BC Stone Sheep Hunt aka when it rains it pours and pours and pours and pours unless of course it snows

HUNTER- Larry Shores

OUTFITTER- North River Outfitting

Ron Nemetchek and Maria Origoni

DATES-8/15/19-8/26/19 (done a few days early)

AREA- northern BC

WEATHER- to say it was abysmal would be a lie. It was far worse. It either rained or snowed every single day. We had about 2 feet of snow one day. We spent far more time stuck in the tents than we did hunting . In short , the weather was miserable.

If my count and memory is correct , I have made 17 previous hunts to Alaska and Canadian provinces. If I take all the bad weather encountered in these prior trips together, it was not as bad as the weather on this trip. The outfitter said he has never seen anything like this either .

To be clear, this is an observation and not a complaint. Obviously, no one can control the weather .

OUTFITTER- I have to say the outfitter was outstanding. All details were handled professionally. Their lodge was nice. Their equipment was very good. The guides were excellent.

Perhaps more importantly, the outfitter takes care of the area. They only take HALF of the rams allotted them. Ron made a comment to me as we were flying to the hunting area. He pointed out a area we were flying over in which the prior owner had killed a massive ram as well as a large number of lesser rams. Ron decided to let that particular area go unhunted for a 10 year period to make sure it was not over hunted. That shows a great attitude.

MY HUNT- as noted earlier , we were hampered by weather . Regardless, I saw more rams on this hunt than I saw on my three prior Stone sheep hunts combined. This is a great area.

On the 11th day, I took a nice ram at 409 yards. It was fantastic. The weather that day was horrible. It was snowing and foggy. After a LONG climb, the fog opened up for 3 minutes. I shot the ram and the fog closed in again. We could not even see the dead ram laying there.

Walking out, we took a different route. It was pretty wild. It was a hidden paradise for the rams. We saw even more rams up there. It was quite exciting.

EQUIPMENT COMMENTS

Rifle and scope- I shot one of my Rifles, Inc 300 Win Mags with Swarovski DS scope. The rifle is insanely accurate. The DS scope is unbelievable. Yes it is expensive but worth every penny.

Binoculars- I took a pair of my 10x42 Swarovski's. For the second sheep hunt in a row, they leaked. I ain’t happy.

Rain gear- I took my Kuiu rain gear. I was not happy. I am going back to my Sitka rain gear.

Gloves- I took a pair of Sitka gloves. They SUCKED. Unbelievable. My hands were cold then they leaked .

I also took a brand new pair of North Face thin Gore Tex gloves. I might as well have used toilet paper. These were beyond useless.

Sat phone- this was my first trip with my new Iridium phone. I was very favorably impressed . The battery life has been extended greatly.

Sleeping pad- I took a new Klymit pad. My back hurt and it sprung a leak. It was also too narrow. Was this due to the amount of time I spent in the tent? I do not know. What I do know is that I was miserable.

MISTAKES/PROBLEMS

I experienced severe backpack problems shortly before the hunt . I ended up buying 4 new packs. They all sucked. I took the best of those I hated. I struggled with the pack.

Apparently, there has been a change in the laws. Processed meat can no longer be shipped to the US. Given where I live and the timing of my travels, it is highly likely that any meat I attempted to take would spoil before I got it home. This is most disappointing. I am donating it all to an elderly couple.

When I shot the sheep, I used a pack as a rest. Given the weather, the pack was covered with a rain cover. This made the gun slip on the pack most especially after I shot. In retrospect, this was a big mistake. The cover should have been taken off. My bad. Lesson learned.

REALIZATIONS / QUESTIONS

1-At 3 months shy of 64, sheep hunts are not getting any easier nor are they likely to .

2- If I look at a relatively simple place to walk, like around our camp, the facts are that I have absolutely NOWHERE to train that is as rough as that. I am not referring to altitude or incline. The terrain is simply far tougher and rougher than anything at home. What does one do about that?

3-I devote something like 18-20 hours a week toward fitness. However, I live in the flatlands at less than 100 feet above sea level. How can I ever get ready for the inclines and the altitudes?

4- I have always had a horrible sense of balance. As I age, it is not getting better. Traversing boulders points this out to me. We have no boulders, rocks or anything of that nature. It is frustrating.

5- All my life in endurance sports, I have excelled. I ran distance races in track in college and I did well, quite well. Now, I cannot keep up with these kids who are the guides. Granted they are less than half my age. I just cannot do it. This is more than a little frustrating.

6- I have had a long time habit of taking about 20 or so paper towels and placing them in a Zip-loc just in case. When my gloves were wet, it occurred to me to stuff some of the paper towels inside the gloves to soak up some water. It worked quite well.

In spite of the weather, it was a great hunt. It is one I definitely recommend. However, one must be in shape.



Sent from my iPhone. Please excuse any typos or unintended autocorrects.

Glad to hear that you scored on a good ram, Larry, in spite of all of the equipment failures and bad weather. Thanks for the frank analysis of your equipment and the failures that you had with them. I am surprised about the leaking Swarovski 10X42s. Were they the range finding model?

quote:

Originally posted by Use Enough Gun:
Glad to hear that you scored on a good ram, Larry, in spite of all of the equipment failures and bad weather. Thanks for the frank analysis of your equipment and the failures that you had with them. I am surprised about the leaking Swarovski 10X42s. Were they the range finding model?

Yes they are.

I have 6 different pairs of their binos and a large number of their scopes. They are going to hear about it.

Congrats Larry. Well done. Too bad about weather. I have the same experience with Kuiu. Looking forward to photoes

Morten

Sorry to hear of your equipment woes but congratulations on the sheep. With all the fancy equipment available today it amazes me that leaky gear still exists as long as it's built right. But if you can't test them before going on a faraway hunt that makes it tough. My old Kelty external frame looks better all the time compared to stories some post on difficulties with a few of these new packs. But I do admit to having a room full of packs tried and discarded too.

Regarding your training regime, isn't there at least a stadium that has steps you can climb available? Age of course does play a big part how well your body adapts to the work load and how much more you need to be careful not to injure yourself in the process. But there is no substitute for actually training in the kind of terrain your going to hunt in.

Thank you for sharing your experience with your gear problems.

Congratulations on a miserable, but successful hunt.

Congratulations on your ram. I understand the difficulties of ageing. I live at 4,700 and have hills and mountains. Still can't get in the shape I want, no matter how hard I work.

I hope the weather gets better as I'll be hunting one unit SE of North River in two weeks.

Reads like a great adventure! And you got a sheep! Congratulations.

Pics please.....


Ski+3
Whitefish, MT

quote:

Originally posted by Cougarz:
Sorry to hear of your equipment woes but congratulations on the sheep. With all the fancy equipment available today it amazes me that leaky gear still exists as long as it's built right. But if you can't test them before going on a faraway hunt that makes tough. My old Kelty external frame looks better all the time compared to stories some post on difficulties with a few of these new packs. But I do admit to having a room full of packs tried and discarded too.

Regarding your training regime, isn't there at least a stadium that has steps you can climb available? Age of course does play a big part how well your body adapts to the work load and how much more you need to be careful not to injure yourself in the process. But there is no substitute for actually training in the kind of terrain your going to hunt in.

Most stadiums are locked plus I really don’t have the time to drive to and from one that might make a difference. Boulders, loose rocks and uneven rough terrain are the problem.

quote:

Originally posted by Nevada Wapati:
Congratulations on your ram. I understand the difficulties of ageing. I live at 4,700 and have hills and mountains. Still can't get in the shape I want, no matter how hard I work.

I hope the weather gets better as I'll be hunting one unit SE of North River in two weeks.

I am told that none of the outfitters have ever seen weather like this. I spoke to TSA person this morning. She said that the weather was causing a lot of people to quit. Many were not succeeding.

quote:

Originally posted by SkiBumplus3:
Reads like a great adventure! And you got a sheep! Congratulations.

Pics please.....


Ski+3
Whitefish, MT

I am traveling home and we have a hurricane headed our way. It will take me a few days.

Congrats Larry! Glad you got your sheep.

Larry,

You are the man! I agree about Sitka gloves - they suck. But he parka and pants work great. Backcountry trails in the GC are a great place to practice walking over loose rocks - and it is exhausting.

Congratulations!

Larry, congratulations again. The pic on facebook looked fantastic.

Interesting to read about the Kuiu rain gear. What do you like better about the Sitka?

What pack did you end up bringing?

Brandon:

It is much sturdier, less prone to tearing.

I took the Kuiu pack.

Damn, I need to send you that phone. Totally forgot.

Congratulations.

So any meat from Canada taken off the carcass has to stay in Canada?

quote:

Originally posted by LHeym500:
Congratulations.

So any meat from Canada taken off the carcass has to stay in Canada?

I'm interested in this also. I'm planning to drive up with a freezer and generator to bring the meat back with me.

quote:

Originally posted by LHeym500:
Congratulations.

So any meat from Canada taken off the carcass has to stay in Canada?

No, not at all. One cannot leave it at a butcher for processing and subsequent shipping I am told.

If you want to wait on the butcher and take it with you, that is possible.

quote:

Originally posted by Nevada Wapati:

quote:

Originally posted by LHeym500:
Congratulations.

So any meat from Canada taken off the carcass has to stay in Canada?

I'm interested in this also. I'm planning to drive up with a freezer and generator to bring the meat back with me.

As I understand it, this would be fine.

Thank you.

Thank you Larry. That is good to hear.

Good luck with Dorian! Congratulations, too.This would be a good chance to test rain gear

Congrats again Larry on a fine Stone Sheep hunted the right way! Sounds like you had an "adventure". I am sure many of the bad memories will fade when you get that sheep home and on the wall....

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Brandon:

It is much sturdier, less prone to tearing.

I took the Kuiu pack.

Damn, I need to send you that phone. Totally forgot.

Glad to hear that about the Sitka, I just picked up a set of their Cloudburst gear last month.

Hope you guys weather the storm ok.

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
Good luck with Dorian! Congratulations, too.This would be a good chance to test rain gear

Thanks. My ranch for 30 inches of rain in 2 days while I was gone. It does not need more.

quote:

Originally posted by bwanamrm:
Congrats again Larry on a fine Stone Sheep hunted the right way! Sounds like you had an "adventure". I am sure many of the bad memories will fade when you get that sheep home and on the wall....

Thanks Russell.

Changing from a tent in the snow to the Florida heat in one long day was a tough adjustment!

Thanks for the report and congratulations! Sounds like Type 2 fun. (More fun to talk about later than it was at the time.)

Good luck getting home.

Jeez that's some unforgiving looking terrain, but what a fantastic looking sheep!

nice ram! love the color

Very nice.

Wow you really did get dumped on by snow!

Wow! Thanks for posting your hunt report and photos. Brings back a lot of fond memories hunting sheep in Alaska. Bad knees and hips prevent me from going again!
Thanks again for the report! Beautiful sheep!!!!

Beautiful ram. Congrats on getting him. Sounds like the weather was miserable.
Bruce

Well done Larry....beaut of a ram!

Great pics!

congrats beautiful ram

Well done on a great ram.

On the physical nature of sheep hunting - I am about to give it up. I played college sports, I understand how to get into shape but at an age similar to yours, I want to enjoy the hunt, not beat myself up. So, off to Europe or Pakistan and other less intense destinations for my next hunts.

Great sheep!