Alaska Dall Sheep 2013. Tok Managment Unit Draw Permit

[308Nut]

So, my hunting buddy of 16 years (Charlie) drew arguably the most coveted dall sheep permit in the state of Alaska. Tok Management Area. This area is known for its incredible genetics and high ram densities. Its also known for its quantity of 40+" rams. Some also having exceptional mass. Anyway, we first heard the news in February. Since we had at that time taken 12 rams together and been on countless sheep hunts together, he invited me along to help him pack, spot, judge and set him up on a shot. He has yet to take one with his rifle! Yes I am proud of that and not ashamed to admit it. Its part of what makes us a good team. He has better stalking skills and I have better shooting skills. Between those two, no ram has yet to be safe!

 

It would take me hours to write how hard both mentally and physically tough this hunt was and how many perils there were. It is definitely one of the top two toughest, hardest and arduous hunts I have ever been on. It redefined pain and agony. The instability of the ground we were on, the instability of the boulder fields we had to cross coupled with the sheer steepness, the thickest alder patches I've ever seen and the raw distance we had to pack really pushed us near our absolute limits. My pack weighed in excess of 100# heading out (verified by the scale at the super cub hanger) between meat, horn and gear.

 

Alaska law states that he could not hunt the same day airborne. Since we flew in on Monday morning, we hiked up into the abyss to look for a place to set up camp and search for rams in hopes to take one on Tuesday or Wednesday. We had scheduled to be picked up on the 8th but was hoping to get it done early. We were less worried about the 'sheep hunting experience' and more concerned with getting him a ram he's been dreaming about. To keep a long story short, we found a suitable place to set up camp and we were able to glass up several rams. One really caught my attention. At 2 air miles, I could tell he was a double full curl with decent mass. Charlie was skeptical and it didn't really impress him. I tried to convince him that if he laid his hands on him, he would love this ram. He decided he wanted to head further up the drainage and bypass the ram to look for a 'better looking' ram. After experiencing the full wrath and hatred of this mountain valley, he decided that we should take a closer look at this ram. He also decided that he would be happy with any legal ram. We climbed up to the basin he was in to look him over more closely. We saw a ram right off the bat when we got to the high basin. We had been trying to size up a small full curl when Charlie saw another one walk down into a small cut and just caught a glimpse of the back of his horns and he got excited. He thought it was a great looking ram but didn't know if it was legal. I just saw his body disappear and never saw his horns. He wasn't sure what to do. I said, lets just go down there and look at him. If he's legal than shoot him. As we started to get up, two rams came from around the corner 135 yards below us. One looked pretty good. Then a third one appeared. When I put the binos to him, I instantly knew he was a shooter. He then stepped behind a small hump and disappeared from sight. Charlie didn't get a look at him and he was getting my rifle ready and loaded for a shot. He was going to shoot the better of the two rams that were visible. I begged him to wait. He kept saying what a nice ram it was and I kept telling him there was another one that was worth waiting for. He asked me if I was sure and I said yes, just wait. He was getting nervous as they were about to walk off out of sight. A minute later, the 'better' ram stepped out. Charlie took one look and agreed he was a much better ram and that it was what he was looking for. He lined up the crosshairs and squeezed one off. I saw fur fly and so did Charlie. Just a couple seconds went by and he lied down without ever even kicking. It was over. He hugged me and started to cry. While had taken 5 rams in the past, only two of them were decent in his eyes. This one was hands down his best looking ram and was exactly what he had been dreaming about. After we gathered our gear, we ran down off the rock field to look at his ram. He was gorgeous. He was better than full curl on both sides, has pretty decent mass and flares out which is what he was looking for. After a minute or two I asked Charlie to give me a few minutes before the photo session and dressing so I could run over to the cut so as to look for the other ram. No sooner did I get there, I saw the ram's back. He was feeding and totally unaware of what had happened and unaware of my presence. The wind was howling pretty hard and the direction was perfect. I estimated him to be about 40 yards. Well within most archers shooting abilities (including mine!). Too bad I didn't also draw a permit. I saw a fairly big boulder 20 yards between me and the ram. With his eyes out of sight, soft ground and the noisy wind, I decided to just run for the boulder. I got there undetected. At 20 yards, this is the closest I have ever been to ANY ram let alone a true trophy and a true trophy he was! He was roughly 37-38" with nearly 14" bases, double full curl and definitely at least 8 years old but I'm fairly certain he was 9 and possibly 10. After a few minutes of oooing and aweing over this stud ram, I decided to go sneak up to another rock 1/2 way between him and I. Success! I made it. I could see every detail of his hair, eyes, horns etc...I saw another rock 5 yards ahead. I really wanted to get to this point, rush him and smack him in the a$$. I quickly elected against that after visualizing getting head butted. So I stayed at 10 yards and enjoyed the show. After 10 minutes or so, I had to spoil the situation to go help Charlie with photos and dressing. For me, this was the experience of a lifetime and a dream come true for this sheep hunter. Unfortunately, I left my camera at the kill site but the images are burned in my mind forever. After getting him photographed, dressed and loaded up, it was near darkness and we had 2 miles of very rough terrain to negotiate. The decision was made to don all of our clothes, rain gear and tough out the nigh about 300 yards from the kill site in a nice grassy area that was less windy and soft which also had several big boulders to shelter us from what wind there was. The next day's pack out to camp was brutal but we made it back to camp. That night the wind was bending and breaking my tent poles. I had to get up at 23:30 to breakdown my tent, reposition it and jam my backpack against the poles to keep the wind from flexing them any further. The next day we were able to get near the landing strip, build a fire and eat backstrap. Let me tell you it was delicious! After a good night sleep with no wind, no rain (FINALLY!) and on soft ground, we got picked up and enjoyed the 70 mile flight back to Tok.

 

Enjoy the pics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[yumabowhunter]

Great ram!

[bbd1234]

You guys are badass great job

[AZP&Y]

Awesome Ram!

 

 

I've been to TOK what a trip that place is...

 

 

AK rocks!

['Ike']

Great Ram and some great eating...Dall is tasty!

[pwrguy]

Great job Mike and Charlie

[Couzer]

Bad A!!!! Great job

[Chef]

Always love reading your posts about your high country adventures.

One of these days I'm tagging along!!

[azgutpile]

I just helped a buddy on his Delta Control, walk in Sheep hunt (neighboring unit) and can honestly say it was the hardest hunt that I've been on.

 

When was your hunt and did you use 40 Mile Air?

[Mocha1545]

Great Ram. That looks like seriously tough country. Awesome write up.

[308Nut]

/>I just helped a buddy on his Delta Control, walk in Sheep hunt (neighboring unit) and can honestly say it was the hardest hunt that I've been on.

 

When was your hunt and did you use 40 Mile Air?

We flew out on the 2nd and killed in the 3rd. Flew out on the 6th.

 

Yes we used 40 mile air in Tok.

[cramerhunts]

Congratulations on a super gorgeous Dall! Awesome pictures and recap. It sounds like an amazing, tough, wonderful adventure. I'm with Chef on wanting to tag along.

[madx250]

Killer! Thnx for posting!

[AZbowhntr]

That is awesome.

[Sam]

Great pictures and story. Very nice looking ram.