My flight from Reno to SFO on 7/28 was delayed :50 because the incoming aircraft was delayed. No worries, though, as I'd allowed for potential delays when I booked the trip. So I still had three hours to spare at SFO before my flight to Vancouver left.
All went well and there was only one person ahead of me at Customs in Vancouver, which was awesome!
I grabbed a shuttle to the Radisson, where I met Frank's other hunter, Donnie, for dinner.
The next morning was uneventful, but the scenery from the air was spectacular, as I knew it would be.
When I arrived in Whitehorse shortly after lunch, a four hour drive found us in Watson Lake. The flying ceilings were marginal, so we over-nighted in Watson Lake instead of flying into camp as planned. No worries, as we still had a day to play with.
We relaxed, got ready for the hunt, had a nice meal and prepared to ride to spike camp the next morning.
Oh well!
Been looking forward to it hearing about it Kyle. This is one of those hunts that really lends itself to vicarious hunting :)
Good luck, Robb
We climbed 900' back up to where we'd glassed the previous evening. We spotted the same eight ewes and lambs we'd seen then, but that was it for the day. Very disappointing considering we could see forever in all directions.
At the end of Day One, the number was up to 46!
Thanks for sharing and looking forward to the rest of the story! Hoping for a happy ending!
We crossed Angel Creek and hiked up the other way from camp, doing a day long out-n-back route past Angel Peak and beyond. We stopped to glass at various points as we crossed plateaus and scrambled up rock slides, all the while moving through country that just screamed 'sheep country' at us. But alas, while we saw four goats, we saw no sheep.
Forty Seven and counting.
Backpack time!
We rode up near the end of Angel Creek, then hiked an hour-and-a-half to the base of a huge, nasty rock slide and began climbing. Two hours later we reached the top. It took us almost another hour to negotiate our way down the slide on the other side that ended at tiny Heart Lake, where we set up camp.
After supper, we climbed 900' up another slide to glass.
Another day without even seeing a sheep, although Landen, my guide, had three nannies and three kids pop up on him so close he could almost touch them. That was very cool!
Forty-Eight
Landen and Frank touched bases on Sat phones early each morning. This morning we learned that Donnie, the other hunter, had tagged out. See photo.
We spent the day glassing from the spot we'd glassed from the previous evening. As was the case the entire hunt, there were mosquitoes everywhere! But again, we saw no sheep.
When I heard Donnie had scored on Day Three, I had a flashback to last year. My outfitter in 2013 only has two tags and hunts one guy at a time. I was on the second hunt, but the guy on the first hunt tagged out on Day Three as well. I hunted eleven days and never saw a ram that was even close to being legal.
Forty Nine! We're starting to laugh our butts off at the absurdity of this unwanted streak!
Several people have tagged Stones with bows hunting with Frank, but you're correct, getting within bow range would require luck, skill, and probably several stalks before it all came together.
Like most hunters, I suppose, I don't much like climbing up big mountains and I absolutely hate climbing up, down, or sideways on slides. Physically, it's not a problem, but I do not like slides, esp. when I've got a heavy pack on my back!
This day started with us hiking down the drainage from our Heart Lake camp, crossing a small creek, struggling through heavy brush (What's with these freakin' bushes that grow out sideways and make getting through them such a struggle?), then climbing up yet another slide to glass. Once we got there, it was like we were on top world and the view was off-the-charts. But except for two sky lined ewes we saw before we left the tent, for the fourth straight day we saw no sheep.
Fifty straight days!
We broke camp and headed back to the Angel Creek spike camp. It had rained hard over-night, meaning the big slide we'd climbed up on Day Three was; a) wet, and; b) we were going down, which is trickier than going up.
We saw four ewes when we got down off the slide, which were undoubtedly from the same group we'd seen on Day One. After supper, we hiked back up from camp to glass, spotting five ewes. But again, these were surely sheep we'd already seen. Six days in the book now and zero rams seen.
Fifty-One!
We went back up to where we'd glassed on Day One and spent the day looking for sheep, but again, while we saw the same bunch of ewes again, we saw no rams.
Fifty-Two
As Jim Wilson wrote me, every serious hunter seems to have one animal that torments him. Mine, unfortunately, is sheep!
All of those days have been in great sheep country and I've had first-rate guides on all of them as well. Go figure.
We were thinking Frank might want us to pull out of the Angel Creek camp, head back to the main camp, then set out in another direction. But with the morning phone call, we learned he wanted us to do what they call "The Bitch Hunt."
Oh joy! Seven days of what was already the most physical hunt I'd ever done, and now we get to do "The Bitch hunt!" Hot Damn!
Actually, while the hunt started with a 2,700' climb and would cover a good ten miles, it really wasn't all that tough. The slides were few and short, the footing was the best one could hope for, and once we got to the top, we pretty much just moved along the military ridges and glassed the rest of the day.
Just before noon, as we were nearing the top of the 2,700' climb, we spotted a ram near the skyline. He was only 2 1/2 years old, but at least we'd finally seen a ram! I'm not sure he ever saw us, as he dropped off the peak and angled down below us, cutting our backtrack as he went.
Here's a photo looking down from near the top of the 2,700' climb.
The rest of the day we moved along just below the ridgeline. About 4:00 we spotted about a dozen sheep near the top of a saddle 400 yds away. Below them a couple hundred yards was a really nice Billy.
There were ~ seven rams in the herd, but they were all young'uns, the oldest being 2 1/2 years old. We did get in fairly close, just for the heck of it. 51 yards to the ewe on the left in the photo.
Interestingly, while they sensed us, they never got nervous and soon went back to feeding.
Fifty-Three!
Moving Day.
We packed up camp and rode back down to Frank's place, arriving shortly before 5:00. Frank was sitting out in the yard glassing. He'd just spotted six rams feeding at the spot I've marked on this photo, just below the summit on this mountain. Two rams merited a closer look, but as they were three miles away, a spotting scope wasn't enough. After supper and a SHOWER, two more rams were seen in the group. Our plan, of course, was to head up the mountain the next morning to get a better look!
Ram tomorrow?
Landen and I took off on the horses after breakfast. Frank and the wrangler, Liam, were going to follow later and set the camp up. Landen had only been up the trail once before and that was three years ago. He missed a turn on the way up and we lost quite a bit of time before we finally got it right.
We set up to glass from a spot well below the summit and within an hour, spotted five rams on the skyline. One looked like he was probably legal, but we were quite aways away and well below him, so there was no way to be sure.
Bushwacking through dense brush and timber for two hours, so as to remain out of sight, finally found us hiding behind some big rocks in a persistent drizzle and hard winds, about 400 yards below the summit. A young ram soon bedded right on the summit, so we were pinned down pretty good. But we figured if they came down to feed where they had fed the evening before, we'd soon be taking photos and caping a ram!
Unfortunately, while they wandered around on the summit off and on for a few hours, and while a young ram did start down to the spot we had hoped for, the other rams eventually dropped off the back side of the mountain and we never saw them again! ;^(
We held out until almost dark, then headed back to our new camp.
Hopeful we'd find the rams again, we got back up to our spot fairly early in the morning, then waited and looked all day. We were running out of time, obviously, so early in the afternoon we decided to get aggressive. Alas, forays around both the right and left sides on the peak proved fruitless and some of the backside was impenetrable by man.
We finally went back to our hiding spot, but the rams never showed up.
Frank and Liam were coming up to pack us out mid-afternoon, so it was now or never! Unfortunately, 'never' won, as the rams had obviously moved on and we were out of time.
So my saga continues!
But as hunt'n addict noted above, "The adventure is 90%, tagging out 10%."
It was a great adventure and without question the most physically demanding hunt I've ever done. The good news was I never got even a little bit sore, tired or worn down, so my 'Sheep Shape' regimen worked out, even at age 65. In fact, when it was over and the camp was on the horses, I chose to walk back off the mountain the 4.5 miles to Frank's place and I got there :24 before they did.
I think that's a pretty fair bet. I'd be surprised if the streak doesn't end the first day.
My guide, Landen Collings, grew up in a sheep hunting family. He's developed a real following already and some very noted sheep hunters are hiring him to guide for them on their hunts. Earlier this year he purchased a RMBHS concession near Cadomin and Jasper and starts outfitting there next month. I'll be there with him as my guide next fall.
Landen's very sheep savvy, in great shape, and has the kind of positive attitude that is so essential for a good guide. Then get this: he's only twenty-years old!
The sun was rising in the east, putting the mountains in shadows. Then a heavy layer of low clouds around the mountains meant the peaks were all rising up out of the clouds. Breath taking!
Sorry to here you didn't get it done! The positive thing is you get to go again!
That was some beautiful country you hunted. One day I hope I can get up there and hunt stone sheep.
Better luck next time!
Thanks for taking us along Kyle---
Good luck, Robb
Thanks for writing it up. Look forward to seeing you and Landon with your Bighorn next year!
THX for taking us along! (great pics)
Yes you will succeed in Nevada!!
The walk back down was partly to alieve the disappointment and frustration, as well as give myself an emotional boost, which hard exercise always does. In addition, I wanted to show that no matter how physical the hunt had been, I could still kick azz physically!
Besides, I HATE horses!
Bou'Bound,
No doubt about that. Landen and I were joking about 'the streak' every night. I've been wanting WSF to give out more awards for those who bust their butts to conserve sheep, so one night I came up with a new award idea: We should give out an award for 'Conservation due to Futility" or something like that. No one would ever want to win such an award, but I'd have won it two or three years in a row by now. *sigh*
I have been there myself, I hunted 24 days before seeing a legal Stone ram. I got lucky and killed him 4 days later and it was the only stalk chance I had. The worst was we found a ram that we could only make 7.5 years old with an extremely deep curl so that his horns were right at the bridge of his nose. We looked at him in the spotting scope for about 4 hours from 300yards away and finally just had to sneak out of there and leave him alone because we didn't think he was legal. My guide thought he would score close to 165". The positive is that I got to spend three weeks in some of the most beautiful country chasing Stone sheep.
John
Other than my desert BHS hunt in NV this fall and the Rocky hunt I have in Alberta next year, I don't have any other sheep hunts planned.
Yet!
I already have a Stone, but he's a dink, even though he breaks the nose by 4"-5" on both horns. Plus, he's not got the classic colors of Stones, more salt-n-pepper than chocolate and ivory. So I'd like to get a nice Stone with the classic coloring.
Just three bulls and one Grizzly. The bear walked to within 25 yards of Liam while he was out looking for the horses but did not seem to display any aggressive behavior. He finally decided to fire a shot into the ground. The bear stopped, then ambled off.
There are quite a few elk in Frank's area, but not where we were.
We'll be looking forward to next years story, my friend!
Thanks.
Barring the totally unexpected, I'll tag a desert here in NV in November. The Rocky hunt next year would finish my FNAWS if I can take a ram.
I thought that Frank had sold his area?
From what I can see, the sale doesn't look as if it's going to happen, at least not with the buyer you're probably thinking about.
How'd your Dalls hunt go?
Hilleberg makes a great tent. Stands up in huge winds, rain and snow but not to a bear. Had my one man set up six yards from the guide's tent. Were eating breakfast as we were fogged in. Visibilty was ten yards and our tent started shaking. Then I heard a crash from my tent I looked out the window to find a grizzly jumping up and down on my one man.
The bear looked me right in the eye and then just ripped this hole. He stomped up and down on the pack at the foot of the tent. Not sure what he thought was in there. I was using the Stone Glacier pack, it was awesome, six pounds lighter than a MR and let me take an extra camera lense. It stood up to the bear :)
My bow and bear spray were inside my tent. We were on a big table top and the thought that a bear would ever climb up there was not even an issue. No berries or any reason for him to bee there. He crushed the pole and ripped this hole in the tent. Luckily the bow and sleeping bag and my pack was okay. We lucky because had the fog lifted a bit earlier we would have been gone. I think he would have destroyed everything.
Guess it shows that you have to be on the alert at all times. Lucky that no one was hurt.
Another adventure to remember for sure!
Your bear experience reminds me of a similar experience I had back in 2002.
I was hunting Stones with Barry Tompkins and tagged out late in the hunt. The next day we cleaned up the cape and skull, then rode six hours back to Barry's lodge.
That evening, I cleaned out my pack of all the stuff I wouldn't need the next day, or so I thought.
I still had a moose tag and an elk tag, so the next day Jeremy and I rode down river a ways, then up onto a plateau where there was a small bog that was covered with game trails.
I built a ground blind, then about 9:30 AM lay down to get some sleep, knowing nothing would show up for some time after the commotion we'd made.
What did I know?
I was too tired to sleep and my eyes and head were buzzing, I suppose because of the adrenaline collapse we all get after a sheep hunt. After about :10, I thought I heard footsteps not far away. I sat up and looked, zonked out but not asleep, and saw nothing. So I laid down again.
Ten minutes later, the same thing happened and again I saw nothing.
Five minutes later I again heard something walking and sat up to look. This time, however, my lights came on and I was awake and alert.
There, right in front of me, mostly hidden by some brush @ ~ 35 yards was a spot of color from an animal. My immediate thought was, "Too dark for an elk. Too light for a moose. Oh, $h!t!!!"
It was, of course, the hump from a sow grizzly! She moved into the open, but gave no sign of seeing me and given the trail she was on, would walk past me at 15 yards on the far side of a bunch of trees.
When she started walking again, however, she took a trail that came straight to me.
I immediately tossed out Plan A and went to Plan B, which was to make sure she saw me. I also reached for my bow and turned towards her, like that would do me any good! LOL.
When I did that, she saw me and stopped @ ~ 15 yards. After 15 or 20 seconds, she turned and walked away. When she did, I could see she had two, 2 1/2 year old cubs right behind her!
I got out of the blind and walked 100 yards over to where Jeremy was sleeping and tending the horses. I woke him up and told him what had happened. He thought it was pretty cool, then said because she'd seen me and left, she'd be gone.
Not knowing diddly-squat about bears, I figured he knew what he was talking about, so headed back to the ground blind. As I approached it, I noticed my pack was outside the blind, not in the blind where I'd left it. As I got closer, I saw some things that had been in my pack laying on the ground next to the pack.
She'd obviously come back, pulled the pack out of the blind, then ripped open a bottom pouch and pulled stuff out. Further investigation showed that one of the surgical gloves I'd worn the day before when I was cleaning up the sheep skull was still in that pouch, hidden underneath a fold. When I pulled it out, it stunk to high heaven! Clearly, Mama Bear was coming in on that scent.
I went back over to Jeremy and said, "Jeremy, she came back!"
His response was, "Yeah, I thought I heard her come back."
WTF????, I said to myself. "You thought you heard her coming back?"
I coulda' killed him right there and then!
At any rate, we decided Mama Bear and Baby Bear and the other Baby Bear could have the danged bog. I purposely littered the bog with the stinky glove. Then we got on our horses and got the heck out of Dodge!
Mama Bear and her two cubs were both a dark cinnamon color. Absolutely gorgeous! What an experience! What a memory!
A committed sheep hunter, perhaps. (I'm sure my wife would think I should be committed, esp. if she knew what these hunts cost!) Just not a very successful one! *sigh*
Kyle,when a was researching a Stone hunt a few years pack several guys commented on evergreen limbs roughing up their bows/arrows some on the ride up.
Did you attach your bow to your pack or carry it while on your horse?
If I'm riding, I carry my bow on a sling over my shoulder and hold it with my right hand on the end of the bow. That allows me to maneuver the bow over, under and around whatever tree and brush obstacles I encounter.
Feel free to change the wording to the chant 99 bottles of beer on the wall. Sorry, no bad mojo intended
Man that is a long time....though it does not need to be stated "keep at it, perseverance will overcome " good luck
good luck on the rest of the hunts!
michael
Sounds like this hunt was a mix of horse riding and hiking. Did you just strap your bow with the sling on your pack while hiking or did you leave the sling back with the horses? If you have pics of how you carried your bow that would be informative to see...
thx, Dan
Except for riding in and out of the two spike camps from Frank's main camp and the one day when we rode to where we started back packing, it was all on foot.
If I'm going to be doing serious climbing when I'm bow hunting and where I'll be using a trekking pole and maybe using both hands as well, I'll strap my bow onto my pack using a couple of bungy cords.
The outfitter for my BC Goat and grizzly hunt had a hunter who did not fill his sheep tag. This morning I asked him if my tag was valid in his unit (it is), and if we stumbled upon a legal ram while goat hunting, could I take it for a Trophy Fee. He said "yes," so now we just have to agree on a price.
And then stumble across a legal ram. ;^)
Mark
Hey you guys, don't tell the sheep I'll have a sheep tag in my pocket. I'll want them to think I'm only goat hunting! LOL
Without question! lol
OTOH, If we do find a legal ram, the price I'm willing to pay might go UP!
Grant,
I'm not sure how workable that would be. I did the deal with the outfitter for goat and grizz.' Sheep were never discussed.
I made a deal with him and will stick to what I agreed to. So it will be up to the outfitter to decide what a Stone is worth. Then maybe we can negotiate from there.
The goats will be high, but there are lots of grizzlies down low along the river. Weather will be a factor.
I've hunted this unit twice before, before Matt bought it last year. The first time we got fogged in at the base camp by the river off Highway 37 and could only hunt goats by spotting one from the highway, then climbing for several hours in hopes of finding him.
When I hunted sheep there in 2008, we got fogged in again for a day-and-a half before we could take the Super Cub up high.
On this hunt, if weather allows, we'll go after the goat first. If it doesn't allow, we'll work the river for bears until the ceiling lifts and allows us to fly.
I suppose the best scenario for taking a ram would be to get fogged in for a day or two at the start and whack a grizzly down low. Then the weather clears and we fly up high to where the goats and sheep are.
I countered and he wants to chew on my counter a bit.
He does think there's a decent chance we might find a legal ram while we're huntng goats.
michael
Troy
When does this next adventure take place?
Glad you weren't in there when the Grizz decided to play...I also use the Stone Glacier pack last two seasons and love it, really helps with ultralight backpacking, Plus the owner Kurt is a personnel friend I've worked with him for 20 years here in Alaska at Prudhoe bay, He's the real deal and has a passion for sheep hunting like we do..! Im very happy for him and his product success..!
I leave in the morning for an archery elk hunt in Utah.
Two weeks from Thursday and off I go!
I suggest that you do that on all your hunts from now on. Grab a Utah Reg book, there must be something else open, like Jack Rabbits or Gophers or Badgers or something. Just think, the money you'll save on Taxidermy on small rodents can cover what you'll be spending to do a life size Griz, Goat and Stone Ram.
In fact I think Pat should copywrite a clever name for this and turn it into a Bowsite exclusive.
You're attempting what some would call the "BC Slam", but I think Slam is so overdone. I propose we call it the "BC3".
Other states can have their own Copywrited slam. I shot a moose in Vermont last year, if I go back for a deer and a bear, I'll have the "VT3".
I suppose that The CT3 would have to be a Deer, a Turkey and a Coyote. All Done on Live Mobile hunts of course.
I'm sure some guy from the south will tell us how the "Alabama Slamma" is the hardest one of them all. :-)
ROTFLMAO!
I wouldn't dare use the term 'BC Slam,' because some clown might sue me.
And don't even get me started with where the 'Alabama Slamma' came from. Is there a raffle for that?
OTOH, could I get called up on the stage at a tiny awards event and get an award and beat my chest proclaiming, "I Rock!" for that so people could see how absolutely awesome I am? LOL!
I'm also not sure what you settled on for the Stone price but it will be enough to make the outfitter want to see you cut that tag.
I'm going to predict that you kill a goat, a Stone ram and leave without the grizzly. And if you don't kill a ram it will be because you turned it down.
I do know you'll hunt hard and do your part. And statistically, you are over due, so the odds are actually stacked in your favor.
Really, it should be a "Slam" dunk.
Best of luck and enjoy the best of BC!
Mark
My outfitter had fresh trail cam photos of four different bulls coming into a remote water hole/wallow the day before we arrived.
They came in separately from between 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM. So my neighbor and I headed up there the first morning, set up a ground blind and waited. (Just as we were nearing the waterhole a rag horn was leaving it, which got us fired up. He had not seen nor smelled us,)
Along about 7:00 PM we a had a young bull come in, but that was it. The next two days we sat in the ground blind all day. The first day we had two spikes come in to the waterhole and three more bulls, all spikes, crossed very close behind us. The second day we saw nada.
The following morning we glassed the sage and spotted four bulls, two of which were shooters, so off we went to get closer. We found them easily as they were slowly moving up the bottom of a draw. The outfitter suggested I put a stalk on them, which was fine with me. He and my neighbor would stay behind.
So off I went, going slower and slower as I neared the spot I thought they might be. I was sure they'd continue to on up the draw before they bedded, so was going to where I thought they might be, not where we'd last seen them. As I got closer, twice I thought I heard very light grunts just where I was heading.
I slowed even more and was being as quiet as a church mouse when I looked back behind me only to see the outfitter and my neighbor walking to me, not 100 yards away! WTH,I thought!
The outfitter simply wanted to tell me the bulls had not stopped were we'd seen them before I began the stalk, but had moved on up the draw. Duh! I already knew that! They never bed when they're doing what they were doing
So then he wanted to try calling a bull in. Only instead of getting 30-40 yards behind me, he went back a good 100 yards and off to my west a little. Cow calls produced no responses, but as soon as he hit the bugle, we got an answer from exactly the spot I had been heading!
I knew the bull would head to the call, but that he would pass me out of range because of the set up. So I moved my position to better intercept him. I'd not been in the new spot for more than 30 seconds when I could hear the bull walking through the scrub junipers.
Unfortunately, just then the thermals reversed themselves and instead of being downwind from the bull, he was now a bit downwind from me. And that ended that! If the outfitter had stayed where he was when I started the stalk, I'd have walked right up to those bulls!
The outfitter and my neighbor saw the bull during that sequence, but the junipers kept me from seeing him.
That afternoon we went back to the waterhole with no success.
Now, some background: My neighbors have a place in Atlantic City they go to for a couple of months each summer. In late July, the wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had two surgeries in Philly in early August and all follow-up tests were 100% "All clear."
On the drive to Utah, my neighbor mentioned she was going to get a phone call from her PA doctor the afternoon of Sept. 8. If she again got an 'all clear,' she wouldn't even have to get tested again for two years!
I told him that if he wanted to be home when she got that call, I fully understood and fully supported it. Her well-being is a lot more important than any elk hunt! He agreed, so we both returned to Reno on the 8th.
"I suggest that you do that on all your hunts from now on. Grab a Utah Reg book, there must be something else open, like Jack Rabbits or Gophers or Badgers or something. Just think, the money you'll save on Taxidermy on small rodents can cover what you'll be spending to do a life size Griz, Goat and Stone Ram. "
LOL. You think just like my wife. She keeps suggesting "Hampsters!"
I'll have three tags in my pocket (four if you count a wolf tag), but no bow on my back. Sorry guys, this will be a rifle hunt. Too much to do and not enough time to do it with my bow.
Story and pictures to follow sometime after October 14.
