NWT Dall Sheep 2026

[Waspocrew]

I've enjoyed reading hunt recaps over the years and wanted to share mine as well.

After 2.5 years of waiting, I was finally able to go on my NWT Dall hunt with South Nahanni Outfitters. My brother joined me on this trip (non-hunting companion) and it was a great time! Would highly recommend SNO.

Equipment:

Sig Cross Sawtooth 6.5 Creedmoor

• NF NX8 2.5-20x FFP in ARC Mbrace rings
• Gunwerks Elevate bipod
• Palmetto 140 gr Sabre ammo

• Swaro 12x42 NL Pures with marsupial gear bino pouch
• Swaro ATC spotter with Olin Adapter
• Tricer BC tripod with LP pan head

Exo K4 5000 with lid topper
Garmin Inreach mini 3

Costco cascade carbon trekking poles (did not bend/break)

Outdoor edge razor lite knife with blades
Head lamp
20,000 mah battery bank

Crispi Altitude boots

Kuiu Kutana pants X 2
Kuiu kutana gaiters
Kuiu merino hoodie with 1/4 zip
Kuiu chugach rain jacket and pants
Gohunt approach hoodie X 2
Gohunt softie hat X 2
Kuiu pack rain cover
Sitka kelvin jacket
Sitka gloves
Socks x 2
Boxer briefs X 2

Near Zero sleeping bag
Sea to Summit pad
Sea to Summit pillow

Various snacks - jerky, protein bars, etc

Now with that out of the way, on to the hunt:


We had originally planned to fly from Billings to Whitehorse, but a few weeks before the hunt, Air North cancelled the Canadian leg of our itinerary. Since we had booked with a third party, Air North couldn’t rebook us (the third party would need to). The alternative flights offered wouldn’t work - the layover in Vancouver was just under 2 hours and I didn’t want to risk that with customs and a firearm.

After thinking it over a bit, my brother and I decided to make a road trip out of it. We left Billings on the evening of 7/29 and made it across the border. We pulled over to a rest stop and slept in the truck for about 5 hours before hitting the road again.

7/30 was spent driving across Alberta until we reached Fort Nelson later that night. We were relieved to find a hotel with a room and got much better rest than in my truck.

7/31 was definitely an easier pace - Whitehorse was only 10 hours away. The views along the way were incredible, especially around Muncho lake. We saw plenty of caribou, moose, bison, and stone sheep along the route. Once we pulled into Whitehorse, we had dinner and got settled in for the evening. It took quite a while to fall asleep due to the anticipation - it was finally here!

Day 1:
The alarm went off and we were ready to meet at the charter (Tintina Air) for our flight into base camp. We were treated to some pretty awesome terrain. After about 90 min, base camp came into view! We had finally made it!

Werner and the guides met us all at the plane and helped load the gear onto the trailer. We then rolled into base camp where Sunny and the rest of the crew welcomed us. The base camp with very nice and has beautiful views. After unloading our gear from the trailer, each hunter had the chance to check zero - I checked my drops at 220 and 330 yards without issue.








Sunny and crew cooked a great lunch along with baked goods/snacks. I ate plenty knowing we’d be eating dehydrated meals for the next several days.




After lunch, we had a helicopter safety briefing and then they began to shuffle hunters to their locations. My brother and I (along with our guide) were the third group to head out. After just a short 30 minute flight later, we were dropped off on a gravel bar where we’d make spike camp for the next few days.




We got our three tents set up just in time - a rain storm blew in and rained for the next 90 minutes. Once the rain let up, we cooked our dinner and called it a “night”. Sunset was at 11:30 pm and really never got dark until 2 am.

For the Canadians who might read this, Fresh Trek makes really good dehydrated meals. Highly recommend the beef stroganoff as well as chicken and sauce.

 

[Waspocrew]

Day 2:
It was definitely surreal waking up and lacing up my boots. We’d be sheep hunting finally! After a quick breakfast, we took off for the drainage we’d be spending the day in. Our route took us along a winding creek that was ok for the most part, but over the course of the day, we crossed the damn thing several times.




It was somewhat of a slower day - when we finally spotted a sheep, it was only a lone ewe way up in the cliffs. On to the next ridge and so on and so forth. No rams were found. Over the course of the day, we logged about 13 miles. Back to camp for dinner and rest. The red tents coming into view was a sight for sore eyes (and feet haha).

 

[Waspocrew]

Day 3:
The plan for the day was to climb and get a high vantage point. We followed a game trail above the creek bed from camp and started the climb. It took at least an hour to make the 2000 ft climb up the ridgeline. The majority of the climb was on soft moss/tundra which felt like climbing up a steep lumpy mattress.






Once we reached the top, we were met with 30+ mph winds. It was absolutely whipping up top. There were a few bowls known to hold sheep, so we tucked into rocks and glassed. We decided to wrap around and check the other side, so we had to cross a massive side hill covered in shale. About a mile later, we could look into the next bowl which was also empty. At that point, we couldn’t really continue along that ridge due to cliffs, so we took the loss and headed back towards camp. That was a long, slow descent.

 

[Waspocrew]

Day 4:

After breakfast, we made a plan to head back to the drainage we first hunted in day 2. By 8 am, we were staring at two rams! Even better, they were feeding fairly low. Our guide said we needed to hustle for the next 10-15 min to get closer. We made good ground and threw up the spotter. Unfortunately, we were looking at what appeared to be a pretty short ram and the other looked too young.

Rams are in the green not too far from the base of the mountain:



We noticed another ram up high in the cliffs that looked a bit bigger, so we decided to let the two rams feed to the right. Once they were out of sight, we followed the creek bed to follow the drainage to the left. It didn’t take us too long to locate the ram again. He looked mature and was definitely a shooter - the problem was, he was way high without any way for us to really approach and not be seen. He kept feeding left into more cliffs. We weren’t sure how that area would look, so we decided we better find out.

Getting our first look at the bigger ram:



It was a very steep climb in shale, followed by moss/tundra, then a mix of boulders. Eventually, we crept up and could see the ram bedded on a ledge above. We ranged him at 430 yards and after watching him for a while, it was apparent this wasn’t an area we could recover him from. The ledge he was on seemed decently wide (he would get up occasionally and turn around without issue), so there was a chance he would die up on the ledge. If I shot and he fell, he was probably going to get really messed up on the rocks below (that’s if he didn’t get hung up).

Getting a better look at the bedded ram:




All we could do at that point was wait for him to get up and hopefully move back to the other side where he had been feeding. It took 3 hours for him to finally move. That was our cue to move as well. We tried to parallel below him while also trying not to slide in the steep shale. At one point, I looked up and spotted the ram above us, but again, he was standing in some rough looking rocks. He took advantage of my indecision and snuck out of sight, which was definitely for the better. When we made our way down, we could see the area better and it was pretty gnarly- certainly something I wouldn’t want to have to try to retrieve a sheep out of.

It was hard not to feel a little defeated on the hike out, but we finally saw some rams and that made for a great day.

Waiting him out:




Here’s the set up. Arrow is pointing to the bedded ram:

 

[Waspocrew]

Day 5:

When I had checked our forecast Sunday evening, we had rain moving in on Thursday. I decided to check the forecast again before bed and was disappointed to see that had moved to Wednesday.

When I woke up, the clouds had definitely moved in and they were pretty low. Fog started to roll into the drainage as we left camp. The plan was to look for the same ram from the previous day. When we got to the creek bottom, we could see two rams bedded in a somewhat lower position. We glassed these rams for a while and it was clear there was a younger ram and a pretty broomed ram. He looked old, but we couldn’t tell for sure.






We decided to head left again in search of the bigger ram and once we had made it up and out of the creek bottom, the rain came. We sat huddled under a ledge of brush for about 90 min as the rain pelted down. Eventually it stopped and we started our trek further up the hill. The rain returned about 10 minutes later and didn’t let up for another 30-45 min. We eventually made our way to the top with plans to glass into each chute in hopes of spotting the ram, but the fog was super thick. We’d get a quick glance through it, but more would just blow in. After about an hour of no visibility, we figured we should go try to get a better look at the other two rams from the morning.





It took some time for us to make it down and across the shale field, then through the tundra, but eventually we were close to where they had been bedded before. We crept along the shale as quietly as we could and finally looked over the rise: nothing.

For all we knew, they could have left hours ago, but we decided to back track down a little to gain some more visibility. After going up and over a few more rises, we were staring at a ram broadside at 383 yards. A quick look through the scope revealed this was the younger ram (he looked to be about 6 years old). We sat watching him on the cliffside for 30 minutes hoping the other ram would pop up as well, but he never showed. We then headed back to camp for the evening.

 

[Waspocrew]

Day 6:

Our guide spoke with the outfitter the evening before and it was time to move locations. We had several hours before they would be picking us up, so we went back to the same drainage hoping we’d see the rams down low. They didn’t read the script - they were bedded even higher and not where we’d want to go. After watching them for about an hour, we went back to camp to rest and pack up.

The helicopter picked us up around 2 pm and shuttled us to a great looking valley 12 miles from our previous location. At that point, the day was done from a hunting standpoint since we’d have to wait 12 hours from the time we landed.

After setting up our tents and unloading our gear, we did some glassing and found two rams bedded a mile or so up a steep ridge. From camp, these two looked like solid rams. I’d check on them from time to time and when they finally got up to move, there was a third ram with them. To my untrained eyes, this one looked to be the same, but our guide said he was definitely the best of the three.

New camp:






Eventually the rams fed up and out of sight into the draw and we were hopeful that’s where we’d find them early in the morning. As we were winding down for the night, I looked out to the south and noticed tan moving through the brush. I grabbed the spotter and realized we had a grizzly moving through just a few hundred yards from camp. It didn’t seem to care or notice we were there.




The plan for the morning was to wake up at 4 am and be ready to move as soon as we could see. It was going to be hot and we had a steep climb ahead of us.

 

[Waspocrew]

Day 7:

It felt like I hardly slept during the night - I was starting to get a little anxious about not filling a tag as this point. With only two more days to go (and some bad weather moving in on Sunday), I felt like I was running out of time to make it happen.

Eventually 4 am came and I slowly got dressed in the dark tent. We started a fire and had breakfast while waiting for it to get light enough to see. Again, the plan was to leave early, but we needed to see if the rams were visible before cruising up the mountain.

It was finally light enough to glass around 5:30 and there were no signs of the rams. We took off at 5:40 am. The first half mile was up and through pines, but then we hit the rocks. At this point, it was basically side hilling on a mix of dirt and rock the rest of the way. This continued until 7 am where we reach the bend where we had last seen the rams.

A quick glance up showed the rams feeding on the opposite side around 525 yards away. They slowly fed towards us and it was apparent I likely wasn’t going to get much closer due to the terrain. We quietly crawled up the hill as much as we could to make the shot angle less steep. Eventually we found a somewhat flatter spot to lay prone and set up for the shot.




I laid patiently as our guide checked the rams over. We confirmed the middle ram was the best and I waited for a broadside shot. My brother called out the correction (10.8 minutes), I dialed, and was ready when he stopped. The shot broke clean and I saw him startle, but I didn’t appear to be a hit. Luckily, the ram didn’t run far - my brother ranged and gave me a new correction (9.3 minutes - this sounded weird, more on this in a bit). As the ram stood, I sent another round his way. This was an obvious hit based on his reaction. Again, he trotted off to the left and then stopped. While watching him, his legs startled to wobble and I knew he’d be down soon. A few seconds later, he fell and then started to slowly roll. And roll. And roll. He fell off a small cliff and luckily came to rest on some grass/moss, otherwise he would probably have ended up on the creek bottom.

The look in the spotter:



Shot setup. The star was where he went down. Arrow is where he finally stopped:



Watching him stop was surreal - I finally had a ram! I shared some high fives with my brother and guide and soaked it all in for a few minutes. I watched the shot footage and when I asked my brother about the first correction - he said it was 9.8 minutes. In the heat of the moment I heard 10.8, so the high miss was no surprise. We then we set off to grab our bags at the creek bottom and start the steep climb up to the ram.

Walking up on the ram was unreal. These sheep are such incredible animals that inhabit some of the toughest terrain.











After several photos, we broke him down and started the pack out to camp. It was slow and steep, but at least it was downhill! We made it back to camp at 12 pm and got the meat cooling in the stream nearby. Our guide messaged the outfitter and arranged for us to be picked up and taken back to base camp. As luck would have it, a few guys from the hunting group had already planned a charter back to Whitehorse later in the afternoon. Since we drove from Montana, we figured leaving base camp early would allow us to take our time getting back home.




This was quite the day - we had a ram down at 7:15 am in the backcountry and by 7:30 pm, my brother and I were eating at a restaurant in Whitehorse.

This was an absolutely unforgettable experience. It was physically and mentally demanding and totally different than the small corner of Wyoming I tend to hunt each fall. Hopefully I’ll be able to return someday and chase these incredible animals again.

 

[Waspocrew]

The hunt report is finally finished! If you made it this far, thanks for following along.

At camp, the guides aged my ram at 11 years old. 37.5” length with 13.5” bases. Just an absolutely cool ram.

South Nahanni Outfitters were incredible. I couldn't have asked for a better experience and can't recommend them enough. If you're on the fence about going on a sheep hunt - DO IT!

 

[Sask hunter]

Congrats!!

 

[CPAjeff]

Absolutely amazing - congrats on the success and thanks for sharing!

 

[Big Fin]

Congratulations on fulfilling one of your dreams. Always fun to read about folks who found a way to make that dream come true. The photos are great, showing just how impressive (and steep) the country is.

Very happy for you. Thanks for sharing here.

 

[SC Living Outdoors]

Congrats man. Sounds like a phenomenal trip and an amazing ram too!!

 

[Gulf of Ontario]

Some fantastic stories hitting the forum already this year!