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Dall Sheep Hunt NWT - Day 6

We woke earlier this morning after our day of rest. Our anticipation of checking out new country helped us get an early start. Following the plan Slim laid out the night before, we marched up the valley to the south about an hour, then took a right turn (west) up a side valley that led back into a good sized bowl we couldn't glass into from any other angle.

The trek up the first valley was on a caribou trail carved deep into the earth by years of use. That, and the gradual incline, made the walk a pleasant one for a change. Even the side valley had a decent game trail making for a great morning stroll. As we got back into the top of the basin we found a high country lake full of cold clear water, but no sheep. Slim led on to a full assault of the shale slide leading up to, and over, a high saddle that separated the basin we were in from one on the other side of the mountain chain.

Rumor has it that there is a mineral lick "somewhere" in the bottom of this other basin, and Slim has always wanted to find it. In for a penny, in for a pound, so off we went. We made the saddle in just three and one half hours from when we started out from camp. Not bad time for the ground covered. In the process we picked up about 3,000 feet of altitude, and a good deal of honest exercise. Well broken in from the first few hikes, and well rested from yesterday, it was a great day for a hike!

When we got to the saddle we found ourselves with-in fifty yards of a ewe and lamb feeding on tender grass. The wind was in our favor and we got to watch them for a while at relative close range before they moved off to greener pastures. It was then time for some well deserved lunch and glassing the basin which opened up in front of us. The sun was shining and there was a steady breeze in our faces as we looked off for miles at mountain range after mountain range spread before us. Everyone owes it to themselves to sit on top of a mountain at least once in their life ... there is nothing quite like it!

There was no sign of a mineral lick, or major game trails leading to one, from our high vantage point. Slim did find a couple rams, however. Problem was they were like ant specks on the horizon they were so far away! They were even too far to judge with the spotting scope. On the plus side, they were coming our way. Of course, Slim wanted to see what we could see from the bottom of the basin and around the corner into two side valleys. It would only take an hour or so to get to a decent vantage point, and we'd be closing the distance to these two new found rams. Problem is, it would be one hell of a hike back up this basin to re-cross the saddle and start the three hour plus hike back to camp when the day was done. Slim wanted to know if I was up for it? It was a good day for a hike, so we were off.

Dropping off the saddle into the basin was a snap, as there was a decent game trail that zigzagged back and forth down the steep slope. We then crossed a creek, and climbed the other side to a decent vantage point for glassing. Next we worked our way around the ridge to the south west to see what we could see up a creek bed in that direction. Slim figured that was the general direction the four rams we had shot at two days ago had been headed. We were able to put the spotting scope on our two rams from this ridge line, and found that one of them was the best we'd seen thus far. He was a solid 38+" and heavy all the way out to the broomed ends of his 10-12 year old horns. He would be worth chasing if we got the chance, but he was still a long way off. He was also on the other side of a creek that separates Eric's territory from that of another outfitter. If the ram didn't cross the creek, he was "out of bounds". We watched and waited.

This photo is from the same saddle/point facing west. We hiked down and glassed from around both sides of the bottom of this valley and the mountain we are facing is the one where the rams are (hard to see aren't they!).

After a few hours watching the two rams bedded on the opposite side of the huge valley, we were fairly sure it wasn't "in the cards" for us to chase them today. We did want to check further down the valley to the north for the natural mineral lick however so we could say that we had found it. Dropping off this ridge and crossing the creek we were able to climb the opposite side of the valley where we could hike around the next ridge and glass a lot more country. We did find a spot on the valley floor, by a much bigger creek, that might be the mystery lick, but we couldn't be sure.

We spotted a good caribou rack next to that spot, along with the skeletal remains of a bull caribou that most likely ran afoul of some wolves the previous winter. It has been fun, but it was time to head back to camp.

We made it all the way back to the saddle with only one quick pit stop. The constant two hour climb proved that I was getting in better shape! By the time this hunt is over, I'll be ready to start, but that is typical of sheep hunting. A ten minute break for rest, water, and a candy bar at the saddle and we were off for camp. What had taken over three hours in the morning we knocked off in just over two hours heading back. Of course it was mostly downhill, but it was a good hike none the less!

Just before getting back to the tent we bumped into a small caribou bull at close range. He'd only score about 230, so we left him to his wandering ways undisturbed. We made it back to camp just before 10:00 PM, finishing a very pleasant thirteen hour day of hiking in the high country.

Tonight we kicked around a few possible plans for the next two days while enjoying a hard earned dinner of moose burger and rice.

We could hike back to where we had been today, hoping those two rams keep coming in our direction. Or we could head south down the valley from camp in the morning and then bang a left (east) into another basin we have yet to explore, or go north and then east into a huge basin where Slim had found over 30 rams last season.

We decided to sleep on it and see what the morning brings.

Photo - the view to the east of the saddle we hiked to today (back toward camp). Looking all the way down the valley you can only see as far as where we turned to head up into the side valley, or about half way to camp.