This bull stood around 7 feet at the shoulder, and it was considered small by the locals. Can't wait to return for a moose bowhunt next september! To give you an idea of how sheep hunting works, there are 4 sheep in this photo through the spotting scope. Can you see them all? And a little perspective on just how far away they really are. The work never really stops on a backcountry hunt, especially without a guide to do it all for you! lol
After several days, a few misses, a few blown stalks, and more than a few head butting arguments we were down to the wire. Second to last day before we had to head back... We spot Colbys bull crossing the tundra towards us, so he hustles down the pipeline to cut it off while I go and retrieve a monster set of sheds I found. I catch up with Colby and see he has the bull bedded at 50 yards. This is all you can see of it. Once he is settled at 30 yards, I circle out in front of the animal about 150 yards and start whistling to get it to stand up. He shoots and hits it a little too far forward in the shoulder. This is the bull seconds after the shot. Here is Colby stalking in on the bull for a follow up shot when it bedded down a few hundred yards away. It would have expired, but we want to end it as quickly as possible for the animals sake. Another arrow and it was over in seconds. The end result. One Proud Kentucky Boy.
We returned to Anchorage that night to relax a few days, get the meat processed, and repack everything for the flights home. My friend Brad was out on a sheep hunt, but let us stay at his house to avoid hotel costs. Great guy. Enjoying the northern most brewed beer on the Continent, from Fairbanks, AK. We went Glacier viewing about an hour south of Anchorage the next day. Awesome sights.
They say there are 4 things you gotta do to become a true Alaskan... Kill a bear, catch a king salmon, sleep with a native, and take a piss in the yukon river. I only lack one of these, but I ain't telling which! A funny weather predictor we found in Anchorage...
Very cool. How hard was the in field butchering and quartering? That's one skill I've never gotten the chance to try or hone.
Alaska is truly the last frontier. I am a traveler by heart, and I love adventure. I can't WAIT to move up there June 2015. Counting down the days. I spent my summer working in an Indian Reservation Hospital in New Mexico this summer. I hit up 21 states in 11 weeks, and drove over 10k miles in that time span. Pretty hectic few months, but it was my last free summer as a student, so I made the most of it.
Not hard at all really. Just skin back one half the animal to the backbone, remove a quarter at a time and place in a game bag. Then cut out the backstrap, tenderloin, neck roasts, and ribs... roll the animal over and repeat on the other side. It's a lot of work, but its easy if you don't let yourself get overwhelmed. From when my animal fell to when we were back in camp sharing a beer reliving the story was about 6 hours.
This may be out of line to ask so please feel free to tell me to bug off but what does a trip like this run? I have always wanted to do something like this but never seriously enough to crunch the numbers. Thanks for sharing your story and pictures
Thats incredible. That is a dream hunt and Ill hopefully be able to do that one day. Thanks for sharing.
Guided your looking at anywhere from 6-10k all in. I'm a cheap guy though so I pulled it off for less than 1.5k. Airline miles on the credit card for free flight. So all I had was a tag, rental van, and fuel.
