Have you ever cancelled a hunt or know someone who has?

[hunt1up]

Thank you all for the replies. As I've mentioned, it is still my intention to go. I've come to the conclusion that the monetary aspect isn't the primary reason for the hesitation. I've had the money set aside for some time and our other financial responsibilities are covered. I've spent money on a lot worse things. I used to spend a ton of money on alcohol, and I quit that nonsense a few months prior to booking the hunt. I told myself that I can pay for half this hunt simply with the money I used to piss away(literally) on beer. I'll also be turning 40 this September. So this was a bit of a reward for some personal improvement and hey, a birthday present of sorts. That logic still checks out for me.

The main hesitation is the time. I've gone on at least one out-of-state hunt every year since 2006. Even when my kids were little my wife was supportive. In those days it was something like a 7-9 day antelope/deer hunt or archery elk, something like that. Since that time I've done plenty of 10-12 day trips, such as a 12 day drop camp moose hunt. The past 3 years I've gone on DIY elk hunts that resulted in early success. I was gone for about a week on all of them. Got an elk, took care of business, and drove home early. This hunt being 17 days(12 days of actual hunting plus travel) end to end just seems like it crosses an arbitrary line of being too long. Where do I draw that line? Is it 12 days, 14 days, 16 days? I'd do 12 days and not feel too guilty, so at what point is it too much? I don't want to fall into a trap of thinking that just because it's a more rare opportunity that that somehow justifies it.

I've talked to my wife about it over the weekend. She acknowledges that it'll be a lot of work for her. Kids are in sports and it's her busiest time of the year at work. But she says to go. I'll feel her out a little more to be certain.

 

[kybuck1]

Priorities man...I always enjoy the responses to these questions and also ponder on them myself when the situation arises. Been on a couple high dollar hunts now and have a few more booked. Let me give a few personal pieces of advice. You'll never not have the pressure to be successful unless you are filthy rich. No question it's a rich mans game for the best hunts but like life its supply and demand. Guides don't care in the end. They just want the money and will definitely cater to the ones with the most cash and repeats. Most are nice and mean well, but in the end it's a job for them. It is a whole experience but in the end that money is gone and you'll have the horns/antlers as that memory---if that is enough then go for it. Ask yourself what you really want and happy with. If it's bragging rights with your friends, just horns on the wall, outdoor adventure and hunt is a bonus to help drive your decision on what type hunt you want to do. More success and free range is going to really drive the price up. Do not put your family in a financial strain to fund a hunt---it's never worth it. Decide at a relative young age with the more physical hunts, some can cater to less mobile hunters but it's a real disadvantage. Hunts are only gonna get more expensive. One of my biggest regrets is not doing a RM sheep hunt a few years ago with a tag that just became available for 70K. Already had another sheep hunt that year and with work just didn't think I could swing it. Now that same type hunt is 120K plus and 3 years out.

 

[hunt1up]

Any option to get a relative over to help your wife out while you’re gone? G ma or G pa that she gets along with?

For sure. My mother-in-law and my wife are very close and she's retired. She's always willing to help. My parents are still young enough also and able to help with a baseball practice pickup or something. So there's a little support there. They both live maybe 30 minutes away but don't mind pitching in if asked. We don't ask very often so it's not an imposition to them. My kids will be in 7th and 9th grade so they're both self sufficient an helpful around the house. Logistics to school activities is the only real pain point with them.

 

[adamkolesar]

These threads are always interesting in the diversity of opinion and experience. I'll offer one small bit of perspective.
Your wife has acknowledged the degree of work involved in your leaving the family for this hunt. She's accepted the responsibility w/ help from family if the need arises. I'll assume you've got a great relationship and she's always had the option to object. She hasn't.
Your job is to have an awesome time and hunt hard without guilt. To do anything less, diminishes her gesture as a great wife.

 

[Roofer1]

Am dealing with the EXACT same thing right now, to the point its almost creepy. Just no consideration of pushing or cancelling. Heading to AK for Dall in August, kids the same age, in a good financial situation, and a awesome/understanding wife. Think my biggest issue is in my head. Have done several other AK hunts in the last few years and it's felt the same, selfish? Talked to my wife this past weekend and she brought up some good points. If she "turns me loose" (her words) for these types of adventures, I come back a better husband and father. Don't know if that's accurate or if she's just being supportive. She pointed out that I no longer fish, snowmobile, sit as taverns, .... or do pretty much anything other than family time or hunting. Not sure if any of that gibberish helps you or is just me spitting out my own anxiety, guess it's just saying you aren't alone in the thought process.

 

[jmart5687]

One thing I learned when I started going on what I'll call " high dollar adventure hunts" is that once the money is spent, it's gone forever. They were the adventures of a lifetime and provided trophies, memories, and joy that I will cherish till the day I die.

Having said that, they hold no significance to anyone else and retain no monetary value beyond the memories and experience. In a way, they are a fairly selfish expenditure if when you spend money, you like to have something to hold in your hand and or resell in the future.

In the end, you are born and then you die. It's what happens in between that matters. You come into this world with nothing and you leave with nothing. Whether you spent your money on experiences or hard assets, it is over for you.

If setting up future generations or leaving a big estate is what makes you happy, then do it. If seeing wild places and magnificent animals plus testing yourself makes you happy , then do that. Typically the answer lies somewhere in the middle.

I'm retired now at nearly 64 years old. I worked in a factory my whole life so I was never a wealthy man. I have managed to hunt and kill Kodiak brown bear, A-Y moose, elk, mule deer, antelope etc. I finally killed a giant tom Mt. Lion in Alberta in February. I hope to have a couple more elk hunts in my future.

I could have bought a classic car or another Harley or 100 acres or lived in a nicer house. I can honestly say I would never trade my experiences back for all the money spent. Those memories and trophy's are mine, no one else's. If that makes me selfish, I'm okay with it.

If hunting means anything to you, I think you will regret not going. Good luck on your decision.

Well said!

 

[hunt1up]

Well all that deliberation was for nothing. Final payment was sent a few months back and I'm heading out this weekend. I have no reservations about the hunt or the money at all. I still don't like being gone from home for 18 days, but I guess that means I like my wife and kids, lol! I've done a bunch of self planned DIY hunts, and I travel a lot for work, and I'm glad I've gained all that experience. Packing my gear and doing all the logistics seems second nature since I know what works and what doesn't. My gear is dialed in and the gun is shooting straight, so off I go.

 

[Duckhunterbrad]

Good luck on your hunt!

 

[cbeard64]

Priorities man...I always enjoy the responses to these questions and also ponder on them myself when the situation arises. Been on a couple high dollar hunts now and have a few more booked. Let me give a few personal pieces of advice. You'll never not have the pressure to be successful unless you are filthy rich. No question it's a rich mans game for the best hunts but like life its supply and demand. Guides don't care in the end. They just want the money and will definitely cater to the ones with the most cash and repeats. Most are nice and mean well, but in the end it's a job for them. It is a whole experience but in the end that money is gone and you'll have the horns/antlers as that memory---if that is enough then go for it. Ask yourself what you really want and happy with. If it's bragging rights with your friends, just horns on the wall, outdoor adventure and hunt is a bonus to help drive your decision on what type hunt you want to do. More success and free range is going to really drive the price up. Do not put your family in a financial strain to fund a hunt---it's never worth it. Decide at a relative young age with the more physical hunts, some can cater to less mobile hunters but it's a real disadvantage. Hunts are only gonna get more expensive. One of my biggest regrets is not doing a RM sheep hunt a few years ago with a tag that just became available for 70K. Already had another sheep hunt that year and with work just didn't think I could swing it. Now that same type hunt is 120K plus and 3 years out.

Two of my outfitters/guides from Canada are now close friends. We stay in touch, visit with our wives in each other’s homes, etc. I live in Texas. And, no, I wasn’t a rich guy or repeat client. We just clicked. Sometimes it’s not just about the money.

 

[hunt1up]

Well the hunt has concluded. My main worry about being gone for 19 days didn’t materialize. I got a ram early enough that I’m heading home tomorrow, 6 days early. But part of me wishes I could stay longer! Getting a sheep, and a great one at that, makes it satisfying, but honestly if no sheep were involved, the experience of the country, the people, and the effort was worth it. Spending time in such massive and vast country was a success in itself.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

Nice ram!


____________________
“Keep on keepin’ on…”

 

[Smoke10]

Excellent ram, congrats! Glad to hear you enjoyed the trip.

 

[neandth]

So my dad used to run an outfitter. He would do a 25% deposit non refundable no matter what. Cancellations or whatever that way he gets something out of it. And then you run a last minute deal with paid in full for percentage off booking.

 

[Diamondback]

Congratulations on that Ram and hunting experience. Positive Waves!

 

[OftenOutdoors]

That is a nice ram! Congrats!

 

[J.B.]

Been looking for this update, nice Ram!

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Well the hunt has concluded. My main worry about being gone for 19 days didn’t materialize. I got a ram early enough that I’m heading home tomorrow, 6 days early. But part of me wishes I could stay longer! Getting a sheep, and a great one at that, makes it satisfying, but honestly if no sheep were involved, the experience of the country, the people, and the effort was worth it. Spending time in such massive and vast country was a success in itself.

That’s awesome man, I’m personally glad you went.

 

[ReddingArcher]

Congrats on the ram!! I'd love to hear the whole story when you have time to write it up.

 

[hunt1up]

Congrats on the ram!! I'd love to hear the whole story when you have time to write it up.

Sure.

I booked this trip in January of 2023. One of those things that seems so far off until it's not. Once it got close it came quick. I drive 2 hours up to Chicago on 8/23 and stayed the night as the parking was far cheaper. Sunday the 24th was a long travel day. One stop in Vancouver, then an Air North flight to Whitehorse. I got up there around dark that day. The following day was spent walking around town. I gave myself a day in case the airlines decided not to cooperate. Tuesday the 26th I was picked up by my outfitter and that was followed by a several hour drive to where we'd be flown in.

That afternoon we were flown into our first base camp and met the guides and the other two hunters who were heading out in the same area. We had dinner and got all of our things in order. That night we slept in some comfortable primitive cabins, which was a luxury. The following day was hunt day 1, but that was going to largely be spent on a horse. My guide was a 25 year old dude that was awesome guy. He was always working, be it on horses, camp, food, you name it. I don't know if I got paired with him because we had the same name, or because we were both the the youngest, or just by coincidence, but it was a good fit. We were to ride 3-4 hours and then spike camp in tents. The other two hunters went another direction to a spike camp that had some basic cabins. After I knocked the rust off of riding a horse, it was an awesome ride to our spike location. As we neared our camp, we had to pass through a drainage that required we walk the horses due to the steepness. At that point, Brandon the guide pointed out two sheep WAY up above our camp spot and on the next face. They were way up there in my opinion, but that's just the nature of the terrain. That's where we planned on going in the morning anyway, and it was a good start. I've done a lot of mountain hunting, but never in terrain so large and open, so the distances took some adjustment.

We spent the afternoon setting up camp and all that. I slept decent enough that first night. The next morning it was an awesome breakfast of bacon, eggs, and sausage and we set off. It would take a few hours to wrap around and go up the climbable side of the mountain. The camp side was all cliffs, so it was one big loop around and up. Since it was the first hike of the trip, and a pretty good one, my lungs and legs weren't broken in yet. I did fine, but I felt slow. I asked my guide if I was slow, average, or faster than most and he said I was faster, whether that was true or not! We finally got up to where the two rams were bedded the day prior and they were nowhere to be seen. We looped around the backside of the top we were on, thinking maybe they were on that side. They weren't there either. We sat down to glass and eat, and Brandon said he wanted to take a look back to where we'd come from. I kept eating and he went for a quick look. Not 10 minutes later he came back and said he found the sheep. I asked if they were stalkable, to which he replied, "*%#@ing-A, let's go." We went back to where he'd seen them and sure enough they were bedded on a little bench that we'd walked past earlier.

I'd say we were probably 1500 yards from them at this point. Far enough that they just looked like two little dots out there. To make it work we'd have to backtrack to try staying out of sight, so that's what we did. We got to a point to move closer, but the only path available would require we move in view of the sheep for a bit. They were still 1000+ yards away and we had a backdrop, so ideally we'd be ok. It was the only play. It was decided that we'd move down the face we were on one at a time. He'd move down, put the spotter on them to ensure they weren't alert, then I'd slide down. Rince and repeat until we got out of view. That plan worked, and once we were down to their level and out of sight we could move fast.

The finger the sheep(and us) were on had 3 distinct rock piles on the side. The sheep were bedded on the bench below the last. We crawled up on the first one and it was 487 yards. Brandon asked my thoughts on that distance. I CAN shoot that far, and I practice it, but I wouldn't mind if we were closer. We had a decent wind blowing at the sheep, which was the risk. But the assumption was the thermals coming from below the sheep would keep us clean. They were strong enough that you could throw grass off the edge and it would blow back up. We decided to attempt the second rock pile that would be about 150 yards closer. We belly crawl up cleanly and it's 346 yards from the unaware sheep. Much better.

I brought my RRS 2 series tripod on the trip. I'd removed the lower leg sections and capped them for weight savings. It doubled as my glassing tripod as well. I can shoot of a pack just fine, but if the situation allowed for it, I was putting the 6 creedmoor on the tripod. I had it set for prone from this position and it was absolutely rock solid. The larger ram was clearly legal and very mature. He was bedded quartering to us. I had my crosshairs right on his chest but the obvious play was to wait for him to stand. This went on for what seemed like forever, but it was probably 20-30 minutes. We just laid there BSing and taking turns looking through the scope and spotter. Brandon asked if I was good, and honestly I was as calm as I've ever been in a shooting situation. I felt extremely locked in. Finally the ram stands up, perfectly broadside right to left. I let the first shot go and was told it was a hit, but I didn't see where. The ram turned and trotted 10 yards closer, now facing me, so I instinctively reloaded and shot again. This one went straight in through the chest and stoned him dead right there. I could see blood coming from the initial shot and it too was a perfect shot, right in the lungs.

Immediately we did the high fives and back slaps. It was an awesome experience to share with someone that was so passionate about sheep and hunting in general. We made our way to the ram and I was glad I'd fired again. Had he bailed off the side it would have still been retrievable, but it woulda have sucked more than it was already going to suck! We took all the pictures and cut the sheep up. I took the head/cape and about a 1/3 of the boned out meat. We decided to go back the way we came, and having packed many other animals I knew it was going to be rough. Sure enough it was. We had to go a few hundred feet up before going down. I knew the downhill with a loaded up pack would be the worst and that proved true. Brandon the guide was always 100 yards in front of me, wearing jeans, no trekking poles, just flying. But I kept a good enough pace. I ran out of water about halfway back and knew I was getting dehydrated. When I finally got the bottom the first thing I did was fill my bottle, chug the whole thing, then fill up another. We'd set out that morning at 8:00am and I think I coasted into camp, 30 minutes later than the guide, around 9:30pm. Totally wiped. We hate some of the sheep(which was awesome) and sleep was easy that night.

The next day was a rest day. My legs were so smoked that I could barely put pressure on my quads from the tenderness. It was a full 4 days before they felt normal. The following day we packed up and rode 3 hours to another base camp with some cabins and decent amenities. The following day the other two hunters and guides were coming to this camp too. They'd killed a sheep and were still working on finding another. The day after that we went for a long and gnarly ride to look for caribou since I had a tag. It was dry and way too hot and none were seen. I decided at this point that I'd probably leave early if it could be arranged. Both kids have elk tags later this fall so I took the win and decided it was better for me and the family that I get home 6 days early. So me and one of the other hunters agreed to split a plane ride to save money and he'd leave a little early too.

The next day was spent getting the sheep plugged, meat put in a freezer until the next day when I'd fly it home(we'd put it in a small freezer with a generator on the mountain), and just hanging around town. After a long day of airport sitting on 9/3, I finally pulled in the driveway around 3AM on 9/4. So 12 days round trip. Despite getting the sheep pretty early I still got to spend a lot of time in the mountains and learned a lot and made some new friends. Good times all around. Oh, and it didn't rain a drop. That was some luck as well.

 

[hunt1up]

Initial shot location.

Full pack