Hunter: Larry Shores

Outfitter: Arctic Red River Outfitters

Guides: Issac Dueling & Seth Duncan

Province/Area- NWT near Goober Lake. This is in the northern portion of the McKenzie mountains. It is approximately 10,000 square miles of pristine wilderness.

Dates- 8/29- 9/2 (Done 5 days early)

Rifle- 300 Win Mag made by Rifles, Inc with 3x18 Swarovski scope with ballistic turret

Ammo- Factory Black Hills 180 Accubond

Weather- you name it. Hot , cold, clear, foggy, raining , snow we had it all.

At the tender age of 58, almost 59), I decided to make yet another attempt to get a Dall's sheep. I have failed several times. This was the last remaining sheep for my NA Grand Slam. Given that I am from the flat lands approximately 50 feet above sea level, this could be quite a physical challenge.

The trip started off normal enough but quickly headed north ( I am from the south). My assistant started some unnecessary office drama as soon as I left. She was fired via satellite phone. I got some serious sinus drainage on the way. This developed into full on upper respiratory infection by the start of the hunt. I had a new scope. I have never had a ballistic turret scope before. It never occurred to me that I had no idea how to adjust it.

After a weather delay, we boarded the charter plane for an approximately 50 minute trip to ARRO's base camp. From there I was flown about 45 minutes to the hunting area via float plane. I was surprised to learn that, at least at first, I was going to be hunting out of a cabin. If the sheep were there, this did not hurt my feelings at all.

Day 1- We hoofed it a couple of miles to a pass to start glassing. We saw several sheep including a shooter ram. However, the ram was in a REALLY bad place. We also saw a grizzly or two.

I laid on the side of the hill glassing most of the day. While it wasn't that cold, I damn near froze to death as a result of simply not moving. At the end of the day, I recon we hoofed it about 8 miles.

The big problems I had were the shoe laces I was using and this upper respiratory junk I was getting. I was, unfortunately, starting to feel a lot worse. I was pissed off. I worked so hard to prepare. I could not adequately tighten my shoes with the Kevlar laces I bought. Had I not changed them, my feet would have been ground meat.

Day 2- We split up. I went with one guide. We went for a LONG hike. I recon we covered about 15 miles. We saw several sheep including the same ram from the previous day. The other guide saw nothing of interest.

The weather was still relatively good.

We discussed a long hike carrying the camp with us. It was agreed that we would wait to see what the weather was like before we committed. I was so sick at this point, that I needed to be careful.

Day 3- We got up the next morning. The guides called off the moving of the camp given my illness. Regardless, we took off for a very long hike ( in the 12-13 mile range). We saw some grizzlies and sheep. There was one legal ram but he was very small. We passed. I noticed bad weather on both sides of us. It never hit us though. We stayed dry in spite of the rain & snow on either side of us. Late in the day, a shooter was spotted a couple of miles from the camp. This was minutes before we were fogged in.

Day 4- we woke up to find that we were still totally fogged in. This lasted until early afternoon. When it cleared, we went out and spotted the rams quickly. Seth & I went after the rams while Issac watched through a spotting scope.

We started climbing the mountain. It was a massive boulder field. I opined that we were making too much noise. Seth agreed. Down we went. We continued by skirting the bottom of the mountain. We spotted the sheep and slowly climbed/crawled up the mountain. We got to a good place. We were 417 yards from the ram. I was preparing to shoot when the rams started walking our way. I guess we had been stealthy enough. We slowly crawled forward. I spotted one of the smaller rams at about 30 yards! We froze. He saw us but was not concerned. Had we moved,I think he would have bolted. I never dreamed that I could be this close to Dall's sheep.

The rams started feeding away from us. This was good. I was going to shoot the biggest ram at 70-80 yards. I decided to use the guide's shoulder as a rest in an abundance of caution. I had the gun on the guide's shoulder when just as I squeezed the trigger, he moved!!! Damn but I was pissed off. The rams took off. I ram a few yards and shot the ram as he was running. I hit him. The rams were climbing up the far side of the mountain and 3 more shot were fired at about 400 yards, all hits. The ram was mine. This made my Grand Slam of NA sheep.

The wildlife guys aged him at 11 years old. The longest horn was 39 & change. The shortest was a few inches shorter as it was broomed. I can't remember what they said.

All told I went up and down that mountain 4 times that day. I packed all of the guides things back. I recon I had 85 pounds on my back.

The weather turned to shit just as I got to the cabin. Fog & rain. Damn but I was glad I wasn't in a tent.

A sat phone call was made to base camp to advise them of my success. We were going to move to hunt caribou. The guides were confident of success in no more than 2 days.

Day 5- We woke up to 4 inches of snow on the ground and it was still coming down hard. I laid in my sleeping bag. Seth went out to relieve himself. He rushed back advising that there were 4 caribou bulls behind camp! Honestly, I thought he was f'ing with me. I jumped up, put on my pants and my crocs and out into the snow I went. I shot the bull from the corner of the cabin. He was a very nice bull. They estimate that he scored 380.

It was interesting. I had seen exactly 1 caribou cow in 4 days. Now, MANY bulls were pouring through the pass.

I was done. I was happy.

Other comments are as follows:

THE GUIDES

I thought the guides were very skilled. The stalk of the rams is something I will never forget. It was masterful. Plus they were nice guys.

THE AREA

It is a pristine 10,000 square miles. No roads. Rugged.

THE OUTFITTER

My impression is that Tavis runs an excellent outfit. He is an honest, no BS kind of guy. He is not bending or breaking the rules. Perhaps most importantly, his employees speak very highly if him and his practices.

EQUIPMENT

I am not going to write down the standard stuff. I am going to make some more specific comments as follows:

1- Boot laces. NEVER EVER use Kevlar laces. I would have been crippled had I not changed mine.

2- Trekking poles are a must. The make a huge difference.

3- Perhaps more importantly, I had rubber covers on the end of my trekking poles. I HIGHLY recommend this. Not only does it make the use of the poles quieter, they do not slide as much on the rocks.

4- When evaluating equipment/clothes, consider the weight of each item. It is sometimes possible to have similar quality with much reduced weight.

5- All outfitters will tell you to not bring your spotting scope. The guides have their own. This may well be true. However, one of the guides had a FAR less than adequate spotting scope, only 30 power. Communicate ahead of time with the guide. Bring a high quality spotting scope if he doesn't have a great spotter.

I took next to nothing and I still had about 45 pounds. When one adds their food and other things they need to carry, it is really easy to be at 75 pounds.

PREPARATION

Exercise all you can. This is a very physical hunt . Lift weights and do all the cardio you can. However, no matter how much you exercise, it is impossible to prepare for the rocks and the mushy ground.

I trained with a 60 pound pack. If I ever go again, I will train with much more weight.

COMPARISON TO HUNTING IN ALASKA

I am not here to slam any place or anyone. However, these are my observations:

1- It took me 1 day longer to get to the NWT.
2- The NWT is more expensive. This is no doubt due to the more remote location.
3- The mountains in the NWT are higher.
4- The terrain in the NWT is more rugged.
5- I NEVER saw another plane in the NWT. I constantly saw Super Cubs and the like in Alaska.
6- I would have to say that I saw more sheep in Alaska. However, most were lambs and ewes.
7- There is a far less chance of running into a local in the NWT. There is no chance of running into another outfitter in the NWT unless they are poaching.
8- My sat phone worked perfectly in AK. I had a hell of a time with it in the NWT. The guides had similar problems with their phones.


Would I recommend ARRO? Absolutely! Will I ever do another sheep hunt in North America? I don't know. I getting old. The backpacking will no doubt get harder and harder for me.

I will post pictures later.



















To be continued-having extreme difficulty with Photobucket tonight.

Larry,
Congratulations.
A great story, nice reading. Great information for a Dall sheep dreamer, Can not wait for the photos.
I know you did plan these trip well, and it did pay off
Thank you for sharing.

What a terrific story (so far) about one of our Creator's most beautiful pieces on earth! One can only hope and pray that civilization stays away! Look forward to the "rest of the story"! Congratulations and thanks for sharing.

Larry - Congratulations on your Grand Slam! I can only hope to get mine one day, and from the sounds of it you shot a fantastic ram! Can't wait to see the photographs.

Great report, very detailed but to the point. Thanks for the heads up on Kevlar laces as well. My laces are worn out and I looked at the Kevlar ones the other day. I'll steer clear from them.

Greg

Congratulations!!

Sounds like a hell of a hunt.

Now where's the pictures............

Congratulations on a great hunt and toughing out for a wonderful ram. Not a bad caribou either.
Jim

great and honest report.

Excellent article and super pictures.

Congratulations Larry

Very nice Ram and Caribou!!!

Congrats on great hunt Larry!

Congratulations Larry.
You got it done

Great report. Damn, work out all summer long and almost get put down by getting sick.....
Nice ram, Larry. And a nice caribou as well. Glad it worked out for you.
Congratulations.

Thanks all. I hope to be able to post more pics tonight.

Congrats on a great trip!!!

Congratulations Larry! Great NA Grand Slam!

Congratulations, Larry on a great hunt, super ram & completing your slam! My 1st Dall sheep hunt was back in '80. I'd imagine the mountains are a little steeper today...

Congratulations Larry, beautiful ram!

very nice. congrats!

Great trip.....glad you weathered it and scored.

Thanks gentlemen.

I just heard from a guide. Apparently the weather has been absolutely awful. It appears I was fortunate.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Thanks gentlemen.

I just heard from a guide. Apparently the weather has been absolutely awful. It appears I was fortunate.

Larry i confirm the weather is awful over here too ...

Congratulations on a great ram Larry.
Having put in so much time and effort for that final sheep I bet makes the accomplishment all the sweeter.
Well done.

Great report Larry. Hunting sheep in these weather conditions and having a heavy cold and infection is not a joke. That is for sure ! Very well done sir !

Love it Larry, great sheep!

Thanks for posting. Great hunt Larry.

Larry,

Well earned trophy. The way you started your story- it was over after a few days, then you mentioned you were getting sick, it was like uh oh.... Super ending and a huge congrats. I am stoked for you and your success.

Best

Larry.

Great Ram, way to tough it out, fine animal for the complete Grand Slam, happy for you!!

Butch

Thanks all!

Congrats on the sheep and for completing your slam.

Thanks for another great report Larry.
Sure looks like you had a challenging hunt.
What's next on your bucket list ?

Elephants in 3 weeks.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:

What's the story on that?

I was attempting to figure out how to adjust my new ballistic turret scope. This stuff popped off. I had to call my gun guys to figure out how to adjust the damn thing.

Great story and congrats on the slam.

Great report - looks like a wonderful place

Great trip, congratulations.

Well done Larry! Hunting while sick is absolutely miserable. Glad you made it happen!

Congrats, well done. Thanks for shariung the pics, beautiful area.

Question, what type boots did you wear and were they up to the task, i.e, other than the laces, no foot issues or problems?

Thanks all.

Dom, I used Lowa boots. I can't remember the particular model. They are not insulated and the tops are about 10 inches high. I added waterproofing using Graingers wax.

The boots worked very well. I had no foot issues. After I changed the laces, everything was fine. It was exceedingly rough terrain.

I would like to add another comment that I have not previously raised. On the way home, I noticed my right knee felt different. It did not hurt. It just felt different. By the time I got home, it was swollen up pretty good. I laid off of it a couple of days. I also took celebrex. The swelling went down. I then took off for a 3 hour hike the Sunday after I got home. BIG mistake. The knee got really big. I started icing it extensively and taking celebrex again. I really backed off the exercise. I got a cortisone shot. The swelling has gone down. I have no pain. Unfortunately, this has caused me to have to really back off my exercise. The most I do is walk one hour in my Keenes. The doctor thinks that my knee was not happy with all the pounding it took. This may well be my last sheep hunt because of this. Sucks to get old!