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Thread: 30 years ago this week....

  1. #11
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    Re: 30 years ago this week....

    The next morning we woke up, grabbed some oatmeal for breakfast and headed back up….remember we still had our sheep up there. With no drive, a lack of sleep and being tired from the night before, it took us an extra hour to reach the sheep.

    We studied the kill site and where we had stashed the sheep and saw nothing but ravens, no bears and no wolves. We took our time getting our packs loaded and set up because we now had a ram head and cape as well as the front quarters, rib and neck meat and our gear to pack out. Then we took our time heading down. I think we started with 200 yards, then rest, then it went to 100 yards and rest. Legs burning, lungs screaming and feet hurting, we stumbled back to camp late that afternoon. We finally had time to admire the rams.

    My Ram



    Newbie's Ram







    Note how small the door is, makes it tough for a bear to push the door in as they can't stand up and use their full weight.

    We were sore but it was fully worth it!! We were on cloud nine!! I went to the river beside camp and soaked my feet for an hour in the cold water; it really helped. We ate like kings that night!! Sheep tenderloin with KD and Crown!! To this day, that was the best wild game I have ever had, and it was extra special because of the accomplishments we had done!

    Quote Originally Posted by 358mag View Post
    "In spite of what some members of this site choose to BELIEVE, None of our opinions are any more important than Dog Shit"!

  2. #12
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    Re: 30 years ago this week....

    The next day we decided to see if that canoe found earlier would float…..we packed every thing up and hiked to the canoe. We gave the canoe a once over and could not see any gapping holes. We loaded it and climbed in…..did I mention that it came without paddles, so we used a couple small logs to paddle/push our way along the lake.



    The wind was at our back and that helped. It also did leak, quite a bit, so we took turns paddling while the other bailed. It was about 4k back to our main camp and it took us a few hours to get there.

    When we arrived, we saw that our partners had been back; there was a ram head sitting in the lake!! THREE RAMS!! And as we approached camp, there was a nice bill hanging in a tree. Three rams AND a goat! What a hunt!!


    Quote Originally Posted by 358mag View Post
    "In spite of what some members of this site choose to BELIEVE, None of our opinions are any more important than Dog Shit"!

  3. #13
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    Re: 30 years ago this week....

    As were setting up our tent and getting things sorted out, the other two came back after chasing elk behind camp. It was great reunion! Stories were told and retold and got bigger and funnier as the level of the bottles got lower!!!.

    The other two had headed straight up and soon burned themselves out, so as they broke out into alpine, the hastily made camp and crashed out, only to wake up the next morning 10’ down the slope. They had set up on what they thought was flat ground, but apparently it wasn’t! They were soon spotting animals and that afternoon spotted a group of rams, with a couple looking good. They bedded them and made plans for the next day. Well, as most sheep hunters will know, they are not always where you left them. They had disappeared. Later that day, they found another group and managed to put the stock on a legal ram and made a one shot kill. RAM DOWN!!

    The next day, as they were making their way back down, they came into a kind of box canyon and in that canyon was a goat, a really nice billy. So packs were shed, bino’s and guns were grabbed and off they went. They had to wait until the billy had fed into an area they could access and one shot, a small tumble and they had a goat down!!

    Quote Originally Posted by 358mag View Post
    "In spite of what some members of this site choose to BELIEVE, None of our opinions are any more important than Dog Shit"!

  4. #14
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    Re: 30 years ago this week....

    Great story thanks for sharing

  5. #15
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    Re: 30 years ago this week....

    The only hunter without a ram wanted to head back up to see of we could find one more. So, the next morning and hungover, three of us packed up enough stuff to over night and headed/stumbled our way back up. Newbie stayed back at camp to fish and relax and work on the capes…..probably slept all day the bugger!!

    We reached the top later that afternoon and immediately spotted sheep in a hanging valley across from us. We studied them for an hour and determined that at least one ram needed further investigation. We crossed the valley and dropped all our camping stuff at the small creek, then worked our way up a side valley so that we could come out parallel to where the sheep were. It all worked out until we couldn’t find the sheep. We looked and looked and couldn’t find one of the 8 sheep we had seen. As my buddy leaned out further to see up the valley, all hell exploded below us. Sheep seem to come out of the ground in front of us. Immediately we found the ram and as he stopped about 200 yards away after a loud whistle, we could see he was full curl. Then something happened that I didn’t believe could and I never saw again, my buddy flat out missed!! And that was all that was needed to put the burners to the ram as he turned and ran out over the ridge. I will never forget that scene as I watched the ram skyline 600+yards away and you could see his flare! My buddy came up to us and we all started laughing…..he had given himself the Leupold Kiss…..blood was streaming down his face!! We patched him up and headed back to spike camp for some boil in a bag goodness and Crown!







    Camp that night. Tent cover, thermarests and sleeping bags. The next morning we woke up to a good size bull caribou walking past or spike camp


    Quote Originally Posted by 358mag View Post
    "In spite of what some members of this site choose to BELIEVE, None of our opinions are any more important than Dog Shit"!

  6. #16
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    Re: 30 years ago this week....

    The next day, we packed up and headed back to base camp. When we got back, Newbie had a story to tell.

    He woke up that morning and was working around camp when he noticed a chocolate brown black bear walking down the beach WITH A SET OF HORNS in his mouth!! He grabs his gun, yells at the bear and when it turns, he drops it! Then he realizes that not one, BUT TWO sets of horns are missing!! The ones the bear has and another set. See, we had again made a rookie mistake and had left the horns in the lake, letting the small fish and water loosen up the flesh on the skull, not thinking about the bears!!!

    Now he has a dilemma; go look for the other set of horns or skin the bear. And what to do with the bear carcass 100 yards from camp! When we get back, he had the bear skinned out (he had shot a big black bear that spring and kind of knew what he was doing…kind of), some of the choice meat hung and the carcass dragged down the beach further…..but no horns had been found! And they were from my sheep!! SHIT!!! So we grabbed some food and set out in search of the missing horns. Long story short, scope face was walking the timber when he noticed a few Whiskey Jacks flying in and out of a clump of bush, so he walked over and low and behold, there sat my horns no worse for wear other than the nose was crunched up.

    The rest of the day was spent packing up, hanging everything higher in the trees, fishing and unwinding.
    The next day we watched the plan come, skip across some waves and finally settle in. Urs was shocked to see three stone rams, a goat and bear on the beach ready to be picked up.
    The flight out was anti climatic, other than the rear door popping open while in flight, and too soon we were back to civilization! A quick stop at the FNH to scarf back a big greasy burger and ice cold beer before we hit the road for the drive back to the Island and real life!!

    Quote Originally Posted by 358mag View Post
    "In spite of what some members of this site choose to BELIEVE, None of our opinions are any more important than Dog Shit"!

  7. #17
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    Re: 30 years ago this week....

    Epilogue: For four rookie sheep hunters, we not only did very well, but we survived with just a scope kiss!! We learned a lot on that trip, and it really prepared us for our future adventures. Remember that stuff we hung in the trees back in day two, well it was left there as we completely forgot about it! So if someone else was wondering around in the country in 91 and found some socks, underware, jeans size 34 and XL tee shirts and they fit you....your welcome!

    There is not a lot of pictures as we video taped the trip with a VHS video camera, which must have weighted 4-5 lbs. I have not had the tape put on a drive yet but will have to do it at some time, it’s a pretty cool 1.5 hour video of an amazing hunt!! Way before it became a "thing" to sell to the public, we were taping hunts and fishing trips for our own and friends enjoyment.

    For anyone who cares, Newbie’s ram was 42.5x39, mine was 37.5x37.5 and goat killers was 35x36, the goat was 9 ¾ both sides and the bear was 5.5’ chocolate cream. Guns were: Newbie – 06, Scopeface - 300 Weatherby, Goat killer - 7 mm Rem mag and I was shooting a 270 Win with 140 gr Hornady SPBT.

    This trip opened the door to discovering the north and hunting the animals that live there. We went north for 16 years; sheep, goats, moose, elk, caribou and grizzly were chased and sometimes killed in our adventures! Those will be for other stories later!

    This is a rather long story that I hope you enjoyed. There was too much fun to condense into a short few lines!!

    Cheers

    SS

    Quote Originally Posted by 358mag View Post
    "In spite of what some members of this site choose to BELIEVE, None of our opinions are any more important than Dog Shit"!

  8. #18
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    Re: 30 years ago this week....

    Can't wait for the ending and hopefully pics of the horns and capes you left on the hill..

  9. #19
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    Jul 2007
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    823

    Re: 30 years ago this week....

    Fantastic story! Great hunt with a bunch of buddies. Thanks for sharing!

  10. #20
    Join Date
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    Re: 30 years ago this week....

    Wow. That was one of the best stories I have read on here. Thanks for sharing!
    WSSBC
    CCFR

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