I was 33 with my daughter on the way when I first went to Alaska on a sheep hunt in the Talkeetnas. It was supposed to be a guided moose hunt (my dream hunt) but I didn't draw a tag so opted for the sheep hunt after talking with my guide. I trained for 9 months with a pack, climbing stadiums, running, etc and I was nowhere prepared for the death march my guide put me through, but I was successful nonetheless. The following year, I went on an unguided moose hunt with a buddy out of Galena. I was in relatively good shape, but the work began when I had my bull on the ground...a different type of work, but damn moose are big. In 2010, I went unguided for caribou in the Brooks at 38. I trained by doing P90X and I was in better shape than my sheep and moose hunt combined, although I didn't climb as high as my sheep hunt or pack as much as my moose hunt. With a 6 year old and now a 7 month old, it's hard for me to justify a 40% increase for a guided sheep hunt. However, if I had to choose I'd do a sheep hunt, again, in a heartbeat. I'm going next year for moose, again, and I'd like to do a brown bear and goat hunt too. However, in my opinion nothing compares for mental and physical satisfaction and overall Alaska experience than a sheep hunt.
