Sheep hunting is one of those things that a guy just never imagines he will actually get to do. While I have always had a strong desire to head north after these monarchs, the barrier to entry has just been too great.
As many on here know, my little brother is active duty Army and an Alaskan resident. As a resident he gets to hunt unguided for the species most only dream of hunting and as his brother, I'm allowed to accompany him unguided for those same dream species. With that said, the duties and demand of a war fighter has kept him away for most hunting seasons...but every once and a while we get a window to sneak north. This is one such window.
Originally this trip was slated for 2020, but in steps covid and scrambled our plans. The hunting gods however have once again smiled upon us and here we are one month from flying out on the greatest hunting adventure I may ever go on in my lifetime! I do have mixed emotions however. In a perfect world we could push this trip out to maybe catch a better time for finding mature rams. AK sheep populations are on a gradual decline and back to back to back hard winters have left mature rams in short supply. This could be the only opportunity we'll ever get to go though so it's foot on the gas and full steam ahead! There's a legal ram somewhere out there, we just have to walk till we find him
We knew late winter that this trip was going to be a reality so the planning and preparing started early. Physical fitness, diet, and gear evaluation were all a top priority for me. As lots of you know my "little" brother is a man among men. He will outlift/out work everyone in the gym and then go run a marathon and then do it all again the next day. Top 5 Placer multiple times in The Best Ranger Competition, his fitness, land navigation skills, and mental toughness are second to very few.....and I gotta try and keep up!?! 😬
In 2021 covid left me in shambles. It put me down for almost 3 full weeks. I atrophied away to a mere 165lb. Add in the fires and smoke in Yakima and my lungs took forever to rebound. With no cardio and no muscle the hunting season destroyed me. I survived but I was mentally and physically drained. For basically all of winter I slept and ate. I made it all the way up to 200lb for the first time ever (and not a good 200). I've always taken pride in my ability to out hike, out work, and out grind everyone on the mountain. My current condition left me ashamed of how far I had fallen. So as winter began to fade into spring I really had my work cut out for me to get back to where i had been. I was quite literally starting from ground zero.
Anyone who is hovering or surpassed that 40 mark and has attempted to get fit can attest to the "2 steps forward, one step back" kind of progress. You wanna hit it like you used to but your body says "not so fast buddy". The hardest part has been having to check my own ego and throttle back what I'm doing. The old "it's a marathon not a sprint " mantra comes to mind. Instead of running miles through the streets of selah and lifting weights I found a trail in union gap that has an aggressive elevation gain and I would just hike it. Bring my clothes and pack to work and just go grind it out every day. "Stop looking at your watch Karl! Time doesn't matter just get it done and make sure you're sweating. You're not racing anyone" is what I would have to tell myself. Early wake ups for push-ups, jump rope, 8 min abs, and various other body weight exercises are the new norm instead of bench, squat, clean.
About 2 months ago I started getting bad lower back/hip pain. Turns out not enough self care and ramping it up too soon isn't good for you 😆 A little sciatica became my enemy. I found a great chiropractor and an even better massage therapist. I realised really quickly that I needed to give my body more care. Gone are the days of foot on the gas, *censored*'ll buff out mentality. Now it's weekly adjustments and massages to work out my lifetime of quirks.
As I've gained traction getting past my Sciatic issue I started adding in soccer sessions with my son, runs with my daughter, and some hill workouts. Sure enough Friday left me with a strained right calf. Nasty little issue that has me gimping around like I'm 80. It was feeling a touch better Sunday so I figured maybe I just need to work it out so I hit the track for 3 miles worth of 400's, stretching each lap. WRONG MOVE! Now it's RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevate) until better. It's at 50% already so hopefully by next week I can put my pack back on and get back to it. I've been DILIGENT about adequate stretching but the one time I get lazy it really bit me. Just glad I didn't tear the calf.
I had many big hikes planned leading up to this trip but mother nature and her snow pack have been working against me 😆 Last one I attempted was supposed to be 28 miles and around 7hrs but after post holing through crotch deep snow for 4 miles to get over the ridge it ended up being a bit over 9hrs and way more calorie output than I wanted 🤮.
At this point I think my base is strong enough that I'm going to just transition to full on maintenance mode. Stretching, massage, and pack hikes EVERY OTHER day. Too close to fly out to risk screwing something up.
It's been a few years since I've done a thread on a hunt so be patient as I blow the dust off my writin fingers
First day on the hill vs the last time I actually clocked it. Slow gains...
