Wildwillalaska
Lil-Rokslider
Well, back in January 2017 I made a pact with myself, a resolution of sorts, to focus on getting into better health and promised myself as a carrot to go on my first sheep hunt, which I have dreamed of since a child. After 19 months of the gym 4-6 times a week, and 8-25 miles of mountain hiking most weekends I made sure I was ready. To be solidly sure, my brother and I went and hiked all over Yosemite including a 19.6 day-hike assault on Halfdome and cables in June, and returned to California in July to climb Mt. Whitney, which we did as an overnight excursion. To help prepare, I carried a 48-lb pack on Mt. Whitney with most our camp and food from the 8,000' trailhead to the 12,000'+ trail camp, and then back down again after we hit the summit. Decided to be lazy and drop my pack weight to about 12 pounds for the summit part of that trip.
Anyway, fast forward to August and my hunting partner and I flew into a secreted strip in a hidden drainage of a mystery valley. The Wrangells area apparently has quite a bit of guiding pressure, so we were asked to keep tight lipped about where we hunted and location of the strip, which was fine by us. Also why you only get a couple of tightly cropped shots, but was worth it. Had an absolutely wonderful time--even got to spend some campfire time at the end with a couple board regulars which was an added bonus for sure.
Carried out the entire part of my hunt in true style and even helped carry extra gear and meat of my hunting partner a good portion of time. Was happy to help and very proud that I was able to do it. The hardest part was getting enough calories. I burned way more than I consumed each day, and even with packing as much as I could, and after gorging on shared food while at the staging strip and the luxury accommodations our transporter provided, I still dropped over 13 lbs in the 11 days afield. Again, all solidly worth it and cannot wait to try again next year. Had an amazing time in a wondrous part of our state, completely choked out with glaciers and grand views everywhere you looked. It was an epic camping/hiking excursion with the two rams being icing on the cake.
Stid2677 thank you for the wonderful company on our hold-over afield. And AKinAZ--thanks for the food and good company as well--albeit brief.
Anyway, fast forward to August and my hunting partner and I flew into a secreted strip in a hidden drainage of a mystery valley. The Wrangells area apparently has quite a bit of guiding pressure, so we were asked to keep tight lipped about where we hunted and location of the strip, which was fine by us. Also why you only get a couple of tightly cropped shots, but was worth it. Had an absolutely wonderful time--even got to spend some campfire time at the end with a couple board regulars which was an added bonus for sure.
Carried out the entire part of my hunt in true style and even helped carry extra gear and meat of my hunting partner a good portion of time. Was happy to help and very proud that I was able to do it. The hardest part was getting enough calories. I burned way more than I consumed each day, and even with packing as much as I could, and after gorging on shared food while at the staging strip and the luxury accommodations our transporter provided, I still dropped over 13 lbs in the 11 days afield. Again, all solidly worth it and cannot wait to try again next year. Had an amazing time in a wondrous part of our state, completely choked out with glaciers and grand views everywhere you looked. It was an epic camping/hiking excursion with the two rams being icing on the cake.
Stid2677 thank you for the wonderful company on our hold-over afield. And AKinAZ--thanks for the food and good company as well--albeit brief.
Congrats on the sheep!
