Al Hansen
Well-known member
Maybe only another sheep hunter could or would relate to this story. When this Minnesota flat-lander arrived in Alaska on July 29th, 1966, it was with eye balls as large as frying pans. There is no way that I can begin to describe the absolute jubilation that totally engulfed my body and soul.
The “only” reason I was in the state was to hunt ducks. I had been told about the Pacific Flyway being hatched up there and that was all I needed to make up my mind. Evidently a change of scenery was necessary and off I went after being hired by the Anchorage School Borough, which is what it was called back then.
I did get my fill of duck and goose hunting but then little things began infiltrating my mind like; black bears, Kodiak brown bears, grizzly bears, polar bears, Rocky Mt. Goats, Sitka black tail deer, Dall sheep, caribou, moose, elk, ptarmigan, wolverines, Kings, Sockeyes, Silvers, Humpies, Dogs, Rainbows, Dolly Varden (Arctic Char), and Grayling. After reviewing the list, I found myself immersed in that age old question of-----“What do I want to do next?” It was wonderful because my license cost me $7.00. That was it and I could shoot any and or all of those animals.
I soon found myself gone every weekend and during the summer months, I was missing in action if you tried to find me at home. Finally I found something that seemed to mesmerize me from the first time I hunted them. That happened to be the Dall ram. First of all, if you like to hunt that kind of game animal I would strongly consider getting in shape. Being part mountain goat helped! What I did in the summer was to get my pack together and fill up the truck with gas and go for a ride. I would then hike into the mountains looking for Dall sheep----rams. After finding a band of rams, I would then set up my spike tent and follow them for up to two weeks at a crack. With our summer days being so long, it didn’t take long to fill up my notebooks with pages of material. I learned as much as humanly possible in my observations of these regal animals. What was absorbed by me came in mighty handy when August 10th would roll around. That was the start of the sheep season that lasted until September 20th.
If you study a particular animal long enough you quickly begin to read signs within the band. Rams were always off by themselves just like the ewes and lambs were—sometimes a mountain range or two apart. I found out who was the Alpha ram in each band I studied. After giving names to each of my subjects, I would then sit back with my spotting scope on my tripod just watching, looking, and listening to the different things I saw each day. Once I finished I would always go back to Anchorage to visit with Mr. Nichols who was the state sheep biologist back then.
As time went along I quickly found out that my life began revolving around sheep season. I was single back then and dating was out of the question during hunting season. There is one lady that still lives in Anchorage and I have always remembered her birthday just because it comes the day before the sheep season opens.
In 1974, I ended up leaving Alaska for Wisconsin and taught there for a number of years. Then in 1992, still with the sheep bug embedded firmly within, I did something only a sheep hunter would do. I bought a brand new Chevy half ton pickup four wheel drive and put a vanity plate on it that read, “The Ram”! My gosh you should have seen the looks I got with that. I never gave it a thought-----the “Ram” referring to a Dodge pickup. Well, I wasn’t done quite yet. To make everything perfect for this sheep hunter, I had this most wonderful father in law who asked to use my truck one day because he said he needed to haul some hay to another farm. I gladly handed him the keys.
That evening he came back to the house with Dorothy following him for a ride back to their home. He gave me the keys and said, “Thanks, Al.”
The following morning as I walked outside to get into my truck, I noticed that for a hood ornament, there was now a Dodge Ram’s head. It was awesome. I meant no disrespect to Chevy or Dodge, all I cared about was sheep hunting.
Al
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As I'm not a full price paying customer we need to keep the moose option open as no heroic/expensive measures will be taken to find sheep. I'm not planning on donating the the AF&G pension fund by not playing by the rules!