Finally, August 4, 2016 arrived and I was on my way to Alaska for my first dall sheep hunt!! My guide, Rod Pangborn picked me up from the airport at midnight and drove us to Wayne’s house. The plan was to fly in 5 days before the hunt to scout sheep and get them patterned. Unfortunately, weather had other ideas. A stubborn low-pressure system with rain and fog kept us grounded all 5 days. Needless to say, I was tense. On the fifth day there was a break in the weather, allowing us to slip through. The break ended almost immediately, but we were in! The hunt was on.
We got our gear situated and began the hike into spike camp. We stopped to rest and to glass nearly six miles in, spotting 3 rams high up on a mountain a few miles ahead. We set up camp and watched them until dark, which is after 10:30pm in Alaska. The rams were in the same place when we woke the next morning. We put our eyes behind glass and watched to see if they would move to a spot where we could get to them. It felt as though all the stars were aligning, as they seemed to do exactly what we wanted. Suddenly losing out on the 5 days of scouting time didn’t seem to be an issue! We continued observing and decided to make our move the next day.
Our attempt was a valiant one. Rod and I made our way up and across a glacier, then up the mountain, creeping over knolls cautiously without ever being spotted. At 600 yards, we paused to verify that they were legal; one was for sure. Ultimately though, even though my rifle and I have proven capable of an accurate shot at that distance, I decided that a 600 yard shot was not ideal, especially on day two of the hunt. We carefully backed out to return to camp and regroup. Imagine our surprise when we got off the mountain and were about to cross a river below the glacier to find a 4th ram standing and staring right at us!
Rod predicted “you watch, he will be up in the nasty stuff tomorrow morning.” I was surprised, since we were almost a mile from him. Sure enough, the next morning he was in the crags we couldn’t get to. To add insult to injury, he took the other 3 rams that we were watching with him! We decided to keep watch on them but look for other rams. Unfortunately, we glassed all day and didn’t see anything but lambs and ewes while the four knuckleheads kept working further and further away into terrain that no two-legged animal could go. Needless to say, the wind was knocked out of our sails that day.
Day 4 started off much the same way. Rod spotted a sheep across the alpine lake, up high. My Swarovski spotter revealed that it was a nice ram, bigger than any other we had seen. Rod studied him; I kept glassing. I happened to pass over the same group of lambs and ewe’s we saw the day before. I was about to continue on when I saw something out of the corner of my eye: a ram in the middle of the group! I had to do a double take, knowing that rams are typically not hanging out with ewes at that time of year, but there he was. I grabbed the spotter and yelled for Rod to come look. “That’s the nicest ram we’ve seen,” he said. I agreed. We watched him for the rest of the day and were thrilled when he did exactly what we wanted him to do. He fed and bedded down for the night in a spot that we could get to. I went to sleep that night excited for what was sure to be a great fifth day.
When we woke, we put our packs on and started up the hill, eager to get where we needed to be. Our hopes were immediately dashed when we spotted a grizzly heading the exact way we had intended. Clearly we had the same plan in mind…must have been a good plan! About 20 minutes later, my ram spotted the grizzly and bolted for the nastier terrain. So much for that one.
The rest of the day was spent looking for other sheep. The four earlier rams we’d found came back into view, so we decided to be patient and see what they would do. We went to bed with two options in mind: either we would go after one of the four, or we would go up blind in the direction the big ram went. That decision was made for us when we woke on day six to find the four still up in the nasties and seemingly leery of coming down. We headed off after the big one. Working our way across the river, we started up the mountain only to find ANOTHER GRIZZLY and her cub in our way, heading up the same direction we had planned.
I was starting to wonder if grizzlies were psychic, when they decided to break right where we wanted to go left. We cautiously made our way up and started working the country, aiming toward the last known spot of my ram. I stayed right on my guide’s heels –my year of training had me in great “sheep shape” – when he ducked down and pointed. We laid down and crept our way to the crest of a little knoll. It was him! And he was a big boy!
He was bedded down 850 yards away, so we backed out and put our rain gear and whites on, preparing to hunker down. We laid in the pouring rain for three hours, watching and battling the anxiety of wondering if he would get up and go in the other direction or come our way. We were thrilled when he finally did rise and started working the knife ridge, moving right toward us!
I used my Swarovski EL rangefinder and saw the yards start peeling off. Suddenly he sky-lined on the ridge and disappeared over the edge, 650 yards from where we waited. We got up and moved to the knife ridge and determined he had to be in a deep cut, feeding. We stayed for about an hour when he popped back up 520 yards away. I watched him head-butt the ground, lick some mineral, then bed back down. My sheep rifle, a 6.5 x 300 SAUM, was custom made for me by a fellow hunter and one of my best friends and I had it dialed for 520 and set up on a rock-solid rest. I knew I could make that shot. I hesitantly asked Rod if we could get to him if I shot him. He told me it would be tough if he dies right there. My heart started to sink before Rod said “dude, we decided to come up here blind for that ram. When he gets up, you shoot him and we will figure out how to get to him.”
I laid in the scope, watching and waiting for him to get up. Adrenaline started pumping through me; I could feel my hands shaking. I started to focus on breathing slowly to get myself together. This was it! Finally, he got up and turned in a favorable direction – broadside. Rod said “take him.” I made the shot!
I instantly knew I missed. I don’t know if I jerked or if the tape I had on my barrel threw my shot off at that distance. I quickly reloaded and got him back in my sites, glad to see he hadn’t moved but a few steps. I fired again. It was a positive hit!! He bailed off the hill in the direction we prayed he would go. Rod and I jumped up and ran down the knife ridge, a decision that we deemed very stupid when we looked back later! We caught up to him and I made a final shot, knocking him down…and off a 100 foot cliff.
We worked our way back down the incredibly sketchy knife ridge, got our gear, and went to find him. I couldn’t believe it – I just got my first ram!! We got back to where he was, put our hands on him, and took a moment to admire the wide, flaring horns. Then we caped him and took him apart before starting back to camp. One thing I should have mentioned is that it was 9:00pm when I pulled the trigger that final time. A short 12 hours later and with only a few hours nap in there on the mountain, we were back at camp with the ram. We were exhausted!
Rod called to let Wayne know we had a sheep down. Wayne informed us that bad weather was coming in and that we needed to get out, ASAP. We loaded up the sheep and hauled it half-way back to the landing strip. We turned back to break camp, bring our gear all the way to the strip, and then returned to lug the sheep the rest of the way. We hit the strip about midnight and set up a tent for a few hours. Sure enough, the weather coming in the next day was bad and the wind was picking up. Luckily, we made it out just fine. As I sat on the plane, I looked out across the mountains, rivers, and flats, quietly admiring how untouched Alaska is and reflecting on the hunt that just ended. I already knew that I would be coming back.
We got our gear situated and began the hike into spike camp. We stopped to rest and to glass nearly six miles in, spotting 3 rams high up on a mountain a few miles ahead. We set up camp and watched them until dark, which is after 10:30pm in Alaska. The rams were in the same place when we woke the next morning. We put our eyes behind glass and watched to see if they would move to a spot where we could get to them. It felt as though all the stars were aligning, as they seemed to do exactly what we wanted. Suddenly losing out on the 5 days of scouting time didn’t seem to be an issue! We continued observing and decided to make our move the next day.
Our attempt was a valiant one. Rod and I made our way up and across a glacier, then up the mountain, creeping over knolls cautiously without ever being spotted. At 600 yards, we paused to verify that they were legal; one was for sure. Ultimately though, even though my rifle and I have proven capable of an accurate shot at that distance, I decided that a 600 yard shot was not ideal, especially on day two of the hunt. We carefully backed out to return to camp and regroup. Imagine our surprise when we got off the mountain and were about to cross a river below the glacier to find a 4th ram standing and staring right at us!
Rod predicted “you watch, he will be up in the nasty stuff tomorrow morning.” I was surprised, since we were almost a mile from him. Sure enough, the next morning he was in the crags we couldn’t get to. To add insult to injury, he took the other 3 rams that we were watching with him! We decided to keep watch on them but look for other rams. Unfortunately, we glassed all day and didn’t see anything but lambs and ewes while the four knuckleheads kept working further and further away into terrain that no two-legged animal could go. Needless to say, the wind was knocked out of our sails that day.
Day 4 started off much the same way. Rod spotted a sheep across the alpine lake, up high. My Swarovski spotter revealed that it was a nice ram, bigger than any other we had seen. Rod studied him; I kept glassing. I happened to pass over the same group of lambs and ewe’s we saw the day before. I was about to continue on when I saw something out of the corner of my eye: a ram in the middle of the group! I had to do a double take, knowing that rams are typically not hanging out with ewes at that time of year, but there he was. I grabbed the spotter and yelled for Rod to come look. “That’s the nicest ram we’ve seen,” he said. I agreed. We watched him for the rest of the day and were thrilled when he did exactly what we wanted him to do. He fed and bedded down for the night in a spot that we could get to. I went to sleep that night excited for what was sure to be a great fifth day.
When we woke, we put our packs on and started up the hill, eager to get where we needed to be. Our hopes were immediately dashed when we spotted a grizzly heading the exact way we had intended. Clearly we had the same plan in mind…must have been a good plan! About 20 minutes later, my ram spotted the grizzly and bolted for the nastier terrain. So much for that one.
The rest of the day was spent looking for other sheep. The four earlier rams we’d found came back into view, so we decided to be patient and see what they would do. We went to bed with two options in mind: either we would go after one of the four, or we would go up blind in the direction the big ram went. That decision was made for us when we woke on day six to find the four still up in the nasties and seemingly leery of coming down. We headed off after the big one. Working our way across the river, we started up the mountain only to find ANOTHER GRIZZLY and her cub in our way, heading up the same direction we had planned.
I was starting to wonder if grizzlies were psychic, when they decided to break right where we wanted to go left. We cautiously made our way up and started working the country, aiming toward the last known spot of my ram. I stayed right on my guide’s heels –my year of training had me in great “sheep shape” – when he ducked down and pointed. We laid down and crept our way to the crest of a little knoll. It was him! And he was a big boy!
He was bedded down 850 yards away, so we backed out and put our rain gear and whites on, preparing to hunker down. We laid in the pouring rain for three hours, watching and battling the anxiety of wondering if he would get up and go in the other direction or come our way. We were thrilled when he finally did rise and started working the knife ridge, moving right toward us!
I used my Swarovski EL rangefinder and saw the yards start peeling off. Suddenly he sky-lined on the ridge and disappeared over the edge, 650 yards from where we waited. We got up and moved to the knife ridge and determined he had to be in a deep cut, feeding. We stayed for about an hour when he popped back up 520 yards away. I watched him head-butt the ground, lick some mineral, then bed back down. My sheep rifle, a 6.5 x 300 SAUM, was custom made for me by a fellow hunter and one of my best friends and I had it dialed for 520 and set up on a rock-solid rest. I knew I could make that shot. I hesitantly asked Rod if we could get to him if I shot him. He told me it would be tough if he dies right there. My heart started to sink before Rod said “dude, we decided to come up here blind for that ram. When he gets up, you shoot him and we will figure out how to get to him.”
I laid in the scope, watching and waiting for him to get up. Adrenaline started pumping through me; I could feel my hands shaking. I started to focus on breathing slowly to get myself together. This was it! Finally, he got up and turned in a favorable direction – broadside. Rod said “take him.” I made the shot!
I instantly knew I missed. I don’t know if I jerked or if the tape I had on my barrel threw my shot off at that distance. I quickly reloaded and got him back in my sites, glad to see he hadn’t moved but a few steps. I fired again. It was a positive hit!! He bailed off the hill in the direction we prayed he would go. Rod and I jumped up and ran down the knife ridge, a decision that we deemed very stupid when we looked back later! We caught up to him and I made a final shot, knocking him down…and off a 100 foot cliff.
We worked our way back down the incredibly sketchy knife ridge, got our gear, and went to find him. I couldn’t believe it – I just got my first ram!! We got back to where he was, put our hands on him, and took a moment to admire the wide, flaring horns. Then we caped him and took him apart before starting back to camp. One thing I should have mentioned is that it was 9:00pm when I pulled the trigger that final time. A short 12 hours later and with only a few hours nap in there on the mountain, we were back at camp with the ram. We were exhausted!
Rod called to let Wayne know we had a sheep down. Wayne informed us that bad weather was coming in and that we needed to get out, ASAP. We loaded up the sheep and hauled it half-way back to the landing strip. We turned back to break camp, bring our gear all the way to the strip, and then returned to lug the sheep the rest of the way. We hit the strip about midnight and set up a tent for a few hours. Sure enough, the weather coming in the next day was bad and the wind was picking up. Luckily, we made it out just fine. As I sat on the plane, I looked out across the mountains, rivers, and flats, quietly admiring how untouched Alaska is and reflecting on the hunt that just ended. I already knew that I would be coming back.
I'm going to make my best guess on age and size, 8 1/2 years old and 37" x 12 3/4" bases?
