BC here I come!!

[bighouse31]

Well I just boarded the plane headed to Juneau and then onto BC on Monday to hunt Stone Sheep and Mountain Goat with Greg Williams of Golden Bear Outfitters for 12 days. Will return on Sept 9th. This trip has been over two years in the making. Thank you to GSCO and the Super Slam Raffle for making a dream come true. Will keep you posted as I can.
Adam

 

[Jon Boy]

Good luck and takes lots of pics!

 

[MattB]

Good luck and be safe.

 

[ol490]

Good luck.

 

[Huntr]

Best of luck!

 

[DWarcher]

Lucky dog...good luck!

 

[realunlucky]

Sounds awesome good luck

 

[yama49]

Theres been a few hawgs come out of there lately, enjoy your trip..

 

[Jtelarkin08]

Did you win this trip in the super slam raffle?

 

[Rackmastr]

Good luck up there!!! Cant wait to see some pics!

 

[Muledeernv]

Good luck and be safe

 

[Matt W.]

Sounds awesome. Look forward to hearing about it when you get back. I know I am bit late, but good luck to ya. : )

 

[Buster]

How did the hunt go?

 

[bighouse31]

Finally getting around to posting some pictures (a lot of pictures) and story of my BC adventure. I returned home on the 4th which was actually 5 days earlier than scheduled. Between unpacking spending time with the wife and kids and my office manager being in Hawaii for the last two weeks and then coming down with a nasty cold the last few days I am just now getting around to filling everyone in. So I will start with were I left off which was in Juneau AK. Spent Saturday afternoon and Sunday fishing for salmon and halibut with a good friend of mine. Fishing was decent but the weather sucked. Sunday was rainy and windy which had me a bit concerned as I was supposed to fly out at 8:30 Monday morning with Ward Air (float plane service)

I received a call late Sunday evening from Ward Air bumping my flight back to 12:00 which was fine with me as it would give me some time in the morning to repack my stuff for the god knows how many times. Would it really matter if I didn't have it at this point I wasn't going to have it. Monday morning arrives the skys are mostly clear and there is little to no wind which meant I would be flying out today. I start to load my pack for the last time before I head out. Well glad I did one last repack as I noticed I was missing one of the connections to my Sawer in line filter. I start to panic and grab the yellow pages I call every outdoor store in Juneau and no one carries Sawer in line filters. So I find the closest outdoor store, lucky for me it was in walking distance to my hotel. End up buying a Camelback bladder and between that and my Platypus was able to put something together that would work. Problem solved.
I head over to Ward Air around 11:00 as I would need to clear customs for flying into Canada. Well my 12:00 flight turned into 2:00 which turned into 4:00. SOP I guess for flying up north. Dennis would be my pilot and we would be flying a Cessna 185 about an hour southeast of Juneau. Turns out Dennis is and ex Navy Seal so that gave me a little confidence as the coastal range east of Juneau is some of the most rugged ice covered mountains I have ever seen.

We take off out of Juneau without a hitch and head out over Taku inlet and start to climb in elevation as the weather is nice enough that we would be flying over the tops of the mountains vs up the Taku river valley and around. Just as we get over the tops of the mountains about 20 minutes into the flight Dennis reaches down and fiddles with something and the 185 shudders. Now I have done a fair bit of flying in small aircraft but am no expert but planes are not supposed to shudder like that. He then reaches up and fiddles with something else and the shuddering stops. He proceeds to go through these motions twice and before I have time to ask if everything is ok he banks hard right and I am not talking a nice easy u turn I am talking he turned the thing on a dime and as I look out my window the tops of icy peaks are staring me in the face. As we level out Dennis leans over and says "we need a new plane." Let's just say the 20 minutes back to Juneau were about as white knuckled as they get.

So we get back to Juneau unload and reload into a Cessna 206. Never found out the problem but at that point was just glad not to be plastered on the side of a mountain or in the Taku inlet. The second flight was uneventful and the scenery was spectacular. I couldn't help but think as we were flying over the vertical rock faces and through the ice covered passes maybe my definition of being in sheep shape was a little off. As we went further east the ice started to give way to more vegetation and the steepness of the mountains lessened some but the ruggedness and remoteness of this country had me in awe.

We come around the south end of a ridge and Dennis turns the plan to the east and into a high elevation valley with a series of lakes. Off to the left I see basecamp which consisted of two small cabins a tack shed and a horse corral. We make one pass and then come in for a gradual approach. As we pull up to the bank guides Blake and Tyler along with two outgoing hunters greet us. One of the hunters had killed a sheep and a mountain goat and the other was just goat hunting and was successful as well.

 

[bighouse31]

The rest of the evening was spent getting to know each other, eating and going through gear as we would be heading out early the next morning. The inside walls of the cook shack were filled with names of successful hunters of the past and as the glow of the lantern grew dimmer I wondered if someone someday would be reading my name on these walls.

Tuesday morning came early and we loaded up the horses for what would be a 4 hr ride down out of the high valley and up a river bottom back to the west. Blake, Tyler and myself along with one pack horse and a few horses that decided they wanted to go along for a walk headed out. Well we had only ridden for about 30 minutes before we dismounted and had to lead the horses down out of the valley into the river bottom some 2000 feet below. The trail was steep and muddy and slippery as we proceeded down the timbered east facing slope. I managed only to end up on my ass a few times but the thought of my horse coming over the top of me had me back on my feet quickly each time. We made our way up the river valley crossing the glacial river a dozen or so times. On our way we glassed large group of nannies and lambs and one small billy high on the mountains that ran along the river. We also found numerous wolf tracks in the sand which got me excited as I had a tag in my pocket for a canine as well. I was amazed at how large the wolf tracks were. Blake had mentioned that they had yet to see a wolf this season so far. I would be their third and last sheep hunter of the season, although they would be hunting goats, moose, grizzly and caribou into October.

About 4 hours into the ride the walls of the river valley grew closer and the river forked into two different drainages. We headed up the drainage to the right and started up through the alders following a small creek which now became our trail. We gained about 500 feet in elevation to were a set of cliffs emerged off to our left and it flattened out in front of us. A black bear was up in the cliffs to our left about 200 yards away perched on a rock outcropping like he was a mountain goat. We road another few hundred yards to a small opening where our drop off point would be. From this point on we would be carrying everything we needed for 6 days on our backs. We hung another six days of food, fuel, extra socks and underwear in a tree incase we needed to refuel after six days. The plan was to head further up the valley to a series of high basins and the loop back to the west basically as Blake put it we were going exploring.

We parted ways with Tyler who would take the horses back to base camp and we headed out on foot. My Stone Glacier Termius weighed in at an almost even 50lbs including 6 days of food, optics and rifle when I left my house but for some reason it felt a lot heavier than the 50lbs I had been training with for the last few months. We continued on gaining some elevation as we were now off to the side of the river which dropped into a canyon off to our left. We hiked for about 30 minutes before we got to a high point that looked out over the river valley further in front of us where it again opened up into almost a second river valley just higher in elevation than the one we rode the horses up. From here we could see about two miles to where the valley ended and split into three basins each of which had nothing but rock and glaciers in them. We pull out the spotting scopes and started to glass. Within minutes we spotted two different groups of ewes and lambs but no rams. Then Blake said "three rams at the top of the center basin." Now these rams were over two miles away and probably 3000 feet above us. All we could tell was that they were rams and one looked larger in body. We decided that we would make our way to the head of the valley and get a better look and set up camp as it was getting late in the day. I had already put my scope away and Blake was just about to put his away as he took one last look at the rams. Crap the are headed up into the cliffs at the back of the basin. We sit and watch for awhile longer as the three rams make their way up into the cliffs and over and out of the head of the basin. Well there goes that plan. We take off up the valley and make the two miles to where the valley rises up into the basins. We decide to make camp here for the night and hope the rams come back over the top in the morning.

 

[bighouse31]

As we are setting up camp Blake spots a grizzly feed about 500 yards away low on the side of the mountain.

Blake does not seem concerned but I know I will be sleeping with a round in the chamber tonight. After we get camp set up we pull out the spotting scopes and start glassing the three basins above us. We spot a billy up high in the basin to our right. He looks to have be big bodied but we are to far to see how big his horns are. Blake says we have enough light to go up and get a closer look. We head out and up climbing 1500 feet to see if we can get a better look.

Turns out the billy is a mature billy but has short stubby horns broomed to only a few inches.
We continue to glass further up the basin as we now have a better vantage point from our gain in elevation. The basin is nothing but rock and ice. The clouds and fog roll in and out covering the last few hundred feet of the sides of the basin. The Blake says I think I just saw a sheep. It was up in the clouds but I am pretty sure it was a sheep. The clouds kept our view obscured for a few minutes but then a clearing verified it was a sheep and a ram at that. He was probably 1500 -2000 yards away and about 2000 feet above us but he was big bodied dark and full curl. He was constantly moving feeding and with the fog and clouds we could not get a long enough look at him to age him and really tell how big he was.

With the fading light we decided to see if we could get a little closer to see if he was worth going after in the morning. We had only made it a few hundred yards and for some reason he picked us off. I guess since there was not a tree or bush in this basin and nothing but rock and ice it was not hard to make us out below him. He did not spook but was locked on our position. So we backed out and watched him for a while to see what he did. Luckily he just went back to feeding. We made our way back down to camp as the light faded to darkness.

The next morning we get up at 6 and grab a quick breakfast and head up the basin to where we last glassed the ram the night before. It is 8 o'clock by the time we get the spotting scopes out and start to survey the basin. Within a few minutes I spot the ram in the very back of the basin making his way up to the rim. As we watch him feed his way up the clouds and fog start to roll in making it harder and harder to keep eyes on him. Once on top of the rim he feeds around for a while and finally beds on the third knob from the right with nothing but ice and cliffs below him and to his left. The clouds then roll in and obscures our view and Blake said now is our chance to make our move as we need to cover a good distance to get far enough up the basin to where he can't see us below him.

 

[bighouse31]

Finally after a few hours walking on nothing but rock and ice and what looks like rock but really two inches underneath is nothing but ice we make it to right below the rim. We work our way up a creek that has been eroded by thousands of years of melting ice to the top of the rim. As I look over the other side there is nothing but ice for a mile or more. To our left is the rim and series of knobs of which he should be bedded on the third one over. Beyond that it is nothing but cliffs and more ice. At this point we are in the clouds and visibility is decreasing quickly. We work our way around the first knob and up the second as we creep up to the top to the second knob on our bellies I pull up my binos and see the back of his horns facing away. I can't see his body only his horns and the top half of his head. And then the fog rolls in and I mean rolls in. Visibility drops to 20-30 feet. We get set up and I am laying prone over Blakes pack and the wait begins. For 3 hours we sat there in the fog and then the rain and wind. Thirty or so minutes into it the adrenalin starts to wear off and I start to get the chills. I proceed to put every piece of clothing that I brought on the trip and am still shivering. The wind picks up and I go into the fetal position to try and stay warm as you still can't see anything. Finally after 3 hours of hell the fog starts to break up. We lock our binos on his position and we can't see anything. We start to question whether he was ever there to begin with or if we were just seeing things in the clouds. We give it another 45 minutes and nothing. At this point it is clear but the ceiling is still only 100 or so feet above us. We decide to ease up there and see if he moved down off the knob. Well nothing we get up there and he vanished. We move further past the knob up to where the ridge knifes out and turns into cliffs. Blake tells me to wait there and he is going to go up into the cliffs to see if he can find him as there is nothing but ice off to each side of us. Blake is gone for 20 minutes or so and I start to wonder what if he falls off those rocks as I can no longer see where he is.

I sit down and start to glass back down the basin we climbed up as the clouds have now cleared and I have full view of the basin and surrounding mountains. I look back to my left to where we had been set up which was about 400 yards away I continue to glass up the ridge when I see him. There he is in all his glory bedded on a rock outcropping 500 yards behind and above where we sat for 3 hours in the fog. As I watch him I notice the fresh trail in the loose shale and gravel that leads up to where he is. I follow the trail down and by where we were set up and he had walked by us 50 yards away in the fog and up wind of our position.

Blake finally makes his way back over to where I am and at this point the ram is sound asleep with his chin in the dirt. We continue to watch him and confirm he is a mature ram 10 or 11 years old and a ram that I was not going to pass up. Thirty minutes later he gets up and works his way off his perch away from us and drops into a ravine. We haul ass in his direction headed to exactly where he was bedded. We climb the loose shale taking one step forward and sliding three steps back down. We finally make it to the rock outcropping and peer over and 250 yards below us he is feeding with no clue we are there. Blake lays his pack across the rock and I ditch my pack as I already had my rifle out at this point. I steady myself on his pack and Blake tells me to wait till he gets his camera on. I range him at 250 again and as my cross hairs settle behind his shoulder the trigger goes off and with one shot I have my first Stone Sheep my first sheep period. After Blake curses at me for not waiting on him to turn the camera on we exchange high fives and a few man hugs.

Looking back to where we were originally set up on him notice the knobs we were on the second and he was bedded on the third.

A view from where I shot. The ram is down below us as he rolled a hundred or so yards down and camp is down below and to the left of the far glacier.

 

[bighouse31]

This hunt as I mentioned before has been in the making for almost two years and never in a million years would I think I would be the one in this picture.

Houdini as this ram became know for the rest of the trip measured out at 38" on both sides with a green score of 157 4/8. He is exactly what I envisioned as the perfect stone sheep with his dark coat and white face and lamb tips flaring out.

After pictures, breaking him down caping him out for a full body mount we loaded the deboned meat into the TAGS Bomb bags and into our packs and headed off the mountain in hopes of making camp before dark.

 

[bighouse31]

We made it back to camp ate a quick Mountain House meal made a quick call to base camp on the sat phone leaving a message to bring the horses to pick us up at the drop off and crawled into the tents. As I lay in my tent I reflected on the events of the day and how perfect a day it was.

The next morning I tried to sleep in but was up early. I knew it would be a long day getting back to base camp hopefully by that night given they got our voicemail. We broke down camp after breakfast and headed the two miles or so back to the drop off point.

We made it to the drop off in good time. Its amazing how a heavy pack doesn't feel so heavy when you have your first sheep on your back.

 

[bighouse31]

We spent the next few hours caping out the skull enjoying a nice fire and eating fresh sheep tenderloin.

The ride back to base camp was very relaxing with only one rodeo going up out of the river valley on the steep muddy trail that I wiped out on coming in. This time it was the pack horse that wiped out. But everything ended well. We made it to base camp that night as the days light faded.

I will post the second part of this hunt quest for a big billy without killing myself in another post. Sorry for the long read but hope you enjoyed the journey as I know I did.