Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Dall Sheep with Blackstone

The next day was the 9th of my hunt. I was not out of hope, but the guide frustration was palpable. We iridium'd (Globalstar, once again confirmed on this trip, is SHeeeeat) for a last minute transfer to a possibly better site (6 hours from plane to trigger in Canada). We boost it out of there, with my feet on fire and Brett, just a'glassin'. He found one spot of interest that we went up for a look (all small rams) that added another two hours onto our trip to the airstrip (called "Two Puddles"). Frankly, I was beginning to think that this country had been shot-out and just wanted home. My previous sheep hunts and goat hunts for that matter had been half this hard.....I've never asked to quit, even jokingly. We got to Two Puddles along a river, rain and wind would have us pinned down there that night, and it was the next morning, the last of my hunt that the supercub would come in and land to take us to the "one day sure thing hunt". Brett was convinced and had me excited that there was a ram accessible by the air-strip, on the first day that the bow hunter had not been able to get on. I was up for anything, had no pride left and was ready to go. Brett was visibly shaken and despondent when he learned that we were going to a murderous one day spot on the Miner River, that this very week, another hunter had bailed from, BUT there was supposed to be a DANDY ram up there, eh!

We started out with a ewe, visible on a mineral lick.....maybe we'll see something.


Let's just say that this was a monster walk along a super rocky summit trail. It took us two hours and all of our water to get to the top, bugs were bad, and it was blazing hot, too. We walked about 12 hours and got back to the tent with this to show for it just before dark....



The mood was somber in the tent, but we were beat and just slept. I was so damn glad when Jim landed with the 170 the next morning about 9am. We landed at camp, I took a quick shower, and baby, it's a King Air outta there and back to Whitehorse.