Alaska Bucket List #4

[ShaneTyTrey]

Day 5 –
After a tough night of sleep dreaming about what the day could bring, we were greeted with a good rain at 4:45 just ahead of our 5:00 alarm.  Luckily the rain reduced to a drizzle by 5:30, we ate breakfast and were off by 6:00.  We hunted hard, peeking into rock chute after rock chute, dropping altitude and gaining it again, multiple times.  By 11:00 we had not turned up a single sheep from the prior days, just one mountain goat and 3 sheep miles away on a distant ridge.  We made the decision to head to high camp, it had a stream for easy water, and was where were originally planning to camp before we came upon all the rams a couple days prior.  So, we broke down camp, loaded our packs with our gear and arrived at High Camp around 5:00 pm.  We set the tents back up and hunted for about an hour before a major storm put us to our tents for the night.  Hopefully, the storm will clear by mid-morning tomorrow as we are planning to go to one of Mitch’s favorite spots for seeing Rams.

[Hectocotylus]

Fun story! Looking forward to more


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[2MANY]

Yup.
Great write up.

[ShaneTyTrey]

Day 6 –
We woke up about 7:00 to clear weather with a tough of fog.  We ate our oatmeal waited for the fog to clear and headed up the mountain in search of sheep.  It took about an hour to make the climb and on the 2nd chute we checked, there were 4 rams, 3 that were sublegal rams but one that was close.  Unfortunately, he was over 1,000 yards away and bedded looking the other away at a steep downhill angle.  We watched him for a good 45 minutes through the spotting scope and decided he was close enough to legal that we had to try and get closer, as we were making our plan of approach a thick layer of fog came in and stayed for about 2 hours.  By the time the fog had lifted the rams were gone.  We continued checking basin after basin and peeking into chute after chute all day, we saw a couple bands of sheep miles away and caught a small ram around 9:00 but that was it.  I did come upon a Mountain Goat just 168 yards below me and got a cool photo of him.  Overall, it was one of the coldest days I have ever spent hunting, the intermittent rain and constant cold wind kept the ridgetops frigid and we all 4 kept repositioning all day to gain warmth.  We made it back to camp for dinner around 10:00.  Another long day, and still no stalk opportunities on a legal ram.  It is supposed to rain like crazy tomorrow so it could be a tent day, but hopefully we get out for a few hours.

[ShaneTyTrey]

Day 7 –
Due to rain and fog we laid in our tents until about 1:00, we decided to pack camp and head downhill, further from our takeout point but into and area Mitch had seen many rams before.  We hadn’t been hiking 10 minutes when Levi spotted a sheep, it turned out to be a young one, but about 3 minutes later we saw it had a and he was worth a look.  We sat on the sheep until 5:55 until Mitch finally said, “he might be legal but was just on the cusp and not worth the chance”.  It was time to start our hike to a new area.  It had started raining and it kept raining harder and harder, finally at 9:00 we had made it to our camp spot for the night, wet, cold and miserable, we set up tents, ate and went to sleep, I had fallen 3 times and was on the verge of cracking, hopefully when we wake up, after some sleep and repack our wet gear to make it the couple more hours to our new destination I will feel better.

[ShaneTyTrey]

Day 8 –
The rain and wind were as nasty as we have seen on the trip, so we stayed in our tents until about 12:00 and then made the 4-hour trip to our new spot, we got plenty of rain, wind and cold but we made it after multiple ascents and drops.  We set up camp and hiked about 30 minutes to a glassing knob.  We spotted two small rams in a bad spot and then three nice rams, with at least one that might be legal but they were in an even worse spot, so we backed out, had dinner and are planning to head out right at 5am to see if we can catch them in a spot we might bale to make a play if we can confirm one is legal.

[ShaneTyTrey]

Day 9 –
Well, today didn’t start out like we hoped, we were fogged into our tents and could hear the voices of a couple other hunters we had seen last night, they have camped right below us, after walking 20+ miles from the trailhead to get in in here, it was sure a gut punch.  We figured we would just have to out hunt them.  We hiked for about 2 hours and got to a great bowl/basin to glass.  We glassed for almost 5 hours in that location and saw nothing.  I even told Mitch at one point “I think this is the first hunt I have been on where I can honestly say, I don’t even care about getting a Ram, the trip has been brutal but has created a memory I will never forget”.  He responded by saying “well, I am still going to work my ass off every day to try and get you one”.  At some point, Mitch suggested cresting the next ridge if we were up for it.  It was almost 5:00 and it was a nasty rock chute, but we said, let’s do it, knowing it would take close to an hour of sheer struggle and put us that much further away from camp.  By the time I made it to the top, Levi and Jeff are sitting there waiting for me and Mitch had continued walking to peek into the next basin, he came back and said he saw one small ram, but he was on our ridge line only about 500-600 yards away and hopefully there would be other rams with him.  We all slowly crept, keeping a low profile over there and Mitch crept a few feet ahead with the spotting scope.  After a few minutes he stepped back and said, “he just got up and is feeding towards us, lets see what happens”.  As Mitch and I were talking I saw a 2nd ram and told Mitch he looked pretty good but before Mitch could see them, they had dropped into a little tiny bluff in front of us.  We were waiting for about 10 minutes and saw nothing, so we crept forward, Mitch immediately crouched and said, “they are right there”.  Again, once he sat, we couldn’t see anything.  I set up on a pack and just waited and waited with a cold stiff wind blowing in my face.  Levi and Jeff were back about 10 yards behind us and could see well, they thought the ram was a shooter and were telling me to be ready, so I gently put one in the chamber and put the gun back on safe.  Eventually the ram fed up into view and I had him ranged at 217 yards basically straight across, I told Mitch, tell me when and he is dead, finally Mitch confirmed, “go ahead, he is a shooter”, I fired and to my surprise I shot over his back, he turned, walked 5 yards close and gave another shot, boom, over his back again.  He takes off towards us but out of sight and pops up further and straight up hill, I drop on the rocks and adjust the dial to 300 as that is what heard called, two more shots well over his back, although one I am sure I jerked the trigger on.  Jeff, yells, “you keep shooting over him and he is so uphill, dial down to like 200”.  I throw the pack down on the rocks and just as he is about to go out of site, I fire again, finally a hit, but it was far back but it slowed him to a stop, so I take my time, squeeze again and saw him drop in the scope.  The excitement begins, we had a ram down.  Pictures, laughs, jokes, and nearly tears followed, I had a ram down and he was a nice one, perfectly symmetrical, not even sure I deserved it.  The 4 of us began caping and breaking him down into bags for the trip back to camp.  It took us 4 long hours and we arrived back at camp around 1:00 am.  Both Jeff and I broke a trekking pole on the way in.  We ate and decided to try and make the 3 days hike out in 2 days, which means once we wake up the hike ahead will be the worst of what we got, but damn, I am going to sleep well, I got my RAM!

[ShaneTyTrey]

Day 10 –
We stayed in our tents until about 9am, had some breakfast, deboned the sheep, finished caping out the head and decided we should try and cook the tenderloins for some extra protein before our hike.  It was a wonderful morning spent laughing and taking about the trip.  Mitch even had some Johnny Cash playing on his phone.  By the time we were all broken down and ready to leave it was 2:00, but it was a beautiful day, so we were ready.  Within 30 minutes of us beginning the hike the rain started in, and it never let up, after five hours and 30 minutes of hiking we called it a day, set up the tents in the rain and planned to try and get a really long hike in the next day.  Worst case 2 more days 6-hour days we were thinking, and we were out of there.  Once settled in our tents the rain came down like none we had experienced on the trip.  Hopefully, it will stop but if not, tomorrow’s trek will be a whole lot more difficult.

[ShaneTyTrey]

Day 11 –
The rain never really stopped; we stayed in our tents until about 9:30 hoping for some relief but it never came.  So, we ate and broke down camp and were on the move at 11:00.  We were hoping to make it to the river today but with the steep climbs and inclement weather we knew that was a lofty goal as in perfect conditions it was a 10-12 trip.  We pushed through rain, strong winds and snow until 7:00, but figured we still had 3-4 hours or so left, so we couldn’t get a boat ride in the dark anyway, nor did we want to get caught in the brush in the thick fog.  We were all soaked an tired and were content spending one more night in the Alaskan bush.  On the bright side, the weatherman was calling for sun for the first time in a few days, which would really help the spirits for the final push.  Mitch said he was setting the alarm for 4:45 and trying to get a boat ride set up so we didn’t have to walk the extra 5 miles out to the truck.  We will see what tomorrow brings.

[pianoman9701]

Thanks for bringing us all along on your adventure. I can feel the trip in your words. 

[Gringo31]

Awesomeness! 

Your story reminds me of a similar situation where the animal of a lifetime should have gotten away but as luck would have it was harvested.  I think of it often and how heartbroken anyone would be having to replay that for the rest of their life had it had a different outcome.  All of that work to get there, doing it right and to miss would have probably made me cry...  SO glad it worked out!

Congrats!   Thanks for sharing!   

[Hectocotylus]

What happened on the shooting? Rifle problem or just nerves?


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[ShaneTyTrey]

Day 12 –
We woke up at 4:45 and were all packed up and were on our way about 7:30, the morning rain lifted, and it was a decent day.  Unfortunately, the boat wasn’t available, so it turned into a 9.4-mile day with a river crossing that required us to strip to underwear and crocs, but we made it to the truck by 4:00 pm.  We had a 5-hour drive back to Anchorage and we were starving, so we stopped in Glennallen at a roadside burger/Mexican restaurant and had a fantastic burger.  We got to Anchorage late but were able to coordinate with an expeditor via text which was awesome, to get meat and trophy care set up.  We drove to his house, he put the meat in a connex freezer, took the cape and horns and told us he would pick us up the next morning, take us to ADFG to have the ram sealed and then take us to the airport.  We left his place and drove to the outfitters warehouse for some much-needed sleep.

The expeditor is a stud and if anyone is traveling anywhere in Alaska i recommend reaching out to him.  Nick Ploesser AK Trophy Expeditors 907-223-2666.

[ShaneTyTrey]

Day 13 –
Nick picked us up, we had the horns sealed (which was a super neat process to observe), my ram was 9 years old, 13.5” bases and 38.5” length.  Nick then drove us to his place where he bubble and shrink wrapped the horns and head and I was able to carry on to the airplane.  For all the running around, dropping the hide off at the tannery and freezing and boxing the meat, he charged a mere $100, I can’t recommend that guy enough for anyone traveling to Alaska.  We had a meal at the airport while waiting for our flight and 3 hours later we were back in Washington.  The miles in this country aren’t normal miles and we ended up at 52.6 for the trip, it felt like at least double that, but we came, we saw, and we conquered and we won’t be back!

[ShaneTyTrey]

What happened on the shooting? Rifle problem or just nerves?


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I don't know, i will go shoot next weekend and see, as many times as i fell on rocks and stuff, I am guessing it was the gun.  I actually was confident and not nervous at all on the shot, and when I dialed to 200 on a 400 yard shot it hit, so I am guessing the gun is shooting high.