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Thanks Guys!

Cliff Note version of my Brooks hunt.

We started pack rafting (after getting dropped off by a float plane). We covered a lot of ground on day one- it's an effective to look into a lot more drainages than you ever would by foot. Saw young rams and ewes and lambs. Camped on a gravel bar to wake to really bad smoke (there was really bad smoke in Fairbanks two days earlier). We ended burning three total days stuck on that gravel bar due to smoke. I won't lie, I was getting very worried about this situation.

The smoke finally cleared the next morning. We rafted across the river and then portaged the rafts across two lakes to get into a drainage the guide has had luck w/ in the past. Hours of glassing and no sheep, so we loaded up the pack rafts and paddled down to the next drainage. We hiked until night fall (night fall being 11:00 PM-ish!). Next morning we were up early and continued up the drainage, glassing as went. Late afternoon we spotted three rams, two appeared legal. We ditched all of our camp stuff and several days of food and then headed up to make a play on the rams. We spent several hours of sidehilling, climbing, descending and climbing again to get above them on very sketchy (loose) rock/scree- very slow going. When we finally made it to the ridgeline we low crawled to the edge only to find the rams were no longer there. We retreated, moved down the ridge and repeated this several times before finally spying them in the very bottom of the basin feeding their way up the opposite side. The guide ranged the rams (said they were both good and a toss up) at 420 yards. Further than I was hoping to shoot, the 2-7X scope had the rams looking mighty small! I had my bipod on and a rear rest, so it was pretty solid. When the ram finally stopped long enough, I squeezed the trigger- I was able to see the ram go down and quickly racked in another round, the guide tapped me on the shoulder and said "no need". To say I was ecstatic is an understatement. A lot of work and sweat (and $!) went into prepping for this trip, but it paid off

There was more bad rock to negotiate and it took another hour to get to the ram. We took some photos and then got to caping and boning meat. By the time we were done it was after 11:00 PM. The guide thought our best course was to spend the night on the mountain instead of trying to negiotate the steep and sketchy rock back w/ loaded packs- I concurred.

I had planned for this contingency- I had a puffy jacket, puffy pants, warm hat along with a bivy and a cut down (40") Z Lite pad. The guide had not- he had a warm jacket and pants, but no pad. He did use the sheep cape to provide a little insulation from the ground. I didn't sleep great (it was cold), but got a little sleep- the guide I don't think got a wink.

At first light (~ 5:00 AM) we loaded the packs and headed out. It was slow and tedious getting back to our camp stuff. Loading that up on top of the meat, head and cape- made for heavy packs. We still had 6 miles to get to our pack rafts and the lake where the outfitter should pick us up the next day. We didn't make it back at nearly 11:00 PM- a very long day to say the least.

We got a big fire going (it started raining hard about a mile shy of the lake), shelters setup and ate a late supper. Not satisfied, we broke the tenderloins out. The guide got a green, sharpened willow stick and w/ no seasonings or oil, cooked thinly sliced loins in the coals. Oh boy, were they good!

The next morning we had to paddle to the upper part of the lake to have a more favorable spot for the float plane. We got back to the lodge ate a late lunch and took a hot shower. That evening we cooked the ribs outside on a fire (very slowly cooked with the ribs dripping hot fat into the coals). We salivated while drinking cold beers (stored in a permafrost "refrigerator"- 55 gallon barrel buried in in the ground). Sheep ribs might be the single best thing that have crossed my lips in the 65 years I've been around!

Anyways, great hunt that exceeded my expectations!