always great to read your report and the honesty about your gear and yourself.

thank you very much and you dessereved that sheep. well done.

Enjoyed your report. Just got back from a Stone Sheep with Stone Mountain Safari. Good hunt, good guides, got a nice sheep. Had the same weather frustrations. That’s hunting. Also had a bad weather experience in 2015. My gear was mostly Arcteryx, with some Filson mixed in, including their rain jacket and down coat, both of which performed well. The one exception is my Kuiu rain pants, which ripped to shreds. The ultra light weight stuff often doesn’t hold up, and I’ve noticed that guides rarely have that stuff. Stone Glacier pack worked well for me. For my feet the Lowa boots were a distinct improvement over Meindels- last year I came back from a Dall hunt with blackened toe nails, from walking down hills and my feet sliding into the toe of the boot. Just underscores that everyone’s foot is different, and a good boot for one does is not necessarily good for another.

The thing that resonated the most with me are your comments about having difficulty with the uneven terrain, boulders, etc. I’m in Michigan, and there is simply no place like that here. Walking stadium steps would not help. I too spend an honest 10-12 hours/week on fitness, and physiologically I’m in better shape now at 61 than I was at 45, when I had a more time demanding job. I had no problems with 60 flights of stairs with a 40 lb pack. It was supremely frustrating to see my guides traverse a boulder field with no problem, only for me to struggle. They were good about going slowly, but they are literally walking with their hands in their pockets, and I’m flailing around with sticks, and continually rolling boulders down the mountain. I love the North country, this is my eighth sheep hunt, but not sure I want to do another. I have another one scheduled for next year, but not sure I’m going to go. As one poster said, it’s fun to have done it, but not fun when you’re in the process. Glad to hear I’m not the only one with these frustrations.

Congrats on the sheep.

I am glad I am not the only one with these issues.

It is absolutely impossible for me to replicate the terrain. It simply does not exist where I live nor can I artificially replicate it.

I do 5 days a week with 57-60 pounds in the pack for 75-90 minutes. One day a week, I drop it down to 45-50 pounds and go out for 3 hours.

I lift weights 3 times a week with a trainer for an hour. I do yoga 3 times a week for an hour.

In addition to this, I do to my ranch periodically and do some manual labor. Things like throwing around over 100 bags of feed.

For a guy who is 63, I am in damn good shape. When I get to the mountains trying to follow these kids, I feel like the biggest loser ever.

I have another Dall hunt booked next year. It is a hell of a lot easier than a Stone. Unfortunately, the weather they encountered was far worse than what we had in BC. I am questioning the trip.

Finally, I ran track in college. I ran the mile in 4:00.7. I ran 5000 meters in 13:33.9. It isn’t like I don’t have some natural endurance. Struggling with this just about kills me.

Your workout schedule is even more rigorous than mine. I do 90 minutes/day for 6 days /wk, mostly consisting of stair master with a pack or spinning. Also do core stuff and weights. Weekends are golf (walking, carrying a bag) and/ or bicycling. The point is, I am in shape, as are you, but being flatlanders we still struggle in the mountains. Being from a mountainous state and being able to walk in that kind of terrain every weekend is a huge advantage IMO. In any event, you are not alone in having those feelings!

Congrats! Great ram under conditions that make most tap out.

quote:

Originally posted by crane:
Congrats! Great ram under conditions that make most tap out.

Thanks.

I was randomly selected for search in the Smithers airport. The woman with airport security was chatting with me. She told me that there had been many hunters come through the airport who had quit early because of the weather. Further, she said almost none had taken a sheep.

I was lucky, very lucky. There has been a price to pay. I lost a lot of conditioning laying in that tent while it rained or snowed. Exercising this week has pointed this out.

quote:

Struggling with this just about kills me.

I am 63 also I am sure can't run like I did in my 20's

quote:

I ran 5000 meters in 13:33.9.

That's fast considering the world record back in the 70's was 20 or so seconds under that.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:

quote:

I ran 5000 meters in 13:33.9.

That's fast considering the world record back in the 70's was 20 or so seconds under that.

When I was running it was 13:13. Emile Puttemans. Spelling?

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:

quote:

Originally posted by crane:
Congrats! Great ram under conditions that make most tap out.

Thanks.

I was randomly selected for search in the Smithers airport. The woman with airport security was chatting with me. She told me that there had been many hunters come through the airport who had quit early because of the weather. Further, she said almost none had taken a sheep.

I was lucky, very lucky. There has been a price to pay. I lost a lot of conditioning laying in that tent while it rained or snowed. Exercising this week has pointed this out.

don't usually have the problem in Africa or NZ or Europe or Pakistan or Texas....

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:

quote:

Originally posted by crane:
Congrats! Great ram under conditions that make most tap out.

Thanks.

I was randomly selected for search in the Smithers airport. The woman with airport security was chatting with me. She told me that there had been many hunters come through the airport who had quit early because of the weather. Further, she said almost none had taken a sheep.

I was lucky, very lucky. There has been a price to pay. I lost a lot of conditioning laying in that tent while it rained or snowed. Exercising this week has pointed this out.

don't usually have the problem in Africa or NZ or Europe or Pakistan or Texas....

My last trip to NZ, I called off the chamois portion due to weather. I just booked Pakistan. A portion was described as just like hunting Alaska, to expect weather delays.

No doubt mountain hunts carry some risks.

Larry ,
Great report. You are right about the weather and the outfitters.
Ron and Maria are great people.

glad to hear you found a ram and a nice one at that.

Cheers

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:

I see the problem


You should brought your snow machine …


Morten

quote:

Originally posted by The Norwegian:

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:

I see the problem


You should brought your snow machine …


Morten

My friend Morten..... the Norwegian comedian!

Easy now Larry... even Norwegians would have trouble hunting in such conditions. That's why we use the snow machines


Morten
Your friend

.

Larry congratulations !

So other than the weather, the sleeping pad, the gloves, the leaking binocs, the poor raingear, the backpack and the meat issues everything else sounds like a blast!

Jesting aside - congrats on a successful hunt and thanks for positing !

Charlie

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Congratulations on a great ram Larry!

Sorry to hear about all of your equipment problems, but thanks for your candid report.

Just curious Larry- After that big dump of snow how long did it take to melt off?

It never completely melted. There were always patches where we camped. Much more up higher.

If my memory serves me correctly, most was gone in 4 days. We dug it out around the tent to help reduce condensation.

Had it not rained , it would have no doubt taken longer.

It occurs to me that I left a couple of things out.

First, during this abysmal weather, I kept getting the weather report which showed it improving the next day which never happened. After the sheep. I told them that I had to get out of there. I could not get stranded. I gave up 4 days of hunting . The other animals were safe.

We did see other animals. For example, we spotted a massive bull moose. Probably a book moose. I said no to the moose. I was shooting nothing else until I shot my sheep. They have lots of other game. Moose,caribou and goat.

Helo or fixed wing flights, Larry? Not that either would’ve provided you with a much better chance of getting out in the weather you described.....

Fixed wing.

I would not have flown in anything in that weather.