F.M. Dall sheep hunt in Alaska.
Wild Sheep
Ok, F.M.= Florida Mike, I hunted for Dall Sheep in the roughest Mountain range in Alaska. Thats what the guide told me after the plane dropped us off...just wonderful! I've been battling a small tear in my left Achilles for 8 months so far, so I really need the toughest, steepest, craggyiest crap we can climb just to make it worth getting out of bed! Of course when he told me a year ago to put in for this unit he neglected to tell me that little tidbit of information, must have just slipped his mind...
This thread may take a few days because I'm back at work and really busy. In the spirit of full disclosure; I did not kill a sheep. But I thought I may as well be a man and do a story anyway. I have some cool pics for those of you who might like to look at pics.
Heres a pic of the smallest airplane I've ever rode. It sounded like a riding lawnmower with the muffler rusted off. I'm 6'4" and 275 lbs, and if we had crashed they would have had to bury me with the plane! Moreover, I had to hold my bow in one hand the entire flight(35 min). I now know exactly how sardines feel,(sans mustard). Come to think of it maybe they use mustard as more of a lubricant than garnish?
Nice cub. Looks like a '72.
"...roughest mountain range in Alaska".
...you should've stopped by and said hello!
Looking forward to the story Mike.
I know some of you guys think I exaggerate so check out this (spacious) cockpit! When I went to get in the pilot said "as tall as you are you should be able to just step into the plane without using the footstep", so I did. Those pilots really watch where you touch the plane...
PA-18 with tundra tires is an Alaskan RV
Looking forward the the story. I flew in one once with the outfitters wife sitting behind me with her knees's alongside my ears. That was before I knew anything about not getting in planes that were overloaded
Any small plane with me in it is probly overloaded! Here's the obligatory 'out the window' pic! Even though I was cramped and crammed into a overgrown draggonfly I still fell in love with flying in small planes! It was incredible, made me want my pilots license immediately!
On the way in we saw a few sheep! I thought that was a good sign!
Mike please continue!
Enjoying the photos and of course the humor!
Priceless
Keep it coming.
We don't care that you weren't "successful", every trip is an adventure.
Your sure flew in style!! What comfort!
Thanks for the story Mike, keep er comin.
Bill V
I love flying in these little planes, Super Cubs and Arctic Terns on tundra tires, floats or skis! The Cubs needed very little runway to get off the ground...and the Arctic Terns had some very appreciated cargo storage area behind the sole passenger.
Please continue your story Florida Mike.
Just ask first where is it OK to touch the plane!!
Following....looking forward to your hunt recap Mike!
"FM".......you are one funny MOFO......keep this baby going!
Mark
No kiddin on the "just ask first"! Anyhow, here's a pic of the luxiouris base camp tent that we stayed in the first night. It had room for 3 and I didn't appreciate it at all until we hiked up top and broke out the Taj Mahal that would be home for the next 6 days. Base camp was about 80 yards from the runway and at 3865 feet of elavation. I'll include a pic of the "runway" later.
Jim, overload likely depends on fuel.... they like to fly em low so they don't burn as much when they, um... land....
My dad used to have a poster on his wall "The Cub is the safest plane in the world.... it will only barely fly fast enough to kill ya...." His second plane was a Piper Pacer, kind of a 4 seat cub.
This is good, enjoying it already!
Keep it coming Mike. Been anxiously awaiting your story.
This will be a good. Thanks for sharing your adventure Mike!
Oh no the dreaded sideways pic! I tried to fix it guys, I'm tryin to post some pics from my phone so they may be sideways for awhile.
So we left base camp and hiked just over 4 hours and climbed 1900 feet to make it to the top of the ridge where we would bivy for 6 days. This is me at the top, so happy my Achilles let me make it to the top.
How well did the guide appreciate your humor? More pics please...
My guides name was George, he seemed to like me a lot. I really liked him, he was older than myself and from New York but it was amazing the things we had in common. He had story after story about every topic you can imagine and I feel blessed to have spent 12 days with him. Anyhow, so we start glassing the mountains around us and soon saw Moose, Blackbears, Sheep, Eagles, Hawks, and huge glaciers. Way off in the distance about in the middle of the pic is a monster glacier.
Here's another pic of some of the unit that was loaded with animals, almost impossible to get to them where they were so I guess that explains why they gravitated to that area....
Here's another shot of southerly view from the ridge we hunted. Notice how green it is, almost looks warm and lush like a tropical rain forest. Almost! Let me just say this; it changed overnight! But alas I digress, I'll try not to get ahead of myself with the actual chronology of events.
Is this in the Chugach or wrangell mtns?
Ok so after 2 days of hunting after we went to bed, during the night the wind began to howl and it started snowing! George said it was ONLY blowing about 40 mph, ONLY! We were in a Hilleberg Nallo 3 and I thought it would get airborne any minute. When we woke up the next morning it looked like this:
At least it didn't snow much..:-)
So it snowed about 6 or 7 inches and was considerably colder. The only real problem was the fog/mist reduced visibility at times to 20 feet. The snow melted by noon but the water evaporating made visibility a bit like staring into soup!
The days(2) after it snowed were basically wasted because of lack of visibility. The snow melted off before noon but the fog it created made finding a sheep impossible.
This will give you an idea of the difficulty of glassing....I know, at least I could see to tie my shoes!
We did glass many animals at a mile or 2 away in this and a few more basins.
This is what its supposed to look like;
We glassed this for days....Saw a few goats, Blackbears, Moose, Dall Sheep, and Eagles and Hawks! It made the bitter taste of not killing a Ram more palatable...
Great pics! Thanks for sharing!
I saw these little blue flowers also.
So we hiked this ridge almost everyday. The pro from Dover says to me one day, "Look at this BULL MOOSE track here going across the ridge". I say I can't believe Moose hang out higher than Sheep? Nat Geo always shows them Meese(plural for Moose) in Lakes pretending they are a submarine! The pro tells me not to believe everything I see on TV! I try to remain quite for awhile so as not to reveal the utter depth of my ignorance.
Another view thats burned into my optic nerve.
I'm sorry for the grainy pic but this was a full curl that was in a spot that was impossible to get to for a bow shot. It was mostly my fault I couldn't kill him. I neglected to properly prepare for this hunt. I didn't have a 800 yard pin...
"I didn't have a 800 yard pin..." Sounds a lot like golf- "I didn't hit the correct yardage because I was between clubs !!!" LOL
Did you even try to make the shot?
Sadly no. I didn't even try. I'm told that's the main reason I'll never have a hunting show on TV. Oh well, at least the haters that crucify all the TV hunters can't hate me for that!
So we saw a few of these guys. I wanted one bad but not bad enough to go into purgatory to haul it out! It was uncanny how we only saw shooters in the most difficult places to access. Even when I was a youngster I don't think I'd have shot one in the holes they stayed in. For those of you wondering; photo was taken through a 20x60 swaro turned all the way up! Lol, he was a loooooong way off!
While in base camp we drank from this stream. Up on the mountain we melted snow and caught rainwater on a tarp.
This is how I usually dressed while up on the mountain. When the wind got up over 20 mph I would have to get up and walk a little to warm up! It was in the 40s during the day but if the wind was blowing from the south off the glacier it was just cold!
Ok so as the sun sets over the mountains so it signals the end of the hunt. I learned a lot about myself and life in general. I wasn't sure I could even climb with the small tear in my left Achilles. I had part of my right big toenail removed by my podiatrist 2 weeks before the hunt that had me worried also. I also had 2 different tests run on my heart the week before the hunt,(chest pain). So to say I was a little apprehensive about making the hunt a reality would be a gross misstatement.
In the end, I am happy I was able to hunt and experience all the ups and downs, and see the vistas and the animals that I saw. I felt like I needed to chronicle this hunt so it might encourage others that have issues to "GO FOR IT"! I'm 53, at least 30 lbs over weight. I had 2 stents put in the "Widow Maker" location in my heart 2 years ago. But even so, I have a desire to enjoy what God has given us and a strong will to make it happen. The key is to prepare as best as you can, and go slow while climbing and descending and use common sense. While killing a sheep would have been sweet, I still enjoyed the experience and would recommend it to anyone looking for an adventure!
Thanks for following along! Mike
Mike,
Thanks for a great posting of your adventures. Your sense of enjoyment of the experience could be felt in your writings. Sorry you did not connect with a sheep, but you clearly showed that hunting is an adventure. Also, you showed how focusing on what you can physically do can take you a lot further than focusing on what you cannot do. I applaud your determination and drive- they will always carry you far.
Buffalo1
You should have taken Dave and Dave along to get you to that moose!
Nice pictures, what an adventure.
"You should have taken Dave and Dave along to get you to that moose! JLS"
Hahahahaha, I still text Dave the "Guide" often! I wish we would have tried a plan "B" but thats OK, like I said I was glad my body held up to do as much as we did. It was a great adventure and hopefully in a few years when my body won't allow anymore physical adventures, then I can reminisce and have some mental adventures. Mike
Thanks for sharing, Mike! I enjoyed your recap.
Lenny
You're a good story teller, Mike. Everytime I get the notion to hunt sheep, someone uploads a few pictures of scree fields and enough gradient to cure me of it.:) Thanks for sharing the trip with the top notch photos.
Mike, One thing for sure, you would never have killed a ram if you stayed home. Like you I am heavier than I should be and on more than one occasion I have had a young, fit guide look at me when I got off the plane, shake his head and mumble something like "great, I got the fat guy". I have the same answer each time. I won't beat you up the mountain but I WILL get there. Being in good shape is a real advantage but having a great attitude is a bigger one. It is the adventure not the kill.
As far as shooting a moose in a remote spot, We had one in BC that I told my guide I was going to shoot. We were 2 days hiking from where the plane had dropped us off. He told me if I shot he was quiting right there. As the moose walked away I asked him what we would do with a dead moose where we were. I still laugh at his answer. "We start eating and when it is all gone we can go home"
" "We start eating and when it is all gone we can go home" Jim"
Hahahahahaha thats soooo funny! Thanks! Mike
Thanks for taking us along on a great adventure. I can appreciate your good attitude and to me that's what hunting is all about.
That's a great story .Jim!. Thanks for the laugh!
Great story FM, and thanks for the laugh Jim.
