BAKPAKR
Well-known member
Congrats on a great ram!
Dall Sheep Hunt in Alaska - The Best Hunt of My Life
- Thread starter SC Living Outdoors
- Start date
jdf
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2011
- Messages
- 545
Congratulations. Well earned.
Great story. Thanks for sharing
Great story. Thanks for sharing
SC Living Outdoors
Well-known member
I just realized the end of the story didn’t post. Here it is. I know it’s a long story. If you’ve taken the time to read it all I hope you enjoyed it. -
We made our way down to him. I took my time because I wanted to savor the moment. You only get your first once. And who knows, maybe this will be my only one.
About 20 yards from the ram, Mike and Peter stopped and said, “Go put your hands on him,” letting me soak it all in.
He was an absolutely magnificent ram. Heavy, with one long side well past full curl and the other side broomed. We aged him at 11 or 12 years old. An absolute slammer of an Alaska ram. Bigger than I ever dreamed of taking home.
I sent out a couple of “Dead Ram!” texts to some friends and my wife. I had a small tape measure in my kill kit that weighs almost nothing, and my ram’s non-broomed side measured 37 inches on the dot.
I texted my friend and said, “Bad news. He’s not 10, he’s 11 or 12, but he’s 37” on the nose!”
We took a lot of pictures and sat down to eat some food out of our packs. I think I ate three meals sitting there looking at my ram.
We then broke him down, loaded up our packs, and started heading back toward base camp. We ended up going all the way that night, but honestly, it wasn’t that bad of a pack. It was downhill the whole way, and having that extra weight on my back was like a weight being lifted off my back in a way.
That night back at camp, we had backstrap and tenderloin over the fire. It was fantastic.
The plan was to fly out the next day, but high winds kept us grounded in camp for another day. All the guys in camp kept passing the ram around, commenting on him and counting rings.
Celebratory drinks, cigars, and pie were brought out, but I don’t drink, smoke, or eat sugar, so I just sat with the guys around the fire as they enjoyed the evening. We all relived our adventure and told stories about past hunts.
The next morning, there was a fresh skiff of snow on the tops of the mountains and lower winds. I thanked everyone and headed back to civilization. We were able to fly out without any real excitement, thankfully.
I headed straight to the Game and Fish office. When I arrived, a nice woman took my ram and told me they would inspect it and check it for legality before coming to get me to go over what they found.
A couple of minutes later, she called me in.
My ram was officially aged at 11 years old.
Everyone there commented multiple times about what a great ram it was. That was kind of them, and it made me feel great about accomplishing my goal.
Peter told me this was the most physically demanding hunt he had ever done. In total, we covered over 60 miles in eight days. I’m not sure how much elevation we climbed, but it was a lot.
This sheep hunt was everything I dreamed of and then some.
I don’t know if I’ll ever be blessed enough to have another sheep tag in my pocket, and if I don’t, that’s OK. Because for the rest of my life, I’ll have the memory of the first time I wrapped my hands around the heavy, dark horns of a big white ram.
We saw the rams again as we hiked back to camp.
We made our way down to him. I took my time because I wanted to savor the moment. You only get your first once. And who knows, maybe this will be my only one.
About 20 yards from the ram, Mike and Peter stopped and said, “Go put your hands on him,” letting me soak it all in.
He was an absolutely magnificent ram. Heavy, with one long side well past full curl and the other side broomed. We aged him at 11 or 12 years old. An absolute slammer of an Alaska ram. Bigger than I ever dreamed of taking home.
I sent out a couple of “Dead Ram!” texts to some friends and my wife. I had a small tape measure in my kill kit that weighs almost nothing, and my ram’s non-broomed side measured 37 inches on the dot.
I texted my friend and said, “Bad news. He’s not 10, he’s 11 or 12, but he’s 37” on the nose!”
We took a lot of pictures and sat down to eat some food out of our packs. I think I ate three meals sitting there looking at my ram.
We then broke him down, loaded up our packs, and started heading back toward base camp. We ended up going all the way that night, but honestly, it wasn’t that bad of a pack. It was downhill the whole way, and having that extra weight on my back was like a weight being lifted off my back in a way.
That night back at camp, we had backstrap and tenderloin over the fire. It was fantastic.
The plan was to fly out the next day, but high winds kept us grounded in camp for another day. All the guys in camp kept passing the ram around, commenting on him and counting rings.
Celebratory drinks, cigars, and pie were brought out, but I don’t drink, smoke, or eat sugar, so I just sat with the guys around the fire as they enjoyed the evening. We all relived our adventure and told stories about past hunts.
The next morning, there was a fresh skiff of snow on the tops of the mountains and lower winds. I thanked everyone and headed back to civilization. We were able to fly out without any real excitement, thankfully.
I headed straight to the Game and Fish office. When I arrived, a nice woman took my ram and told me they would inspect it and check it for legality before coming to get me to go over what they found.
A couple of minutes later, she called me in.
My ram was officially aged at 11 years old.
Everyone there commented multiple times about what a great ram it was. That was kind of them, and it made me feel great about accomplishing my goal.
Peter told me this was the most physically demanding hunt he had ever done. In total, we covered over 60 miles in eight days. I’m not sure how much elevation we climbed, but it was a lot.
This sheep hunt was everything I dreamed of and then some.
I don’t know if I’ll ever be blessed enough to have another sheep tag in my pocket, and if I don’t, that’s OK. Because for the rest of my life, I’ll have the memory of the first time I wrapped my hands around the heavy, dark horns of a big white ram.
We saw the rams again as we hiked back to camp.
Brittany Chukarman
Well-known member
Such a good write up I hated for it to end. Excellent pictures. I like the first one with you and the ram and that amazing background. Congrats.
MNHunter
Well-known member
Great story, great write up and great ram! Congrats!!!
You are an inspiration, many congrats. Beautiful ram and lovely story, glad it worked out so perfectly!
careful now you’re giving away your tag draw secrets
CaliWoodsman
New member
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2023
- Messages
- 4
Great story. How did you train for the hunt, and physically how difficult was it / how would you compare it to other hunts you’ve done?
I've been waiting (impatiently) for this story to get completed. Well worth the wait.
Congratulations on an amazing ram. You damn sure earned it.
I enjoy the pics you post that add so much additional context to the great writing style. It is very kind of you to take the time to do the story in such great detail for all of us to enjoy. Thanks for posting it here on Hunt Talk.
Hope your next dream is fulfilled with the same adventure and outcome.
Congratulations on an amazing ram. You damn sure earned it.
I enjoy the pics you post that add so much additional context to the great writing style. It is very kind of you to take the time to do the story in such great detail for all of us to enjoy. Thanks for posting it here on Hunt Talk.
Hope your next dream is fulfilled with the same adventure and outcome.
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