OK,
I am new to the forum. I thought I would share my story with you guys. I will try to keep it short and sweet!
I booked my hunt a couple of years ago with an outfitter who hunts sheep out of Healy Alaska in the Alaska Range. I wanted to get a sheep hunt done before I was 50. It was a hunt of a lifetime, and I felt pretty lucky to be able to do this once in my lifetime.
I was flown 2 days before season in a Supercub to a remote river landing strip. My guide and I spent the night, and packed up to a high basin where we would establish a base camp for a week or so. After arriving to the camp area, we saw sheep right off the bat. This was a new area for my guide, so I was a little nervous about the ram population. We had 2 days to scout, and found a band of 12 rams together.
The day before season, we got a decent look at them. We saw 3 legal rams in the band, with one that stood out as an older ram with heavy bases. Opening day had us on a 5 hour stock on the rams. When they finally stopped feeding, they were at 420 yards. The band had grown to 18 rams, with the big ram right smack in the middle. I layed my 270 over my fleece jacket, said a short prayer, and let it fly!
I ended up shooting the ram just below his heart. It was 11 am opening day, and the ram of my dreams was down for keeps. After a huge group hug and picture, we had the ram quartered, and back to camp by 6pm. We built a fire, and had sheep ribs as the sun went down. What a way to end a hunt. The weather turned dicey, with high winds that kept us in camp for another 4 days. The bio at Fairbanks aged my ram at 9 1/2 years, with 38" x 13.5 bases. Not a book ram, but a beautiful specimen from the area. Everything I read about sheep fever came true. Once you hunt these majestic animals, you just want to go back to the mountains and experience it again.
