.jpg "Bills months and months of preparation paid off on Aug. 26 when he accomplished the mission. Mission Dalls Sheep was a success!")
Bill's months and months of preparation paid off on Aug. 26 when he accomplished the mission. Mission Dall's Sheep was a success!
I’m writing this installment of the Mission Dall’s Sheep blog on the flight home from Fairbanks, Alaska, and I’m happy to report, “Mission Accomplished!”
On Wednesday evening August 26, I took a Dall’s ram that later was verified at Fish & Game check-in as 14 years old. He was heavily-broomed on both horns which each measured within a hair of 35 ½ inches with 13 ¾-inch bases. Even with the brooming, he’s full curl on both sides! Yet what caught my eye from the very first glimpse in the spotting scope was his width. He just goes out and out!
You’ll be able to share the hunt on next season’s “North American Hunter” Television on Versus and in a feature upcoming in North American Hunter magazine, but as followers of the “Mission Dall’s Sheep” blog, there are some impressions of the hunt that you certainly deserve first!
Despite beginning the focused preparation for this late August hunt back on February 1, it was physically and mentally the most demanding thing I’ve ever done. Thanks to your input and support I dropped 37 pounds for the trip, and now that it’s done I appreciate every ounce and every word of encouragement even more!
At the elevations we hunted (up to 6500 feet) and even on the very steep terrain, my cardio was fine; no problems breathing or feeling woozie. Muscle tone in legs and back were pretty good for the most part – sure, I felt “the burn” on the steep climbs and descents, but that went away quickly. What killed me was the unsure footing and the strain it put on my ankles and especially knees. Carrying the pack with spike camping gear and the head and cape off the mountain left my knees mighty stiff and sore even now – three days later!
Immediately prior to the trip when anyone asked me, “Are you ready?” my response was, “I’m as ready as an old flatlander can be!” I still hold with that because I don’t know how you can train in Minnesota for near-vertical, snow-covered shale slides; mountainside mossy tundra; and boulder-to-boulder hopping you’ll encounter as par-for-the-course on a sheep hunt.
From the mental aspect, I learned once again patience is the ultimate hunting virtue! We hunted for seven long days before getting in reasonable shooting range of a legal ram. When we did, we had actually spotted him 3 days earlier and stuck it out hunting the drainage. Immediately prior to spotting the ram and his band again, we spent 15 straight hours tent-bound by fog, rain and snow. Then we spent five hours on a ledge in a shale slide within 600 yards of the herd waiting for them to make a move to allow us to cut the distance in half.
My inclination (and it would have been our downfall) was to make a move. But for once I managed to follow my own advice and listened to the guide! We stayed put until the opportune moment. When the TV show airs, you’ll get a kick out of the footage of me pacing that ledge playing head games to keep myself there!
As for gear, I think that’s where I did the best preparation. The T/C ICON .30-06 with Nikon 3-10X Monarch scope and 165-grain Federal Trophy Bonded Tip proved perfectly, one-shot lethal. The ram was steeply quartering away well downhill at 267 yards on the angle-compensating Nikon range finder. I mentally pictured a straight line to his off-side shoulder and held to enter just in front of his last rib on the side closest to me. Prone and anchored on a small boulder I squeezed the trigger and that’s precisely where the bullet went. In fact, we recovered the perfectly mushroomed Trophy Tip on the outside of the left leg! I haven’t had the chance to weigh it yet, but am guessing 95 percent-plus weight retention. The ram staggered less than 10 yards across the rocks with the rest of the herd, then keeled over.
The peripheral gear choices were also spot on. The Cabela’s/Meindel boots, the Cabela’s Alaskan outfitter pack, the SPOT Satellite Messenger, the BOG POD shooting sticks, the Quallofill 0-degree sleeping bag … all just right. I also borrowed a couple of “must have” items from the guide, too! First was a new air mattress ground pad from “Big Agnes” – without question the best I’ve ever slept on! Second were trekking poles – basically length-adjustable ski poles with a built in shock absorption system. I used a trekking pole in one hand and the BOG POD tri-pod in the other for the entire trip. When I make my next mountain hunt, trekking poles will absolutely make the must-have gear list!
Well, in the immediate afterglow of the hunt, that’s all I have. As more reflections occur to me, we may update the Mission Dall’s Sheep blog now and then, but for now let me leave you with this:
If a sheep hunt is even a glimmer of a dream for you, don’t put in it off. Begin your search now to make your dream come true – if there’s one thing I can tell you is that it will return many, many times what you put into it!
Shoot straight –
Bill Miller
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