Yukon Mike
Well-known member
Sheep Hunt With Marcus 2010
We flew in two days ahead of season to scout like we’d done before. I can’t tell you the name of the lake because it is a secret, but it was only about a 15 min flight. Sometimes there are good rams in that area and we were prepared to do a lot of hiking (and we did!). Our hunting party was originally Jud, Marcus and me, but when Marcus’ Grandpa heard where we were going, he wanted in too and wanted to bring Derek along for company. Derek is 8 and had hunted sheep before, but not a fly in. My dad was really jealous that he couldn’t make this year.
Day 1
Got in about 6 pm, set up camp and played in the creek for the rest of the night.
Day 2 Serious scouting day
Paul (Grandpa) had us up at 4:30 to get walking after oatmeal. We headed south in the morning before it got too hot, walked for an hour or two and glassed 16 rams with a possible shooter. We moved a bit to get a better look and saw 4 more rams behind us. One shooter for sure. Everyone was feeling pretty good about opening day the next morning so we walked back to camp by 1 pm and fished and played the rest of the day. There were little lake trout in the lake we camped beside.
Day 3 Opening day!
We slept in until 5:00 and all headed out to find those rams from the day before. The days started clear, but got a bit socked in and rainy later on. By 7:00 we had found a good ram in the group of four, and when we got within 2 km we split up and Jud and Marcus went on alone to stalk them. They only got within 900 yards and couldn’t get any closer without spooking them. We all met up again to talk about it and sat down to just watch them. Marcus and his dad decided to try a different approach by going down the hill, side hilled below the rams and walked back up on them. After crawling on the rocks for 200 yards the got within 300 and decided to try. Jud wanted Marcus to have a try at his first ram because he is thirteen now. So he set him up with a bipod on his .270 his grandpa had given him for Christmas. Marcus squeezed off a shot and Jud watched them all run away – 300 yds , 400, 500, 700, they were leaving, unharmed. The guys laid still for a half an hour so the sheep wouldn’t get an idea of where the noise came from in case they got another chance another day. By the time we regrouped it was lunch time, getting foggy and rainy so we headed for camp. Marcus was disappointed but knew 300 yards was a long shot.
Day 4 18 hour day in blistering heat.
Up at 5:00 again, put down some oatmeal, and set off south again. Paul and Derek and everyone headed out together. We decided to try to the east, hiked up a big black mountain and stayed along the ridge to cover some ground. We found the group of 16 rams again, a new group of 10, and two pairs of two straight ahead. One of the pairs were two shooters (from 5 km at least) and there were all those other sheep in the way that we would have to try not to spook. The day was getting hot. We happened to run into one of the most experienced sheep hunters around named Romeo Leduc otherwise known by his movies as the Wilderness Wanderer. He decided he wanted to add footage of Marcus stalking his first ram onto a HD movie camera he was hauling around with him. Romeo gave us some advice on how to get closer to the pair we wanted. We walked single file, tight group, straight at the rams, but slowly so they wouldn’t spook. The rams were about a km away at that point. When we got to 500 yards they walked away a bit looking nervous and we were worried, so we let them bed down and continued walking slowly until there was a knoll between us. Paul and Derek had stayed way behind, Romeo and his dog were filming, so Jud and Marcus and I snuck up and around to get above the two rams. We accidentally spooked a third little ram we didn’t know about and he alerted the pair. Dang! Romeo moved on and we headed back home down the hill.
Part way down Paul was waving his arms at us up from the bottom, so we had a look above and found the two shooters again. We got to 400, 300, and finally 180 yards. Marcus got lined up again at the biggest ram as laid down. After a bit he stood up and Marcus got him through the lungs. He staggered a bit downhill ad dropped. I couldn’t believe it! Marcus was pretty happy but Judd was freaking out. It was about 5:30 pm. We took some pictures and got to work in the heat. We had run out of water at about 2:00 and had a long way to go to get down to a creek.
We stumbled into camp just after midnight. Derek was sleeping but Paul wanted to hear the whole story right then. We fell asleep pretty quickly.
Day 5 Slept in, went fishin’
Slept in until 8:00 and took care of the meat and hide to keep them cool in the heat, then went fishing and playing in the water all day. It was so hot.
Day 6 Hunting for crystals
Got up at 6:00 to go for a hike to look for crystals that some people told us were common on a mountainside nearby. We walked for about 5 km to get there and spread out to look. Derek found the first crystal, Marcus and I both found some big ones the size of a fist. We carried several back to camp and enjoyed the day. We did some more fishing and caught 2 more nice lakers before the plane showed up to take us home.
We had a great time. It was one of the best trips I’ve ever been on. The weather was fine, the fishing was good, and we had lots of rams to keep us interested. I slept for fourteen hours last night in a real bed.
Mac, age 13, 2010
Paul, Derek, Jud getting ready to fly.
View attachment 100_0906.jpg
Scenery Opening Day
View attachment 100_0938.jpg
Derek's comfy chair.
View attachment 100_0928.jpg
Nice waterfall.
View attachment 100_0957.jpg
Marcus , you thirsty?
View attachment 100_0961.jpg
We flew in two days ahead of season to scout like we’d done before. I can’t tell you the name of the lake because it is a secret, but it was only about a 15 min flight. Sometimes there are good rams in that area and we were prepared to do a lot of hiking (and we did!). Our hunting party was originally Jud, Marcus and me, but when Marcus’ Grandpa heard where we were going, he wanted in too and wanted to bring Derek along for company. Derek is 8 and had hunted sheep before, but not a fly in. My dad was really jealous that he couldn’t make this year.
Day 1
Got in about 6 pm, set up camp and played in the creek for the rest of the night.
Day 2 Serious scouting day
Paul (Grandpa) had us up at 4:30 to get walking after oatmeal. We headed south in the morning before it got too hot, walked for an hour or two and glassed 16 rams with a possible shooter. We moved a bit to get a better look and saw 4 more rams behind us. One shooter for sure. Everyone was feeling pretty good about opening day the next morning so we walked back to camp by 1 pm and fished and played the rest of the day. There were little lake trout in the lake we camped beside.
Day 3 Opening day!
We slept in until 5:00 and all headed out to find those rams from the day before. The days started clear, but got a bit socked in and rainy later on. By 7:00 we had found a good ram in the group of four, and when we got within 2 km we split up and Jud and Marcus went on alone to stalk them. They only got within 900 yards and couldn’t get any closer without spooking them. We all met up again to talk about it and sat down to just watch them. Marcus and his dad decided to try a different approach by going down the hill, side hilled below the rams and walked back up on them. After crawling on the rocks for 200 yards the got within 300 and decided to try. Jud wanted Marcus to have a try at his first ram because he is thirteen now. So he set him up with a bipod on his .270 his grandpa had given him for Christmas. Marcus squeezed off a shot and Jud watched them all run away – 300 yds , 400, 500, 700, they were leaving, unharmed. The guys laid still for a half an hour so the sheep wouldn’t get an idea of where the noise came from in case they got another chance another day. By the time we regrouped it was lunch time, getting foggy and rainy so we headed for camp. Marcus was disappointed but knew 300 yards was a long shot.
Day 4 18 hour day in blistering heat.
Up at 5:00 again, put down some oatmeal, and set off south again. Paul and Derek and everyone headed out together. We decided to try to the east, hiked up a big black mountain and stayed along the ridge to cover some ground. We found the group of 16 rams again, a new group of 10, and two pairs of two straight ahead. One of the pairs were two shooters (from 5 km at least) and there were all those other sheep in the way that we would have to try not to spook. The day was getting hot. We happened to run into one of the most experienced sheep hunters around named Romeo Leduc otherwise known by his movies as the Wilderness Wanderer. He decided he wanted to add footage of Marcus stalking his first ram onto a HD movie camera he was hauling around with him. Romeo gave us some advice on how to get closer to the pair we wanted. We walked single file, tight group, straight at the rams, but slowly so they wouldn’t spook. The rams were about a km away at that point. When we got to 500 yards they walked away a bit looking nervous and we were worried, so we let them bed down and continued walking slowly until there was a knoll between us. Paul and Derek had stayed way behind, Romeo and his dog were filming, so Jud and Marcus and I snuck up and around to get above the two rams. We accidentally spooked a third little ram we didn’t know about and he alerted the pair. Dang! Romeo moved on and we headed back home down the hill.
Part way down Paul was waving his arms at us up from the bottom, so we had a look above and found the two shooters again. We got to 400, 300, and finally 180 yards. Marcus got lined up again at the biggest ram as laid down. After a bit he stood up and Marcus got him through the lungs. He staggered a bit downhill ad dropped. I couldn’t believe it! Marcus was pretty happy but Judd was freaking out. It was about 5:30 pm. We took some pictures and got to work in the heat. We had run out of water at about 2:00 and had a long way to go to get down to a creek.
We stumbled into camp just after midnight. Derek was sleeping but Paul wanted to hear the whole story right then. We fell asleep pretty quickly.
Day 5 Slept in, went fishin’
Slept in until 8:00 and took care of the meat and hide to keep them cool in the heat, then went fishing and playing in the water all day. It was so hot.
Day 6 Hunting for crystals
Got up at 6:00 to go for a hike to look for crystals that some people told us were common on a mountainside nearby. We walked for about 5 km to get there and spread out to look. Derek found the first crystal, Marcus and I both found some big ones the size of a fist. We carried several back to camp and enjoyed the day. We did some more fishing and caught 2 more nice lakers before the plane showed up to take us home.
We had a great time. It was one of the best trips I’ve ever been on. The weather was fine, the fishing was good, and we had lots of rams to keep us interested. I slept for fourteen hours last night in a real bed.
Mac, age 13, 2010
Paul, Derek, Jud getting ready to fly.
View attachment 100_0906.jpg
Scenery Opening Day
View attachment 100_0938.jpg
Derek's comfy chair.
View attachment 100_0928.jpg
Nice waterfall.
View attachment 100_0957.jpg
Marcus , you thirsty?
View attachment 100_0961.jpg
