grub up, get a nap in and then start our climb. The weather was pretty wet that day and visibility was hit or miss. The anticipation for me at this point was off the chart. I was nervous and very fidgety counting the hours until the season opened. There was no napping for me.
About the time we planned to step off the weather worsened, raining hard and visibility went to crap. We kept discussing our options and decided it would be best to go early in the morning hoping the weather broke as forecasted. About 10 pm that evening I was staring at the inside of my tent and Britton asked if I was awake. He said the weather had broke and asked if I wanted to go after the sheep.
We made our climb up and around the basin and about 1230 am we eased over the edge expecting our rams to be right below us between 200-300 yards. But they were not there and we couldn’t find them. I became a bit nervous wondering where they went and with the little visibility due to darkness and cloud cover Britton suggested we back out and wait a few hours for it to lighten up. We spend the next 3 hours curled up in balls on the back side of the ridge trying to stay warm as we waited for better light.
At about 430 am as it lightened up, Britton eased over the rim again and after a bit found the rams. They had relocated to the opposite side of the basin from where we were and in much steeper terrain. We were concerned they were going to go up and over into the next drainage so we quickly headed out to climb up and around in hopes of getting to them before they moved very far.
It was slow going but we finally made it around about 6 am and when Britton peaked over the edge he spotted the rams below. He whispered to me that the big ram was there and he was at 340 yards (compensated range) but due to the steep angle he said he was probably close to 500 line of site. Before I could answer he said we can get closer.
After circling around another rock outcropping we eased over again and the two biggest rams were feeding right below us. This time Britton said the range was 220 yards which put a smile on my face. Britton had set up his phone scope and I could clearly see the ram on his phone. While we watched, both rams bedded on a small bench straight below us. I crawled on my belly down to the edge so I could shoot being careful not to knock a rock off. At one point Britton grabbed my boot because he was worried I was going over. The shot was going to be very steep downhill and I confirmed the horizontal range at 223 yards with my rangefinder. Britton kept telling me over and over the ram I wanted to shoot was on the right facing left. I think we were all a bit excited and he wanted to make sure I shot the right ram.
My heart was racing. I had that feeling you get when you know the opportunity you have been waiting for has actually arrived. I asked Britton if he wanted me to shoot the ram while he was bedded and he gave me a dumb look and asked “why the hell not?”. It seemed like a logical question to me.
I set the scope to 220 and eased the safety off knowing I had not yet loaded a round. I told Britton I was going to dry fire a couple times. I was pretty solid but had to shift my hips to the left and closer to the edge a bit for good body alignment and when I did Britton grabbed me by the boot again. Breathe, aim, squeeze- the first click and my confidence was high. I had time and repeated everything one more time just to make sure. I didn’t want this moment to be gone so I took a couple minutes to enjoy the position I was in and what was about to happen.
Continued.....
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
My outfitter, Luke Tyrrell and his family, are simply awesome. Although I can’t compare him to other Outfitters since I don’t do guided hunts I am extremely pleased with the great service, their hard work and the flexibility he has to put his clients on game. They run a great operation and everything exceeded my expectations.
On the morning of 8/7 I met my guide, Britton, at the air charter service in Fairbanks. It was great getting to know each other as we passed the time with two other of Luke’s hunters waiting for our flight to Luke’s lodge. I was also surprised to learn that we would have another set of eyes and strong legs with us on the hunt. Britton’s brother, Brooks, was going to be our packer.
After arriving at the lodge we grabbed chow, shot the rifle, went through my gear and were shuttled to a tiny little “air strip” in a valley. We spent that first night at the “air strip” and from there spotted the first white dots a few miles away high in the mountains. I hadn’t expected to see sheep so quickly so my confidence was high.
The next morning we moved up the drainage and climbed into a high saddle to look over the basin we believed the sheep were in. Eight beautiful rams were together and we spent the day watching and observing as they went through their routine of feeding and bedding. I was impressed with how Britton studied each ram throughout the day and shared information and opinions on each one. There were two rams in the group I would be very happy to harvest; one that appeared to be the oldest and had heavy dark horns with a full curl on one side and heavily bloomed/broke on the other. The other was the one I really had my eye on because he was well beyond full curl and had the classic flare of the tips. As we watched the rams It rained on and off all day but the weather wasn’t too bad.
After little sleep for me that night due to the excitement of seeing the rams we climbed into the saddle again the next morning to find them in the same spot. This was the day before the season and our plan was to sit on them until late afternoon and then begin the long climb up and around them in order to be in position to make it happen when the season opened. Time was slow to pass that day but the sheep spent the day in the same general area. We left them and headed down the hill to grub up, get a nap in and then start our climb. The weather was pretty wet that day and visibility was hit or miss. The anticipation for me at this point was off the chart. I was nervous and very fidgety counting the hours until the season opened. There was no napping for me.
About the time we planned to step off the weather worsened, raining hard and visibility went to crap. We kept discussing our options and decided it would be best to go early in the morning hoping the weather broke as forecasted. About 10 pm that evening I was staring at the inside of my tent and Britton asked if I was awake. He said the weather had broke and asked if I wanted to go after the sheep.
We made our climb up and around the basin and about 1230 am we eased over the edge expecting our rams to be right below us between 200-300 yards. But they were not there and we couldn’t find them. I became a bit nervous wondering where they went and with the little visibility due to darkness and cloud cover Britton suggested we back out and wait a few hours for it to lighten up. We spend the next 3 hours curled up in balls on the back side of the ridge trying to stay warm as we waited for better light.
At about 430 am as it lightened up, Britton eased over the rim again and after a bit found the rams. They had relocated to the opposite side of the basin from where we were and in much steeper terrain. We were concerned they were going to go up and over into the next drainage so we quickly headed out to climb up and around in hopes of getting to them before they moved very far.
It was slow going but we finally made it around about 6 am and when Britton peaked over the edge he spotted the rams below. He whispered to me that the big ram was there and he was at 340 yards (compensated range) but due to the steep angle he said he was probably close to 500 line of site. Before I could answer he said we can get closer.
After circling around another rock outcropping we eased over again and the two biggest rams were feeding right below us. This time Britton said the range was 220 yards which put a smile on my face. Britton had set up his phone scope and I could clearly see the ram on his phone. While we watched, both rams bedded on a small bench straight below us. I crawled on my belly down to the edge so I could shoot being careful not to knock a rock off. At one point Britton grabbed my boot because he was worried I was going over. The shot was going to be very steep downhill and I confirmed the horizontal range at 223 yards with my rangefinder. Britton kept telling me over and over the ram I wanted to shoot was on the right facing left. I think we were all a bit excited and he wanted to make sure I shot the right ram.
My heart was racing. I had that feeling you get when you know the opportunity you have been waiting for has actually arrived. I asked Britton if he wanted me to shoot the ram while he was bedded and he gave me a dumb look and asked “why the hell not?”. It seemed like a logical question to me.
I set the scope to 220 and eased the safety off knowing I had not yet loaded a round. I told Britton I was going to dry fire a couple times. I was pretty solid but had to shift my hips to the left and closer to the edge a bit for good body alignment and when I did Britton grabbed me by the boot again. Breathe, aim, squeeze- the first click and my confidence was high. I had time and repeated everything one more time just to make sure. I didn’t want this moment to be gone so I took a couple minutes to enjoy the position I was in and what was about to happen.
Continued.....
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
