Dall Sheep Hunt NWT - Day #2
We didn't wake until almost 10:30 this morning. The fact that it never gets dark, combined with the hiking and the miserable weather yesterday and last night, took the enthusiasm out of an early rising. It didn't hurt my appetite however!
After a hearty breakfast we threw on the packs and headed up the mountain toward a series of basins to the west of spike camp. We saw three rams disappear around the mountain in that general direction while eating breakfast and decided to try to get a better look at them. The clouds had lifted to close to the top of the mountain behind camp, and we hoped visibility would continue to improve as the day progressed.
As we worked our way around the mountain we glassed the slopes below the clouds for any sign of sheep. We saw a lot of caribou, but like yesterday they were all cows with calves. After passing the base of the first mountain we turned up a valley and side sloped to a saddle about 3000 feet higher in elevation. From the saddle we were able to glass into the next basin where we found a decent ram. Decent, but not good enough to chase this early in the hunt! Hiking by this first ram we spooked him further up slope until he found safety in some shear cliffs near the summit.
We dropped into the next basin, and then hiked up the other side to glass further into the range. Still nothing worth chasing! After stopping for lunch, and a good long glassing session in the second basin, we headed back to camp.
This wasn't a real tough day as far as sheep hunting goes, but we did do a few more hours hiking than the first day, and felt it by the time we got back to camp just after 9:00PM.
While roasting pork chops over an open fire, and boiling up some rice for dinner, we discussed the options still available from this location. We were camped very near the end of a series of mountains called the Redstones. We had hiked to the end of the chain the first day, and found no rams large enough to chase.
Today we had hiked down the south west face about as far as one would want to travel on foot to hunt, and still didn't find the big rams Slim believes call this area home. Tomorrow we'll start off early and go over the top of the highest peak behind camp. From there we'll be able to access the flat top of the range and travel more quickly down the line of peaks glassing four to six basins from the top.
If we don't find trophy quality rams in one of those basins, we'll have to get the camp moved further down the chain of peaks to extend our search. Jacob will be leaving in the morning to fly some lumber to several camp locations where Eric intends to build permanent tent platforms leaving Slim and I on our own.
Just after finishing dinner we had a little excitement.
While still sitting under the tarp enjoying the cool night air, we heard a series of "woofing" sounds. The three of us jumped up at the same time to look out from under the tarp, only to find a mature boar grizzly bear running full speed at the camp! It is amazing how fast those things can cover ground when they get rolling.
Slim yelled at the bear to go away while grabbing his rifle. Jacob and I sort of stared in disbelief. At forty yards the bear came to an abrupt stop and rose on his hind legs to get a better look at us. Slim was still yelling, and the bear didn't seem to want to give up any ground. When he dropped to his feet again and started coming closer, Slim let a 338 round fly over his head. That got his attention!
The bear turned and ran, circling the camp to get our wind. About a quarter ways around the circle he got down wind of the out house and decided this was a bad place to be. He turned and ran straight down the slope toward the valley below.
It was an hour or so before we all stopped looking over each other's shoulders and decided to try to get some sleep. Sleep didn't come as quickly as it had the night before. Things were really starting to get "interesting" around this camp. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!