This one time at sheep camp

[Bambistew]

Legal rams where hard to come by this year. We saw the fewest by far of any hunt I've been on. We covered a lot of country this year and I pulled one out at the bottom of the ninth. We saw this ram last year the day of before the season opened. And again this year the ninth. I didn't realize it was the same ram until I looked at pics from last year. He wasn't an obvious legal ram but I had a hunch that he'd be legal by age due to the broom on one side. Very unusual for a sub-eight year old to be broomed. I swam through 1/4 mile of soaking wet willow to stay out of sight to get close for verification. I got to withing 200 yards of him and 13 rams and waited for the fog to clear to get a good look. Once verified he was legal the wait continued for 3 hours. My legs fell asleep as I waited for the fog to lift , and nerves wracked as I tried to keep track of him in the group.

I could see him bedded as the fog floated in and out, but only his head. I figured he'd stand up at some point, stretch and offer a shot. However he stood and took 2 steps and was out of sight. I frantically tried to find him in the fog, with no avail for nearly 15 min. Finally it lifted and I saw my chance and sent a 165 accubond his way.

9 days of hunting before I had a chance. The winter of 2012/13 was hard on sheep in most all of AK. I would expect success rates to be awful this year.

 

[MTLabrador]

Awesome stuff. Alaska guys make me jealous in August.

 

[Buschy]

Wow. Outstanding everything, as usual. Thank you for the pics and story.

 

[Sytes]

Very... amazing! Grats and thanks for sharing. Epic pics!

 

[EKYHunter]

I can only imagine! Congrats.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

Awesome! Making it look easy.

 

[fulldraw]

Congrats on another sheep to add to your wall. Thanks for sharing.

 

[brownbear932008]

I look forward to this thread every darn year and it's always one of my favorites. Congrats on a nice ram as usual I'm jealous! I am seriously thinking of a 3 year stint up there after my 21 months are up in my current location to check off some dreams of mine.

 

[noharleyyet]

Bambi ringing the bell… good stuff

 

[Dave N]

Congrats on the successful hunt! You sure do seem to make it look easy. Wishing I was up there all that much more!

 

[MarvB]

Well done once again Bambi, kudos!

I wonder how long that tin of pipe tobacco has been up in the cobble?

 

[Irrelevant]

Good job. Sounds like you've got a good crop of rams coming up for next year.

How far did he tumble?

 

[fishing4sanity]

Congratulations! Thanks for sharing those great photos, some of us will only experience sheep hunting vicariously. That terrain is beautiful and terrible at the same time.

 

[Bambistew]

Well done once again Bambi, kudos!

I wonder how long that tin of pipe tobacco has been up in the cobble?

Not sure guess the 60s or 70s. Was going to look the company up. It had a piece of pressed aluminum foil pan inside it.

 

[Bambistew]

Good job. Sounds like you've got a good crop of rams coming up for next year.

How far did he tumble?

He fell about 10 ft. He had a big gash on his nose that had mostly healed. Not sure from what. The taxidermist will have his work cut out.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

You make the most of your hunts and hunt hard and smart, I always appreciate that.

 

[Oak]

Looks damp...and fun. Congrats on another great hunt.

 

[BradA]

I’m scheduled to hunt next year and am curious how was the winter of 13/14?

I actually just literally spoke to my guide and outfitter and they killed on day nine on a beautiful 8 year old ram but said exactly what you said and said he hopes that the winter this year is mild and easy to give the older and younger sheep a better chance.
did you see a lot of seven year old rams? Congratulations on your hunt and sticking it out to the bottom
If the ninth beautiful ram! Hope to be successful next year and would be thrilled with a ram like that.

 

[Irrelevant]

He fell about 10 ft. He had a big gash on his nose that had mostly healed. Not sure from what. The taxidermist will have his work cut out.View attachment 191946

Interesting, I assumed it was bashed from the fall. Random rock fall or other sheep you think?

 

[WNC2500]

Looks awesome. Great ram, and thanks for sharing the hunt with us!