Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Alaska Range Sheep Hunt August 10th---MUST HAVES

Hello,

I am heading to the Alaska Range this August and have begun gathering the necessary gear for the trip. Yes, this is in addition to getting into great shape. Should we be successful on the sheep, we will also go after grizzly.

First things first, I am taking a .300 Jarrett with 165 grain AccuBonds. I have a good pair of 10x Zeiss binoculars for the trip. The scope is a Schmidt-Bender 4-16x. My guide will have a spotting scope. I am planning not to take one, as they are pricey and heavy.

I purchased the Lowa Bighorn G3 GTX boot from shoebuy.com. They had a great sale at 25% off and have a free shipping and return shipping policy. I highly recommend them (already sent a pair back with a pre-paid return label). I ordered the Koflach Degree plastics but like the Lowas better. I will use the Lowas for mule deer and elk in the years to come (and for Bighorn, if I ever get drawn).

My outerwear is my whitetail gear. It's a Browning Pro Series pant and jacket with GoreTex.

I ordered some Black Diamond trekking poles off Ebay. They look good and were well-priced.

My sleeping bag is a Slumberjack 0 degree F Odyssey with G3fiber insulation. I am currently looking at sleeping pads.

I will borrow a backpack from my guide. He has 2 extras.

I am planning to take a pair of ski gloves and leather work gloves.

I do have a TFO 5 wt fly rod and 5 wt Ross Reel also going. I am a bit of a trout bum and want to fish, if possible. Any tips on flies?

So with that said, what other gear do you find essential on the trip? What are the MUST HAVES that should not be left at home? Feel free to criticize any of my current selections.

Thanks and have a great Memorial Day,

kscowboy01

Borrowing a backpack could be ( note I say could be) the single biggest mistake you could make.

I personally would not roll those dice.

Yeah, and I'd sell the S&B to pay for it (the pack) whilst picking up a VX3 3.5-10 Lupy to save some weight...

Be prepared to handle an indecent amount of blood sucking bugs.
You may get above them but not for the whole hunt.
They are small, mean and have very nasty effect when they bite.
I would have a headnet and plenty of DEET on hand.
jmho
Tim
OH, yeah. Congratulations.

When?....whooops, Aug 10th.

Where in Alaska Range.

Sheep country typically doesn't hold a lot of fish...maybe a few grayling.....any black gnat type fly.

I have the exact Leupold you mentioned above on my .308 with Talley Quick Releases. Would you all recommend taking that scope over the Schmidt-Bender? The Schmidt has the click knobs that are pretty cool. Not to mention that we will take a 300-400 yard shot, if necessary.

Probably the only fish will be in the bottom of the valley in the river you will have to wade across. Never have seen to many fish up on the mountain where the sheep are. Besides you will spend most of the time climbing and glassing for sheep. I would just talk to the guide and borrow his fishing gear if he has any. Sheep hunting is very physically demanding and not much time for any thing else. How many days will you spending sheep hunting?

Sheep are big enough targets the idea of needing even the 10x is laughable. But the [bleep] at over 26 ounces is by far funnier. The 3.5-10 is literally less than half the weight.

I would not bring the fishing gear either... It is easy to do that somewhere else and it will only get in your way the whole time with a high probability of never being used. Leave yourself an extra day at either end to go fishing if you want.

The sleeping bag is far warmer than you will need, also.

The pack needs to be carried and adjusted by you during your training, with weight in it. It will be hard to do that from afar. Get a Barney's pack and you will be much happier.

Get a standard pair of leather work gloves, uninsultaed, and soak them with melted beeswax. Wear them a lot until they break-in... You will be calling me names right up to the point they break-in. Once broken in they will last forever and protect your hands from devil's club thorns and such... They work extremely well. I would leave the other gloves at home.

The Black Diamond poles are decent, but should be fine unless you are a big guy.

I have yet to see Browning pants that I like. They have all been sponges.

Your socks will be critical and one of the few areas where bringing more than plenty is a very good idea. "Darn Tough" are hard to beat. Use a very thin poly liner sock inside the heavy socks. Bring mole skin and use it the instant you feel anything like a hotspot forming.

Sunglasses could save you if you get into early snow and have to deal with lots of glare.

A stocking cap is a really good idea...

If the guide has Barneys frame packs as lenders, it might not be a bad deal. Barney packs are simple to adjust to your torso length and do not present the lumbar pressure issues that an internal frame can. A Barneys can be fitted to you in 15 minutes or less.

If his packs are internal frames, even high end Kifaru, you will need to spend a good deal of time getting the pack fitted to you. Doing that while hiking with your load is not a good plan. It has taken me three months of tinkering to get a used Kifaru Longhunter fitted to where it works on my goofy back.

The one thing you will need to do is work out with a pack on. The added weight causes your body to use muscles differently than excerise does. Your leg, hip, back, stomach, and shoulders will all need to get used to the increase in load. You do not want to hit day two or three of your hunt and not be able to move due to muscle sorness or strain. So get a pack with 30 to 40 pounds in it and put in some miles on the bleachers.

get a "puffy" coat insulated with primaloft one or sport fiber. You will be spending a good deal of time sitting and glassing in cool conditions that may also be windy. Wildthings Gear is making custom puffy jackets now. Pretty nice process. Or you can hit any of the mountaineering gear sites and get a Micro Puff or Compressor for not much coin. May even look into puffy pants for sitting around.

Merino wool base layer and drawers. Merino socks as well.

Layering in fleece works for the large temperature swings during the day.

Gloves - you will need something that can handle water. Most ski gloves leak since they are for frozen water and not rain. I have been using the Chilly Grippers in camo for a couple of years now. Not water proof, but they stay warm when wet and have a great rubber palm and finger protection.

Light weight synthetic hiking pants that breath well. I have been training in a pair of convertable hiking pants from cabelas and they work well so far.

A book to read or one of those e-books like a kindle with a solar charger. AK Range can mean a day or two stuck in a tent in rain or fog.

A small LED head lamp like the Vizz or a zebra. Needs to work in the rain.

Probably not a lot of rainbow fishing while sheep hunting, but afterwards there are spots to head to. In August egg patterns and flesh flys work best, but never underestimate a bead head prince nymph. There will be silvers around then as well so you might want to plan on an after hunt fishing trip to somewhere like Seward or Valdez or Kenai.

Art, the 300 Jarrett needs a long action and for me at least, would require a scope intended for long actions with plenty of mounting latitude.

They seem to be getting in "shorter" supply. The 6x36 will work on a LA but the 6x42 doesn't come back enough for me.

I fly into Anchorage on the 6th and fly-out to camp on the 7th. I depart from camp on the 17th, due to a work conference. I will be on the 1:30 AM flight on the 18th back home.

4=16x scope? Way too big & bulky for me but you gotta haul it so... Ditto on "borrowing" a packboard. When I assistant guided we "loaned" packboards out to the clients. They sure didn't like the Trapper Nelson's they had to use. Double check with your guide & seriously consider getting one of your own.
Your boots.. Make damn sure they're broken in beforehand and absolutely DO NOT forget to take moleskin with you & keep it in your pack. It's a very expensive lesson/trip to have to call off your sheep hunt because you got blisters & can't walk. Don't ask how I know.
Bear in Fairbanks

I have the 6x42 on a number of long actions without issue... The idea of bringing a rifle that likely weighs as much as the Jarrett on a sheep hunt is foolish, though I have done it before and the potential grizzly hunt makes it understandable...

Why not leave the Leopold on your .308 and use it, it will do everything you need to do. --- Mel

Art, you simply is not built as manly as I...:)

Have only some blacks under my belt, so I ask ya, would not a light weight 06 accomplish the same thing, i.e. same bullet?

I have used ultralight 30-06s a lot for tons of different stuff and would never hesitate to do it again... And the 308 as Mel suggested would work just fine.

Actually I was there when Mel shot his Kodiak bear with a Partition, so marginal stuff can work just fine!

kscowboy01,

Some years ago, I did my Dall sheep hunt, in the Alaska range. It was a tough hunt, to be sure, but a very rewarding one.

As for fishing- I took along a fly rod and reel, and after I was done sheep hunting, my outfitter dropped me off at a small lake, that he called 'No Fish Lake'. On a flyover, we could see massive schools of grayling.

I stopped counting, after catching and releasing my 100th grayling. A simple, egg pattern fly did the trick (take along a bunch, as they will get chewed up).

I did load-up some test rounds for the .308. It's my favorite gun and built on an Ultra Light Arms action with a Jarrett barrel. While shooting the test loads, the bolt popped-off. The gun is being sent to get the bolt re-soldered. Should we go for grizzly, I have my 180 Barnes X that have been a solid performer over the last 10 years. My fear with the .308 is that it's not flat enough shooting. We will continue the test loads once the gun is fixed. I have not totally ruled the gun out. It's very, very light.

Stick to not shooting past 450 yards and build a range card for it. Or get a CDS and then varify the markings at the range. Even at 450 a .308 will kill a sheep.