First off, a big thank you and congrats to Andrew for his ram and taking the time to share it, your story lit a bit of a fire to type out one also. Im no English major, so bare with me with the spelling and punctuation. This could be long, so start drinking beer at your own risk.


This year was going to be different, my regular sheep partner of 8 seasons, my dad, wouldn’t be able to join me on this hunt, what was normally our annual August sheep hunt. Between work and a fly in moose hunt in September, it just wouldn’t work. I had a bunch of holidays saved up tho that I needed (...wanted) to use up, so, the plan was to head out solo with my other best hunting buddy, my 4 year old husky/Shepard X. This would be her third sheep hunt.
Going alone, meant my choice on location was wide open. It took a couple weeks of contemplating and talking with a few folks before I decided on region 6, what really made my mind up was a truck that is dying at a rapid pace, region 6 is a lot closer to home if I was to get stranded lol.


“When a man has rams on his mind, all thoughts of truck trouble are left behind”..... Decker9 HA


I had decided on heading up Tsatia creek just out of the bow zone, no rhyme or reason, no intel, just because it was somewhere new that I hadn’t heard much about before. The day before I was to leave, I topped up my old truck with 2.5 L of motor oil, added a jug of water to the rad, topped up the gas pumped up the front passenger tire, and we were ready to roll for the next morning.

July 29

4am, my dog and I were down the driveway. We planned on meeting my dad and nephew for breakfast in Smithers about 6am. Well I didn’t get far down the highway when I start to hear a chirp coming from the front of my up until the past month or two, pretty trusty old truck. Again, rams and a loud radio clouded my brain and I was able to get into Smithers without waking to many people I think.

After a good visit, I explained my plans as my dad would be my “go to guy” if I was to have any trouble. I could tell he was excited for me, but at the same time, I could tell it was boiling in the back of his mind that we wasn’t joining me this year, or rather, in my mind, me joining him.

A little about us and our quest for sheep. My dad showed me the ropes about mountains, and goat hunting, which we’v both done a fare amount. Now sheep hunting, was new to us. I would have been in my mid 20’s (37 now) when we went on our first sheep hunt together. It was an unsuccessful fly in hunt out of Atlin, but, no time in the mountains is wasted time, especially with your dad. Even tho we didn’t see a sheep, we learnt a bit from it.
Since that hunt, we’v done 6 more fly in sheep hunts and one hike in, all unsuccessful in taking a ram, but successful in every other way possible. We’v had some amazing times.


I did go on one more sheep/caribou hunt with a friend, but had turned up unsuccessful also. So this hunt for me, would be my #10. Getting up there for a person who loves spending time in the hills as much as I do. this particular hunt, will become my saviour soon.


So, on with the trip. With a bit of encouragement from my dad, I figured I’d better open the hood of the dodge for a look. I only had 5’ish more hours to go, all I needed was to get up by tatogga somewhere and I’d worry about the rest when I got back out, I tend to leave every ounce of stress behind when I shoulder my pack, the truck was very minor in my eyes, at that time. (I was to learn in days to come, the most stressful times of my life was going to unfold)

I’ll hurry it up here a bit. I cracked my hood, realized I forgot to put the damn oil cap back on after topping up the motor oil. I suspected that it may had blown a bit of oil out, and that’s was why the fan belt was squealing. Being Sunday, I stuck around Smithers until lordco opened, bought a new oil cap and a new fan belt, just incase (now I’m thinking eh!!), in that few hour wait, I come to realize I had forgot my crocks by the door at home also, so a quick stop at can tire, and I’m back on the trail again! I think I got everything...


After rolling into tatogga, Iv herd a lot about “John”.... haha, quite the fellow. We bs’d for a hour or so, in which time I told him my plan. He seemed to know what he was talking about when it come to that area, as he chuckled and said “you won’t find any sheep over there”, my guts hit my throat. From never hearing much about the area, I had high hopes of checking it out, and hopefully finding some sheep.

I rented a cabin for the night, and pondered, re looking at the map, google earth, HBC threads and such. The one time I sheep hunted with a friend and not my dad, we went into a area up past Dease Lake. We had seen a couple ewes and lambs, but not much else. I knew a good spot to tuck my truck away to be safe and out of sight, so, that’s where I’ll go.


August 30th


John rolled into the cafe about 6:30am, a quick coffee and another litre of oil, Bean dog and I were on the trail again. We had clear sky’s ahead, and hot weather. By noon, we were parked packed. Final check on my Berkley fish scale for my pack showed 62...63...61....64....FULL..., and Bean dogs weighed in at just over 13lbs (food treats and dog products for 9-10’ish days). Im in no way an ounce counter, I like my comfort items, generally, my pack weighs a bit more then most seep hunters. A quick captain black, and we were headed for sheep country, we hoped.