I'll give you the account of the trip which resulted in the ram I pictured here in the AR Forum. I flew to Anchorage on 8-7 meeting my guide and other hunting partner. We drove north to his home where we stayed overnight and prepared our packs for the flight out. The next day was a good flying day so we were flown in individually to the remote airstrip in the Chugach Mts.. The transporter said he had taken in a few other guys which was not unusual because we were hunting State land. We saw a 3 other tent camps in the valley as we arrived. Once all present we headed out in the wrong direction inorder to hide our real intentions. The guide knew where the sheep were spread out along both sides of a long ridge separating two valleys. We would concentrate there as a group of four - 2 hunters, a guide and an assistant.
The guide lead the way gradually gaining altitude and using the ridges to cover our true intent. Once we got sufficiently back in the ridges, we turned our direction to our true goal. We make a circuitous route taking some 5 hours to make camp at around 9:00 pm..
The next day was the 9th so the guide and assistant did some scouting to check on the whereabouts of the sheep. Arriving back around noon, they indicated that they found a couple of bands further south along the drainage. They wanted to break camp and setup a little closer so as to get the jump on them very early on the 10th. After having some lunch, we broke camp and moved about a mile further down the ridge. We camped just below the leeward side of the main ridge. The view was nothing short of spectacular in all directions. The rain and wind were with us off and on and it looked like it wasn't going away. We scraped two flat spots on the ground as the slope was too great to set up a comfortable camp. Looking like two shallow graves, we setup our tents adjacent to each other and stretched a tarp between them. This gave us a "dry" area to set the large backpacks. A late evening scouting trip confirmed the location of the sheep.
The alarm sounded in the next tent at 0300am and the stove soon had water boiling. Breakfast was instant oatmeal, a granola bar and hot cocoa. By 0400 we were heading out in the brisk wind with spitting rain. We could see enough due to the full moon shining occasionally through the cloud cover. I was grateful for my walking stick. These Alaska boys could really cover the ground swifty and silently.
We were not in a race, but we wanted to make the move on what sheep were nearby as we didn't know how aggressive the closest camp would be.
They were a guided group of two fellows and two guides as well.

As the sky lightened, the guide located a 1/2 curl sitting high on a perch surveying the area. We knew that the other sheep were closeby. We were using the periodic cloud cover to mask our moves whenever we were moving in the open. Before crossing a stretch of open cover, the guide looked downslope and saw sheep feeding about a thousand feet below. We backed up to gain cover and begain our descent. Because of the steep angle we tried to be careful about kicking any rocks loose as we were directly above the group of 7 rams feeding below. We closed the distance by hiding behind rock outcrops. We got to 335 yards and ran out of available cover. I talked it over with the guide as we hadn't determined who would shoot first. As I had taken a previous 36" ram in 2002, I said that Dave could take the first shot as this was his first sheep hunt. I was in no hurry to tag out and wanted to get a bigger ram if that was possible. The guide and Dave moved a little downslope and to the right taking them out of view from myself and the assistant. The wind was really blowing a good 25 mph sustained up the valley off of a glacier.
About 75 minutes later, we finally heard a shot. That was a good sign. But about 15 seconds later, a second shot rang out. The guide and Dave soon walked back to our location and said that Dave missed. Dave was shivering and shaking due to the constant wind and light rain while being pinned down the entire time on the rocks. It took so long because the sheep were constantly milling about, feeding, bedding and then up again. The guide had to keep identifying the leader for Dave.

The time was now 1015 and we headed back up the mountain to the ridge. It was decided to use the ridge, go up the valley in the general direction the 7 rams took as they ran up the valley. The cloud cover was moving in heavier now obscurring vision over half the time. Once back up on top, we began walking the ridge up valley. The cloud cover wasn't getting any worse so we continued on. We watched both sides of the ridge as we continued up the drainage.
About 90 minutes later, we were at the head of the valley where the drainage split in two. We got up on the last lichen covered hilltop and peered over the edge. There through the blowing clouds we could make out sheep about a mile away. The guide broke out his well used Leupold Gold Ring spotter and began to check them out.
We had re-located the same group of 7 only now they had picked up 3 more rams as they headed up the valley. They had settled down from the earlier encounter and were taking turns feeding on the sparse grass and bedding down. We too took a late lunch break with some granola bars, jerky and water.
Now that it was my turn to shoot, the guide asked me if I wanted to pursue the rams. As he had the best look of the rams I asked him if the lead ram was better than my previous. He said that it both heavier and longer. That was good enough for me. I was not holding out for a 40" ram but a better legal ram from my '02 ram. So the decision was made by me to start up the stalk all over again. It was 2:15pm.

Getting to them was going to be tricky. Now there were 10 pairs of eyes and we had to cross four ridges to get over to them. We would use the wind whipped clouds to our advantage. We backed off the ridge and circled down to the left and walked a secondary ridge to its end. We then climbed down the ridge and began to cross the series of ridges and small rock gullies. When we had to cross over the top, we waited for a cloud bank to move in. We then walked quickly as a group and dropped down into the gully. Some of the crossings had basketball to bushel size rocks - and they weren't stable!
As a "flatlander" I really watched my footing and was again glad I had the old walking stick.
Once we got caught in the open and hunkered down for 3-4 minutes to wait for the next cloud bank. What looked like four ridges turned out to 8 or 9 as there were smaller ridges to cross in between the larger ones. We were side hilling the whole time and the sheep were essentially at our same elevation. As we got to within two ridges, three rams had fed higher on the mountain and were bedded down - one facing us. The other seven were down in the rock gully of the last ridge. As we closed in, one ram came up to the ridgetop to look around. I was a bit shocked to see that he was so close. We ranged him at 200 yards. He milled about, looked around but didn't seem too concerned. We all were camoed and motionless. When he would the other way, we all crab walked closer. At the top of the last ridge, we had pushed it close enough. The ram must have scene some movement or just realized that those "four rocks" looked a little peculiar. I chambered a round in my Remingtion Mountain Rifle in .270Win.. I had handloaded 140gr Accubonds behind H4831 at 2865fps. Not a mighty magnum by todays' standards but certainly proven by me and some guy named Jack O'Connor. My 3.5-10x40 VXIII was up all the way. I assumed a sitting position with my arm in a sling ready for action. The guide was next to me and the group of six now came up to the ridge top. The guide said he would find the leader and identify which one he was. It all happened quickly. The group of six came up, milling about nervously. The guide called out the far one on the right. I looked at his horns in my scope as he faced us broadside at 150 yards. As I settled in for the shot, he turned away getting ready to lead the group down the off side of the ridge. I took the only shot I had - a steep right rear quartering away shot. I aimed for the right rear quarter and pressed the trigger. At the shot the ram visibly was hit and stumbled over the ridge. The others re-apeared on the opposite side looking back and down in the narrow ravine. The guide had Dave move up quickly and set up his rifle and bipod. He identified the next biggest ram as they watched us from 200 yards. The ram he called out was far left and low. Dave took the shot and the ram collapsed like a sack of potatoes. He slide out of sight down into the same ravine. Dave was shooting a Remington 700 in 7STW. He was using 140gr. TBBC's and a 6.5-20 scope.

We were pretty excite as 6 hours previous we had muffed out first chance. It was now 4:15 and we had two rams down.

While we took a few photos from where we shot, we heard a rockslide. We stood up and saw one of the rams go slding down a chute. We watched knowing it was about 1500 feet to the bottom. Thankfully it went about another 50 yards and came to a rest.

At first we didn't know which ram we had observed sliding. When we climbed over the hill, we only saw the one and I became concerned something bad happenend. But, through the cloud bank, the guide saw another white object about another 75 yards further down the gully. Yes, it was mine! Wow, two legal rams both down the same rock chute about 75 yards apart!

The photo sessions commenced as we admired our prizes. The rams were really close in size.
I produced a lightweight tape measure. The guide measured mine at 39 5/8 with 14 1/4 bases.
Daves' ram was 39 2/8" with 14 1/4 bases. Were these twin rams from birth?

The steep unsettled rocks made caping and de-boning a real battle. But with a lot of help, we had mine done in about two hours and moved upslope to start Daves' ram. We were done by about 8:45pm. Now began the tough climb back up that sliding rocks. That took about an hour to re-gain our elevation so we could side hill back a mile to the main ridge. We arrived there about 10:00pm. We stashed the meat, capes, rifles and spotting scope there. There was a snow bank on the north slope and we buried the meat and capes in it.
We left considerably lighter now, walking the ridge some two miles back to camp. We arrived at 12:30am, made some hot noodle dish with moose bologne and tea. We got to sleep about 0115 - some 23 hours after getting up. Was it worth it? You bet!

Throughout the day, if the angle was right, we glassed the airstrip way off in the distance. We could see the other "hunters and guides" milling about their tents. On opening day! I guess they weren't as motivated as we were.

We got up about 0700am on the 11th, had breakfast, broke camp with no help from the gale force winds. We journeyed back along the ridge some two miles to our meat stash. Got rained on and snowed on but we didn't care! The guide and assistant loaded up the deboned meat in their backpacks. They each had quite a load that we estimated to be about 125 pounds each.
They proved their conditioning as they descended
down the talus slope like speedsters. They crossed the snow patches and lichen covered ground on their way to the airstrip. They far outdistanced us two hunters but that was ok.
We had gotten what we came for. By luck and some good planning we had scored on two large rams from the same group! On opening day!

Once at the airstrip, the other "hunters" and "guide" came over to see our good fortune.
They said they were watching five rams across the valley and were about to make a run at them.
While we waited for the PA-12, we watched them climb a mountain in pursuit of the rams.

I have not mentioned specific names inorder to keep the pressure off of the area. I don't know if I ever will return, these hunts aren't cheap as you well know. I have had the good fortune of taking two rams and a goat with the same guide. He is booked for many years in advance.

Another fantastic trip to a great State!

Great story !!!!
Tough hunt without doubt.
Congratulations.
L

The early bird catches the worm, eh?
Well done!

Frans

Enjoyed that! Thanks for sharing.

KG

M774Now
Very Double Nice Ram.. You'll have to go back for the Ram with a few more digits on the tape.. Now, for the Super,Super, Secert question..Who did Ya hunt with..
I'm still wet from all the rain..You..
AK

Thanks for the your story. I appreciated your insight in how sheep hunting should be.