My guide season is finally over and i have a few moments to write a few little stories up.
Had a great client come up on his dream dall sheep hunt this past august. He was in great shape and above all had an amazing attitude, one of those guys you almost hate to see tag out cause you love hunting with them!
Day two found us in the back of a valley, with four rams in the spotting scope. All just shy of full curl, but one that appeared to have legality on age. I decided a closer look was in order, told the client it was doubtfull but still a closer look is better than giving up! we talked about how there could be other rams, over the rise or out of sight. Sheep are funny like that.
We moved to within 460 yards and then were busted as the biggest of the rams stared us down. I had him in the spotter and noticed he looked bigger than he had before, another ram came up and kicked him stiffly in the balls, while laying his head across this rams back. It was a fifth ram, just happened to show up and check these younger rams out while we were doing the same thing!
three of the rams, stook with their foreheads pressed against each others, pushing back and forth, sizing up the other. my client was loaded and ready with his 280 ackley improved. the new ram was shy of full but broken both his tips off and appeared to have age on the other rams. in a moment he walked straight away from the small band of rams, out onto his own. he died that way, high up in the loose wet rocks with a bullet thru his chest.
It ended up behing a blessing of a ram, as alaskas weather turned for the worse for the next two months. Was one of the neatest sheep hunting experiences i've had aside from calling rams in. but thats another story....




On my gear side of things this year, i dropped my conventional sleeping bag and went with a Enlightened Equipment zero degree quilt. its right about 20oz and one of the warmest sleep systems i've ever had. this year i'll be getting new backpacking tents, as my old 3lb $180 tents are finally wore out after 10 years of use...
wish i had bought more of them.
also went with a delorme inreach sat texter, which worked awesome, even can get a weather report on it! my goal zero charger worked well for keeping it and my iphone charged up.

Tell me more about the quilt....drafts?

no drafts, i was pretty suprised. i did sleep with a hat on since there is no mummy style hood on them. but in warm temps i could open up the quilt, but when it was colder i used the straps that buckle around my sleeping pad, holding it in place, actually more roomy than a sleeping bag. there is a draw string around the top of the quilt so i could pull it in. it is made with treated down and has alot of loft, dang, making me sleepy just thinking about it!

What temperatures were you in relative to the comfort in that 0 quilt as well. Thanks...

Congrats on the ram!

Thanks for the info. Did you sleep with your base layer on as well as your cap?

i used it down to about 15 degrees and felt no difference. i wear a light base layer most the time, i don't like my legs sticking together...lol my feet were way warmer in the quilt than in my sleeping bags.

I hope to have a quilt by next season. Nice post Brwnbr.

Nice post and thanks for sharing.

Calling sheep, eh? I'd like to hear more about that!

Cheers!

Me too. I think I've been eyeing the same quilt that was used here.

Nice ram. 38 by 14 162 ish?

Nice Ram, looks like he took a tumble. Having a prepared and right minded client is huge on a hunt like that.

How do you call them in? I've thought that a couple of baseball bats whacking together might get a dominant ram to at least peek over a ridge to check things out... of course he has you pretty well pinpointed then.

You take a deer grunt tube type call and pull the reed out a little bit so it has a deeper sound and blow it softly so it has an eeeeooow sound. I've called in Stone sheep and Rocky's doing this. I think it was Duncan Gilchrist who came up with this idea years ago IIRC. Damn sure works.

Cool, I'll need to try that on deserts...

Tag, if I draw my archery tag in CO this year, I will contact you regarding making a call.

Interesting.

Well, if we're gonna have a 2015 sheep thread, I'll add mine. I know Harry (Battue) has been asking to see these pics again....

How about if I sneak in a couple of 2014 Alaska Range rams. Buddy of mine on the right with an 8 year old 37" Dall (his first) and me on the left with a 10 year old broomed 35" (my 10th and probably last Dall). Had a lot of fun chasing White Sheep around in AK, NWT, and the Yukon the last 30 years.

Can't say I mind seeing it again, and again congrats. 👍

Thanks for the pics and write-ups! Sheep hunting is in a class by itself!

Nice write up.

I too converted to EE Quilts and will never go back to a mummy bag.

What other gear do you prefer as a guide up there?

i'm using a mix of everything, i have sitka pants, first lite shirts, cabela's coat and bino's, swarovski spotter, havalon knives, Neo air mattress, barneys backpacks, kuiu gloves. i hate that gear people develope their own camo pattern and try to get you to make all your clothes match. i get gear i like and don't care what it looks like, movement seems to be much more detrimental to sheep hunting than blending in does.
I call sheep by mouth, steves outdoor adventures did a tv show once and i called in a almost legal ram to 3 yards...
but i wouldn't let them air the noise i made..lol

Great to see you guiding again Jake! Are you going to do the spring bear hunts up in unit 13 again?? You pulled some big ones out if their..

ya i'm back at it full time now! missed the mountains those two years off!!

Pretty exciting seeing rams that close huh? Had a Powder Blue not quite legal Stone ram looking over a bush at me and my guide in the Yukon one time at about the same range. My Indian "guide"'s eyes about popped out of his head. He looked like Marty Feldman. LOL. Fun stuff for sure. Who do you guide for up there BRWNBR?

i own and am the sole guide for black river hunting camps llc. not sure if i'm allowed to post my websight on here or not...i'll leave that to google...lol

http://alaska-bearhunting.com/

Looks like you run a good outfit Jake. I always wanted to hunt the Talkeetnas and even talked to a guy named Brad Finch about hunting there years ago. I think he murdered a couple of smokers in the Talkeetnas himself and was outfitting there. IIRC he came down to the lower 48 to get his pilots license one winter and then piled up his plane the next summer scouting. He always told me that if you could walk far enough that there were big rams in the Talkeetnas. Looks like you pretty well got it figured out per your website. Wish I had one more Dall hunt in me because I'd like to see the Talkeetnas. Prolly ain't gonna happen though. Cheers.

Would love to learn how to call Rams any one have a link to
a Sheep Call or proper call sound.

There is a video somewhere I have seen. It's been like 20 years ago. Let me see if I can find it.

Sweet! one day me and my buds will get back into the alphabets and hunt those bears know of couple potential den sights. Just finding time and having decent snow...

I bought my call which is actually a deer grunt tube type call, at the Sheep Show probably 20 years ago. I'm pretty sure I bought it from Gordon Eastman after seeing him use it on one of his videos. I think the name of the video was "Bighorns" which was filmed in Alberta and Nevada IIRC.

Awesome story & ram. Appreciate the insights into gear also.

Keep up the good work!

Nice work Jake, glad to hear you are back at it. Great ram, and sounds like it was well earned.

You are the only other person I've heard describe the "ram sack tap". We saw the same thing a couple years ago - #2 ram walked up behind #1 and kicked him in the balls with his front leg. We couldn't make #2 legal, but #1 came home with me.

guess there is worse things than a kick in the balls!!

Knew Brad fairly well and his areas... he was tough and willing to go farther than most...

That is a far better picture of the hunter than he sent to me. WTH.

Nicely done by hunter and guide.

I might have to try a quilt, for years I've been sleeping with my bag unzipped over me and quickly noticed I was warmer. Even my brother started and he noticed the same.

I was skeptical on the quilt set up but now I'm way sold on it! Loved it. Looks like I may go with a warm lite tent this next season and see how I like it before I get another one.

Have you thought about a tipi Jake?

I've been using an EE quilt for years. Glad they are finally catching on. I've found the temp ratings spot on.

tipi? i haven't not thought about that, i don't carry treking poles and have avoided shelters than rely on those, also on floorless shelters as i camp in snow and wet ground quite a bit. are tipis capable of 60mph winds?

Put a floorless shelter on wet ground and it quickly becomes dry ground, unless the water table is above ground level. That said, I can't see a floored shelter working in a bog...

Not all floorless are tipis...some have a low profile and pitch with a ul squatty pole or two.

OTOH,If it's two guys against one sheep, there's no reason to not use a bomber tent. A few extra pounds won't break the hunt. Pitching floorless on rocks is tougher to anchor.

Snow is no biggie. Use a tyvek ground cloth and don't scoop snow on it.

Yes they are great! Take a look at some videos stid(Steve) and Luke from rokslide did of them on Kodiak. They are very nice roomy light shelters. As far as the trekking pole you can always use the one that is provided with the tipi. Or use a sturdy branch. I'd recommend the 1st option though 😁 I started to use a tipi as a cook shack and have since made it my go to shelter for backpack trips