My long awaited sheep hunt finally started Aug 11 with me and Jake, aka BRWMBR, flying into the Talkeetna mountains. We each had a backpack and the essentials for a 10 day hunt. Landed on a lake and started glassing sheep right away. Of course we have to wait until tomorrow to hunt but it was nice to see sheep so soon. None are big enough so we hike for a while and set up camp for the night. Tomorrow we can hunt!!! Fast forward to Thursday the 16th. Jake wakes me up and he is on his spotter looking at another sheep, about 2 miles from camp. He says it is a broomed sheep he saw last year on another hunt. So off we go after a quick breakfast. We get close to where the sheep were feeding and see 3 sheep bedded below us. I hope he is in that group but of course they are all small ones. We can't see the other 4 that Jake saw from camp. We continue on a bit and drop our packs. We must be close. A couple more ravines and we come to snow in a ravine with fresh tracks. Jake checks it and we figure it is the 4 we are looking for. More sidehilling and trying to maintain our elevation. We are pretty close to the top but now the top is fogged in. We are scanning in front of us, or I am trying to but I am mostly looking down where I am walking. The rocks and loose stones are getting slippery and am trying to be as quiet as possible. Jake says "SHEEP" and I look at him and he is laying down. I get down and look uphill. Through the fog I see some sheep directly above us, quite a ways away. I try to get a range on them with my rangefinder but through the fog or my shaking I can't. I do get a reading closer on some rocks at 370 yds. The fog closes in more and we can't see them again. I want to get closer but Jake says stay put and get ready to shoot. We figure they are 80 to 100 yards farther. The fog seems to be getting worse and we are waiting for another sighting if they are even still there. I move a few stones around and actually get a pretty solid front rest for my rifle. It is raining now and spitting snow and a slight breeze from left to right. I am soaked from sweating and my rain gear is back in my backpack. The fog looks worse and I am wondering if we are going to get a chance. It seems like an hour but probably 15 minutes I see a break in the fog. Jake gets on the spotter and I can't believe it but the sheep are still standing there. Maybe they don't like to move in the fog either. I am ready and Jake tells me it is the lead sheep on the left. They are all facing to our left. We already had discussed the angle and drop and the wind at 400 yards. So I take aim and tell Jake I am ready. BOOM.... I quickly rack another shell in and Jake whoops and hollers "HE IS DOWN". I can't believe my ears, thinking he is going to tell me where I missed and keep shooting... I look up and see a white spot on the rocks. Jake is slapping me on the back and high fiving me. I am still in shock. I put my gun down. I am so excited I have to be careful I don't slide downhill. I keep looking up and the fog fills back in so we can't see him. It is unreal. I want to get my hands on this beauty. We head to him. Part way up we can see him and I try to get a range on him. I can't and give Jake the rangefinder. I am still too nervous and shaking. Jake gets 120 to the sheep and 350 back to our spot. I can't believe that either but Jake double checks and it is the same. We get to the sheep. I put my hands on his broomed horns and he is beautiful. Very different set of horns and I am literally on cloud nine, in the fog and all.

Of course the work starts now but Jake is an old hand at this. Long story short we(Jake) cuts, carves, skins and we pack him off the mountain and back to camp. I carry my share but am sure he has more than me and still has to wait for me to catch up, as he does patiently. I believe all my pre training has helped but probably should have done more.

Congrats on your Dahl from another Mich Member I like them broomed and tough looking.






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Congrats. Any idea how old? What a warrior.

Wow, great sheep and a great shot! What gun/cartridge combination did you use? Handload or factory ammo. It obviously worked well. Congrats to hunter and guide!

What a great ram, if I ever hunt another Dall, yours is what I would be after. Did you age him?

Good shooting on a long shot!

What did you do in terms of prep/training?

Congrats to you and Jake.

Wow and awesome is all I get get out other than a big S. Texas yeeeeeeeeha, and thanks for sharing and tell us more about the climb, etc. Still thinking I can do it at 69!

Great looking sheep
I love the old broomed ones
Mine was full one side broomed the other.
Jake sounds like a great guy. I have been following his post for a while maybe someday I will get the opportunity to hunt with him also.
Job well done
Larry

A Big Congrats, wow what a great old ram.. you and Jake did a great job !!! Enjoy that wonderful Sheep!!

The double broomers are superb!!! Congratulations on the ram!!!!!

Brett

Congrats! Fantastic looking sheep

Congratulations on a trophy of a lifetime! Well done.

NICE!!
Congratulations!

Very nice!

Very nice sheep, congratulations. Don't feel bad about the conditioning, do not know anyone that came back and felt they had done enough.

Muygrande - If you want I can send you photos of my 73 year old Dad and his sheep from when we went two years ago. GO! You'll regret it while you're doing it, but it is the best feeling in the world! Hoping to do it again.

Guys who have never shot a sheep might look at the curl.

Guys who have shot sheep can't look past the mass - look at the mass where the horn parallels the ground - WOW!

You earned him,congrats!!!

Great looking animal!

Great sheep. Congratulations! Jake is the real deal and is almost at home in the mountains as the sheep.

Great old ram, very massive for a Dall!!

Congratulations! That's an awesome old guy there. I like the ones with character the best, and that guy certainly looks like he ruled the mountain for a while.

Well done!

PS: I like the vintage ice axe too. Is there a story behind that? I haven't seen a wooden shaft axe w/ring in ages so I figured it must be something special. Very nice.

Great report, thanks!

fantastic ram!

Beautiful ram!
Congratulations on a hard earned trophy of a lifetime and thank you for posting your photos and report

Holy coew! that looks like a really old 7 big mass ram! Never seen a photo of such broomed horns in a Dhall sheep.

congratulations on an amazing trophy.

I keep coming back to look at the pictures of your ram. If I ever hunted Dall, that's the ram I'd want.

Superb ram, and narrative. I feel you elation! Congrats,
Don

Great hunt and REALLY great looking broomed ram!

Beautiful animal, and what a story. I hope to hunt with Jake sometime.

Tim

Great story, thanks for sharing. And a big congrats on a beautiful sheep!

Epic!

What a cool looking ram! Congratulations!

Congrats on a great ram!!

I hunted with Jake in Cordova in 2004 and he is a great guy. Good job Jake.

I was never in "sheep shape" on any of my sheep hunts either. You just have to be close.

Thanks for sharing the pics.

Doug

Congradulations.
Great looking ram, an old warrior.
I just love Sheep hunting.

Well done - congrats!!

Out standing, great shooting and awesome character ram.

quote:

Originally posted by x-caliber:
Wow, great sheep and a great shot! What gun/cartridge combination did you use? Handload or factory ammo. It obviously worked well. Congrats to hunter and guide!

Just going back over some of my old posts. I used a Remington XCRII in 300WinMag. I did handload 180gr Nosler Partitions. It was actually my first animal taken with handloads. I worked on many loads and practiced with this combo out to 400 yards, just what I needed.

Very nice.