Well as some of you might remember, I put out a wanted ad this past spring looking for a sheep hunting partner for this year. The conclusion worked out...
Larry came over from the island and arrived at my door and had dinner with the wife and myself. This was all while my wife was trying to get a read off him to determine if he was a crazy murderer or some other wacko that she didn't want me in the middle of nowhere with. He checked out and the next morning we were in my truck driving the 18hrs to Fort Nelson with a very welcoming stop at DeadDogs place in PG in the middle. Great guy and loves nothing more than to see residents chasing sheep.
We Spent the last night in Fort Nelson and then got up at the crack of dawn to head for the hills. We wanted to get a very early start as we had a drive ahead of us still and we wanted to try and beat a lot of the 30* weather (wishful thinking).
With the truck parked we started the hike in the timber and what a gruelling hike it was, not because of the steepness or length but because if the sun and heat. We hiked for the day and started glassing/hiking at the half way point as sheep 'could' live on the mountains we hiked past.
I was told on numerous occasions that if you want to be successful hunting off the highway, you MUST get back and away from everyone else and that was exactly what we did. We put in another day of hiking and finally after 2 days of hiking we were ready to start seriously looking for sheep.
Found this little guy on during the hike on day 2, needs a few more years but I wonder if he has buddies behind him????
As we pressed onwards and upwards, we arrived at our target area at about 5pm. I was tired but also very excited so I dropped my gear, grabbed a few things and went out for an evening look. Within the 2.5 hrs I spend out that evening, I had spotted 30+ sheep and rams were mixed in. Nothing legal but still a great indicator of the area.
The following morning we were up at 6am and we were off with enough stuff to spend the night out somewhere under a siltarp if need be but the bags were probably 20-30 lbs so nice and light for the day. We were gone from camp maybe 45 minutes when Larry started to feel very sick, he went back to camp and started puking...
At this point I want to stress the importance of hydration!!!! I have a hydration bag so I constantly take in water but if you don't make sure you are reaching for the bottle all the time. 2 days of hiking with not enough water in 30* will destroy a lot of people, Larry included.
**** GEAR TIP **** get a hydration bag everyone!!!!
So I was on my own for the day and maybe night if I ended up a little too far from camp. I was basically cruising the ridges and glassing every basin for 20 minutes or so. Pattern was glass for 20-30min, then move 500 yrds and repeat...
After about 4-5 hrs of this I stumbled onto a little guy working his way up a draw, I was about 8-900yrds away at this point and I figured If I didn't get closer as he worked up the draw, I would not be able to get an age on him as he would keep me locked into the cliff side. I quickly got on the backside of the ridge and got over to the closest point I could which ended up being about 400 yrds just as he bedded down.
Now It was about 1 in the afternoon and I was very excited, the ram looked to be broomed on the one side and flared out on the other...signs of an older ram for sure. Since it was still 30+* I had no hope on trying to get an accurate age on him due to the mirage coming off the rocks. I ended up watching him for about 3.5hrs until the sun started to tuck behind some clouds and the mirage subsided. I was a little unsure of curl at this point due to the angle and I didn't want to risk anything so I said I am only taking the shot if I can EASILY count 9. Well I could
I had everything set up and I was ready to take the shot at about 5pm the next time he got up to re-dig his bed. I was pretty confident to 400 yrds but still didn't want to take the shot as it is 400yrds on a beauty ram!!! It was impossible for me to back out and get closer over another ridge as a 6-7 yr old was bedded just under me at 250 yrds so I was locked in place.
I see him stretch his legs in his bed, could this be the time he gets up and gives me a perfect broadside shot as he digs the bed out again? Yes he is up and on all 4s, but shiot - he just turned towards me - no shot. Then magically he takes a step, then another and then another... working his was right towards me and right to 258yrds.
He was 258 but also damn near straight down so I figured no compensation and hold right on as my rifle is zeroed at 200. He stopped to check something out on the ground, I frantically try and get stable and then squeeze off a round. It is all over, he hit the dirt and for a moment he stayed in the same spot. Wishful thinking, he then slowly slid/rolled down to the very bottom of the drainage and I had my first ram down and a lot of work ahead of me.
I got down to him and wow, I was excited!!!!! I counted, counted again and counted again...I think he is 10 I said to myself!!!! I shot a truly mature stone sheep.
I caped him out and packed him back up the draw which was one of the hardest packs I have had to do. 140ish lbs straight up shale, take a step then slide down half a step was how it went for the next 1.5 hrs.
I made it back to camp at about 8:30 and Larry was thrilled for me even though he was feeling just terrible with heat exhaustion and dehydration. I processed everything and got salt on the hide and was in bed by midnight.
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