This sheep story is really just a chapter in a very long book of hunting stories. This book started many years ago, and it is the same story many families have across this great nation. Hunting trips with extended family, grandpa, uncles, cousins, siblings, and friends. Throughout my life, I have been blessed to be able to spend time hunting with my family and build lifelong memories and strong relationships. Hunting trips have bonded me with relatives and friends for life.
My main hunting buddy ended up being my younger brother, Spencer. We grew up adventuring across the western United States. Every year, we would seem to add a state to our yearly schedule. The year was 2015 when out of the blue on a bow hunt in Wyoming’s famed region G, Spencer dropped a bombshell, “I am taking a job in Alaska and will be moving there soon.” I was shocked and couldn’t believe it, but there was a silver lining to all of this, we started the Alaska hunting chapter in our book. The first year was a caribou soon after he became a resident, and we started chasing Dall sheep. We were so green, but we learned quickly from all of our mistakes. We also mixed in hunts for goats, moose, blacktail, and bears. I was sad my bro and hunting partner had moved to Alaska, but I was sure enjoying his residency in that great state.
Fast forward to the fall of 2022 when we had a deer hunt in November to South Dakota, a wonderful place we claim as our second home. Just a few weeks before we were supposed to meet up for the hunt, I got a call from my brother, and I will never forget it to my dying day. I was standing in front of my bathroom mirror when Spencer said, “I can’t make it to South Dakota this year. I have cancer.” I was in total shock. He was 44 and super healthy. How could this happen? It didn’t seem fair. There were so many emotions on my end, but I couldn’t imagine what he was enduring. Spencer was rushed into surgery to remove a fast-growing tumor. Then within a few weeks, he was diagnosed with choriocarcinoma, an aggressive but curable type of testicular cancer.
As per Spencer’s wishes, three of us still went on the trip to South Dakota. The trip was a bust. I think the black cloud of uncertainty affected all of us that week. After that, the hunting season faded, but Spencer’s fight had just started. Five rounds of intense chemotherapy were ordered. Since he was so young and healthy, the doctors gave him a more aggressive treatment plan. Not only was he suffering physically, but his young family was far away from any family support. I know this brought his already tight family unit even closer. His wife, Stacy, was a rock keeping everything together while caring for him for eight months. I believe his Alaskan friends were very helpful, and I am grateful to them.
As you all know, the Alaska draw is early. I didn’t want to even bring it up, but Spencer said, “Let’s put in and see what happens.” Out of the blue, I got another call that I will never forget. I was at a house I was working on constructing. It was Spencer. and he was noticeably excited. This made me perplexed because he was into the chemo and had been miserable. He asked right off the bat, “Have you seen the results?” I said no, but I started to wonder what we had drawn. My first thought was goat. Then he said, “You better sit down because you drew Chugach Dall sheep!” It was the only controlled tag to be guided by next of kin only. We were both so excited. At the same time, it didn’t take long for both of us to wonder how this was going to work out. Could Spencer beat the cancer, finish the treatments, and be well enough to guide me on this once-in-a-lifetime hunt? This tag could only be guided by next of kin, no professional guides.
This is where the story really begins. It is a story of hard work, determination, focus, mental toughness, positivity, endurance, and love. All the things you learn on a backcountry Dall sheep hunt. Spencer, in the last many years, had become a sheep maniac. He was training year-round and was in the best shape of his life. He had just shot a beautiful legal ram on a general unit in 2022 and was doing great. I know all of his training and grueling sheep hunts made him one tough dude, and it helped him during his treatments mentally and physically. Now that I had drawn such a good tag, he turned that into fuel to power through the chemo and still spend some time exercising. In a text message to me, my bro said, “Your sheep hunt was a large part of the driving force to my recovery. Sounds cheesy, but that hunt on the calendar got me through some rough moments.” I know he went through some dark times during chemo. I think his story is so amazing. I think a book should be published about his experience. Many people could benefit from hearing his experience in much greater detail.
The weeks passed on, and I trained more for a hunt than I ever have. I felt like I needed to as a way to show gratitude for Spencer’s sacrifice. He had good and bad days, but he pushed on and finished the chemo. His blood work looked good. All the markers were pointing in the right directions. The only problem was Spencer was left in a weakened state because of the severity of the chemo. There wasn’t much time from his last treatment until August 10th, opening day. That’s when he really kicked things into high gear. He worked his ass off, and I couldn’t help but try to follow his example and be ready.
The day finally arrived. We were both feeling apprehensive about how this trip would go. The Chugach unit I had drawn is some of the most extreme mountain hunting you can do. We were savvy to it as we had hunted Carpenter Creek five years prior. Meekins Air took us in and landed us on a glacier. We were several days early so that we could hopefully get some rams located. That early time paid off. We had located a group of four rams, two of them were very legal, and our excitement grew for the opener.
Of course, opening morning was fogged in and visibility was poor. Then we started to get a few sucker holes in the clouds and saw the four rams for a brief moment. Luckily, we knew they were good from previous days of glassing, so we decided to make chase. We scaled up steep waterfalls and rock cliffs for over 2,000 feet of elevation. Finally, we got to 510 yards. The rams were bedded for the midday. We were in a good spot to watch them, and I was confident that from that distance I could make the shot. My BOTW 300PRC chassis was a tack driver. It didn’t take long and the rams were up. I had my gun on a good rest, ready to go for that moment. It was go time, and I took the shot. He was hit hard. I reloaded to shoot again, and he tipped over in slow motion, rolled towards us, and settled in the bottom of a ravine.
We sat on the ridge and enjoyed the moment. We took in all the beauty around us and had a few private tears. We were so grateful for an amazing hunt, an amazing place, and that we were both still here alive to enjoy this together. It was so much sweeter. We had been on countless adventures together. This was the best. I think we both realized this can be taken away at any moment and we needed to savor everything. I am so grateful to my family that brought hunting into my life. My uncles, Lynn and Blaine, and my father, Gene. Hunting has truly taught me so many good life lessons. It’s not always easy to be a big game hunter. It’s not always easy to be a good human in today’s world. The appreciation I have gained for wildlife and the wilderness enriches my everyday life and I am a better person for it.
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