Lawnboy
Well-known member
We have been glassing across to this other drainage now for 3 years seeing rams and many sheep and finally decided to go for it this year. Well actually last year my brother and I went in but got socked in with clouds and rain for 3 days and it was a bust. My dad and brother Jeff were along for the hunt as well this year.
This area has no airplane access so all of it must be done on foot. We traveled to the outlet of the creek that would lead us to the mountain by 4 wheeler then we started the nasty creek hike. The hike in consists of 4 hours of in and out of the creek. You are constantly stumbling on boulders and wet rock. I don't think my dad believed us when we told him that he would be basically hiking up a creek. This is the easiest (relative word) way to access the high country. Like Bambistew mentioned in his hunt the alders and dwarf birch are wicked so anything other than that stuff is better. Here's a couple shots of what it looked like. The water was real high this year from all the rain.
I forgot to mention that when we started up the creek there were already 2 other vehicles there and that's not good because the area isn't that big. My brother had gotten word that a local family had gone up on the opener and had taken a couple rams so we were hoping that they would be gone by the time we got there. Unfortunately one of the vehicles was theirs so they were still up there.
With all the boot tracks heading up the fork we had planned to go to we adjusted our game plan to take another fork in hopes that the people had pushed some animals in another direction. It was also a good area but not the place we really wanted to be. We set up camp and spent the evening glassing but only found a handful of ewes and lambs. It took 5 and a half hours to get in so we hit the sack in hopes the next day would produce rams.
Here's our first camp.
We woke up and soon realized that there just weren't any rams in this area and so we climbed up this steep mountain and began to head towards the area we originally intended to go. We spent the day climbing and glassing and still no sheep. We got to the spot we wanted and found that the people had left so we set up camp again and began to spot for the evening. We immediately found ewes lambs and finally a group of rams. At first look none seemed legal but we were into sheep and our spirits were lifted. We headed for bed and knew the next day would be better.
Second camp
I will continue this a little later tonight. It's my anniversary and the wife isn't going to want to wait for this story to end before I take her out to dinner. Be patient it's a fun hunt
This area has no airplane access so all of it must be done on foot. We traveled to the outlet of the creek that would lead us to the mountain by 4 wheeler then we started the nasty creek hike. The hike in consists of 4 hours of in and out of the creek. You are constantly stumbling on boulders and wet rock. I don't think my dad believed us when we told him that he would be basically hiking up a creek. This is the easiest (relative word) way to access the high country. Like Bambistew mentioned in his hunt the alders and dwarf birch are wicked so anything other than that stuff is better. Here's a couple shots of what it looked like. The water was real high this year from all the rain.
I forgot to mention that when we started up the creek there were already 2 other vehicles there and that's not good because the area isn't that big. My brother had gotten word that a local family had gone up on the opener and had taken a couple rams so we were hoping that they would be gone by the time we got there. Unfortunately one of the vehicles was theirs so they were still up there.
With all the boot tracks heading up the fork we had planned to go to we adjusted our game plan to take another fork in hopes that the people had pushed some animals in another direction. It was also a good area but not the place we really wanted to be. We set up camp and spent the evening glassing but only found a handful of ewes and lambs. It took 5 and a half hours to get in so we hit the sack in hopes the next day would produce rams.
Here's our first camp.
We woke up and soon realized that there just weren't any rams in this area and so we climbed up this steep mountain and began to head towards the area we originally intended to go. We spent the day climbing and glassing and still no sheep. We got to the spot we wanted and found that the people had left so we set up camp again and began to spot for the evening. We immediately found ewes lambs and finally a group of rams. At first look none seemed legal but we were into sheep and our spirits were lifted. We headed for bed and knew the next day would be better.
Second camp
I will continue this a little later tonight. It's my anniversary and the wife isn't going to want to wait for this story to end before I take her out to dinner. Be patient it's a fun hunt