It was December 19, 2021 when I contacted Isaiah, an Outfitter Specialist and Hunt Advisor at Huntin’ Fool. I had just finished my mountain goat hunt a month earlier in British Columbia and was ready to plan my next adventure. One of the outfitters Isaiah recommended was Ross Elliott of Ruby Range Outfitters. After contacting him and talking things over with Ross, it just felt like the right fit. On January 5, 2022, I booked my first sheep hunt for September 9, 2023.
As time never stops, the months went by quickly, and just like that, it was September 7, 2023 and I was on a plane to Whitehorse, Yukon. After a long day of flights, I finally arrived at about 11:30 that evening. Ross planned to have me picked up at my hotel the following morning at about 7:30. I met up with Ross at his place, and we headed out. It was about a three and a half- hour drive to where we would get on a boat and cross the lake to where we would meet the guides and ride for about three hours on horseback to base camp. The winds were picking up, and we had to hurry to get across the lake before it became too rough or we wouldn’t make it into camp that day. Thankfully, we were able to make it across where I met my guide, Dustin Elliott, Ross’ son. Dustin is a veteran guide and has guided over 60 successful sheep hunts. He is an amazing guide and wrangler.
We made it to base camp where we would be hunting out of for the next few days. Talking with Dustin that evening, we planned for the morning’s hunt. Dustin already had three rams located, but we needed to go in and get a closer look to see if there was a mature ram in the bunch. The following morning, we took the horses as far as we could and then climbed the backside of the mountain to a saddle where we could glass the next drainage.
From there, we spotted the rams. They were still too far away to hunt them that day, but we did confirm there was a legal ram. It was super windy difficult to steady the spotting scopes, but we could make out one ram that we wanted to check out closer tomorrow.
The next day, we took the horses up the drainage the rams were in. Once we were close, we tied up the horses and climbed a bit to see if we could get eyes on them. Dustin confirmed they were still there, so the stalk was on. We were able to get to 325 yards where we could see the big ram bedded down. We got set up, and Dustin aged him at 8 years old. He had a full curl and twisted out. Once again, the winds were wild, so we discussed if he stood up, I would aim about a foot and a half left of where we wanted to hit and the wind should push it right into him. The ram finally stood up after about an hour and a half. I was calm, rock solid steady, and 100% confident this ram was going to drop. I squeezed the trigger, and it was a clear miss. The wind pushed my bullet, but it also lifted it from the updraft that was hitting the mountain and it went right over his back. I was in disbelief. It was a humbling moment, but it was only day two and I felt we would get another opportunity. I just had to suck it up and get back at it.
We hunted out of this same camp for two more days. Then, Dustin and I decided we would take day five to move into a spike camp so we could check out some new country in hopes of finding a shooter.
On day six, we woke up to some rain and fog, so it was a slow start. The winds quickly came up that day, so we were able to get out and check out some areas, but it was high winds and no sheep. Trying to keep a positive attitude, Dustin and I had a good meal and headed to the tents in hopes that the winds would calm and tomorrow would be a great day.
On day seven, we woke up to calm winds and clear skies. This was exciting for us as we were going to be hunting from our spike camp on foot and we’d make about a 10-mile loop. From camp, we had to gain about 2,500 feet of elevation where we could then hunt the tops and glass into several basins and different areas. That day, we found a band of six rams in a basin below us, but they were all too young. As we moved on, we found another band of five rams around two miles away across the canyon bedded in the cliffs. There was one ram that appeared to be older, but we couldn’t be sure it was legal. With where the rams were, we decided it wasn’t worth the risk of taking another day to get to them just to find out they weren’t legal, so we moved on. As we neared the end of the hunt that day, we set up to glass into the next area we would move camps into tomorrow. Dustin glassed up a group of ewes and lambs and bedded up beside them were four rams. The sheep were probably around four or five miles away at this point, but Dustin could see there were at least two good rams worth taking a closer look at. We headed back to camp and planned to move into the new camp tomorrow.
The next morning, we once again woke up to high winds. We started the process of packing up camp and loading the horses for the trek to our final camp. As we got closer, there was one spot we could set up the scopes to see if the rams were still in the same spot. Dustin confirmed they were. The four rams were skylined, and again, we could see that there were two legal rams. I was feeling good, and we headed into camp and got settled.
The next morning, I woke up feeling confident. We were going into a new area and knew there were at least two good rams we would be looking for. The only thing on my mind was rams. I had four days to make it happen. We saddled up and headed out. With the rain last night, the mountains were fogged in but would clear out with the winds by the time we reached the sheep. This would prove to be a long day. We finally found the group of sheep the five rams were in, but they were with a group of about 30 ewes and lambs. They were bedded on a flat top just on the edge of the cliffs. They were in the worst spot possible, and we just had to wait them out and hope they would feed into the valley away from the cliffs before the day’s end.
Finally, at about 5:00, they started feeding away from the cliffs. This would provide us with the opportunity to climb up the cliffside and hopefully get into a position to see the rams. By 6:30, we were at the top. We worked to our right to get the wind in our favor and circled in above where we thought the sheep were. A few hundred yards ahead, we spotted some sheep, but they were all ewes and lambs. We worked back around and tried to come in at a different location in hopes of not spooking anything. As we were easing forward, we could see the tops of the heads of three rams looking our way. We dropped to the ground, but they must have seen something they didn’t like and ran for the cliffs to our left. We ran to the cliffs, and they were 425 yards away.
We didn’t know if the big ram was in that group, so we worked back into the flats to check out the other two rams that were still bedded. Working our way back, we spotted them bedded down. We got down and waited as they got up and walked past us at 50 yards. Both were young rams. Now we knew the big ram was in the cliffs.
Heading back to the cliffs, Dustin peered over the edge and there they were 185 yards below. I was set up and had the ram I thought was the biggest in my crosshair. Dustin confirmed my assumption and said, “The one farthest to the right.” I didn’t hesitate and pulled the trigger. Instantly, the ram jumped. I knew it was a good hit, and Dustin confirmed it as well. With two hours of light left on day 10, I finally had my ram!
I couldn’t be more grateful to my guide, Dustin, for his efforts and never give up attitude through it all. At the end of the day, it is the long, tough hunts that you will remember the most. It’s what makes us hunters and outdoorsmen. It’s why we love it. I will never forget my time in the Ruby Range of the Yukon.
Login