I am sitting in Fairbanks after leaving my hunt early. Bottom line is that I did not get a sheep. The following summarizes my hunt.

Day 1- Landed in a river bed. Made a 2 hour hike to the tent climbing 1500 vertical feet . I could see sheep from my tent .

Day 2- climbed to about 5000 feet . We could see lots of sheep. I estimate that we saw over 200 sheep. We saw a single legal ram which we pursued for several hours . We got to about 150 yards and the ram busted us. I saw his head rise up over a ledge. He was gone.

While glassing later that afternoon , all the sheep we could see suddenly ran in all directions. Don't know why.

Day 3- Given how spooky the sheep were we decided to head in a different direction. We saw a fair number of sheep including 28 rams on one mountain, none of which were legal
.

A storm was approaching. We headed back to the tents. We got caught in a massive hail storm. It started snowing that night.

Day 4-It snowed almost all day. It isn't fun being cooped up in a small tent for almost 24 hours.

Day 5-headed back to the place we saw all the sheep initially.
It ain't fun climbing with 8-10 inches of snow. We got to our vantage point. Not only were there no sheep, there were no tracks in the snow. There has been well over 100'sbeep previously . The sheep had departed the scene. The guide wants to head down and check other places. We pack up and climb down.

We find a good camping spot and set up. Afterwards, we start glassing . We see a lot of sheep but no legal rams.


The pilot flies in to bring more food . The guide comes back indicating the outfitter is offering to take me on a grizzly hunt. This pretty much told me I was in trouble. The pilot had spotted some rams. The guide thought we should check them out.

Day 6- after a brutal 4 mile hike , we saw the rams . None were legal.

I asked the guide what he thought. The outfitter offered the grizzly as they believed we were going to have extreme difficulty with the sheep as the sheep had moved to parts unknown. He gave an example. There had been 3 rams on a mountain every day for months . They were suddenly gone. I decided to leave . I estimate we saw 80 rams, one of which was legal.

I had a great time. We hunted hard. I handled the physical nature of the hunt extraordinarily well,'especially considering that I am 57 and from the flatlands. They never had to carry anything for me nor was there anywhere that I could not handle.

One other note. A game department guy came by the main camp. He indicated that 50% of the mature rams had died due to the severe winter late spring.

Am I disappointed ? Hell yes. I put an insane amount of effort into the preparation for this hunt. Was it a bad hunt? No, not at all. I think the outfitter did a good job. Would I go back? Yes, I would.

when you going back for the Grizzly?

Sorry to read the outcome of your report but as you mentuioned it is still magic to have been in the Brooks.

Our weather went south later in our hunt as well but not quite as bad as yours.

Cheers
Jim

Thanks for the report. Sucks to have all those factors stacked up against you, but sounds like you made the best of it and it wasn't for the lack of effort. Best of luck next time.

bad luck on that, always a bright side you'll have to go back

Larry, don't feel like the Lone Ranger. Last year I was in Moose heaven down on the peninsula, but 17" of rain over the course of the hunt made the little trickles in the drainages into roaring torrents that were impassable. We could see Moose out in the willows, but had no way to get to them. That's Alaska...I'll be back in 2 weeks to try again.

Good luck Jon.

It may be a blessing that I called it quits. I have become quite ill here in Fairbanks.

Larry,

Sorry you didn't connect with a ram. Looks like it was tough sheep hunting conditions.

Hope you get to feeling better.

Safe travels back to FLA.

Chris

Thanks Chris.

Larry,
Sorry to hear that you did not get the Ram!
But it sounds lIke you had an adventure and that is sheep hunting.
We have been waiting for 3 days to get out to our cabin to start our sheep and bear hunt.
The weather finally cleared today to let us fly!
We are now in business for Sunday.
Hope you come back soon for more adventures

Being from Florida where August is brutally hot and humid, waking up to 6-10 inches of snow on the ground, it is certainly an adventure. Also a shock to the system.

I can't wait to do it again!

Dang, Larry.. Can't control the weather or the whims of the sheep themselves. You gave it hell trying.

I have a buddy who lives in Fairbanks.. He hunts sheep every year. He shot a really nice full curl 10yr old ram.. the ONLY legal ram he saw the entire trip. He mirrored the exact same thing you said. Massive die off due to a really hard winter on the rams.

Go back and give it another go next year. It gives you a reason to keep up with the regimen.

Glad all your physical prep did the trick, too bad the sheep didn't cooperate!

Last year's winter hammered the game. The cold "spring" and that late snow hammered a lot of game, sheep included. I've heard similar reports from the South East AK game bio about how that snow decimated the sheep down here.

The weather also hammered the caribou, right during the calving season with high water levels and the cold snow. Now you know what to expect, physically, next time around!

How did all your gear hold up? I'll bet the guide was pleased with your preparation.

Sorry you didn't get on Larry. The weather was getting pretty nasty about half way through our hunt, so not surprised. I have friends who were stuck 5 days after their pick up due to weather. If you're going back and you want outfitter recommendations feel free to drop me a line.

Brett

quote:

Originally posted by A7Dave:
Glad all your physical prep did the trick, too bad the sheep didn't cooperate!

Last year's winter hammered the game. The cold "spring" and that late snow hammered a lot of game, sheep included. I've heard similar reports from the South East AK game bio about how that snow decimated the sheep down here.

The weather also hammered the caribou, right during the calving season with high water levels and the cold snow. Now you know what to expect, physically, next time around!

How did all your gear hold up? I'll bet the guide was pleased with your preparation.

.

My gear held up very well. I particularly loved the pack and the Sitka clothes.

Yes, the guide was happy with my preparation. After the 2 hour walk into camp climbing 1500 feet over extremely rough ground, he remarked that the hunt was in the bag. His prior client would not have made it even half way. I still struggle with the same old problem. I am slow down hill. I think it is a combination of a not so good sense of balance and poor flexibility.

We were so close to getting the ram the first day. Failure to take one was disappointing. That's hunting.

I wonder how this did off will affect outfitter bookings next year?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by BrettAKSCI:
Sorry you didn't get on Larry. The weather was getting pretty nasty about half way through our hunt, so not surprised. I have friends who were stuck 5 days after their pick up due to weather. If you're going back and you want outfitter recommendations feel free to drop me a line.

Brett[/QUOTE

Thanks Brett.

The weather was an issue. I knew a big storm was coming from the weather reports i got from home.

One day, I could see the storm coming. I alerted the guide and packer. At first they blew it off. As it got closer, they took it far more seriously. We took off but it was way too late. We had the hell beat out of us by hail. Frankly, it hurt when it hit. I got bruises. After we got back to camp. I spent the better part of 24 hours in a small 2 man tent. It snowed for hours. Lots is snow on the ground . Estimated 8-10 inches. It also got cold. It was 20 degrees the last morning. We lost anothe half day due to rain/fog.

To add insult to injury, I think I got food poisoning in Fairbanks. It was not a fun day.

Nice to meet you and Jim in Fairbanks.

Hope you're feeling better Larry.....sorry to hear you didn't connect on a ram. One thing I garnered from your report: I need to get in shape! Now go get that griz.

Larry sorry to hear that you did not connect and that you ended up sick to boot. We have all had our experiences with unsuccessful hunts and we all appreciate that hunting is hunting and being unsuccessful is just part of the sport sometimes. Kudos to you though for doing it right, doing your homework, getting in shape and giving it 110%.

I know the Sense of Adventure Deleted... You made the climb took it all in.. You were in Sheep Country.. You'll be Back..

I have a big horn hunt in November. We will see how that goes.

Larry
That's a good effort
We have harvested 9 so far in our camp with a week to go.
Oh got to get camp ready Biebs will be here for moose soon.
Go back get one of those great sheep you will love it.
Larry

Larry
I have been waiting to find out how the sheep hunt went. Disappointing not to connect but maybe more motivation to go again? That's why it's hunting and not shooting!
JCHB

quote:

Originally posted by JCHB:
Larry
I have been waiting to find out how the sheep hunt went. Disappointing not to connect but maybe more motivation to go again? That's why it's hunting and not shooting!
JCHB

Exactly.

I will decide after my big horn hunt if I am going back to Alaska. My concern with going back is this die off.

Larry
Damn, I hoped you would score. Very tough luck all around. Better luck on the next ram buddy.

Thanks Dave.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:

quote:

Originally posted by JCHB:
Larry
I have been waiting to find out how the sheep hunt went. Disappointing not to connect but maybe more motivation to go again? That's why it's hunting and not shooting!
JCHB

Exactly.

I will decide after my big horn hunt if I am going back to Alaska. My concern with going back is this die off.

The weather you experienced was not average Brooks weather, but anything's possible when sheep hunting in Alaska.

Brett

quote:

Originally posted by BrettAKSCI:

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by JCHB:
Larry
I have been waiting to find out how the sheep hunt went. Disappointing not to connect but maybe more motivation to go again? That's why it's hunting and not shooting!
JCHB

Exactly.

I will decide after my big horn hunt if I am going back to Alaska. My concern with going back is this die off.

The weather you experienced was not average Brooks weather, but anything's possible when sheep hunting in Alaska.

Brett[/QUOTE

Brett:

You are no doubt correct. It did best my previous attempt in Alaska.
I hunted sheep 1 day then was snowed in for 11 days .

Nice finally meeting you guys.