In 2011 I posted the story of my WY hunt for antelope, elk and goat, titled WY Triple. Last year was a down year but after saving for 5 years I just returned from a hunt in the Yukon. This will be picture heavy and like WY Triple will take me several days to tell the story. Hope you like it.
3:30am on Aug. 8 I head for the Indianapolis airport. Indy to Chicago to Vancouver to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. With me is my long time friend and hunting buddy Curt. Curt is along on this trip as a non hunter but wanted to experience the adventure. Kids in college hit the hunt fund hard. I cannot express how grateful I am to Curt for sharing the experience and lending encouragement when I needed it. We arrived in Whitehorse at 9:30pm. I was hunting with Dave and Tenna Dickson and Teena met us at the airport and took us to our hotel. Whitehorse and the Yukon River from the air.

Aug 9 was a buffer day in case we had flight problems so we were tourist. Whitehorse is a neat little town, not as backwoods as I expected. Clean, good shops and resturants, and lots to see within walking distance. Of course bear proof trash cans within sight of the hotel means we are not in Indiana any more.

The next day we have breakfast and head to the float plane base.

Two hours later we land in base camp.

Base camp consists of 8 log cabins on the north end of the lake, sleeping cabins, cook cabin, shower house, and tack shack. Horses will be our mode of transport from here on.

Looks like home to me. Keep it coming! Thanks for the story thus far.

We get settled in, have some lunch and go fishing, Grayling and pike.

We check out the horses and the fantastic views.



Then I notice some white dots on the mountian. 5 rams. Is this a good sign?


[img]http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l528/54Woody/Yukon/Yukonset2017_zps1f77298d.jpg[/img]
The hunt starts tomorrow.

Nice photos of some of Canada's Yukon Territory, my wife was based out of Whitehorse, as an "Outpost Nurse", an RN, post-grad. "paeds" and has many neat tales to tell of her experiences.

I was first in Canada's northern territories in spring, 1966, aged 19. this in the N.W.T. I was in our Yukon in 2006 and hope to return with my wife to do some exploration. Several of my ancestors were in "The Klondike Goldrush" and a couple worked in the north for many years,nurses, mining and so on.

It is sure different now in the north as the race for resources increases and the current Canadian government sells us out to various foreign entities.....does NOT bode well for hunting, especially sheep, IMO!

Looking forward to more pix, enjoy them very much!

Great looking country. I look forward to seeing and hearing the rest of the story.

The next morning we get on the horses and ride out West of camp. Our party includes Dave, his son Thomas, Kish, our wrangler, Curt and I and Abby the Lab.



Some of the riding was easy and the views were breath taking. But thick bush and steep terrain made for some rough spots with limbs pulling your legs back and swatting your face.

After 4 hours of riding we reach the alpine. Seems you can see for ever. The sky was clear and the weather warm, going to hot. It reached over 85 degrees this day. We found a couple caribou sheds but didn"t see any the whole trip. Dave said the population is in a down swing and they have not hunted them for several years.

We stop on the South end of a long sloping plateau and on the North end are 5 rams. Dave sets up the spotting scope and identifies a problem. They are in Alaska, not the Yukon. There is a border marker post on the top of the ridge and they are just a hundred or so yards on the wrong side. We decide to settle in and watch them in hopes they move East. The set up is good as they will feed some then go over the ridge out of sight then return a couple hours. We could move to close the distance easily but they never appeared on the correct side. Three were legal and one very good. Towards the end of the day we decided not to press them and headed back to camp. The return killed my legs with a long steep downhill stretch leading the horses and a knee jammed into a tree once we could ride. Even though I had trained all spring and summer, hiking over 230 miles, the horse riding had my legs screaming. The shower house was calling my name.
Curt and I try to find some shade.


Shower house had hot water from a propane powered instant water heater. On the outside was a sink and old clothes washer. Cold drinks were kept in a pit dug to permafrost level. Kept the drinks at about 36 degrees.

Living in the lap of luxury, at camp. Nice!

Great so far - looking forward to the rest of the adventure.

Thank you for postin please keep the story coming

Great hunt

Great pics....looks to be quite the adventure!

Day two we headed East to look for the group we had seen from camp on arrival day. More brush busting on the horses until we reached the alpine. Again great views. This is looking back West to the plateau we were hunting the day before.


We checked this basin and the next. Dave and Curt climbed higher but I stayed with the horses to give my legs a rest. They did find the sheep but no good ones and they were on top of this ridge. The temp reached 90 degrees this day.


Tomorrow we load up the pack string and head out to set up a spike camp South of the lake.

54, keep it coming. Great start.

Wow, very nice! Looking forward to the rest.

Fine pictures and accounts. Thanks for taking us along.

I am laying in a hospital bed awaiting spinal stenosis surgery.as well as spinal fusion.

I flat lined June 6th 2009 and the plavix makes a real threat for me to be paralyzed until

The plavix is out of my body. I can't move and am on a dilaudid pain pump. I can't tell you

How vicariously I am living thru this thread

Great pics and story Woody, please keep them coming.

OK Jeff, here you go. I fell on an elk hunt in 1998 and had back surgery for a crushed disc in 1999. You can get back out there again too.
Aug. 13 was a travel day to spike camp. We gathered our gear and Curt and I took the boat and gear to the South end of the lake while Dave and the boys took the horses around the lake. Saved Curt and I 2 hours of riding and we did some more pike fishing. After we met up we loaded the pack horses at a set of old cabins and headed out for a 5 hour ride.

We rode through bogs, up hill, down hill, past lakes, past an old bear carcass (small black bear, may have been killed by a boar or a grizzly as we saw a grizzly rubbed tree near by). We stopped at one of Dave's remote cabins on a creek to eat lunch and stretch our legs. I was starting to work the soreness out on this ride.

Dave said he wished he had built the cabin higher. You can see the high water mark from spring floods.

We rode on up the creek. The pack horses ran loose, not strung together. This always made for interesting riding as the horses all fought for rank and position.



Several hours later we arrive at our campsite above this little pond. Tomorrow we head to the ridge left of the highest peak in this picture.

Not even thru surgery and planning a Wyoming unit 7 elk hunt with Jim Schell

Coffee first, then we set up camp. Two tents, a tarp over the kitchen, some supplies were stored in the high cache, gather water from the spring. Horses were hobbled and turned loose. Dinner was moose steaks. Then a nice campfire before trying to get some sleep.





We were all tired, even Abby.

All our water came from running springs. We never treated or filtered it.
[img]http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l528/54Woody/Yukon/140_zps2c3077c1.jpg[/img]

Wed, Aug. 14, Mornings in spike camp start with Kish going out to find the horses (they are wearing bells and hobbles but it is suprising how far they may roam), and Dave fixing coffee and breakfast. After breakfast we ride down to the next creek bed and turn up the creek. This was extreamly rough going. The creek was either lined with alders or steep rock walls. If Dave couldn't cut a trail we led the horses right up the rocky creek bed. Curt's horse stuck a foot between two rocks but only had minor scraps despite a good panic attack. An hour and a half later we topped out in this alpine basin.

This bowl was huge, maybe a mile by a mile and a quarter rim to rim. We saw sheep right away, 7 bedded to the right, 20 ahead on the top of the ridge and 5 on the ridge between them. Dave set up the spotting scope and identified the 7 as all rams, bedded part way down a ridge. You can see them in this series of zoomed pictures.

The plan was to ride straight ahead, get out of sight, then turn right and ride as high as we could. From there we would hike back across and up to try and get above the rams. They helped by getting up and feeding around the ridge out of sight.



We picket the horses and eat a little lunch before starting the hike.

I did not take any pictures during the hike. The first 20 minutes wasn't too bad but once we reached the rimrock my focus was all on my footing and keeping my balance. I have a healthy fear of heights and falling and the mental part of moving over this steep, loose dirt and rock ground was harder than the physical part. Thomas was ahead of me and I just looked at his feet and stepped where he did. Dave, Thomas and Kish walked on this like it was a sidewalk. I had a handhold on the uphill slope and avoided looking down. Rock and dirt would slide out from under your feet and Dave would say just keep walking, it will stop sliding at some point. We stopped every 15 to 20 minutes to rest (I think this was all for my benefit). When we stopped at a point above where we first saw the rams Dave said "Let's look at some sheep boys". He eased to the edge and set up his scope to look around the point where the rams had fed. After about 15 minutes he came back to me and said one was bedded higher than the others and about 150 yards away. Two were bedded about 200 yards further. It was go time.

Dave asked how many shells I had. "Three in the magazine and 4 in my pocket" I answer. "Is that all?" he said. "Well I have a box and a half in camp, how many do you think I need right now"? I answer. Dave said "Give me the four. Sometimes when one is wounded we need to keep shooting so I'll hand you shells to reload".
We eased over to the ridge. I got in position with my rifle in front of me but stayed below the ridgeline. Dave wanted the ram to stand so we waited. After about 15 minutes Dave went back to get his video camera and my water bottle. Shortly after he returned he looked through the scope and said the ram was up. Dave doesn't want a round in the chamber until you are ready to shoot. I had the bolt open so slid it shut, but it wouldn't close. I open the bolt, saw the round was in the chamber, dropped the clip out because the second round was causing the jam. Closed the bolt, fixed round two and put the clip back in. A deep breath then I eased over the rim, saw the ram broadside facing my left. Crosshairs settled at the elbow and I squeezed one off. Shot felt good, second round in the chamber, ram had turned 180 degrees, crosshairs lined up and round two dumps him into a headfirst slide. Dave says "You just killed one hell of a ram!" I shook his hand and said "Glad I didn't embarrass myself by needing to ask you for a shell". Here is the view over my rifle barrel. That's all for today, more tomorrow.

Great thread and pics, thanks for sharing.


Looking forward to the rest of it!

Soooo awesome!

Thank you again

Keep the story coming 54woody! Great thread!

There is nothing like sheep hunting!

Enjoying the scenery and story. Thank you.

Excellent story and pics!! Almost like being in your shoes.

Great thread. I'm jealous. Can't wait for the rest.

Great story, can't wait to see more.

A little information about this picture.

The ram I shot was perched on the rock outcropping above the rifle barrel. It was slightly down hill although it doesn't appear so in the picture. The other rams were bedded 25 to 30 yards below him. My first shot was high lung and angled back exiting behind the ribs. Not sure on the second shot, somewhere in the chest, Dave said I killed him with both shots. The second shot knocked him off the right side of the ledge and he slid head first down the slope. Lucky he slid rather than rolled. The other rams ran toward him and stopped when he stopped.
For some of you, sorry I used gray tape on the muzzle rather than the proven blue. For Ingwe, if you are following, I used a .270.
The other rams seemed confused. Dave said I killed the leader and they were waiting for him to lead them. The whole gang rushed over and we grabbed cameras and video and got some decent footage of the remaining rams.


When Curt saw this one he said his first thought was that I killed the wrong one.

In a few minutes they decided the king was dead and the new king lead them off and away.

After we all slapped each other on the back and I thanked everyone we gather our gear and headed to the sheep. Again I was much slower that everyone else. Dave was already cleaning him up for pictures. I took this one bloody picture just to show we were not on level ground.

Then we took dozens of shots from different angles. This was a sheep I wanted to remember.




Curt decided I shot the right one after all.

[img]http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l528/54Woody/Yukon/126_zpsc61f6a95.jpg[/img]
If he had rolled rather than slid you can see he may have went a lot further and over a cliff.
[img]http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l528/54Woody/Yukon/127_zpsf45c2740.jpg[/img]

God, that is a SUPER ram!


Congrats +P !!!!

Great story and a hell of a ram....!!!!! Congrats,

Magnificent ram! And a good story to boot. You da man!

It is after 3:00 and much to do so Dave gets started caping, quartering, and loading packs. Out we go back toward the horses. This hike was even worse for me because Dave sent Curt and I out ahead of them knowing they would catch up. Curt and I had to pick our own path and I couldn't avoid looking down.


To be honest I only had a light load of gear, Kish wanted the heavy load and I told him it was a young man's job so thanks a bunch.

Back at the horses everyone was tired, including the horses. We rested and drank the last of our water, then led the horses down the slope until it was level enough to ride. We replenished our water at springs along the way.


At one stop Dave and Curt found the scattered bones of a dead grizzly, several years old. Curt was able to bring the skull home as a keepsake.
One last look back at where it happened.

A couple hours later we were back in camp, coffee then dinner. You know what it is. We also had sheep heart. It was OK but the tenderloins were the best.
[img]http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l528/54Woody/Yukon/139_zps25e640a8.jpg[/img]

WOW

Congratulations of the trophy of a hunting lifetime.

That is awesome..Thanks for sharing.

To close out tonight's chapter some numbers. The ram was aged at 11 years old. The left horn was a little over 38" and the right a little under. I couldn't believe the quality of this sheep. Way beyond my expectations. Tight curl past full and a quarter, length, full tips that flared, and age. He had it all.
Although I was tired I could not sleep at all that night. At 3:30 am I got up to a show of the Northern Lights. It was a day for everyone else to sleep in so I started a campfire, made coffee and watched the sunrise. I still had moose and bear tags in my pocket and 7 more days to hunt.

THAT....is incredible! Congratulations on a sheep of a lifetime.

I've really enjoyed this, thank you very much.

Dale

All I can come up with to say is.... that is simply awesome! Congrats, and thanks for sharing it.

Wow! Nice hunt, beautiful ground, done right, excellent all around!

Hunting thread of the season so far, sweet job Woody, that looked like an incredible hunt!

Thanks for taking me along 54woody!

Woody, a full curl+ with both tips, wowza....thanks for the story.

More to come?

This is a thread that will live forever... Great pics and a great story.

Astounding. Great job.

Wow, what a ram! Congrats!

Cant wait for the rest of the story. Good job. Great Ram.

Yes congrats on a very nice ram, hope your story continues with more about your moose and bear hunt.

WOW. Congrats and I'm looking forward to what you did for the next week!

Great story, great pictures and a great ram! Thanks for sharing and congratulations on a very nice sheep.

That is an awesome ram! Congrats, and way to go and get it done.

great story, great pictures, looking forward to remaining days of your trip. Thank you again sir.

Great Pics & story, would love to go after a nice ram myself but I know I wouldn't enjoy the steep slopes...


Looking forward to the story of the next 7 days of hunting

[quote=eh76]Thanks for taking me along 54woody! [/quote)

+10 I'm with eh76 on this great ram and hunt marvelous pics and story thank you 54woody you made me feel I was right there looking over your shoulder watching and enjoying it all. Magnum Man

Thanks for all the comments guys.
The day after "The Day" was a combination of rest and chores. I mostly rested. Kish had a caping job, plus he fixed his soon to be famous soup for lunch (very good). Dave took care of the meat and repaired the saddle rail. Thomas cleaned the skull plate and learned about sharpening knives. Dave boiled the sheep tongue. I tried it but not my favorite (flavor a B-, texture a D-). Everyone else liked it. Man was I relaxed, the pressure was off and we all could feel it. Lots of laughs and fun today.




Tomorrow we tear down camp early and head back to base camp. I'll miss this little piece of wilderness.

Next day was a reverse of the day going in, 5 hour ride out followed by a boat ride to camp. The hot shower felt good. The drink cooler in camp was a pit dug to permafrost with a lid on it. It was half full of water and the beer and Pepsi we left in it was about 36 degrees. Man was it good. Smoked sheep shoulder, mashed potatos, gravy and green beans for supper. We are living the high life. Tomorrow morning we ride 4 hours to a different spike camp to try for moose.
Curt tends the smoker. Let's pretend those are fireproof pants.

It rained that night and the next morning so we got a late start packing the horses.

The river was up from the rain and we had to cross it 4 times.
You could feel the current moving the horses.

After 4 hours of riding in the rain this little cabin on the mountain sure looked good.

First thing...Coffee!

We didn't try to hunt this evening. Just finished organizing camp and staying out of the weather.

What an adventure! Excellent!

Very nice ram you harvested. Congrats to you!

Boy I sure do love this cabin because it rained all night. The rain also brought fog so we couldn't see the next morning. By late morning it lifted enough for us to ride up behind camp to a high spot and glass a little. Dave saw one cow off in the distance.



We went back to the cabin for lunch and Dave fixed bannock, a tasty fried biscuit. Eat it hot with butter and jam.

We knew there were moose in the area from the pile of sheds under the porch.

But before we could head back out, more rain and fog. No evening hunt.

We knew going in we could loose a couple days to weather and it was happening. The rain and fog continued the next day. To keep our spirits up Thomas would make popcorn.
[img]http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l528/54Woody/Yukon/166_zps9bc1ddf4.jpg[/img]
And the horses wanted some too.
[img]http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l528/54Woody/Yukon/168_zps15d94014.jpg[/img]

When the sky started to clear in late afternoon we all rode up to our glassing spot. 100 yards from it a bull stands up and suprises us. I say 'Bull" and slide off the right side of my horse to get out of sight. Dave does the same and waves everyone else down. I'm getting my rifle out but there must have been too much activity because he didn't stand still long. I was hoping he would run a little ways and stop to look back. No such luck. He ran on past the glassing knob into the ravine. We went down and glassed the rest of the evening. He was a decent bull, at least 55 inches wide. We think he stopped in the heavy cover and held up because if he headed on down hill he would have crossed an open bog and we thought we would have seen him. So we kept looking. This rainbow popped out. I think it brought the moose luck.


Later in the evening we saw a good black bear eating blueberries. Dave asked if I wanted him and I said not really. I had killed black bears before. Dave suggested he could be a camp problem so I said I would take him if he wanted but really wanted a moose. Dave said let's leave the bear and tomorrow we would take moose or bear or both if given the opportunity. We went back to the horses and headed to camp for the night.

Woody, what an adventure. Thanks for sharing this trip. I can't wait to see more.

Congrats on a great ram. Awesome report. Keep it up.

Seriously cool adventure, thanks for taking the time to put in all the detail and pictures. That'd be a dream trip for me!

what an adventure! I hope there are more pictures coming!

Last day to hunt from this camp. No rain but the wind is up and cool. We started glassing from our normal spot. No luck. We rode across the alpine to another overlook to glass. The moose must winter up high in the alpine, as strange as it sounds, because we found sheds everywhere we went. Four total for the day and saw two others glassing. Here is the best one. Wish we had seen him.

The ground was covered with berries, as well as antlers, blueberries and low bush cranberries. I was suprised we didn't see more bears.


We rode to several other outlooks and really covered ground that day but only saw a cow and a small bear.



We did find this piece of history, a gold claim post.
[img]http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l528/54Woody/Yukon/190_zps1db0ff94.jpg[/img]
We call it a day. No regrets. Tomorrow we head back to base camp with some hope we may see a moose down by the river.

Goodbye moose camp, we ride out in the morning back to base.



We stop along the way for some more history. These are the remains of log roadhouses that were part of the winter wagon trail put in durning the late 1890s to support the gold rush. They were about 30' by 30' and originally 2 stories high. Three in this location. The museum in Whitehorse has a display on this.
The ride back was just a ride, good views but no game. Unless a bear walks in to base camp (a grizzly came into camp the week before we arrived) the hunt is over. Time to get cleaned up, pack for the flight tomorrow and have a good meal with new friends.

Fly out day. End of the trip and time to close out this story. Thanks for following along. This was the hunting experience of my lifetime. Time for final pictures and wait for the float plane. Thanks to Dave, Thomas, Kish and Teena for running a class operation and treating us like friends from the start. Thanks to Curt for sharing this adventure and the memories. Already planning a return for moose. Afterall they named a street after me.

Abby guards our goodies.

thanks for taking us with you....

Outstanding! All of it.

Great read... Thanks for sharing.

Thank you very much.

Really a nice account and wonderful pictures. Envious...

nicely done

Thanks. Nice trip.

great adventure thanks for the pictures and write up.

54woody,

glad you enjoyed our part of land.

all the best.

love your story and adventure.

I really enjoyed the trip as well.....

Thanks!!

Great stuff, congrats!

What a great story, Woody. And fantastic photos, too. That really made it for us.

- Tom

Well done, Sir. Enjoyable!

Super cool story. The pics do a great job of tying it all together. Thanks for sharing with us.

Very well done story. Super ram with a lifetime of memories. Can you comment a bit on your rifle/scope and ammo setup?

54Woody;
Thanks for sharing the great hunt photos and story with us, I appreciate you taking the time to do it.

Congratulations on a super ram!

That's surely why folks go up there, but not everyone even gets to lay eyes on a ram that good.

It's been too many decades now since I've been to the Yukon or fished for grayling and the photos brought back fond memories for me.

Thanks again sir and good luck to you on your remaining hunts this fall.

Regards,
Dwayne

Glad everyone likes the story. I enjoy posting it as it allows me to relive the trip. Wish I had a trip worthy of doing this every year.
I used my Tikka T3 with a Nikon Monarch 3-12. No BDC reticle for me, I think most people don't really know how to use them and I do not like my view cluttered. Used Federal Premium 150 grain Nosler Partitions in the classic sheep caliber .270 Win.

Great adventure! Enjoyed the read and the pics! Thanks for sharing! Congrats on a great trophy!

Best of luck when you get back after your moose.

Took me 3 trips to pull the trigger on my sheep.

Great story, thank you! You did an excellent job of putting the story together with the photos. Am I a little envious...? You better believe it! Congratulations on a fine ram.

Thanks 54. What a great trip well-shared with the finely pictured narrative.

Awesome writeup!

Thanks for bringing us on your hunt....

Nothing like sheep hunting, Conglads on a great hunt. Memories to last a lifetime.

That is a fine ram, taken with a 270, one of my favorites.

Thanks for taking us along.

Thanks for putting that wonderful story out. Fantastic in all respects, and a great ram!

Congratulations and thank you for sharing with us. This is how a hunting story should be told.

Awesome write up! Love all the pics and great story! would of been better if you used a 7x57

Yetti,
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for your service. Really though, .270 is the classic, old school round for NA sheep.

what an exciting adventure .

Nicely done and thanks for sharing.

Great write-up and pictures. Thanks for taking us along.

Wow. Just wow.

Thanks for taking the time to write this up for those of us who will likely never have a chance to make this adventure. Congratulations on a great ram, and thanks again.
CT

Don't know how I missed this the first go round.

Thanks for sharing the adventure, the great pics and telling it so well.

Well done!!!!

My hat is off to you sir and your outfitter. You went on a REAL hunt. Worked hard and were rewarded with a great ram, went home without a moose but seem very happy with your hunt.
Unfortunately many of your fellow hunters would have demanded a moose too, requiring far more use of aircraft (spotting)
We need more hunters like your self.Thanks for the great story.

Latest update. Just recieved a picture from Dave and Teena of the ram taken by the hunter in camp the week after me. Another whopper.

Wow, that is a stud of a ram! Thanks for sharing!

This thread is just full of awesomeness. Congratulations.

Amazing story...loved the pics. What a ram, it will make a beautiful mount. Congratulations!

What a great write up and photos, bummer that you did not get a Moose bu that sheep is absolutely gorgeous

Thanks so much for sharing your great adventure with us! Sure makes me wish I was about a hunnert years younger.

Great memories you will have.

Saw an add for the Shutterfly photo book service at the bottom of the Campfire page so thought I would post this update. A friend of mine and Curt's took some of our Yukon pictures and used this service to surprise us with a couple very nice hardback coffee table books of our trip. Really impressive and appreciated. This is a great way to remember a special trip. I took some photos of the book but they do not do it justice.

Just read the whole thread which was outstanding. Thanks for sharing your adventure and congrats a gorgeous ram.

Late to the party, but a great story/hunt. Thank you for sharing...

Sure enjoyed the read and pictures. Congrats on your ram and a great sounding trip.

2013 one of the best write ups on the fire!

I'm tagging this one - it needs to be a sticky!

Great story, hunt of a lifetime for sure.

Great story and pics. Makes me wish I was there. Congrats on a fine ram!

Thanks for bumping this memory back up Jeff. After retirement in 2016 I returned to the Yukon in 2017 and got my moose, a 65" brute. Did a write up on it too but I think the pictures have been lost in the thread. Curt went with me again and got a 63 incher.

Great story! Indiana boy does good!

Woody,
Great pics and a great adventure. Glad you got your sheep and maybe someday you can go back for moose and bear.

Went back and got my moose in 2017

Awesome once again,,

Amazing. Glad this got bumped. Thanks for taking the time to do this write up.