Finally, it was August 9th. We took off in Matt’s plane and headed over the rocky mountaintops to a remote landing strip. We spent the balance of the day hiking up an alder-choked, rocky drainage to where our first camp would be. This hike had a little deja vu as we had also hunted this area on one of my previous trips. It was good to be back in the mountains.
Day two found us making the steep climb to the top of the mountain, looking for rams. It was late in the day when we finally found five rams bedded on a grassy saddle a mile away. Matt checked the rams out in the spotting scope and there were two legal rams, with one being a shooter. Unfortunately, we were exposed and all we could do was settle down and wait them out. The rams got up and fed a bit, but they stayed put. Our new dilemma was that we were on top of the mountain with no water and needed a place to camp for the night. We found a small, flat spot on the peak of the mountain and called it home. Matt trekked down the steep mountainside to a water seepage to find some water as well. It was a windy night on top of that mountain, but after the hiking and climbing all day, I slept pretty well.
After glassing an approach to where we saw the rams last night, the stalk was on. We packed up camp and sidehilled through the cliffs and rocks to where we last saw the rams. After a couple hours, we cautiously crept to the edge of the mountain. Matt spotted the rams below us in a large shale bowl. Grabbing my rifle, I hurried over to Matt and ranged the rams. They were at 450 yards and steeply downhill, not to mention walking away from us at a steady pace. We decided to try and get to the backside of the ridge and approach the rams from there. We headed up the steep, rocky mountainside, staying out of sight of the rams. Our new approach to the rams backfired as the backside of the ridge was all cliffs, which were too steep to navigate.
While we were playing out the waiting game, Matt happened to notice some sheep near the top of another ridge back towards where we came from two days ago. After breaking out the spotting scope, he determined there were six rams in the group, and although they were hard to judge from that distance, it looked like at least one could be a shooter. Now we had a big decision to make. We could stay on the rams we were already on, which had a confirmed shooter. This would add another day to the stalk, making for a three-day hike with full packs, half of it uphill, to get back to the plane, or we could chance that the six rams would stay put for another day while we made our way back to them and hope there was a shooter in the group. We packed up and headed back to take our chances on the new group of rams. It was a brutal trip back through some nasty country, which found us backtracking after we got stranded on some cliffs. So much for taking shortcuts. We finally made it back to the drainage that held the rams and got camp set up, ate, and called it a night. I definitely slept well that night. I was beat!
Morning came quick. We decided to leave camp set up and day hunt from camp. Up the drainage we went trying to find our band of rams. A couple hours into the hike, we found them high above us. It was an awesome sight as all six rams were legal, with two great rams in the group. For the next five hours, we played hide and seek, finally getting ourselves to within 450 yards of the biggest ram. Before we could close any more distance, they were in the cliffs and gone. We continued searching for the big boy in the rocky spires. As we hit a steep, nasty edge, Matt climbed out to glass. Within a couple seconds, I heard, “Grab your gun and get out here!”
I cautiously made my way to Matt, peeked over the edge, and was in awe. The biggest ram was 100 yards away and had no idea we were there. He was a perfect ram. Matt guessed him at 43" as we watched him and another legal ram. We now faced a really tough decision. The ram was in such a bad area that there would have been little, if any, chance we could have retrieved him. We made a decision to pass. As tough a decision as it was, I was actually OK with it. The good news was that there were four other legal rams with another great ram out there. We decided to head back to where they were all feeding that morning and hope they would show themselves again that evening.
So far, this day had been one of those days we would never forget. It was a perfect bluebird, sunny day. We had chased six legal rams around all morning, got to watch a world-class ram, and we were in the mountains. I even enjoyed a nap in the warm sun on that mountainside. If the day ended this way, it would have been a perfect day. However, things were about to change.
At 7:30 p.m., Matt noticed a ram feeding towards us. The good news was that this ram was the other shooter in the group. Game on. After an hour, the ram went out of sight and we hustled our way over to him. It took an hour to cover the distance, and as we peeked over the rise, there were three rams feeding, including the shooter. I was still sucking wind pretty hard as I lined up to shoot. My Kimber .270 WSM was moving around a bit as Matt told me to take my time. Thankfully, the rams had no idea we were there and I was able to get the job done. A great day just got a whole lot better!
We quickly got the picture taking done and got the ram skinned and cut up. We hustled to get our packs loaded and head off of the mountain as it was now 11:00 p.m. About 10 minutes into our descent, I ran face to face into a sow grizzly and her cub at 30 yards. After a bit of yelling and Matt trying to figure out what was going on, the sow and cub both ran off. That 30 seconds seemed like 30 minutes. Talk about a “pucker” moment. We got off the mountainside and made our way through the boulder-filled drainage in the dark, making it back to camp just before 2:00 a.m. I slept well that night.
The next morning, Matt boned out the meat while I caped out the ram. As we got our work finished up, Matt asked if I wanted to know how big the ram was. I had a big smile on my face as he announced 41 3/4" x 13 5/8". I was extremely happy with that ram, even if it was the second biggest one we saw. I finally had my 40" ram!
I have sheep hunted with Matt from Alaska Hunting Adventure four times now, and each adventure was an experience I will never forget. His love of the mountains, the sheep, and the adventures are second to none. Along with his mom, Sue, stepdad, Frank, and girlfriend, Mel, they are an awesome sheep hunting family that treats their clients as friends and family, always with sincere respect. Thank you to all of you for yet another great Alaskan Adventure!
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