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Thread: 30 years ago this week....

  1. #1
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    30 years ago this week....

    something great happened....stay tuned!!

    ***SPOILER ALERT, THIS IS HUNTING STORY, not a Political, COVID, Vaccination story***

    Way back in 1991, four redneck twenty something fishing guides from the Island came up with this hair brain idea to climb mountains and shoot a sheep. Three if us were somewhat experienced blacktail/Mule deer hunters and one was a complete newbie. We were sitting around the kitchen table that spring BS’ing about the usual stuff when one of us, not sure who, came up with the idea that we drive 26 hours, catch a plane and shoot some sheep.

    After picking a bunch of peoples brains on the 5 W’s – Where – to go?, When – to go?, What – to bring, Who – to fly with and most importantly WHY??, we decided on a location, time, who to fly with and a big reason to go.

    September 21, we loaded up two trucks and headed to the mainland and beyond…..

    We drove all night and arrived in Fort Nelly the next afternoon. We saw the sign for cold beer and stripers, so we stopped. The Fort Nelson Hotel gave us two rooms, some entertainment and a view of the North that none of us had seen before. After the drive, we grabbed showers and headed for the entertainment. While we were drinking cold beer and waiting for burgers and fries, the “entertainment” came on stage. We all had our jaws hit the floor……She was one of the most beautiful we had (and have) ever seen.

    Dinner arrived while the “entertainment” was wrapping up. Then something happened that none of us were aware of……If any one can remember back in those day, the FNH had a door that opened up to the side street, with a crosswalk,, the highway, with a crosswalk and most importantly, the Trappers Den (I think that was what it was caller…it was 30 years ago!!). After the show, the room emptied except for us. Everyone went over the Den for the next show there. 30 minutes at each place. While we were sitting there wonder what the hell was going on and enjoying our burgers, the “entertainment” came into the room, walked over and sat down….Holly Sh*t, all of us were tongue tied. Finally we stopped staring and got to talking. Long story short, she was a second-year nursing student that said she made way more money doing the northern tour than back on the Coast. She would do a couple weeks up North and then go back to school. She left us just as the crowd came back in. We watched one more show and headed off to bed, dreaming of either sheep or a the striper!

    The next day, we found out we had to drive north of town to catch the plane, so we did a last minute check and headed out of town. We arrived at the lake and unloaded two trucks worth of stuff. Remember we had never done this before….so there was LOTS of stuff. Urs stared at all the stuff we had and shrugged his shoulders and said in his accented voice, lets try to see if it all fits. Well it almost all did. A few things stayed behind. Apparently, weight was not an issue!!!

    Off we went and man was it a flight!! We saw gin clear rivers, mountains, old burns along with elk, moose and goats. Too soon we were at our lake. We unloaded all of our stuff while we BS’d with three hunters who were flying out. They had seen and shot nothing…. not good news. Soon the plane was off, and we were standing around going WTF do we do now!!!

    We decide that two would head straight up and two if us would walk along the lake to the other end then head up. I drew the walk along the beach straw along with the newbie. Off we went!!

    Along the way, we both realized that we had WAY TOO MUCH STUFF!!! So, when we made camp at the other end of the lake, we tore our packs apart. We created a yes, no and maybe pile and when we got up the next morning and left camp, there was two, yes two garbage bags of stuff left hanging in a tree. Remember, we were all newbies at this, so we packed for every possible scenario…including bring the kitchen sink.

    Back then there was no SITKA, KUIU, Stone Glacier or all the other light weight back packing gear we have now! So, we were wearing Stanfields, wool pants, jeans, cotton shirts, HH heavy rubber rain gear and non gore text heavy leather boots made by Viberg. Our stoves were white gas Coleman Peak 1’s and our cooking gear was aluminum pots and pans. Packs were a mix of Camptrails and Gregory; sleeping was thermarests and 5-7 lbs sleeping bags. Food was boil in a bag, trail mix, itchiban soups and those just add water oatmeal just to name a few. We guessed our packs were 80 lbs+ when we set off, we figure we knocked it down to 50 when we left the first camp. Who needs underwear, socks and a pair of jeans!! We’re hunting!!

    Cont.

    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"!

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  3. #2
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    Re: 30 years ago this week....

    Anyways off we go and as we get down to the lake, we see three moose feeding in the lake. Cool, but them we see something on the beach; a grizzly, a big grizzly, and it was walking down the lake shore towards us and the only tag was up in the mountains….. We moved back off the beach and watched the bear walk by us at 20 yards. That was cool and the newbie was shaking like a dog sh*tting razor blades!!

    We started up, when we heard an elk bugle above us. Newbie froze and asked what was that!!

    I pulled out my cow elk call and gave a couple chirps and here he came. He stopped about 30 yards from us screaming and thrashing brush. We had elk tags, but it is 6 pt. and the best we could count was 5. Soon he got tied of the no see em cow and walked away. Not bad, first real day, 9 am and we had seen three moose, a grizz and a bull elk. The rest of the day was spent hiking up and up and up. At tree line we found a flat spot and set up camp for the night; we were drained and exhausted and slept like dead that night.

    The next day, the newbie was not sure he wanted to keep going up. He had blisters, was stiff and still tired. And I was not far behind!! Since were in sheep country, we should at least look around, so we hiked up to a saddle and spent some of the day glassing and looking for sheep. We saw moose and goats but no sheep. We also saw two of the biggest mule deer bucks I had ever seen; both had to be 350 lbs.+ and over 180. We had tags, but they didn’t open until November.




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

    The next day, we decided to head back down as newbie wasn’t feeling good. On the way down, we chased some elk but couldn’t seal the deal. Once back at the lake, we headed to the second lake we had seen in the distance when we were higher up. Along the way, we found an old cabin that looked dry and comfortable. So, we decided to make this our base camp and see what was around.

    The next day, I headed up a valley and saw 10-12 ewes and lambs and a couple banana rams. That afternoon I glassed the other side of the lake. I found some ewes and three rams, two that looked good. But they could have been on the moon because they were across the lake, and we had no boat. It would have been an all-day hike with a big river crossing to get to them. So, all I could do is watch.

    The next day I went for another hike and saw more young sheep, but no legal rams. When I got back, newbie let me know that he had found a canoe and a horse, yes, a horse. It was hobbled and had a big bell on its neck. It would follow him around as he walked along the beach but would not allow him to approach.

    The next day, day 6, I went for another walk. I set up the spotting scope and was glassing the hills above the camp when something dark caught my eye. A check with the scope showed….A RAM!! At least I think it was with the old Spacemaster 15x45 spotting scope at 45 power!! Then I noted another RAM!! Both were feeding in an open bowl that was accessible from below. I quickly packed up and ran back down to camp. I told newbie what I had seen, and he got these big eyes and asked What Do We Do???? I looked at him with this WTF do you mean??? Grab your pack, your gun and bino’s and lets go!! So off we went.

    Cont.

    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"!

  5. #4
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    Re: 30 years ago this week....

    About halfway up, on an rocky outcropping, we stopped to grab our breath and see if we could still spot them. I set up the scope and soon had them focused. Newbie took a look; you could see the energy surging through him. Now you could see that they were both mature rams, although still not sure that if they were full curl. No 8 years back then. On the way up, while hiking through some timber, we came across a spring that filled a small pool before heading down hill. We topped up and head up. Two hours later we broke out of the timber. We found a spot to settle down and to see if we could figure out where we were. Once we figured out that we had come out exactly where we wanted to, we planned our next move.

    We snuck up to a small ridge and peaked over the top…..nothing, we glassed and glassed and saw nothing. Then I caught movement above and across the bowl from us. We waited and glassed and glassed. Then I saw the movement again and focus on it. Then I saw what it was. It was the top of the horns of a ram that was feeding in a small depression in the bowl. We searched and searched for the other ram but could not find it. We had agreed that who ever spotted the animal would be the shooter. I told newbie to stay in place and keep an eye out for the other ram while I would sneak over the ridge and drop down and sneak up to the next one. I dropped my pack and slipped over with just my bino’s and gun.

    I didn't take many pictures, but I managed to take this one, which I don't really remember why. Ram is supposed to be just over the ridge in front of me.....


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

    This is F'n awesome ! looking forward to the rest

  7. #6
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    Re: 30 years ago this week....

    Oooweee! Keep er goin...

  8. #7
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    Re: 30 years ago this week....

    I got to the next ridge and took a few minutes to settle down. The wind was blowing straight across the bowl and into my face. Then I did something that I still cannot explain to anyone. I slipped off my boots…… and crept up to the ridge. I peaked over and immediately saw the dark-haired ram about 250 yards across and slightly above me. I put the bino’s on him and saw what I was looking for; full curl with lamb tips. I grabbed one of my boots to put my gun on (maybe that is why I took them off…..), settled in, put the cross hairs behind the shoulder and squeezed the trigger. At the shot the ram dropped and started rolling down the slope. Yes!!! Holly shit I just shot a Stone Ram!!!!

    I looked back to see newbie running down the hill towards me, a serious look on his face. I looked back at my ram to see it trying to get back up, so I settled down again and put another one into its chest and it dropped. Then newbie crashed down beside me and said there was two other rams…..WHAT!!! I had tunnel vision on my ram and didn’t see the others. I quickly looked to find the others; I found one that was making its way across the bowl to the far ridge. A quick look determined that this ram was HEAVY and broomed off!! He was walking three quarters away and we could not tell if he was full curl. Newbie then said what about the other one. He was standing above where my ram was originally standing just looking around. I told newbie to get settled on this one and we would see if he was legal. He settled in, while I used my boot….again as a rest, to watch this other ram through my binos. After a couple minutes, newbie asked what I thought, still couldn’t tell. Then the ram turned broadside and dropped his head down to feed; I saw horn well above the bridge of the nose and said yes he was legal. It seemed newbie shot at the word yes as his shot caught me off guard!! I watched the ram and it was still standing with its head up. Did he miss??

    Then I heard cursing and looked over to see newbie fiddling with his gun! He said it was jammed….so I slide mine over to him and told him to hold dead on. As he was getting ready, I watched the rams front legs buckle and he slide down the slope….Holly Double Shit!!…two stone rams down!!

    We sat there in silence for what seemed like an hour, all you could hear was our breathing. Then we both looked at each other and started to laugh and giggle like little girls!! We watched both rams, plus the big broomed of bugger who now stood broadside at 350 yards and gave us both a regal stare and showed us that he too was legal, before he sauntered over the ridge and out of our lives!!!

    * sorry I can no longer find the couple field photos I took. Lots has happened in 30 years!!

    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"!

  9. #8
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    Re: 30 years ago this week....

    Newbie got his gun sorted out; apparently, in his haste to rechamber, he had short stroked the bolt, which caused it to jam! I put my boots back on….with a weird look from newbie, then walked down and across to where my ram was. He was dark caped, full curl ram with lamb tips breaking about 2.5” above the bridge. I was ecstatic!!

    We then walked up to newbies and as we got closer, I was starting to see just how big he was. When newbie picked up his head and turned it sideways…..WOW!! he was a stud ram!! Light caped, light coloured horns that dropped way down below the jaw and back up to break the bridge by an easy 3+”!

    We quickly dressed and caped the rams and took the hinds, back straps and tenderloin in the packs and headed back down….yes we left the horns, cape and fronts buried in some rock as we were both spent from the hike up and excitement of the hunt. Dumb, rookie mistake!! Darkness overcame us as we descended the mountain. Old, D Cell flashlights came on as we made our way down. Soon, newbie and I were discussing how we were not doing that well and that we should take a break, but we were still on a steep slope. So, with encouragement to each other, we kept going. As anyone knows hiking downhill with any significant weight is a real leg burner, especially to us islanders who are used to living and working at sea level, quite literally.

    As we were stumbling around in the dark, we came across a beautiful site….remember that spring we hit on the way up…well we stumbled upon it on our way back down. We crashed beside it, I made a small fire and newbie pulled out this huge box of semi sweet chocolate (the Bakers kind used for cooking). We drank water, ate chocolate and sat around the fire. Half an hour later, newbie says he feels better and he wants to keep going. I thought we were spending the night there, but he was ready to go. Fire out, water filled up and packs on our back, off we go.

    There was a moon that night and when we broke out onto one of the open bluffs, it was magical to see the moon reflecting off the water in the dark! It gave us some more encouragement and we soon made it to the horse trail and onto the cabin. We quickly hung the meat high in the trees and then grabbed the whiskey bottle and had a toast at 0230 (that 2:30 am for all of you that can’t tell real time….). We had left to chase the sheep at 1500 (3 pm) and 11.5 hours later were back at the cabin. We were spent like a spawned salmon. We hit the fart sack and passed out fast.

    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"!

  10. #9
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    Re: 30 years ago this week....

    Fantastic story !!

  11. #10
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    Re: 30 years ago this week....

    Wow great story. Keep it up!
    WSSBC
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