The beginning of the end.. for more Stone's sheep?

[Jim Prawn]

Our story begins on the last day of the Blacktail season on Van Isle last year. My hunting partner Darryll and I headed to the family cabin to cut some firewood and if we had time, look for a buck to fill Buddies last tag. After a good BS over a few Luckies on Friday night we got up a bit late and headed to a spot just down the road for some wood. We decided to have a quick look in the slash before firing up the saws, just in case. I through my binos up and immediately spotted a decent fork. We made a brief stalk to close the gap and after a courtesy warning shot Buddy put the buck down.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/woodbuckresize.jpg

With both our tags now filled and the wood shed full we kicked it up a notch for Saturday night and broke out a large bottle of the Captain. About 2/3 the way through the bottle it was time to start planning for next season and our decision was made - sheep it would be. Its now been 9 months of spending, Lucky beer, planning, researching, Captain Morgan, training and more spending and were finally ready to go tonight on the 5:00 ferry! Very excited to see the north part of our province, hopefully see some sheep and caribou, catch a grayling on the fly, and maybe just get lucky. We can only hope that 2011 hasnt run out of double headers just yet!
To be continued in about 2 weeks....
JP

[835]

Great start!
hope to see more pics of dead things!

[325]

Good luck!

[kayjayess]

Good luck boys. Hope you , your partner and the Captain are successful. Remember - lots of pics

[pg83]

Best of luck to you both. Have a safe trip and share your adventures when you return.

[huntcoop]

If ya wanna be REALLY successful bring Sailor Jerry with you, he always brings good fortune!

[ufishifish2]

Great start adding pics of successful hunts already.
Best of luck to you both!!!

[Jim Prawn]

So we're back, and an adventure it was. We had reserved for the 5 oclock ferry but made it in time for the 4, another head start. The 24 hour drive was uneventful, and I must admit a little dissapointing in terms of the country to look at in the North, until you reach the top of the sheep hills. Our first day was gruelling, a 10 hour hike with 65 lb packs geared for a week in the bush. Multiple creek crossings (like 10) in the first few KM through water cold enough to freeze the knackers off a polar bear. Lost the "trail" a couple times adding at least 4 unnecessary hours to the trip. Finally we could see sheep country and dragged our sorry asses into bed. Picked a mountain and made the final ascent in about 3 hours to where we could see through the eyeballs deep shrubbery. I turned to buddy and said "Finally we're gonna be able to see something."

[dmace]

Wish you were on my roof instead of prancing around in the hills !
D

[r106]

WTF and ?????????????

[Wood butcher]

Come on Prawn. Let's here about the rest of the trip!!!

[plumbcrazy]

Tell me more whats the wait!!!!!!!

[Jim Prawn]

OK, so I turn back to the hill ahead of me and... Holy S*#t!! SHEEP! About 150 yards in front of me 2 good rams are trotting down the ridge. We drop our packs and grab our binos as they get closer to the ridge and Darryll says "here come 3 more." As I focus in on the two lead rams the first one spins around, now skylined and they rear back on their back legs and POW! A fraction of a second later we could hear the heavy, hollow "THUNK!" of their horns smashing together. And then, there they were, gone. The 3 followers were all small rams, but I knew that at least the first ram had definite potential. Now, a seasoned sheep hunter may have been able to make a positive ID under these circumstances, but keep in mind that this was not only our first sheep hunt but our first encounter with Stone's rams and we were basically frozen in awe at what had just happened. All of a sudden the last 13 hours of mental and physical anguish all seemed worth while.
We made our way out of the timber and quickly offloaded what gear we could; tent, sleeping bags etc, had a quick bite to eat and calmed our nerves a bit then headed off in the direction of the rams. We hoped they weren't too spooked and would bed down in the rugged "Ram rock" on the side hill so we snuck from ridge to ridge slowly peeking over the top hoping to get another look. On a bout the third one, inch by inch I poked my head over the top until I spotted a ram bedded on the next ridge about 100 yards away, but he already had me pegged. We dropped back to try and get higher but by the time we came over the top again all we saw was the hind quarters of the last two rams go over the edge. Not wanting to push them right off the mountain we decided to ease off and head up to the main ridge above to check out the rest of our new surroundings, occassionally having a look over the edge to see if we could spot the rams from above.

[Jim Prawn]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/sheep23.jpg

[BlackwaterMerc]

Yes, Yes..... " " ... Hurry!

[Jim Prawn]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/20110823-054456.jpg (javascript:;)

[Jim Prawn]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/20110822-230758_002_.jpg (javascript:;)

[whitetailsheds]

whoa.....this is looking good!

[moose2]

You got my interest now we are ready for the rest now Jim. I am looking forward to hear how this one plays out.
Mike

[BiG Boar]

Come on Prawn, spit it out!

[Jim Prawn]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/sheep41.jpg

So we decide to leave these rams alone for a day or 2 and explore the ridges and basins on either side of us for more sheep. We did bump a couple more small rams along the way (the previous photos - something funny about that first pic, he was really only about 3/4), but we could not spot any sheep on the surrounding hills and so decided to move camp west where we could explore some new ground. The next morning we awoke to strong, cold winds and heavy intermittent rainfall. We broke camp quickly when the rain stopped for a few minutes and headed west with fully loaded packs, constantly peering over the edge when finally I spotted a dark bodied ram bedded 365 yards below us:

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/20110823-200033.jpg (http://javascript<b></b>:;)

[Jim Prawn]

Now at this point I'd like some input from experienced sheep hunters on what their first impression is on that ram, because he looked good to us, but that was certainly not the "viewed squarely from the side" look that we needed to be confident that he was legal. So as we are planning how to get down to the left of the ram to where we would be close to level with him, he gets up and walks away, back towards where we just came from. We dropped our packs, I grabbed my gun and Darryll grabbed the spotting scope and we paralleled the ridge above the ram hoping to get a better look, but we were always one step behind. Finally we were back within sight of where our camp was the night before and Darryll stops; "There he is - right where our tent was! - I think he's legal Jimmy!". I dropped down and put the scope on him but now he had us pegged and was facing me head on, but I could tell this was a different ram, dark, narrow horns. Then another ram came into view below him and I shifted position onto him - this was the one, wide with a bit of flare on his tips, but he was angling downhill, not giving me the view I wanted. Just then I noticed the cold stiff breeze blowing right towards the rams and the top one lifted his head into the air, bucked his nose a couple times and started down the ridge. As he turned broadside we could see his left side curl past his nose but he was quite short on his right side; I really wanted that other ram. They were all on the move now (there was a third smaller ram with them) and the larger ram never looked back. At one point I must have had 2.5 lbs on my 3 lb trigger on that smaller ram but I knew I wasnt going to be happy with him and we watched them dissappear. After much contemplation we decided that if they were that hard to judge, they weren't worthy of putting on the wall and we would leave them be for a year or two and try again.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/20110822-230729.jpg (http://javascript<b></b>:;)

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/sheep32.jpg

[Jim Prawn]

We spent a couple more days in that spot then made our way back to the highway, mentally and physically drained. To all you 40 and 50 year olds out there doing this every year for 7 - 14 days, good on ya, I'll have to work hard all year to keep that up! We hit a couple of "day spots" along the way, saw a few more decent rams but nothing worth going after, and then made our long journey home. We had a couple BS sessions with some hunters from Fort st John and Fort Nelson who provided us with some good information and advice for next time, saw some bison and caribou and got my close encounter with some rams. An awesome experience, and I think a helluva start for us first timers. I never did catch my grayling so I guess that means I have two reasons to go back. And remember, this is still "The beginning of the end" !

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/sheep61.jpg

Thanks for listening - hopefully after this weekend I'll have a success story to share after opening day of deer season!
JP

[ElectricDyck]

Sounds like a good hunt! Sheep country is beautiful, thanks for posting the story.

[budismyhorse]

A very honest rookie sheep hunter story.... Thanks for sharing. ..... And excellent judgment letting them walk. Best to wait for ram that is a " no brainer". When you see one you'll know;)

[moose2]

Good story and nice pictures. I know you will be successful on your next try becuase of what you said " I spotted a dark bodied ram bedded 365 yards below us "
Good thread thanks for posting.
Mike

[porcupine]

A good story and a good hunt. Thanks for sharing.

[Wood butcher]

That still sounds like a pretty good trip to me Jimbo. Theres no doubt in my mind you two would have been given'er trying to get your sheep.
I'll bet it's just alittle different than huntin the island :)
Hope you"ve got a few more pictures to see!

[whitetailsheds]

To all you 40 and 50 year olds out there doing this every year for 7 - 14 days, good on ya, I'll have to work hard all year to keep that up!
JP

This statement JP, reminded me of something an Alberta buddy said a few years ago. He came with me to video my 14th Stone hunt.
He had climbed to get some scenery footage before the season opened. I had gone off to scout some other country.
While he was filming, he made the statement, "I hope I never get too old to get above treeline".
That has stayed with me since then (2008), and think of it often.
Judging from this thread, your sheep hunting future will be good.

[Philcott]

Good story Jim and it just goes to show that the trip itself is worth the journey. You'll get a gooder one day.

[Islandeer]

Great story and hunt! Now for some island bucks ....

[835]

Good story Jim,
And from what i hear it does take a year or two to get the bugs out. Looks like you found the spot though. At least you have a place to go, and that country looks awesome.
i have a bit of fat to loose before i go even entertaining that idea!

[Singleshotneeded]

I agree with Huntcoop, once you've compared Sailor Jerry's rum to Captain Morgan you'll mutiny and make Jerry the Captain!
Much smoother stuff! Captain Morgan has gotten too popular and the quality has gone downhill, they don't have the time to
age it properly. Keep us posted on the stoned sheep you're after, they should be easy to hunt if they're baked, I would think! :-)

[dmace]

Jesus christ prawn !!! your slower tellin a story than I am framin ! Nice trip ! Leave some deer for me and ry
Bro!

[kennyj]

Great story. I really enjoyed it. Good Judgement call on those rams. Wait for a no-brainer then you can't go wrong.
kenny