My journey started with flying from Colorado to Edmonton on the first travel day. You hear lots of stories about airlines losing hunting luggage and I had quite a bit of anxiety about this. So, as I stood at the carousel in Edmonton, I wondered if my bow and gear would show up after the first leg of travel. Thankfully, I had no issues and I proceeded through customs with all of my gear.
***Disclaimer - This is going to take me a little while to finish. After spending two weeks away from home, I am buried. I will try to get this done as quickly as I can.
Looks like there was weather moving into the area that afternoon so the charter company wanted to get us loaded up quickly so they could fly us out and avoid being stranded. All of my gear showed up so we were off to the float plane to load up and fly out. I couldn't believe this was actually happening!
After about 45 minutes, we were landing on the lake at base camp.
My knees, neck issues and probably my wife and bank account would never let me do this type of hunt, so I truly live through those of you how can!
Now get on with it!!!!!!
I spoke with many outfitters and narrowed it down to two operations. Ultimately, I felt most comfortable booking my hunt with Gana River Outfitters. Honestly, most dall sheep outfitters don't exactly get excited about booking bowhunters. In fact, from what I am told, some of them no longer take bowhunters. Harold was comfortable booking me as a bowhunter and the hunt was finally booked.
Everyone has that specific animal that they have always dreamed of killing with their bow. For me, it was a dall sheep. It always has been. When I booked my hunt, I honestly felt that Gana River was going to be my best chance to fulfill my dream.
I met my guide, Ryan. He has been guiding sheep hunters for 15 years at Gana River. Ryan was one of the guides that people had recommended I try to request. I had emailed Harold a few weeks before the hunt and he informed me that Ryan would be guiding me. So, I was definitely comfortable with that assignment.
Ryan went through my gear with me and we organized my food for the trip. I was ready!
The only problem was that weather was setting in. I was informed that we could not fly out to our hunting area until the fog improved. Therefore, we would stay in base camp and hope to fly out in the morning. As you can imagine, I barely slept that night.
We woke up at 5:00 AM the next morning. We had a quick breakfast and our pilot informed us that we are going to give it a try. He would take Ryan first, then come back and get me.
My gear was packed and ready. I was ready. The pilot, Del, dropped off Ryan and came back to pick me up. We loaded my gear into the super cub and immediately took off. We were halfway to the hunting area and Del informed me that we may be turning around. Fog was starting to set in. We got to the hunting area and Del felt that we still had a solid window to land and for him to take off before the fog got bad. So, we landed on the strip and unloaded my gear. Del took off and beat the fog by 15 minutes. Seriously, 15 minutes later and we couldn't see 100 yards.
We set up camp by the landing strip and hunkered down as it started to rain. We had to wait 12 hours before hunting so the weather, at that point, was no big deal.
I told Ryan that I felt like I was in the best shape of my life since playing college baseball. That was 20 years ago. I physically prepared as hard as I could for this hunt. I shot my bow a million times at long distances, strange angles, sitting, kneeling. I prepared as much as I could.
Ryan then told me that the physical part of sheep hunting is not going to be the difference between killing a sheep or not. It certainly helps, but it is not the difference maker. He told me that the mental side of sheep hunting is what ultimately decides success or not. As we sat in the tent unable to glass due to weather, I really tried to digest what he was telling me and take it to heart.
...................................................? What were you talking about??
During our glassing sessions we were able to locate 7 lambs and ewes in one basin, 6 lambs and ewes in another basin, and 3 lambs and ewes in yet another basin. We also glassed 2 rams a couple miles away in some cliffs but Ryan determined that they were non-shooters. I was super excited to be glassing rams from our camp and I was confident we could get on sheep if the weather would allow.
We went to sleep that night hoping for an early start tomorrow and better weather.
We woke up at 5:00 AM to glass and make a plan for the day. We were hoping to hike along a ridge for a few hours to glass another basin that we were unable to look into.
However, we woke up to heavy fog. We hoped for the fog to lift so we at some breakfast and tried to pass some time. The fog would lift quickly, allowing for us to glass, but only for a few minutes at a time.
There was a lone yearling ram about 200 yards below us. We glassed 8 ewes and lambs below camp. On another ridge we located a young ram and a ewe and lamb. We then spotted 4 rams along a knife ridge in the basin to the north. However, Ryan decided that we could do better so decided these rams were not worth pursuing.
The fog then rolled in again and stayed until 1:15.
We hiked for about an hour along the spine of a ridge to get a better view of the interior of the basin. This area was super steep, among the steeper areas that Gana River hunts. But, Ryan likes this area for bowhunters due to the terrain. After hiking for an hour, we set up to glass on a rocky outcropping. We immediately found 10 rams. Ryan estimated 3-4 shooters. I was pumped!!
Now is a good time to explain my expectations for this hunt. I told Ryan that I was not looking for a book sheep. I've never killed a sheep. I was not going to be picky about size. Gana River Outfitters, along with most outfitters in the NWT, try to harvest rams that are 9 years or older. I told Ryan that I could care less about the score but I wanted a ram that was at least 9 years old. I wanted a mature ram. So, based on that criteria, we had located 3-4 shooters.
It rained the rest of the day. So, we went back to the tent and got water for the evening. On the way back to the tent, we peaked into another basin and found 31 ewes and lambs.
We really hoped for huntable weather in the morning as we listened to it rain all night. I laid in my sleeping bag hoping we would be able to find the rams again in the morning.
:-)
Thanks for taking us along
Good luck, Robb
Before falling asleep, Ryan showed me how to check weather on my Garmin InReach. He didn't have the weather option on his so we decided to use mine, hoping for some good news. Instead, the InReach showed the exact opposite. Rain every day for the next 7 days. Wintery conditions for a couple days. Not what I wanted to see. Ryan reminded me about the mental side of sheep hunting. I was beginning to learn that this would be my biggest challenge.
We woke up at 5:00 AM again. I immediately opened the tent and saw that we were not fogged in! I walked over to one of our glassing areas by camp and immediately found our group of rams. They were close to the same spot as last night. I found 9 rams so I went back to the tent and told Ryan that our rams were there.
We ate breakfast and loaded our packs. Ryan told me to bring at least one dinner, two lunches, a breakfast and snacks with me in case we would spend the night away from our tent. So, we loaded our packs and decided to close the distance on these rams and formulate a plan.
The steady rain continued so Ryan decided to set up his tarp. We ate some lunch under the tarp and devised a plan to attack the rams.
As we sat and glassed, the two rams started to get a lot more company. After about an hour, we were watching a group of 15 rams feed over the ridge into the only timbered section in the basin.
We needed the rams to bed down so we could stalk over the side of the ridge and get above them in the timber. This would be our best chance.
Has to be one of the most spectacular places on earth!
Patients is tough as hell on one of those hunts... Between weather, horse issues and other hunters in camp I know that after about 7 days or so, a guy can get a little goofy!
Hang on and enjoy every last precious second because what you are experiencing is truly the best of the best.
Loving the story and great pictures.
More, please!
The rain was still coming down pretty hard. Ryan and I discussed the situation. He told me that if we went after these rams, we would probably end up spending the night away from the tent, under the tarp. We would, of course, have a very wet night since the rain was obviously not going to stop. But, he also told me that he felt this would be a very good opportunity for a stalk due to the location of the rams and the terrain.
The decision was mine. After spending the majority of my first 3 days either in the tent or sitting and staring at fog, I did not hesitate to say "lets go." I came here to hunt sheep. It was an easy decision.
We located a rocky area just before the timbered ridge that we would most likely be able to get within rifle range of the lone ram and determine his age. We could stay out of sight to that point. Then, we could figure out how to close the final distance if he was a shooter. We hoped the ram would stay by himself as we headed his direction.
We were 351 yards from the ram and he was still up and feeding. Rain was not letting up. It was still coming down pretty hard.
Ryan aged the ram. After looking at him for a bit, he told me the ram was at least 9-10 years old. However, he told me that this particular ram was not a big sheep. He was going to be an average scoring ram since we was broomed on both sides and just didn't have the length of some of the bigger sheep. He then asked me what I wanted to do. Again, the decision was mine.
Our weather had been terrible and wasn't going to improve. I had a mature ram by himself in the timber. He was feeding in a location that was favorable for an archery stalk. I've never killed a sheep. I didn't come to the NWT to be picky. All I wanted was a mature ram. Again, an easy decision for me.
Ryan understood. We formulated a plan for a stalk. Ryan would stay back at our current glassing spot to give me hand signals if I needed a location once I got closer to the ram. I would back track a little ways to get out of sight. Then, I would hike further up on the other side of the ridge. We decided on a certain patch of trees where I would enter the timber. This would put me directly above the ram and I would hopefully use the trees to slowly stalk down to the ram.
Off I went.
Waiting for these updates is like being rained in the tent and waiting on the fog to lift, great mental practice for sheep hunting.
The brush was pretty thick upon entering the timber so I slowly made my way down the ridge. I did not have a visual of the ram yet because of the thick brush and timber. I knew I had to still be above him. I crept through the timber very methodically, hoping to locate him for the final stalk.
I finally picked up the ram through my binos. He was just over 100 yards and feeding directly below me. He was feeding from my right to left very slowly. He was in a pretty thick location, which helped me to stay unnoticed. I watched him for just a bit and figured out a spot I would try to get to and wait for him to feed out of the thick brush into an opening for a shot.
Here's where I got myself into trouble. I had to continually use my binos and rangefinder. I had them stored under my rain jacket to keep them dry and hopefully keep them free of fog. At 100 yards, I opened my jacket so I could instantly access my optics. The steady rain was not letting up and I was already starting to get pretty wet. I didn't care because I had a ram within bow range.
The ram was still clueless as to my presence. I continued to survey the situation and noticed one small brach of the bush could be right in the way of my shot if the ram fed into the opening. So, I very slowly reached out to break off the branch. When I did that, the ram immediately raised his head and stared at me. I was pegged at 40 yards!
The ram couldn't see any of my body since it was obstructed by the bush. But, he did not like the movement he picked up and the fact that the bush had all of a sudden slightly changed its shape. He continued to stare right at me.
The ram would continue to stare right at me. He would try to bait me into moving by slowly putting his head down, acting like he was going to feed. Then, he would immediately jerk his head up and stare back at my position. I was later told that rams will do this when they are worried that there may be a predator in the area. There was no way I was going to move. The ram was either going to bust out of there or get comfortable again and go back to feeding.
By now, I was completely soaked. I was shivering and shaking because I was drenched. The rain coming in through my jacket had saturated all of my upper layers. Plus, the adrenaline and anticipation didn't help my nerves. I was basically a mess!
And then he decided to bed down...
He took a few more steps and I drew back. He had no idea I was there. I settled my pin and the ram stopped again to feed. I released and the arrow was on its way.
The entry was further back than I wanted. The ram ran a few steps forward, then immediately turned around and took a few steps from my left to right. He was quite confused as to what just happened. I quickly nocked a second arrow and guessed 45 yards. I put the pin high on his vitals and released. The arrow was perfect right to left, heading straight to his vitals.
The arrow sailed right under his armpit without contacting the ram. The yardage was actually about 50 and I had misjudged the ram.
The ram took off to my right angling down the mountain. He was out of sight. I heard the rocks below me crash as he ran off and my gut told me that I was going to be in for a long night of either blood trailing or waiting until the morning to try to find this ram. I was feeling so many different emotions at this point.
Ryan met me with my pack and he was pretty confused. I was very worried about finding my ram. At that point he said, "Dan, your ram is dead right down there. You didn't see him go down?"
I can't really describe my emotions at this point. In fact, they were beyond describable. Apparently, the sound of crashing rocks was actually the ram doing a death fall down the mountain. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was ready to put my hands on him.
The ram ended up being older than we thought. Ryan and Harold later aged the ram at 10 1/2. The wildlife officer at the ENR office aged him at 11 years old when he put the plug in his horns prior to export. My ram had obviously broken his jaw earlier in his life and healed as a large callous. You can see the callous on his jaw in the picture. This had most likely stunted a bit of his horn growth.
I loved the character of this old guy as I sat there digesting the experience.
And thanks for the great story telling!
Hell of a job on the stalk and keeping it together when it all came together!
Great recap of the hunt as well!
Congratulations! Well done!
And, thank you everyone for the kind words.
A perfect ending for sure. Nicely done. my best, Paul
I was completely soaked. Once the adrenalin wore off, I was reminded that I was freezing cold. Ryan made a fire and I slept as close to the fire as I could, still being under the tarp. It was a miserable night. But, I had just killed a ram so I figured I was just adding to the adventure at this point. I shivered most of the night. Thank God for the fire.
Thanks!
The rain continued until mid morning. So, Ryan took some time to finish caping my ram and we waited for the rain to quit. Once it finally did, we packed up and started the trip back to camp. Our trek would be all uphill since our camp was at the top of the mountain. The hike took about 6 hours and the rain held off most of the time. I was really happy about that!
David
At 11:00pm, Ryan heard the plane coming in. We jumped out of our sleeping bags and got dressed. I loaded up my gear and threw it all in the plane. We did not plan on getting picked up tonight. But, with the weather all over the place, the pilot decided that the break in weather tonight was a great opportunity to get us back to camp.
We landed back at base camp. Harold started a fire in the cabin so I could dry out my gear. I was still soaked. After a shower and a 1:30AM dinner, I hit the pillow pretty hard.
I needed to get some sleep since we would fly out mid day to hunt caribou!
100% of my focus prior to the hunt centered on sheep. I knew that caribou was an option if I killed a ram but it was all about the sheep prior to the hunt. Now that I had killed my ram, I was able to inspect some of the caribou that had been taken early in the season at Gana River. Pretty darn impressive. I was starting to become pretty excited about having some time to chase caribou.
We ate breakfast and repacked our packs to get ready to fly out to hunt caribou. Another hunter in camp killed a caribou with his rifle the day before so we were going to fly out to the same area since we had good intel that caribou were passing through.
The plane picked up Ryan first and dropped him off along the river. I flew out next and joined Ryan at the airstrip. We hiked to our camp spot and set up our tent. We would have to wait 12 hours to hunt so we took some time to relax and enjoy the scenery.
We met the other hunter and his guide at our camp spot since they were going to stay another day and hunt for a wolf. Ryan started cooking the backstraps and we knew we were going to eat well! He surprised us with a beer for each of us. Are you kidding? Man, I really enjoyed my dinner that night!
We glassed that night and spotted some young caribou bulls. We enjoyed dinner and went to be early.
It rained for a good part of the night but we woke up at 5:00am to good weather. We hiked up a rocky part of the mountain to get a good glassing view of the river valley below. This would allow us to see up and down river and hopefully be able to cut the caribou off as they were traveling.
At 9:00am we spotted 4 caribou bulls traveling down river. Ryan estimated the largest caribou at around 360". We decided to get ahead of them and see if the largest bull would present a shot. Then, I would make a last minute decision.
We got to a spot along the river but the caribou decided to cross the river and angle into the timber. We were able to get to close the distance to 160 yards but that was the closest we would get.
We went back to our glassing spot and it turned into kind of a drizzly type of day. We made a fire and continued to glass under the tarp. We watched a grizzly sow and cub at 5:00pm. At 6:00, we glassed a young caribou bull walking up river by himself.
That was the action for the day. We hit the tent at 11:30pm.
We woke up at 6:30 to a cloudy and overcast day. We hiked to our glassing spot and made coffee and breakfast.
At 9:30 we watched a young grizzly boar chase a caribou. The caribou had accidentally stumbled into the willows where the grizzly was hanging out and the chase ensued. The caribou got away.
It rained a little here and there throughout the day so we set up the tarp again to glass under. I really liked Ryan's tarp when the rain came.
That afternoon we saw 1 lone cow. The evening brought some grizzly entertainment. We watched 3 grizzlies fight over the old caribou kill. Two of the grizzly boars got into a good scrap with the larger boar taking the smaller boar to the ground. After chewing on him for a bit, the younger boar wriggled away and ran into the willows. Pretty entertaining day!
We woke up and followed the same routine. After eating breakfast and having some coffee, we watched 2 cows stroll through the valley.
We again used the tarp to glass under since the weather was similar. Off and on showers throughout the day. It was a slower day today. Only a few caribou passed through.
Then, at 5:00pm we spotted a lone bull traveling up river. I grabbed my bow and headed up river to cut him off. Ryan estimated this bull at around 350-360". I was confident that I was ahead of this bull and waited for him to pass by for a shot.
The bull kept changing his course and angled away from me. I backtracked and got around him again and headed to the river to cut him off. Instead of coming up the river, the bull decided to cross the river and head up the opposite side. I could not get close enough for a shot. I was able to get to 120 yards but no closer. The bull continued up river and I couldn't catch up.
That evening we watched the same grizzly boars travel around the river valley. We spotted one lone cow at 9:00am. No more caribou for the night. We went to bed.
The day started out basically the same as the other caribou hunting days. It rained most of the night. We got up and climbed to the glassing area early in the morning. We noticed it was quite a bit colder this morning.
We immediately saw 2 cows and a calf grazing across the valley. One of the grizzly boars was out and about for an early viewing. We hoped that the colder temps with the rain that lasted all night would have the animals out moving today.
At 9:30am we spotted a good bull heading down river. I grabbed my bow and Ryan and I ran down the hill to the river. We had a day and a half left to hunt. We didn't want to lose out on this opportunity. We worked up a pretty good sweat running to the spot on the river we needed to get to. We crossed the many river braids and willow patches on our way to the main river channel. We arrived at the main river channel ahead of the bull and we were in a good spot for the caribou to continue his course. We waited for him to continue down the river to our position.
I set up at the edge of the willows and ranged the bull at 112 yards. I nocked an arrow as the bull continued down the river in our direction. I waited for him to get into bow range.
Congrats Man
Good luck, Robb
It rained the majority of the day so we glassed under the tarp for shelter. At 1:00pm we found 9 cows and calves on the hillside. They would eventually feed right in front of us.
We made our last mountain house dinner for the trip. The plan was to get picked up tomorrow mid day. At this point, I was mentally in a great spot. I had an amazing hunt and had killed my dream ram with my bow. I had put stalks on 3 different P&Y caribou but just couldn't seal the deal. I saw tons of sheep. I should mention we glassed sheep every day at our caribou area. I watched grizzly bears. It was an awesome hunt and I was thrilled. Not getting a caribou was going to give me a great excuse to return to Gana River!
All of a sudden, in mid-conversation, Ryan said "Dan, grab your bow." I immediately knew what that meant and we were off running to the river. We stopped for just a second to decide on a route and I glassed two good caribou bulls at the river. We were a little worried because the caribou came out to the river in a spot that would be difficult for us to get ahead of them. But, it was the last night so we ran as fast as we could to get there.
We hit the river braids and immediately saw one of our grizzly boars 200 yards to the left on the gravel bar. He was facing the other direction so we kept going without catching the boars attention. We went through the different river braids and through the willows trying to get to the main channel before the bulls did.
The bulls continued to close the distance. The river took a slight turn directly out in front of us. I knew the range to that spot so adjusted my sight accordingly. The bulls would be directly broadside at that spot. They were now less than 100 yards heading to the bend in the river. The bigger bull was still out in front.
The bigger bull reached my target area and stopped just before the bend in the river. I asked Ryan for a final range. He confirmed the distance that I pre-ranged. So, I pulled back, checked my level, and settled my pin. I released and sent the arrow on its way.
Now bring the rest.
The bull crossed the river, stumbled across the gravel, and fell straight backwards. He didn't travel 40 yards. I was overwhelmed that my dream hunt just got even better. Ryan and I hugged one another and just looked across the river at my velvet bou laying on the gravel bar.
Unfortunately, we were unable to cross the main channel of the river with just our gaiters. We would have to go back to camp and retrieve our pack waders, then cross the river to the bull. It was painful to have to leave the bull without getting my hands on him. He was right there!
With the grizzly boar about 300 yards from the kill, we hustled as fast as we could in hopes that he wouldn't find the carcass before we returned.
We took photos and broke down the bull. We remained very aware due to the many grizz in the area but had no issues while working on the bull. I still couldn't believe all of this happened. Unbelievable.
T.O
We climbed into our sleeping bags and I just laid there thinking about how fortunate I was. So many emotions and so many things to be thankful for.
Thanks for taking us along! Congratulations on a trip of a lifetime and two magnificent animals!
We woke up in the morning and made some breakfast and coffee. We packed the meat to the airstrip. We packed up our gear and hiked back to the air strip and waited for Del in the super cub to pick us up. We loaded up some gear and meat and tied the antlers to the struts of the plane. Del flew me back to base camp first. He returned to get Ryan.
We enjoyed some lunch and dinner at base camp. We hung out with the crew and shared stories around the bonfire. That didn't last long as heavy rain came through and ended the bonfire session.
I packed up my gear and was ready to fly out the next day. I had an amazing trip and was ready to get home to see my wife and kids.
Harold runs a first class operation. I couldn't imagine hunting with a better outfitter.
Thanks for sharing
That picture you have titled "Our view at sunrise" is something I think I need to experience. Time to make a sheep hunt a priority...........
I would return to Gana River in a heart beat and hunt dall sheep again. But, I would only do that if I determine that stones and deserts are out of the question for a long time.
Congratulations!
It doesn’t get any better!
I think you held out to the very last second for a reason...
Thank you so much for sharing your adventure!
Great storytelling, hunt and animals!!!
Mark
—Jim
Congrats on a hell of an adventure.
Congrats!!
Dang good read
Congrats
Robb
Such a accomplishment and adventure.
Thank you and congrats on a amazing adventure !
