my first sheep hunt,

[Brett]

Well lets start with I love reading these stories, so I thought I should share our "adventure". We have never hunted sheep before, but have hiked together a couple times and pretty far 42km last time.

Day 1
drive up to our parking spot and start the hike into the alpine, couple hours of trudging along, then started looking for sheep! We made our way towards the back of the range where we had planned to camp and at 6 set up camp for the night. We were still a couple km away from our goal.. if your reading this it is meant to be informative...NOTICE we passed NO water on way in, creeks ,springs,lakes,puddles nothing!

Day 2
wake up and the plan becomes to leave camp set up and head farther back in search of water and sheep! we would have taken camp but as a backup we thought we may need to bail. We took our packs, food,guns, spotter and camcorder. We hiked another few km and set up to have a look farther ahead...There is a water hole a 1000 or so feet below us...So we climbed up to the peak of the hill we were on and start looking at our destination hill....5 rams!!! there they are and 2 look heavy from 2km away in my vortex Skyline ( cheep spotter) we watch them for an hour or so making there way across the hill..Then the plan became to go down to that water load up and go back to get camp.. got down to the water and it is almost dried up surrounded by mud 3'deep and stinks! and Shane says there are no animals drinking this, a quick check proves the animals are staying away..... NOW WHAT? well back to camp to leave, what option is there? we need water! give me 5 to finish

[Brett]

so we make our way back to camp and guess what?! a bear has destroyed our tent, both sleeping pads, Shane's pillow, contact case, deodorant, the salt for a cape and my tooth paste. So now we are 1000 in the hole and still no water...like nothing at this point, we pack everything up and head out...no breaks just keep walking, need to get to the truck, need to get to the truck..we were both light headed and feeling extremely thirsty.... we made it to the truck hours later and rushed to a creek we drove over to get some water!

The night we spent up we heard a cow elk prob 100y away mew and whine for hours... a friend has suggested it may have been looking for its calf, the bear may have been drawn in or may have already taken a calf there??

or don't leave toothpaste in your camp

or make sure there is water where your going

any pointers anyone has?, thought some people may learn from our misshap

[nature girl]

Brett what bad luck. Atleast you tried to find drinkable water. Man you sure are lucky you were not in camp when that bear came around. He sounded like he would of not been a good bear to meet face to face. Maybe you should buy one of those pak alarms from HBC for your next sheep trip you plan to do.
The season is still early dont give up just get back out there and try to find yourself a sheep.

[Amphibious]

Life-straw. Portable Filter. Purification tablets. Boiling.

All water is drinkable if you're prepared. You'll be ready next time :)

Deodorant? My pack is never light enough for that.

[hunter fisher]

man bad luck but a great read! love hearing about guys just going for it for the first time! better luck in the future.

[ducktoller]

Deodorant attracts the berrrrs

[Brett]

My pack with water ( not enough :) ) and gun was 45lbs

i thought it may have been the toothpaste ...
emailed MSR to see if they will sell me a new tent body, Easton covers there carbon poles for life.. If not it's a Hilleberg

[Buck]

Had the same issue with water 2 years ago.My dog almost died figured i would be carrying her out for sure.We made it out but that won't happen again.

[BlacktailStalker]

My only advice is I would have wiped my ass with the deodorant stick, left it for the bear. Went down, filled two empty 2L bottles with water, emptied the pack, taken 2 nights supplys and shot a ram.
To find rams that close and easy is a gift, best of luck next time.

[Brett]

No tent?....

[Krico]

As mentioned previously, life straw(cheap and light, works great!) boiling or tablets makes any water drinkable. We both carry siltarps as emergency shelters, they can be a backup tent, lots of other good uses too. No sleeping pad sucks, but is not a trip ender for me. Just a comfort item. No other water sources on your map or gps? I'd have loaded up with a few days water and gone back for in those rams!
live and learn

[REMINGTON JIM]

No tent?....

This is what you use - 1 each can keep your own gear and yourself in it on;y 2.5 lbs ! :wink: RJ

https://www.taigaworks.ca/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=12

[Rob Chipman]

Great story. Most times hunting I don't worry about water, but if I'm going to be climbing high its another story. I learned the hard way that climbing can be thirsty work and the higher you get the fewer creeks you find. What are you going do, right? Good decisions come from experience, and experience comes from bad decisions.

If I'm packing in I don't use a tent. I use a guide tarp from MEC. Light, good quality. A bivy sack is a good way to go too, like RJ says.

Go back and get 'em next time. You've got a better idea what you're getting into now.

[BlacktailStalker]

Siltarp 2, from MEC (cringe) great back up shelter.

[.264winmag]

X2 on siltarp 2, and water purification drops. Where we go water is extremely scarce, good clean water at 8km and again at 17km. 2 out of our 3 rams taken in that area was because of being able to purify stagnant water, once with a purifying pump, that I decided was too heavy, and second was with drops. Had we gone to good clean water we wouldn't have gotten those rams. Drops make water taste funny but a little mio makes it great.

[leadpillproductions]

That's a cool unit , to the original post tuff luck that sucks but least you know what to do now
This is what you use - 1 each can keep your own gear and yourself in it on;y 2.5 lbs ! :wink: RJ

https://www.taigaworks.ca/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=12

[Brett]

I am going to get a bivy for next time.. Thanks RJ we could both pack one at that weight
i have a life straw and unless I have a shit one they are near impossae to pull water through. Like even in my sink ?
we had an MSR filter pump but couldn't make it to the water the mud was 3' deep, I don't know I guess there's always a way... We do know for next time and this will work out .

[kennyj]

Thats tough. Leaving rams behind hurts.
Learning though.
kenny

[.264winmag]

I also leave a sweaty shirt or socks hanging off tent when I leave, a pile of grizz in our area usually see six or more and no problems yet...

[Krico]

i have a life straw and unless I have a shit one they are near impossae to pull water through. Like even in my sink ?.
You have a shit one. I would compare using mine to having a McDonalds milkshake through a straw.

[srupp]

Hmmm water is everything..
Look at the sil-dome...
Next spring shoot 2 bears...just cuz..
Good learning experience...shitty luck..
Cheers
Steven

[boxhitch]

Consider a Steri-pen
With these at least you know the water is safe to drink , it does nothing for taste or lumps or colour , but it kills the bad stuff effectively.

[two-feet]

Good story, great learning experience. Bears can be a bitch. Some of my very best memories of hunting and fishing are the " one that got away " type. Still lots of hunting season left.

[Moe.JKU]

Sounds like a good learning experience, hope you still can get out there this year for another look. Katadyn makes good water filters look at the hiker pro, or mini. I have the mini and it will do 7000L of water on one filter and you can replacements.