Liv2HntBigBullz
WKR
After being back for a couple of weeks and getting a chance to get caught up, I decided that I owed it to everyone here to post a story of my recent hunt.
Several of you were pivotal in helping me research and pick an outfitter to book a childhood dream sheep hunt with. For those of you that contributed I thank you for your time and advice, you know who you are.
As posted in a previous thread I had decided to book in 2022 with Dave Morris. I was ecstatic to have a hunt on the books though the wait was far into the future. So you can imagine my surprise when I was contacted by Aaron of Alaska Outfitters Unlimited about being in Alaska to sheep hunt in 4 short weeks due to a cancellation opening. After talking it over with my wife, Dave (top notch class act), and my boss (in that order
) it was decided that I would be leaving for Alaska in a month.
After several discussions with my guide (thanks for all your patience), some short term sheep shape prep and gear mind games I was off to Fairbanks on Aug 16. After a tour of the town, visit to the North Pole and a last supper of steak and local brews it was time to organize gear for the morning flight to the field.
Aug 17- Awoke early, full of anticipation and headed to the hangar to beat any rush. There I met 2 of the other sheep hunters and their companion hunters. Spirits were high until noon when we were told the weather was too bad to fly in so we would have to repeat and try again tomorrow. You could feel the deflation of hopes as we were already counting the days we would have to successfully hunt. The group made the most of it and we had fun swapping stories and resting up. I also learned that one companion would not be taking a caribou which opened one up to be taken in the concession. Texting the inReach the audible was called and I scrambled to pick up a caribou tag that night. Sometimes things just do happen for a reason!
Aug 18- Same routine as the day prior. However at 9:00am we loaded up and were told we would be flying today! The buzz was evident and we loaded up for the long flight to the north slope. I arrived on the strip after flying over hundreds of caribou and a big grey wolf. Spirits were high as I met Steve, my guide, and he pointed out 6 rams on the sidehill above camp. We decided to organize backpacks, do some glassing, and rest up as we would hit it hard starting the next day. I ended up seeing one more ram way off in the distance and even got some fishing in for the dolly varden that had begun to run. Not swinging a fly for these would have been a sin.
To be continued...
Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
Several of you were pivotal in helping me research and pick an outfitter to book a childhood dream sheep hunt with. For those of you that contributed I thank you for your time and advice, you know who you are.
As posted in a previous thread I had decided to book in 2022 with Dave Morris. I was ecstatic to have a hunt on the books though the wait was far into the future. So you can imagine my surprise when I was contacted by Aaron of Alaska Outfitters Unlimited about being in Alaska to sheep hunt in 4 short weeks due to a cancellation opening. After talking it over with my wife, Dave (top notch class act), and my boss (in that order
) it was decided that I would be leaving for Alaska in a month. After several discussions with my guide (thanks for all your patience), some short term sheep shape prep and gear mind games I was off to Fairbanks on Aug 16. After a tour of the town, visit to the North Pole and a last supper of steak and local brews it was time to organize gear for the morning flight to the field.
Aug 17- Awoke early, full of anticipation and headed to the hangar to beat any rush. There I met 2 of the other sheep hunters and their companion hunters. Spirits were high until noon when we were told the weather was too bad to fly in so we would have to repeat and try again tomorrow. You could feel the deflation of hopes as we were already counting the days we would have to successfully hunt. The group made the most of it and we had fun swapping stories and resting up. I also learned that one companion would not be taking a caribou which opened one up to be taken in the concession. Texting the inReach the audible was called and I scrambled to pick up a caribou tag that night. Sometimes things just do happen for a reason!
Aug 18- Same routine as the day prior. However at 9:00am we loaded up and were told we would be flying today! The buzz was evident and we loaded up for the long flight to the north slope. I arrived on the strip after flying over hundreds of caribou and a big grey wolf. Spirits were high as I met Steve, my guide, and he pointed out 6 rams on the sidehill above camp. We decided to organize backpacks, do some glassing, and rest up as we would hit it hard starting the next day. I ended up seeing one more ram way off in the distance and even got some fishing in for the dolly varden that had begun to run. Not swinging a fly for these would have been a sin.
To be continued...
Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
. Nice sheep!
