25 September 2014, 07:45
Aaron NeilsonYukon Hunt - Sept. 2014
Outfitter: Yukon Stone Outfitters / Craig KiselbachLocation: Yukon Territory, Canada
Species: Stone Sheep, Grizzly Bear, Mountain Caribou
Dates: Sept. 4 - 17, 2014
Guides: Wes Seely & Cole Schneider
Cameraman: Jeremiah Bennett
In December 2013 I decided I should try and complete my Grand Slam of N.A. sheep, after taking my Desert ram the month before. I knew Craig Kiselbach, I knew his area was good - and I decided it was time to pull the trigger. So we scheduled a 13-day hunt for mid September, with the primary target being a big stone ram. I told Craig though, I wanted the chance to hunt everything possible - so he got me a tag for all available species.
We left for camp on Sept 4th via float plane, that morning was to be my last hot shower/shave until Sept. 17th (that sucked)!!!! Jeremiah made sure he had all his camera gear, and then we were off.
The flight was beautiful, and fortunately for us - the weather for the most part was great too.
Our arrival point via float plane was still 26 miles by horseback to our sheep hunting spike camp! Well, that part sucked - but it was a day or two until we could head that way. So, we had one decent afternoon to hunt - and the guides wanted to head up the valley to look for a moose. My plan was to hunt a moose with my bow, if time allowed. I was feeling very confident out to 60 yards, and I figured a moose is a pretty darn big target - so lets give it a go.
Glassing for moose
Well, to make a long story short. We had just three hours that day to hunt moose, and we found a GIANT! He was at least 65", as much as 68" - and we all figured him 245" B&C plus. This wasn't the first time Cole and Wes had seen this bull, and they wanted him pretty bad. Unfortunately in the 45 minutes it took us to get to him while he was out of sight, he had moved, and we simply could not find him before dark. That too really sucked, as I knew he was a giant - and I knew we were hunting sheep far, far away. Turned out that I got 2 hrs on the last day to look for him again, but no luck. We saw 3 other bulls, but after seeing him - I wanted him or nothing!!!
So now it was off to spike camp. Ya, 26 miles on horseback and almost 10 straight hours in the saddle - hopefully never again!!!! Luckily though we had good weather, and all went pretty.
Spike camp wasn't much. But we did have a warm bag, and hot food - what more do you want on a sheep hunt???
We then spent the next few days looking for rams, but truth be told - I had requested this particular spot for a reason. Another hunter I know from here in Colorado, had hunted this area on the first hunt in early August and had seen what he called a "huge" stone ram, heavily broomed which is not common for stones, with a fantastic cape/color. He got away, and I knew I wanted to try for him. Both Cole and Wes confirmed the story when I got there, comfirmed he was a huge ram, and also confirmed that they had not seen him in over 30 days!!!!! Well, I'm always up for a challenge.
We saw numerous rams over the first 4-5 days at spike camp, but none of them were legal. Day 6 and our luck changed a bit. We spotted a beautiful mountain Griz, and with some quick running/stalking - we got in position and he came right to us. I shot him at 150 yards as he came through an opening, and down he went. Bears are fascinating to me, so I was totally thrilled - but that was it for the day's hunting. The footage is fabulous!
It was a day or so later, and Cole decided we needed to give the horses a rest. So we hiked straight up into the basin behind camp, and we planned to go over the top. As we got up in there, clouds covered the top of the mountains (where the sheep like to be) so we started paying alot more attention to the fresh caribou tracks we were seeing. After looking for about 15 min, we found em. The bull was with a cow/calf combo, he looked nice - and we decided we wanted some fresh meat in camp too. A 10 minute stalk, a 230 yard shot - and it was over. A beautiful mountain caribou.
As we sat for a couple hours while Cole and the packer were skinning/caping and deboning the caribou - I started glassing the mountains as the clouds began to lift. About 3 - 4 miles off, and on a mountain at the end of the range - and one we had NOT looked at yet, I saw what I thought for sure was a ram. I got out the spotting scope, and instantly called Cole to have a look. I already knew what he was going to say, but his reaction was awesome. We had found the giant / broomed ram!!!! I literally had to calm him down, he was so damn excited!! I think he forgot who was really the hunter??
I'm looking at the ram in this pic. He's on the very top of the far left mountain.
The plan was simple, go kill this ram! The next day we headed down the valley and spent hours glassing for him, but to no avail. We really wanted to locate him first before going up the mountain and risk spooking him - because we simply don't know where he's at. and if he detects us first, its over. The search was fruitless, just one little banana horn.
That night we knew with only a couple days left, we had to go up the mountain and take our chances. By 10am we were started up on foot, and 2.5 hrs later, and exactly 2,000 vertical feet later (according to the GPS) we reached the top. My 50lb weight loss, weight and cardio training over the past 18 months really paid off!!! Interestingly enough, it took us less than 30 seconds to locate the ram once we sumitted. The problem was, he along with 6 buddies (two of which were good rams too) were 900 yards away - and it was impossible to get any closer.
Below us was nasty cliff/shale chutes, and nothing but air between us and the rams - who were on the other side of the huge basin. Even the side they were on was impossible to get to, we were screwed. Our only hope was the rams would drop down into the bottom, and allowing us to get a few hundred yards closer. By 6pm it was obvious the rams weren't moving anymore that day. Cole said it as much, and I instantly turned to him and said, "I'm not leaving"! "What do you mean", he said? "I'm staying on this mountain until we kill this ram, or he's gone." He got a giant smile on his face, and said "man am I glad to hear you say that"!! So now you know, we both are just as stupid as the other one.
We had no food left by then, no sleeping bags, nothing more than what we wore up the mountain and our rain gear in our packs. That was the most miserable 10 hours of darkness I ever spent. Nobody slept a wink, and we begged for the sun to rise. When it finally did, the rams were right where we left em at dark. Over 900 yards away, and too far to shoot. We needed them to move, and soon.
Finally when the sun hit them around 10am, they quickly started heading straight down into the head of the basin. Cole and I discussed it, and we both knew no matter what it was going to be a LONG shot - if we could get down at all. It was seriously treacherous, and after only 50 feet, we knew we had to leave Jeremiah behind. He got into a good position that he could film from, and we went down another 100 feet or so. Finally we were at the last place we could get to, without knocking every rock off the mountain and spooking the band of rams.
As I took my pack off and got my gun ready, Cole ranged the big ram with his Leica binos. "531 yards" he said!!!! Good heavens I thought to myself, but I knew it was this or nothing. So I took a couple minutes to get into a good prone position on the ledge we were on, got the bi-pod dug in good and seriously focused on the shot/squeeze. One thing we weren't sure of was what the wind was doing out across, and down in the basin. Well, apparently it was blowing right to left, enough to drift the bullet about 12" or so. The first shot missed just in front of his chest. They scatterd about 10 yards or so, but the 2nd shot hit home. I knew then I had him, as sheep are very weak. So I took a couple extra seconds on the 3rd shot and he dropped in his tracks!!!!
Obviously excitement was through the roof, and the miserable/hungry night was forgotten. He's a magnificent ram, and we ALL earned him! In fact, getting up out of that cliff/chute basin was almost as bad as the night before. But we all made it, life size sheep cape/meat in tow. Once back at camp, we ate like we had never ate before - it was awesome, and that sleeping bag never felt so good.
I've been asked many times already what he scores, truth is - I don't care, and I don't know??!! We never taped him, and I likely never will. I'm a trophy hunter, cause I love the pursuit of big/trophy animals. Where they rank when its all done, means NOTHING to me. I just like to hunt the biggest/best I can, and I am thankful that Yukon Stone / Craig Kiselbach gave me the chance to hunt for this ram. I guarantee you, Cole was happier than I. Thanks my friend, you are and were an animal on that mountain - and a huge thanks to my cameraman too!!!!
