Friend of mine told me there was an outfitter in Alaska offering Dall Sheep hunts using ATV for access into the high country. He has misplaced the contact info. Do any of you know who this might be??
I am getting up there in years and have a numb foot from back surgery and gnarly feet that get bone sore after 2-3 hours of walking... looking for an easier hunt that the old back pack trip.

For a sheep hunt any vehicle will only bring you so far then the walking begins.
I would suspect that this outfitter only gets you so far as another would with a supercub.

The only thing that might save you some effort on a sheep hunt would be a outfitter who has horses.
In Alaska you find horse outfits in the Wrangell mountains and some in the Alaska range.

Steve,

I don't know about the ATV for sheep but I can do a moose hunt via Polaris Ranger. Back to the sheep. I have a guy in the Brooks Range that does sheep by horseback and you might be able to hunt right out of the main camp that has a shower and all the comforts. Really!

Any interest?

Mark

Mark, I would like that info. I have alot of older folks who ask me about that kinda stuff.

I know Kirk Ellis (K air) does sheep by horse back. I would highly recommend them. they hunt out of the wrangells.

Some areas can be reached by ATV's, but if it were me, I would expect alot of traffic hunting sheep. If you could reach it by ATV, alot of other folks can also. Not impossible, just morem challenging.

Originally posted by Joel/AK

quote:

I would expect alot of traffic hunting sheep. If you could reach it by ATV, alot of other folks can also.

Thats what I was thinking as well. There are exceptions to our reasoning but unless it's a permit area the ATV's are a red flag.

If it is a permit area then you will have to draw the hunt first.

I would be greatly surprised if anyone offers ATV sheep hunts. But then, there is always someone willing to take your money. Even so, the ATV will only get you part way there; I don't know of any ground machine that will take you places where sheep live. Even with horses, at some point, you still have to get off and CLIMB- a lot.

Even if an ATV could get you there, other ATV"s could get there also. Not likely there would be sheep there. I do not know that there is any other way of getting to the sheep than by climbing. You can get closer to them by horse, chopper/airplane (in which case you have to wait 24 hrs before starting the hunt- and you still have climbing to do) and closer is a relative term.

As for looking for an easier hunt, IMO I don't think (for sheep) there is such a thing. I don't know what your physical condition is, how much discomfort you can tolerate or what you can afford, but one thought is trying to hire a "packer" to carry your gear and help you up & down the mountain.

Personally, as one with some sheep hunting experience in AK & NWT, I would forget about doing an ATV trip even if I found someone who does them. Just my .02 cents worth.

Virgil and Eric Umphenhour at Hunt Alaska.

They have a pretty good operation for them and are noted by many different big time writers.

Sincerely,
Thomas

As a self-described sheep nut, I agree with a lot of the statements above. A sheep hunt can go from a slam dunk to a marathon in a hurry. That being said, a good guide will be able to pace the hunt for you. If it takes 3 days to get to where you need to be then you will still get there and get your sheep. NWT allows helicopters, which would greatly increase the ease of your hunt, but also more expensive than Alaska by 5-7K.

I know Cabela's has an Alaskan sheep hunt with ATV's. I did a Brooks Range sheep hunt on horseback two years ago and shot a 12 1/2 year old on the first day. He actually told me he has two openings yet this year. I was thinking about going back but decided to go for a big bear. Maybe next year. Was the best hunt I've ever been on.

470EDDY,

I believe the guy you are looking for might be Rick Kinmon of Alaska Moose Adventures. I did a cancellation hunt with him in 2008 for moose outside of fairbanks in the Talkeetna mountain range. Very experienced guide and a great guy to spend a hunt with. He is a very well know predator hunter with many lectures to his name, and a published author in that same topic. The hunt following mine in '08 was actually taped for a episode of the BEST OF THE WEST where jeremy winters took a great bull moose. There are some youtube videos on this episode.

His outfit uses whats called a ROLOGON, which is predominantly used for oilfield hauling offroad, to access his hunting area. This piece of machinery can haul 5-6 ATVs and a pile of gear. This just gets you to his camp and then you branch off from there. Camp is a large canvas tent with wood floor, and a
large seperate cook shack. Very comfortable

You cross the the Delta River in this behemoth of a machine and literally climb up the side of a mountain in it. An adventure in itself.

You might think that there would be problems with other hunters being able to do this type of thing but that would be contrary of fact. The biggest issue with going into this area is fuel, lots of other hunters try to get in there by using jetboat. They either damage their boat because they are loaded down with gear or if they do get in they have only limited fuel to spend one or two days before having to go back. This is only for the moose area, as getting to the sheep area would take alot more fuel and time.

This rologon has an on board tank that will hold more than enough fuel to go to the moon and back so the fuel is not an issue.

This area he hunts in has sheep, grizzlys, moose, and caribou. If I remember the caribou was a draw application but we saw some absolute hummers when I was there.

As far as the sheep hunting went. I shot my moose on the 6th day of a 10day hunt and took two days to go chase after sheep. The atv's will save you a lot of walking but will not take you right to the sheep. Obviously the sheep are in some fairly hard to get places so you will have to do some walking/stalking. One absolute is that you must be comfortable and capable on an ATV. I work in the Alberta oilfield and use an atv on almost a daily basis in the summer. To say there were times my comfort level was exceeded would not be a false statement, but rick and Shannon knew the area and the best routes to get where you needed to go.

The area is not the Brooks range so you will probably not kill a huge 40" twister, but he does kill some nice rams. And for the cost comparison between other hunts its good value for the money.

Ricks # 907 355 9653

He is out of Wasilla

Thanks so much,this is extremely interesting! I am out of my office now but will call him when I get back.
I see you are from GP!! I was on the Wey Co team that purchased the big pulp mill and other facilities from P&G, spent lots of time there!...further we go through GP to our moose hunting area above Peace River, boat hunting up furhter north on the Peace....my outfitter is a consultant in the oilfield operations in his "day" job!!
Thank you very much for this lead!!
Eddy

I see sheep drinking water out of the river often, especially in the Spring, but always see some sticking their hooves in the soft mud behind islands where they can't be seen by the local Indians who get a couple every summer. The wolves also run them down onto the river in winter, funny to have sheep ahead of snowmachine on river trail.

I just never see any nice ones down low, ha.