The Road to Brooks Range Dall Sheep!

[Jordan Budd]

Hey all,
Somehow we have pulled together a Dall Sheep hunt for 2021. Myself and a buddy working with Sig Sauer will be in the Brooks Range with Tyrrell's Trails in August. Going to be a little bit different feeling with a rifle in my hand instead of a camera, and I'm ecstatic for the opportunity. Dall Sheep have always been on top of my list of dream hunts for myself. Throughout my filming career I've been on hunts for the other three species of sheep but haven't had the opportunity at a Dall yet.

I'm going to keep this thread updated as we inch closer to the hunt dates. The gear selection process, physical training and logistics.

 

[Nick Muche]

You are going to have a fantastic time up there with those boys. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help along the way.

 

[kaboku68]

Right now you should be doing two different things that not a lot of people will tell you to do that will really make you enjoy your experience. 1) Inspiration. You should buy Lew Bradley's Rampages 1-3, Trophy Rams of the Brooks Range by Duncan Gilchrist and Robert Anderson's Great Rams and Great Hunters 1-4. This might be expensive but those images, stories and insights will put you into a very much tip of the sword position.
2) Data mining. This might also seem different from what you might have experienced in other hunts. You find out what is beta. Beta is building a data resource base from successful hunters with this particular outfitter and with the other outfitters in the area. Be upfront. You might learn a lot from Henry Tiffany or Riley Pitts on the other side. Explain that this is your real dream hunt. You want to make it special and you aren't just looking for grip and grin. You want to learn the natural history of the area, the old trappers who lived in the area, how people successful hunt the area, Old poachers that used to use the resource, guides who have gone on to the happy hunting grounds. There are a lot of old guides that will pass on to you much about the area. People don't often do this and I would bet that most of the in state hunters do not realize the history and knowledge of the old guides. I have never hunted in this area but I could pass on probably 20 - 30 pages of material about it and its capabilities. It really is one of the best areas to hunt dall sheep in the world but you won't hear about it. There are old guys like Joe Want who used to walk his mules across this area to his area about 150 miles across the country and then hunt it and return. This might seem pretty amazing but its more when you find out that he did all of his sheep hunting and guiding in lacrosse hippers. Start building a data file on the Chandalar Shelf and then go. The search is worth it. I know that you are very busy all of the time but if you start your investigation now you will get old pictures, wistful stories, population demographics, successful hunting strategies and material that will give you an advantage that is quantifiable. You just won't be a payday or a client for a guide but a scholar on this region and history. It is the difference between doing a podcast on your hunt and being able to write a book and reflect upon this rare opportunity for the rest of your life.

 

[7layerburrito]

I went on a pricey Duncan Gilchrist book-buying spree and can attest to their quality. I'm t-minus nine months from a Brooks Range sheep hunt and I read and re-read them regularly.

 

[Ozstot]

very cool. I look forward to the upcoming podcasts about your adventure!

 

[robby denning]

congrats on the opp Jordan. Looking forward to your journey

 

[mtnbiker208]

Tony russs's books are pretty good also.

 

[elkguide]

SWEET!!!!

Definitely waiting for you to share your story.
(and VERY jealous!!!!!)

 

[kaboku68]

New Year marks a time when you should start earnestly working into your boots. You need to start hiking with weights and without weights two days per week. You need to use a stairclimber with a pack if you do not have access to hiking. You should be able to sustain a hard thirty minute cardio pace for exercise five days per week. HITT workouts are also good. Do less heavy squats and do more weighted stepups. 5X5 or Bill Star is ok for squats but don't get injured. Also get a weighted medicine ball that you can do ball slams, and other plyometric lifts. You should be well on your way to doing to the data research. You should know Brad Wendling at Fairbanks Department of Fish and Game and start Zooming or Google Meetups with him on the strategies for that area.
1) Boots- Making sure that they are broken in. Also you should be experimenting with crampons if you are getting into glacier country. (I don't think that you need this for the shelf.)
2) Building up your base cardio- This is building up your cardio looking at Proximal Zone training with a smart watch. You can also just do it with time at task. Now if you are trapping you can do this as well. Conditioning and fat burning are more efficient in the cold but you can drive up your heart rate if you workout in sweats and amp the temperature but their is more waterloss(so you yo-yo more).
3) Building up your stabilizer muscles- This is doing planks, yoga, pilates, and some crossfit like kettle bells or weights. You should do weighted stepups or do slow but methodical farmer walks up and down stairs, not running but building stabilizers. This will prevent your knees or shoulders from blowing out later as training gets harder. Don't go for world records on squats and deadlifts but lift hard. It will help. But be careful about form and pace. You are lifting for hunting and not for PRs.
4) Data Mining. You should be at the stage where you know all of the guides that work the area. You should have had several conversations with past clients. You should also have had conversations with some of the more experienced sheep hunters on this forum and on others. Whether it is Tyler Freel, Steve Hallenbeck or Becky Swanke you should have had several conversations with the more experienced hunters from this region. Becky is trained Sheep Biologist/Guide/Mom who would be one of the best female sheep hunters to talk to. Sue Entsminger and Anna Voris would also be go to people. Brad Wendling is a data specialist with a concentration in Dall Sheep. I would seek to talk to him and tell him about your mission.
5) Time also to start shooting. This could be bow or rifle but you need to start working on getting that muscle memory set so that there will be no misses. Leupold has a great shooting academy. You might have this covered. I can tell you that many guides will work their guts out to find you a mature dall ram but they might not say this to your face but they hate it when the client can not seal the deal. Shooting proficiency is extremely important. You should be a MOA shooter out to 600 yards but expect to connect at 100yards. You should be familiar with shooting at different ranges. You should have your sheep rifle and two companion rifles. 1 in 223 or 22-250. 1 in 22lr and shoot them with the same hold as you do with your primary rifle but use subtension. This means you make a little tiny sheep target for them for 100 yards and for 200 yards max you can set them closer if you want to and primarily worry about the fundamentals of marksmanship on those but still shoot your primary for distance. Practice up hills, down and from seated with a tripod as well as from the bench and from prone position off of a pack. Prone position off of a pack should be your primary position and you should go to the range or as I hope (on your family farm) and shoot 1 per week. Ammo supply sucks now but it is that time of the year to do that.
6) Final gear list. You should have your gear list for your hunt ironed out now. You want to try your stuff out on at least two or three different backpack adventures before you go. This trial and error and comfort with your stuff will help reduce gear failure and aid you to having a successful hunt.

 

[alexanderg23]

Happy for you Jordan! If you need anything there’s many Roksliders up here including , that can help.

 

[mtwarden]

subscribed; looking forward towards your pre-hunt planning/training

I’m thinking about a 2023 Dall hunt; just thinking about it makes me a little giddy

 

[7layerburrito]

Do it!

 

[Jordan Budd]

Dall Sheep Gear with Nick Muche

In today’s episode we’re joined by Nick Muche. Nick lives in Alaska and has a number of years sheep hunting under his belt. We cover some of the logistics of traveling for a sheep hunt and the gear.

www.rokslide.com

 

[Marine4life]

Jordan, I did my OIL Dall hunt with Luke and his family this past August and it was amazing. You are going to have a great adventure. I recommend you spend some time with Luke’s parents - they have some amazing experiences to share.


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[primitive]

Always a good time following your adventures JB, this one will be even more so! Have you decided on your pack choice yet?

 

[Jordan Budd]

Always a good time following your adventures JB, this one will be even more so! Have you decided on your pack choice yet?

Kifaru Fulcrum as of right now! Love that pack


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[kaboku68]

Well Jordan. I wish the best of luck.

Sheep Shape-You should be able to do cardio for an hour now. You are probably hiking with your pack. You should do five sets of pushups with your pack when you are out. Also build up knees and joints.

Feet Shape-You have to start toughening your feet. Feet shape is almost as important as pure physical condition. If your feet aren't toughed the mountains will murder them. You mentioned a bivy. That is a great idea.

Shooting Routine- Hopefully you are shooting at least two to three times per week with your sheep rifle and with the companion rifle at multiple ranges off of a pack. Shooting proficiency is as or more important than pure physical condition.


Beta Time- This is the time to get ahold of all of the old guides that have hunted along the Chandalar Shelf. You are going with the Tyrells but imagine if you reached out and hooked up with Joe Want. His name might not mean anything to you but up here in Alaska he is a man's man. He would walk from the Dalton Highway to his hunt area which was 180 miles across country with his mules two weeks before the season in Lacrosse Ankle Fit Hip Waders which he would use to sheep hunt. Then after the season he would walk out. He was the last guide trained by Pinnell and Talifson on Kodiak Island where he used a 500 NE Holland and Holland Dominion grade double rifle as his backup Bear Rifle. You can also get a hold of David Morris, Henry Tiffany, Jerry Jacques, Sandy Jamison, Howard French and even reach out to Larry Bartlett. These guys are all alive and they have information about the country that you are going to hunt. David Morris especially knows a lot about the potential for the country that you are hunting. The stories count. I will leave this short but your guide recommendations count but having input from other guides who were historic is truly the way to get a deeper appreciation for the country. You might think that your guide knows these old guides who are still kicking but my guess is that they might not. Short conversations about how they hunted rams and pulled rams out really can fill volumes. I will let you go but you do have the feminine advantage that these old cranky fellers will probably talk your ear off and give you a lot of pearls of wisdom that you can use to great affect. Now is the time to call. I know that you have a business but try to reach out to these guys. Many are still active in the APHA guides or newsletter but others you have to dig to find. This effort will be worth it.

Those are the Lacrosse ankle fit boots that he would use sheep hunting with hippers for crossing country. That is his Double rifle that he got from a German Count as a tip.

That is Joe today. He is as tough as nails. There are so many great Joe Want stories that he literally could be a guest on Rokslide for about a month.

 

[Jordan Budd]

Well Jordan. I wish the best of luck.

Sheep Shape-You should be able to do cardio for an hour now. You are probably hiking with your pack. You should do five sets of pushups with your pack when you are out. Also build up knees and joints.

Feet Shape-You have to start toughening your feet. Feet shape is almost as important as pure physical condition. If your feet aren't toughed the mountains will murder them. You mentioned a bivy. That is a great idea.

Shooting Routine- Hopefully you are shooting at least two to three times per week with your sheep rifle and with the companion rifle at multiple ranges off of a pack. Shooting proficiency is as or more important than pure physical condition.


Beta Time- This is the time to get ahold of all of the old guides that have hunted along the Chandalar Shelf. You are going with the Tyrells but imagine if you reached out and hooked up with Joe Want. His name might not mean anything to you but up here in Alaska he is a man's man. He would walk from the Dalton Highway to his hunt area which was 180 miles across country with his mules two weeks before the season in Lacrosse Ankle Fit Hip Waders which he would use to sheep hunt. Then after the season he would walk out. He was the last guide trained by Pinnell and Talifson on Kodiak Island where he used a 500 NE Holland and Holland Dominion grade double rifle as his backup Bear Rifle. You can also get a hold of David Morris, Henry Tiffany, Jerry Jacques, Sandy Jamison, Howard French and even reach out to Larry Bartlett. These guys are all alive and they have information about the country that you are going to hunt. David Morris especially knows a lot about the potential for the country that you are hunting. The stories count. I will leave this short but your guide recommendations count but having input from other guides who were historic is truly the way to get a deeper appreciation for the country. You might think that your guide knows these old guides who are still kicking but my guess is that they might not. Short conversations about how they hunted rams and pulled rams out really can fill volumes. I will let you go but you do have the feminine advantage that these old cranky fellers will probably talk your ear off and give you a lot of pearls of wisdom that you can use to great affect. Now is the time to call. I know that you have a business but try to reach out to these guys. Many are still active in the APHA guides or newsletter but others you have to dig to find. This effort will be worth it.

Thanks so much for taking the time to write all of that to me. I will try to reach out to those guys and be ready to listen. Anything that will make this trip more of an experience I’m all in for.


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[Nick Muche]

The Tyrrells spent a lot of their childhood in the Brooks range, they'll be able to help you out plenty as well

 

[kaboku68]

I didn't include Joe Letarte- Alaska Wilderness Enterprises. He was left back up in there a long ways by a guide and had to walk out with horses and it took him several months. He had to kill and eat one of the horses on the way out. He would have interesting stories of the country.

Marty and Mike Webb and Jerry Lees would also have some very good information. Mike Webb runs Gold Rush Jewelry which makes some of the nicest gold nugget jewelry out there. He has some nice mounts in his shop which is on second ave, in Fairbanks, Alaska. They are local Fairbanks hunters who have had quite a bit of success in the area that you are going.