MacMtnHunter
08-11-2013, 03:50 PM
So after a few years of both myself and my old man putting in for a dall sheep draw we finally drew tags... Both drew tags for the same zone (highly unbelievable!!!) thinking that if one of us got draw then we would make the trip. Made it even better knowing we would have two sheep tags in hand.
So on the 26th of July Myself, my wife, father and a close family friend set out for Whitehorse. After two full days of driving we made it, had a full day to get our trailer set up for my mother and then planned to head out to Atlin to catch our air charter.
Since no one in the crew had ever hunted that area we were highly unsure of which lake to land on in our zone. The evening prior to the flight we pulled out the maps and decided on a central location of where we could land.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1003517_10153100595080445_986978836_n.jpg
July 29th found us at Atlin with our stuff quickly loaded in the plane and headed for our area. Once in the air we got the pilot to do a quick tour of our area to make a final decision on where to land. All plans from the evening prior went out the window and we landed on a smaller lake that eneded up gaining us a bit more elevation. Unloading our stuff from the plane the pilot was off and reality set in... we were finally dall sheep hunting after months of planning, training and preperation! After an hour or so we dawned the packs and set out for the high country through some of the worst brush that I have ever had the pleasure of hiking through with a sixty pound pack! After about 6 hours we made it to a good basin with lots of water and a couple level places to set up tents. Needles to say the crew was exhausted and we hit the sacks.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/972316_10153100595710445_1508818540_n.jpg
July 30th - 530am sharp wake up - after stuffing down some food we split into two groups and headed different directions in search of some sheep. Having spotted some sheep across the valley the night before we thought that the sheep might be hanging on the other side of the mountain from where we set up camp. After hiking all day (approx 6km from camp) my wife and I deceded that we should sit down and have a good break and some food before heading back to camp. Having just crested a ridge and looking down into an "empty basin" we were a little less on edge. We pulled off the boots and had a good ciesta... a couple hours later we were just throwing our gear into our packs to make the treck back when I looked out into what was the middle of the basin and there stood three rams!!! One smaller half curl and two full curl rams stood right in front of us in the basin! Holy crap we had found sheep and good ones at that! After about an hour of scoping these rams we decided that it was best to sneak back out and leave without being noticed. Back in camp that night we tried to play it off like we hadn't seen anything but we couldn't keep the smiles of our faces!!! After showing my dad and friend the pictures of the rams they were pretty pumped! Both crews put the miles on that day and we hit the sack again with thoughts of sheep in our heads.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/524367_10153100595640445_1187299193_n.jpg
July 31st - not much to report on the days sightings... we all headed back to a more descrete location to view the basin the sheep had been spotted in. Without being able to see much my dad and friend set out to hike a higher ridge above the basin to try to find the sheep. Myself and my wife stayed behind to keep an eye out on a couple ewes and lambs that we had spotted across the valley. After watching the boys crest the ridge I noticed a lone sheep out on the far ridge below them. I quickly threw up the scope... It was the biggest of the three rams we had see. We frantically signalled to boys that the sheep were likely directly below them and directed them to call off the stalk. As they headed back we watched the ram feed out of sight back down into the basin. After the boys got back to us we all decided that it would be best to head back to camp and leave the sheep undisturbed.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/524350_10153100685050445_713438227_n.jpg
So on the 26th of July Myself, my wife, father and a close family friend set out for Whitehorse. After two full days of driving we made it, had a full day to get our trailer set up for my mother and then planned to head out to Atlin to catch our air charter.
Since no one in the crew had ever hunted that area we were highly unsure of which lake to land on in our zone. The evening prior to the flight we pulled out the maps and decided on a central location of where we could land.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1003517_10153100595080445_986978836_n.jpg
July 29th found us at Atlin with our stuff quickly loaded in the plane and headed for our area. Once in the air we got the pilot to do a quick tour of our area to make a final decision on where to land. All plans from the evening prior went out the window and we landed on a smaller lake that eneded up gaining us a bit more elevation. Unloading our stuff from the plane the pilot was off and reality set in... we were finally dall sheep hunting after months of planning, training and preperation! After an hour or so we dawned the packs and set out for the high country through some of the worst brush that I have ever had the pleasure of hiking through with a sixty pound pack! After about 6 hours we made it to a good basin with lots of water and a couple level places to set up tents. Needles to say the crew was exhausted and we hit the sacks.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/972316_10153100595710445_1508818540_n.jpg
July 30th - 530am sharp wake up - after stuffing down some food we split into two groups and headed different directions in search of some sheep. Having spotted some sheep across the valley the night before we thought that the sheep might be hanging on the other side of the mountain from where we set up camp. After hiking all day (approx 6km from camp) my wife and I deceded that we should sit down and have a good break and some food before heading back to camp. Having just crested a ridge and looking down into an "empty basin" we were a little less on edge. We pulled off the boots and had a good ciesta... a couple hours later we were just throwing our gear into our packs to make the treck back when I looked out into what was the middle of the basin and there stood three rams!!! One smaller half curl and two full curl rams stood right in front of us in the basin! Holy crap we had found sheep and good ones at that! After about an hour of scoping these rams we decided that it was best to sneak back out and leave without being noticed. Back in camp that night we tried to play it off like we hadn't seen anything but we couldn't keep the smiles of our faces!!! After showing my dad and friend the pictures of the rams they were pretty pumped! Both crews put the miles on that day and we hit the sack again with thoughts of sheep in our heads.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/524367_10153100595640445_1187299193_n.jpg
July 31st - not much to report on the days sightings... we all headed back to a more descrete location to view the basin the sheep had been spotted in. Without being able to see much my dad and friend set out to hike a higher ridge above the basin to try to find the sheep. Myself and my wife stayed behind to keep an eye out on a couple ewes and lambs that we had spotted across the valley. After watching the boys crest the ridge I noticed a lone sheep out on the far ridge below them. I quickly threw up the scope... It was the biggest of the three rams we had see. We frantically signalled to boys that the sheep were likely directly below them and directed them to call off the stalk. As they headed back we watched the ram feed out of sight back down into the basin. After the boys got back to us we all decided that it would be best to head back to camp and leave the sheep undisturbed.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/524350_10153100685050445_713438227_n.jpg