Yukon Mike
Well-known member
Mac finally got his first ram! This was the 5th sheep hunt he's been on since he was 9, but the first he was lined up as the first shooter. Every other time he's been a packer.
We all went in 3 days before season opener on the first to scout out the area. Jud's whole family came with him as well as me and Mac. As a nice surprise. Jud's dad Paul dropped in unexpectedly the day before season to help out. If you haven't heard about Paul's experience as a sheep guide just google him.
We were in the same area as Marcus got his first sheep last year, but this time rams were scarce. Mac's was the only full curl ram seen in 7 days. It was a total fluke that they got the drop on him from peeking around the "castles" on top of a mountain. They first saw him at 290 yds feeding up towards them, but Mac only got one shot at 250 yds before he was going to disappear in the rocks. He got his .270 lined up using Dave Shady's bipod and whacked him a good one - in the shoulder and out the ribs. Lights out. It is a very pretty 34"er with 12.5 inch bases, 9 years old. A dandy first sheep.
The lake we landed on had some trout in it so we had a few fish fries in camp, and as a bonus the boys found some really nice crystals while poking around. Mac brought out three that are in the 2lb range.
What made me so proud of that boy was how happy everyone was to work for him to get him a chance. That says a lot about what a great kid he is. And even after he tagged out opening day, he was still up at 5:30 heading out to help Marcus get a sheep, and it was pretty much raining off and on everyday. We had really nasty weather. They put in several 12 hour days walking around.
Our time was up yesterday and we had to come back, but Paul had a plane take him and Marcus and Mac to another area he won a permit for so they could help him with his hunt. He drew the area around Mt Skookum which is one of the higher hills around here at over 7000 ft. Lots of ice fields and crap-your-pants steepness. They'll try for 5 days in there. I hope Paul gets a chance at a nice old ram. His sheep hunting days are winding down as his knees keep popping out and he's the got the high blood pressure now too. The meds slow him down a lot.
It was my first sheep hunt since 2007 and the motivation for doing physio everyday for over a year. I started out walking on the treadmill for 2 min, 3 times a week without my cane and worked my way up to an hour of real outdoor walking everyday by this summer. I wasn't able to keep up hiking, but it was great to be in camp, cooking, cleaning fish and generally bugging the kids. The day Mac shot his sheep I walked to the end of the valley where they started going up and waited 8 hours for them to return. What a great adventure!
Here's some pictures...
The view from camp.
View attachment DSCF7963.jpg
A high lake.
View attachment DSCF7986.jpg
Lots of looking. Good thing we do this in the summer when its warm!
View attachment DSCF7984.jpg
The big smile picture.
View attachment IMG_3040.jpg
The two big smiles picture.
View attachment DSCF8011.jpg
We all went in 3 days before season opener on the first to scout out the area. Jud's whole family came with him as well as me and Mac. As a nice surprise. Jud's dad Paul dropped in unexpectedly the day before season to help out. If you haven't heard about Paul's experience as a sheep guide just google him.
We were in the same area as Marcus got his first sheep last year, but this time rams were scarce. Mac's was the only full curl ram seen in 7 days. It was a total fluke that they got the drop on him from peeking around the "castles" on top of a mountain. They first saw him at 290 yds feeding up towards them, but Mac only got one shot at 250 yds before he was going to disappear in the rocks. He got his .270 lined up using Dave Shady's bipod and whacked him a good one - in the shoulder and out the ribs. Lights out. It is a very pretty 34"er with 12.5 inch bases, 9 years old. A dandy first sheep.
The lake we landed on had some trout in it so we had a few fish fries in camp, and as a bonus the boys found some really nice crystals while poking around. Mac brought out three that are in the 2lb range.
What made me so proud of that boy was how happy everyone was to work for him to get him a chance. That says a lot about what a great kid he is. And even after he tagged out opening day, he was still up at 5:30 heading out to help Marcus get a sheep, and it was pretty much raining off and on everyday. We had really nasty weather. They put in several 12 hour days walking around.
Our time was up yesterday and we had to come back, but Paul had a plane take him and Marcus and Mac to another area he won a permit for so they could help him with his hunt. He drew the area around Mt Skookum which is one of the higher hills around here at over 7000 ft. Lots of ice fields and crap-your-pants steepness. They'll try for 5 days in there. I hope Paul gets a chance at a nice old ram. His sheep hunting days are winding down as his knees keep popping out and he's the got the high blood pressure now too. The meds slow him down a lot.
It was my first sheep hunt since 2007 and the motivation for doing physio everyday for over a year. I started out walking on the treadmill for 2 min, 3 times a week without my cane and worked my way up to an hour of real outdoor walking everyday by this summer. I wasn't able to keep up hiking, but it was great to be in camp, cooking, cleaning fish and generally bugging the kids. The day Mac shot his sheep I walked to the end of the valley where they started going up and waited 8 hours for them to return. What a great adventure!
Here's some pictures...
The view from camp.
View attachment DSCF7963.jpg
A high lake.
View attachment DSCF7986.jpg
Lots of looking. Good thing we do this in the summer when its warm!
View attachment DSCF7984.jpg
The big smile picture.
View attachment IMG_3040.jpg
The two big smiles picture.
View attachment DSCF8011.jpg
