Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska 2011 DCUA Sheep hunt

Thought i'd do this one a bit differently. I'll post my gear list and how it performed then on with the report.

Rifle: Winchester model 70 270
Ammo: Federal Premium Vital Shok 150gr NP's
Scope: Leupold Vari-X III 3.5x10x40 matte duplex
Binos: Swarovski Habicht 10x40
Spotter: Nikon XL II
Rangefinder: Bushnell Scout 1000 w/ARC
Knife: Gene Ingram Semi #2 custom
Clothing: Sitka 90% pants, Core and Mountain shirts, Core4Element Element jacket and pants,
merino hoodie and boxers,
Lorpen lighthiker socks, Wigwam medium weight hunting socks
Boots: Lowa Sheephunters
Trekking pole: Leki Makalu
Packframe: Wilderness Specialties molle frame
Stove: Jetboil Sol Ti
Sleeping bag: Wiggys Ultra Light
Sleeping pad: Thermarest NeoAir (lg)
Tent: Marmot Limelight 3
Camera: Panasonic Lumix DMC FX40
ATV: 2004 Honda ForemanES 450 4x4 (for access)


All the clothing I used on this hunt worked better than I had thought except for the Sitka shirts holding odor. After 1 day they smelled pretty bad so I had to rotate them and wash them as I went. The Core4 stuff was awesome, the Element jacket kept out the wind, and we had lots of it, and the merino wool stuff was money well spent. Highly recommend the hoodie and boxers!

Swaro binos are my fav and i've had them for a long time, best investment i've ever made in hunting gear.

Bushnell rf worked incredibly well, I had issues with the Leica ranging sheep (it wouldn't)so I decided to try something else and these Bushnells worked as advertised and I especially liked the ARC feature.

Jetboil Sol Ti, what can I say about this rig, it boiled water faster than I could put the Via coffee in my cup, best buy of the year by far!

Thermarest Neoair in large, super comfy and much lighter than my old Prolite 4 regular pad.

Marmot Limelight 3, to be honest, I only had a chance to use the tent for 3 days and it held up to some pretty strong winds and gave me more room than I needed but it is a 3 man tent. I'm going to use it next year when I take the wife sheep hunting in the Wrangells and will post another report on it then.

Lowa Sheephunters, these are the best boots I have ever owned. Boots usually only last me 2-3 years and these are going on their 4th year with several more years of use still ahead of them. Feet never got wet crossing creeks and streams and they perfromed well on the mountain.

Wiggys Ultralight, I know many here don't care for them but this bag has always performed well for me and I wouldn't go anywhere in the wilderness without it.

Ingram Semi #2, I could cut up 2-3 sheep with this knife after using it on one 2 years ago. Love this pattern by Gene.

Panasonic DMC FX40 camera, I took some of the best pictures I have ever taken with this camera and weighing in at about 1 lb I could hardly tell it was in my pack. Super impressed with this thing.

Honda ForemanES, what can I say, it's a Honda!!

Rifle, scope, and ammo. I've hunted with this rifle for probably 25 years and it has never let me down. It shoots the 150gr Partitions well and the Leupy has been rock solid since I bought years ago.

Winderness Specialties packframe, I have to say that I was quite disappointed with the meat hauling abilities of this frame. The shoulder straps would not stay tight and I had to really cinch it up good to make it comfortbale enough to carry. The waist belt fit more around my stomach than my waist, which really wasn't that big a deal but still, it's suppose to fit around your waist. I would never try and carry a moose hindquarter on it.

Leki Makalu trekking pole held up well once again. I let my partner use it on my second hunt and he was glad to have it, it saved his butt several times when hiking downhill.

I also pulled a ram out of DCUA.....a good hunt for an old guy!

I second your comments on the SOL Ti stove....incredible.....used one canister of fuel in 4 days.

The plan was to hunt from the 26th of August to the 5th of Sept and if I could score a ram early, I would pursue moose until the 5th.

I setup my "spike" camp on a large hill we call Blueberry Hill and spot sheep from there with the spotter, if I thought they were worthy of a closer look I would go after them. On the second day I managed to spot what looked like a decent ram bedded on a remote dirt covered hill so off I went.

I had to go down a steep hill into a creek bottom and back up the other side. Once I got there I could no longer see the ram so I crept along the rolling hills until I got to a spot where I though he was located. I peeked over the top and he was still there, 280 yards away and sleeping like a baby. I gathered my spotter, camera, rangefinder and rifle to get a better look at him. He eventually woke up and got up to feed, he looked good through the binos but upon further review I didn't think he was legal curlwise so I let him go. The pics prove I made the right decision.
I watched him for quite some time until he fed around the side of the hill and disappeared. I also saw about a half dozen caribou and a couple of ewes but I didn't get any pictures of them.

The next day I didn't see any rams from Blueberry Hill so I decided to hike a large valley off to the left of camp. That was quite the hike and the terrain was like walking on the moon once I got back to where the sheep were. I was quite surprised to not see any rams back there as it was quite remote and rugged country. I spent the whole day back there but did not see any rams.



The following day the winds really picked up so I gathered my gear and rode the wheeler back to base camp. I spotted several bull moose and caribou but caribou season was over and moose hadn't opened yet. This is base camp, a place we call the "Taj Mahal". It is quite roomy and will hold a half dozen hunters quite comfortably.

That evening a couple of buddies of mine also returned from spike camp to freshen up and regroup. We had a few beers and cooked a couple of pizzas for dinner.

Yes, you read that right, we had pizza for dinner. One of my buds had cut a hole near the top of the barrel and put in some supports on the back that would hold a piece of expanded metal. We get a nice fire going inside and then let it cool down so it won't burn our pizza.

I spent the next couple of days looking at different rams but could not find a legal one in the bunch. Here is a group of 5 that were quite a ways below me but I managed to snap a few blurry photos. One was close to legal but not close enough. Saw lots of rams, caribou, moose and 2 grizzlies during this first hunt.

So with that I returned home without a ram nor a moose but knew I was coming back in a few more days and this time, I would have a partner. We would be hunting from the 8th to the 15th and hopefully get a ram and have enough time to find a bull moose too.

The morning of the 8th rolls around and I meet up with rost495 in Eagle River. He brought up some ammo for me for my 45-70 and I gave him some goodies for his trip. I would have liked to have spent a bit more time shooting the bull with him but I had someplace to be. I meet up with my partner and we're headed back to the DCUA for another shot at a ram.

That evening I post 4 rams from camp feeding in some pretty nasty country but hopefully they won't go far. The next morning we ride up the riverbed and I spot the rams so we formulate a game plan and decide to give them a closer look. We had to climb some pretty steep terrain but we got it done and managed to find 3 of the 4 rams, one of which was bedded. None of these were legal but we knew there was a 4th ram somewhere so we snuck a bit closer to the bedded ram hoping the missing ram was close by.

We managed to get within 100 yards of the bedded ram but the 4th ram was nowhere to be seen so we snapped a few pics, stood up and the bedded ram got up (see pics) and trotted around the right side of the mountain. We went to the left to try and find the missing ram but we could not find him until we started walking down from the top. He must have been bedded out of sight and had no idea we were there until the bedded ram got up. I only got a quick glimpse of him before he disappeared out of sight but he looked like he had real good bases. My partner had the spotter but never got a good look at the horns either.

We later learned that 2 other hunters had climbed up the backside of the mountain we were on and shot a ram in some very nasty terrain. I believe it was the missing ram that we never got a good look at.

We spend the next couple of days looking for more rams but the wind is blowing so fierce that we have a hard time making approaches without the sheep getting our wind. We blow 1 good stalk on 3 rams that I had spotted from the mountain the day before. They are amazing animals and can travel and climb so quickly that finding them can be quite a chore.

That night it is clear and cold and I get some good pics of the moon rising from behind the mountains across from base camp.

Monday moring we decide to try a drainage that hadn't been hunted in a few days. We are able to ride the wheelers probably a mile up the creekbed before we put on our packs and start the long walk towards the glacier. We spot a good sized herd of ewes and lambs and some small rams further up the drainage but nothing we can go after. My partner Joel decided he's going to hang back while I head up and check things out further up the valley.

While climbing around some huge boulders along the creek I happened to look to my left and spot a lone sheep bedded near a rock wall pretty high up the mountain. I drop down on all 4's hoping it didn't see me. I put the binos on it and can see right away that it's a ram and a good one. I climb a bit higher and break out the spotter and can clearly see that he is past fullcurl, finally, a legal ram!



As I was watching him through the spotter I was getting pretty excited and not paying attention to my surroundings. For some reson I happen to look down and across the creek and there, not 75 yards away is a medium sized grizzly, chowing down on berries. I made a mad scramble for my rifle and watched him for about 10 minutes, one time putting the scope on him and seriously thinking about ruining his day but I was here for sheep so I let him pass. As he was walking away I managed to get into a position where he would get my wind and once he did, he wasted little time getting the hell out of dodge. That was a bit closer than I would have liked.

I turn my attention back to the ram and watch him for several hours until it starts to get dark. I decide to bail and come back in the morning and make a try for him. I meet up with Joel and we go back to camp.

We get up early, have some coffee and some breakfast then head out back to the drainage where we saw the big ram. While walking up the drainage we spot this ram, he looks close but I am determined to take the ram we spotted the day before.




Once we arrive to the spot where I had spotted him I decide i'm going to climb up to a plateau up to the left of where the ram was bedded, thinking he's got to be there either feeding or bedded. Joel stays down low to observe in case the ram tries to make an escape.

The terrain was quite steep and rocky and amde for some delicate walking, I never thought I would make it to the top so I decided to cut over to my right. As I was nearing the plateau I got down as low as I could, creeping higher and higher when I spot the ram, bedded not 50 yards from me. I try to find a good rest to shoot from when the ram gets up and runs another 50 yards then stops near a large boulder.


I manage to get a good rest and have the ram in my scope, crosshairs right behind the front shoulder. I squeeze the trigger and the ram drops out of sight. I could not believe how close I got to that ram, he literally had nowhere to go but up. Joel hears the shot and comes up to see if I had killed the ram. This is where he fell.


I was so excited that I had finally found a legal ram and was able to put him on the ground. Some photos from the ram and my friend Joel.

Some more pics before we hauled him out.


He taped out at a little over 37" on each side with 13" bases and was aged at 8 years old. I can only imagine how big he would have been had he lived a few more years.

A side shot of the rams horns in camp.


Vek, can you post some pics of your ram?

Wow, very nice! Congrats and thanks for sharing the pics and story.

Wow, very nice! Congrats and thanks for sharing the pics and story.

Excellent... thanks for the pics and the story, and congrats on the ram!

Sweet!!! I'm green with envy. Maybe I can draw a good tag one of these days.

Can't believe you had a Leica LRF that didn't work out for you. The ARC feature is nice. Knowing the actual horizontal distance (as opposed to the slope distance) is mighty useful.

Guess I do have a mule deer rut hunt to look forward to here in about 2 months.

Nice write-up, John. Congrats on a nice ram!

do you have weights with your gear list?

And, that base camp needs some 'splaining with GPS coords! Via PM of course!

Congrats on a nice ram!

Way to go John. I want to hear all about it over some cold ones here sometime soon!!!

Way to get it done man!! You put in the time and deserve a whopper like that no doubt.

Hahahaha, your a funny guy Mike!! I'd guessitmate base camp weight all up around 1500 lbs, give or take!

Here's what I can tell you about weights with some of my gear.

Thermarest Neoair (large) 19 ounces
Scout rf - 6.6 ounces
Jetboil Sol Ti - 10 ounces
Marmot LL 3 - 6lbs 11 ounces
Panasonic Lumix DMC FX40 - 1 lb
Wiggys Ultralight bag - 3.5 lbs
Lowa Sheep Hunters - 4lbs 3 ounces, might be less that I've got 4 years under them now........grins
Swaro Habichts - 24 ounces
Nikon XL II spotter - 32 ounces
Leki Makalu (1) - 9 ounces

As for the rifle, scope and ammo, i'd guess somewhere between 7-7.5 lbs. I've had some things done to it to lighten it up some so it' not a standard version of the model 70.


Thanks for all the kind words guys, all the hard work and determination paid off in the end.

Luke, yes, we will have to catch up sometime soon but for now, i've got to try and put some moose meat in the freezer. And congrats to you and Chris for getting it done, you guys did good to get 2 rams out of there and another for your packer friend in a different unit!!

I hear ya there man. I'm at work right now and hit the ground running when I get back on the 28th, but we'll make it happen no doubt.

Good work again on the ram man!!!