Post by: ShaneTyTrey on June 03, 2023, 05:45:58 PM
Post by: 2MANY on June 03, 2023, 05:49:14 PM
Would love to hear about your bear hunt.
Post by: RB on June 03, 2023, 05:53:23 PM
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on June 03, 2023, 06:00:14 PM
Many congrats.They are all on here. Same title other than the number of this thread.
Would love to hear about your bear hunt.
Post by: Dan-o on June 03, 2023, 08:34:14 PM
Post by: Tenkara on June 03, 2023, 09:14:13 PM
Post by: PolarBear on June 03, 2023, 09:27:03 PM
Post by: Timberstalker on June 03, 2023, 09:28:19 PM
Have fun and be safe.
Post by: bearpaw on June 04, 2023, 12:18:56 AM
Post by: elkrack on June 04, 2023, 06:17:41 AM
Post by: boneaddict on June 04, 2023, 06:45:52 AM
Post by: cjensen on June 04, 2023, 07:36:47 AM
Post by: Falcon on June 04, 2023, 07:47:41 AM
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on June 04, 2023, 02:08:57 PM
Post by: fishngamereaper on June 04, 2023, 03:26:27 PM
Bold move buying that bou tag ... :chuckle:
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on June 04, 2023, 05:16:43 PM
Post by: Houndhunter on June 04, 2023, 09:17:11 PM
Post by: Karl Blanchard on June 05, 2023, 08:34:19 AM
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on June 05, 2023, 08:02:13 PM
Can't wait to follow along! I day dream daily of going back :'( There's a legal ram out there somewhere, just gotta keep stepping till you find him. Do you need a packer :chuckle:I do need a packer and my good buddy is tagging along for motivation, companionship and and to video. Goal is for a slam and hope to bring him on all. He isn’t excited about going to Mexico though so could be an opening on that one.
Post by: Karl Blanchard on June 06, 2023, 07:49:56 AM
Give me a decent heads up and I'm there! Mexico doesn't scare me :chuckle:Can't wait to follow along! I day dream daily of going back :'( There's a legal ram out there somewhere, just gotta keep stepping till you find him. Do you need a packer :chuckle:I do need a packer and my good buddy is tagging along for motivation, companionship and and to video. Goal is for a slam and hope to bring him on all. He isn’t excited about going to Mexico though so could be an opening on that one.
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on June 06, 2023, 09:30:35 AM
Trip is booked for February of 2025, you wouldn’t have to pay for anything, I will give him until this February to commit. You’re officially on deck if he opts out, that would give you a year to schedule it in.Give me a decent heads up and I'm there! Mexico doesn't scare me :chuckle:Can't wait to follow along! I day dream daily of going back :'( There's a legal ram out there somewhere, just gotta keep stepping till you find him. Do you need a packer :chuckle:I do need a packer and my good buddy is tagging along for motivation, companionship and and to video. Goal is for a slam and hope to bring him on all. He isn’t excited about going to Mexico though so could be an opening on that one.
Post by: Karl Blanchard on June 06, 2023, 10:05:23 AM
:IBCOOL: Heck Feb is slow time at work so I'd only need about an hours notice to pack and slap the wife on the rear and say see you later :chuckle:Trip is booked for February of 2025, you wouldn’t have to pay for anything, I will give him until this February to commit. You’re officially on deck if he opts out, that would give you a year to schedule it in.Give me a decent heads up and I'm there! Mexico doesn't scare me :chuckle:Can't wait to follow along! I day dream daily of going back :'( There's a legal ram out there somewhere, just gotta keep stepping till you find him. Do you need a packer :chuckle:I do need a packer and my good buddy is tagging along for motivation, companionship and and to video. Goal is for a slam and hope to bring him on all. He isn’t excited about going to Mexico though so could be an opening on that one.
Post by: Gringo31 on June 06, 2023, 11:15:46 AM
Quote
:IBCOOL: Heck Feb is slow time at work so I'd only need about an hours notice to pack and slap the wife on the rear and say see you later :chuckle:
:chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:
Post by: Karl Blanchard on June 06, 2023, 11:33:37 AM
I use the chuckle emoji but I'm so dead serious it's not even funny 8)Quote:IBCOOL: Heck Feb is slow time at work so I'd only need about an hours notice to pack and slap the wife on the rear and say see you later :chuckle:
:chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:
Post by: Karl Blanchard on June 06, 2023, 11:34:31 AM
Post by: 2MANY on June 06, 2023, 12:07:05 PM
I use the chuckle emoji but I'm so dead serious it's not even funny 8)Quote:IBCOOL: Heck Feb is slow time at work so I'd only need about an hours notice to pack and slap the wife on the rear and say see you later :chuckle:
:chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:
You would be dead alright if the Mrs spotted this.
Post by: Karl Blanchard on June 06, 2023, 12:20:20 PM
I'd welcome it! It's almost impossible to get even an eye roll out of her anymore :chuckle:I use the chuckle emoji but I'm so dead serious it's not even funny 8)Quote:IBCOOL: Heck Feb is slow time at work so I'd only need about an hours notice to pack and slap the wife on the rear and say see you later :chuckle:
:chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:
You would be dead alright if the Mrs spotted this.
Post by: HikerHunter on June 06, 2023, 12:51:27 PM
Post by: Karl Blanchard on August 02, 2023, 11:08:18 AM
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 04, 2023, 03:26:21 PM
Heading out Sunday, season opens Thursday, I welcome all the prayers and good luck possible!
Post by: pianoman9701 on August 04, 2023, 03:32:42 PM
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 04, 2023, 06:21:18 PM
Post by: Jpmiller on August 04, 2023, 06:25:40 PM
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 04, 2023, 06:55:57 PM
Good luck, my fondest memories involved being miserable.at the time, so big suck for a big ram sounds worth it.Absolutely!
Post by: carpsniperg2 on August 04, 2023, 09:20:50 PM
Post by: bearpaw on August 04, 2023, 10:48:17 PM
Post by: HillHound on August 04, 2023, 11:01:18 PM
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 05, 2023, 05:51:28 AM
Good luck. I’ve enjoyed all your past write ups and Can’t wait to read about it. I’m going on my first Alaska hunt next September for moose and hopefully it is the first of many like youThat place just does something to you, I am sure your first Alaska trip won’t be your last. Feel free to reach out with a PM and I can answer any questions. I always talk a lot to guys that have had similar experiences to help dial in fitness, gear, expectations, etc….and am happy to be a resource for anyone on the forum doing any of the trips I have done.
Post by: Karl Blanchard on August 08, 2023, 08:18:07 AM
Post by: elkrack on August 08, 2023, 09:48:36 AM
Post by: Karl Blanchard on August 08, 2023, 10:08:31 AM
That’s a grind!! FOMO :dunno: :chuckle:
Fear
Of
Missing
Out
:chuckle:😬
Post by: elkrack on August 08, 2023, 10:27:07 AM
Pretty awesome thread! Good luck up there :tup:
Post by: hunter399 on August 08, 2023, 10:44:12 AM
Good luck on the hunt.👍
Post by: Falcon on August 08, 2023, 09:13:15 PM
Best of luck and have a great adventure. When I turned 50, my 2 friends and I flew into Bettles, and then took a otter and flew into the Gates of the Arctic Park and took a 10 day raft trip for a 100 miles on the John’s River. To this day, it was my toughest
Yet best adventure I have ever had. Be careful out there. Look forward to your return story.
Bryan
Post by: Karl Blanchard on August 09, 2023, 09:00:07 AM
Post by: JakeLand on August 09, 2023, 02:36:17 PM
Post by: Timberstalker on August 09, 2023, 07:40:24 PM
Post by: Rugsnfeathers on August 11, 2023, 11:08:17 AM
Post by: Karl Blanchard on August 14, 2023, 09:00:52 PM
Post by: Gringo31 on August 15, 2023, 10:50:20 AM
Post by: Karl Blanchard on August 17, 2023, 08:00:26 PM
Post by: HillHound on August 17, 2023, 08:44:45 PM
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 17, 2023, 10:21:15 PM
Post by: RB on August 17, 2023, 10:29:57 PM
Post by: Jpmiller on August 17, 2023, 11:06:57 PM
Post by: Dan-o on August 17, 2023, 11:23:42 PM
Beautiful ram.
Can't wait to read about it.
Post by: birdshooter1189 on August 18, 2023, 06:36:14 AM
Post by: Karl Blanchard on August 18, 2023, 06:59:50 AM
I'm not exactly a sheep guy but that looks like a pretty big one to me. Congrats!As a general rule, if they are legal they are big and old but you are correct, that's a good one 😍
Post by: Jpmiller on August 18, 2023, 07:42:45 AM
I'm not exactly a sheep guy but that looks like a pretty big one to me. Congrats!As a general rule, if they are legal they are big and old but you are correct, that's a good one 😍
I'm really bad at counting anuki, how old does this one look?
Post by: pianoman9701 on August 18, 2023, 08:28:06 AM
Post by: 2MANY on August 18, 2023, 08:43:33 AM
Coming home to civilization.
Congrats on the Ram.
Post by: OutHouse on August 18, 2023, 05:15:54 PM
Post by: Karl Blanchard on August 18, 2023, 05:22:30 PM
Wow, congratulations! Anyone know how they taste? I feel like it should be really good given what I think they eat!it's the best wild game I've ever eaten hands down
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 18, 2023, 07:41:38 PM
Tenderloins in camp were pretty good!Wow, congratulations! Anyone know how they taste? I feel like it should be really good given what I think they eat!it's the best wild game I've ever eaten hands down
Post by: bearpaw on August 19, 2023, 04:47:28 PM
Post by: fishngamereaper on August 19, 2023, 06:15:57 PM
Wow, congratulations! Anyone know how they taste? I feel like it should be really good given what I think they eat!it's the best wild game I've ever eaten hands down
Generally the harder you work for an animal the better it tastes...in my experience.. 😂
Post by: fishngamereaper on August 19, 2023, 06:16:50 PM
The one animal I've never got to pursue....
Congrats.... :tup:
Post by: rainshadow1 on August 19, 2023, 06:26:32 PM
Post by: jmscon on August 19, 2023, 08:56:43 PM
Post by: MADMAX on August 19, 2023, 09:07:48 PM
Beautiful
Post by: carpsniperg2 on August 19, 2023, 09:52:22 PM
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 21, 2023, 01:00:24 PM
We arrived at the Sea-tac airport about 9:40 on Sunday August 6th to check guns and baggage for our 12:00 Flight to Anchorage. Upon arriving in Anchorage, we were picked up by our guide Mitch Davis and taken to the outfitters warehouse to go through and organize our packs, make any last second gear cuts and meet our packer, Levi Womack. Unfortunately, at this time we were also notified that the food caches hadn’t been placed here yet and instead of carrying 2-3 days’ worth of food at a time we were going to carry all 14. This forced us not only to be carrying another 32lbs but the room it took forced us to make some tough decisions on additional gear cuts to have enough room in our packs. Once the gear was finalized, we loaded it all into the back of Mitch’s truck, wrapped it with a tarp and began the 5-hour drive towards Chitina. Once in Chitina we met our outfitter Steve, another guide John, had a quick dinner, set up a spike camp for the night and went to bed.
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 21, 2023, 01:10:50 PM
We had been warned that today’s hike would be brutal, but you just never know what that means. Upon waking up, we tore down camp, loaded our packs, ate some oatmeal and when to meet up with John who would be running us down the Copper River on a boat ride where we would begin our hike. It was a beautiful and scenic ride and the amount of Copper River Sockeye hanging in the shallows as we pulled into beach the boat was just staggering. Once off the boat, we filtered our water for the hike, checked the zero on my rifle and began the most excruciating and difficult hiking day of my life. It was about 8 am and our spirits were high, but by 11:30 after climbing 1,900 vertical feet through Alders, Devils Club and just the thickest and nastiest brush you can imagine, I was in suffer mode. I had to stop, I needed to eat some food, get some electrolytes in my body and get my mind right. This cycle would continue a couple more times, but after 7 hours of hiking, we broke through tree line and could at least see the general area where camp was for the night. We rested a bit and then pushed up the last 600 vertical feet and into a beautiful basin. In all, we had climbed almost 3,300 feet that day, without the extra food or brush, the hike wouldn’t have been nearly as bad, even had we only had one of those to deal with, it would have been tolerable, but it just flat sucked. Once in camp, we made a short trek to reload water. We put on some puffy jackets, pants and crocs and rested our bodies, the Peak Refuel dinner has never tasted so good and we were all in bed by 7:45 that night. We knew this was a good chance to sleep as we still had 2 full days before the season opened and had only about a 5 hour or so climb to put us where we wanted to camp and scout the day before the opener.
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 21, 2023, 01:19:28 PM
The next day we all slept about 13 hours; we were just dead tired. So, nobody was out of their tent until almost 9:00. I shot the rifle again to make sure it was still on after all the brush snags. We had some oatmeal for breakfast, broke down camp, loaded our packs back up and started another grueling climb, but once we crested the first ridge, 2.5 miles and 1,600 feet later, would at least be in sheep country, even if that was only the ½ way point for today’s hike. Sore bodies made this hike more difficult than it should have been and it took us nearly 3 hours to crest that ridge. Once over the top we began dropping down to climb our next mountain, however, we didn’t make it but about 300 yards down the ridge and we spotted our first sheep of the trip, 6 rams to be exact, and the one up high at the top of the next mountain appeared through the spotting scopes to be a mature ram. We were glassing him from a mile away and needed a better look, but this was sure encouraging. We watched the sheep for at least a good hour before he got up and fed out of site. We waited another 30 minutes to make sure he didn’t pop out as our planned travel path wasn’t far from where he was spotted. We finished dropping off the mountain and back up another 1,000+ vertical ascent on our way to our planned camp spot. Mitch decided it was would be best to just sleep on top of the ridge so we didn’t risk spooking the ram, so we put up tents in a stiff wind, boiled snow to fill our water supply and planned to get a good night of sleep, with the plan to leave our tents and extra gear that next day and try to relocate the ram and verify he was legal or hope to find another.
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 21, 2023, 01:23:40 PM
We were forced to remain inside our tents until almost 2:30 pm, thanks to strong winds and non-stop downpours. Eventually we were able to eat some oatmeal and start looking for rams and it turned into a nice day. However, without even really leaving camp we were glassing up a lot of rams and decided it would probably be best to just stay in camp and not risk busting a legal ram when I still couldn’t shoot. After all, we were camped just 400 yards as the crow flies from where we saw the ram, we are 99% sure is legal the prior afternoon. As we shared hunting stories and rested our bodies, we dreamt of what tomorrow could hold. We had 3 Ptarmigan walk 5 feet away from us, but their season isn’t open yet either, but I think they could be on the menu later in the hunt.
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 21, 2023, 01:30:10 PM
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.
Post by: Hectocotylus on August 21, 2023, 02:12:17 PM
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: 2MANY on August 21, 2023, 02:13:28 PM
Great write up.
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 21, 2023, 02:39:59 PM
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.
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 21, 2023, 02:45:20 PM
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.
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 21, 2023, 02:48:59 PM
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.
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 21, 2023, 03:11:04 PM
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!
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 21, 2023, 03:16:32 PM
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.
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 21, 2023, 03:21:40 PM
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.
Post by: pianoman9701 on August 21, 2023, 03:35:53 PM
Post by: Gringo31 on August 21, 2023, 03:39:01 PM
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! :tup:
Post by: Hectocotylus on August 21, 2023, 03:56:26 PM
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 21, 2023, 04:10:52 PM
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.
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 21, 2023, 04:15:22 PM
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!
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 21, 2023, 04:16:32 PM
What happened on the shooting? Rifle problem or just nerves?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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.
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 21, 2023, 04:32:46 PM
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 21, 2023, 04:34:05 PM
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 21, 2023, 04:35:34 PM
Post by: Timberstalker on August 21, 2023, 04:39:02 PM
Congratulations!
Post by: ganghis on August 21, 2023, 04:57:04 PM
Post by: mboyle0828 on August 21, 2023, 05:16:17 PM
Post by: High Climber on August 21, 2023, 05:51:58 PM
Post by: fishngamereaper on August 21, 2023, 06:43:58 PM
So jealous...
Congrats on the adventure....stellar Ram but the adventure will hold strong in the memories
And there's something about that first meal fresh outa the bush...hard to explain...I think a McDonald's cheeseburger would be best thing you ever ate at that point.. :chuckle:
Post by: birdshooter1189 on August 22, 2023, 07:13:11 AM
Post by: HikerHunter on August 22, 2023, 09:18:37 AM
Post by: Gringo31 on August 22, 2023, 10:40:39 AM
Quote
...and we won’t be back!
:chuckle:
I've been there and said that from a busted, horrible trip in Alaska. It's like child birth, give it some time and "it wasn't so bad". :chuckle: :tup:
Post by: Vek on August 22, 2023, 11:24:09 AM
Post by: 2MANY on August 22, 2023, 11:49:02 AM
Crazy how all the disappointments with sheep not working out along the hunt happen for a reason and those frustrations melt away in the end.
Did you ever see the other hunters again???
That would have spun me out of control. lol
Congrats
Post by: johnbmyersii on August 22, 2023, 12:45:00 PM
Post by: Boss .300 winmag on August 22, 2023, 02:41:02 PM
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 22, 2023, 07:28:36 PM
Quote...and we won’t be back!
:chuckle:
I've been there and said that from a busted, horrible trip in Alaska. It's like child birth, give it some time and "it wasn't so bad". :chuckle: :tup:
I’ll be back to Alaska for sure, just not to hunt the Chugach!
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 22, 2023, 07:29:05 PM
Epic.
Crazy how all the disappointments with sheep not working out along the hunt happen for a reason and those frustrations melt away in the end.
Did you ever see the other hunters again???
That would have spun me out of control. lol
Congrats
Never saw the other hunters again!
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 22, 2023, 07:30:01 PM
What a trip, makes me rethink my desire to go hunt those sheep. Congrats on a trophy and story of a lifetime!Go if you can make it happen, may want to pick an easier place, but it was awesome, and I am better for it. Only 3 more to go!
Post by: elkrack on August 22, 2023, 08:07:04 PM
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 23, 2023, 09:14:19 AM
Post by: Karl Blanchard on August 23, 2023, 09:40:08 AM
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 23, 2023, 07:35:05 PM
Just awesome my dude!Someone just wants to make sure they get invited in a Desert Sheep Hunt!
Post by: actionshooter on August 23, 2023, 09:53:34 PM
Post by: go4steelhd on August 30, 2023, 10:59:05 AM
I hope to do a hunt like this myself some day!
Thanks for sharing
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on August 30, 2023, 11:12:17 AM
Great story.
I hope to do a hunt like this myself some day!
Thanks for sharing
And I dream of killing a bighorn like you did!
Post by: bearpaw on September 04, 2023, 10:23:03 PM
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on September 06, 2023, 07:57:42 PM
Post by: Falcon on September 24, 2023, 07:41:34 AM
Late on this post. Looked like a marathon hunt :yike: Great ram and way to finish strong :tup: