My goal for several years was to harvest a Mountain Goat in the Yukon and a Dall Sheep from Alaska. In 2000 after 8 days of climbing mountains I was finally able to harvest my goat. In 2005 I was hoping to fulfill my goal of harvesting a Dall Sheep.
I did a lot of researching into finding not only a good outfitter, but also an area in Alaska that had good numbers of sheep and an area that would not be too difficult to hunt.
One thing that the Yukon hunt had that made it a little easier to hunt was the fact that it was a horseback hunt. Using horses saves a lot of wear and tear on the body. You would be surprised what areas those horses can travel through and the mountains that they can climb.
During my research of an outfitter I was surprised to find out that not many of them in Alaska use horses. After talking to several outfitters and then calling many references I finally decided to hunt with Mike Colpo. Not only was Mike a very successful outfitter, but he also hunted on horses. I also talked to another hunter who was 70 years old and had just recently hunted with Mike and he took a very large ram.
I harvested my goat when I was 44 years old, now I am 49. Still in pretty good shape, but I thought the easier the hunt, the better for me.
I spent most of the summer getting ready for my hunt. I bought a Browning A-bolt, 270 rifle to hunt with. I spent several hours at the range and felt very confident with my rifle. I set it 3 inches high at 100 yards.
I also spent most of the summer walking 2 ¼ miles every morning with my hunting boots on. The month prior to me leaving for my hunt I would load up my back pack with 20 lbs of weight and while wearing my hunting boots I would walk up and down a steep hill near my home several times. Little did I know at the time, but getting ready for this hunt during the hot and humid summer that we were having here in Michigan would really pay off for me on my trip.
The plan was for me to depart Michigan on August 7th. Get a room in Anchorage and spend the night. The following day (August 8th) I would catch a bus to Healy (about a 5 hour ride), get picked up by the pilot and be flown into the main camp. That same day Mike and the pilot would fly the area and once they located some sheep, we would head out the next day (August 9th) on the horses and set up a spike camp, sit on the rams and then shoot one on August 10th when the season opens.
Like most plans it didn’t work out. On August 6th, the day before I was to leave I got a call from Mike. He was in the Yukon and his truck had broken down. He and two of his guides, along with about a dozen horses and four mules that he was hauling up for the hunt had been sitting in Yellow Knife waiting for a part to be flown in. They had already been there for a couple of days and he told me that the part wouldn’t be there for another day.
He told me not to worry (easy for him to say) that everyone else was already in camp and the pilot would still be picking me up in Healy on the 8th. He also stated that they should be in camp by the 9th and we would still be hunting on the 10th.
I had a lot of confidence in Mike, and after all it was a 10-day hunt. So I tried not to let it bother me. Little did I know, there were going to be a lot of little mishaps on this hunt.
I was flying N.W airlines out of Traverse City. With a stop at Detroit, then a straight flight to Anchorage. Prior to leaving on the trip I had been following the possible strike that N.W. Airlines was facing with its workers. But I figured I would be home before it happened. My departure flight in Detroit was delayed an hour because the bathrooms were not working properly. It was going to take about 5 ½ hours to get to Anchorage. If you didn’t already know, most of the airlines have stopped serving food on their flights in order to save money. But, they do still serve free soft drinks. Our flight was full and once everyone on board had a couple of free soft drinks the bathrooms stopped working again. It made for a very long flight!
Everything went smooth once I arrived in Anchorage. Yes, all of my luggage arrived with me. That is always a concern for me on a trip like this. It has never, not arrived on the front end of my trip. But it has happened a couple of times returning home from a hunt. After a couple of days, it usually arrives at my doorstep.
I have been to Anchorage a few times, but it continues to excite me to walk out of the airport and see nothing but the mountains that surround the city of Anchorage.
It’s four hours earlier in the day in Alaska. I was an hour late arriving, it was only 7:00pm there, but I was still on Michigan time and it was 11:00pm for me. I still had to get to my hotel, get checked-in and then go and buy my hunting license at the Fred Meyer’s store.
I was finally able to get into bed at 2:00am Michigan time. I had to catch my bus the next morning at 7:00am. Not only did a I set the alarm in the room for 6:00am, I also had the front desk call me at the same time. The last thing I needed to do was to miss my bus trip to Healy.
It was good to see a number of hunters getting on the bus with me. Being this early in the season I figured that they were all sheep hunters. After about three hours on the road, I noticed signs that we were approaching Mt McKinley. I overheard the bus driver saying that it’s unusual to see the top of Mt McKinley, usually it’s clouded over. He stated that it would be nice to stop and get some pictures. Then the bus started to slow down, I thought he was stopping so we could take some pictures. But that wasn’t the case. The bus broke down!
Needless to say there were 25 very concerned passengers on board that bus. Besides the hunters who were going to meet with their guides, there were several people in route to catch the train that leaves from Mt McKinley in a couple of hours.
At this point we were about 90 miles from Healy. The bus driver said that there was a scenic turn-off about a ½ mile down the road. That we could walk down there and take some pictures of Mt McKinley. He would stay and try to get the bus started.
When I got off the bus I noticed that it was very warm out and I took off my sweater. Little did I know how warm it was going to get. What a sight to be-hold, 25 people walking down the highway in the middle of Alaska.
The bus driver was correct. We were able to take some great pictures. During the walk down there I stared talking to a couple of the other hunters and discovered that they were also hunting with Mike. They were a father and son team from South Dakota.
Once I arrived at the scenic turn-off I started talking to a couple of men there, who had travel trailers and were traveling around Alaska with their wives. It turned out that one of them was from Grayling, Mi., and the same town that I live in. After telling him what had happened to the bus he offered to drive the three of us to Healy. What a small world, in the middle of Alaska and run into a guy who lives in the same city that I live in and a guy nice enough to help us out.
We arrived in Healy on time and waited at a restaurant for our pilot to arrive. While waiting in the restaurant, another hunted walked over and it turns out he to was going to be hunting with Mike. Hs name was Ken Lehman, Ken lives in Michigan as well.
As the day progressed it kept getting warmer out. I remember when I first talked to Mike I asked him what the weather was going to be like while hunting for sheep in early August. He stated that it is usually in the 50’s to 60’s. Colder at night, but he also said you never know up here. It could be a lot colder. Well, I planned on colder weather and brought cloths for colder weather. But one smart thing I did do, I brought layers of clothing. A little light clothing, but mostly middle range type of clothing to wear.
Finally our pilot arrived and it took two trips to get the four hunters and the gear flown into camp. The flight was only 20 minutes from Healy. But it was an 8-hour horseback ride from there. As we flew in I kept a close eye out for any game, and we did see a couple of moose out feeding not far from camp in a pond.
There was a landing strip next to our camp, which was sitting about 200 yards from a river called the Yanet. We were met there by two of our guides. As I walked up to the main camp, I was very impressed with what I saw. The main cook tent, which had a very large propane stove in it, lots of food and a very large eating area. There were also two very large wall tents for the hunters and two tents for the guides to sleep in. Also there was a tack tent to keep all of the horse gear in. There were two showers in camp and most important of all a nice outhouse.
Ken and I roomed together in one tent while the father and son teamed up in the other tent. There were cots inside to sleep on. I didn’t waste anytime getting unpacked and getting into a t-shirt. It had to be at least 80 degrees out. After talking to the guides we discovered that it had been in the 90’s the last couple of days and was expected to stay that way for several more days. Another bit of bad news was that there was a fire burning in Fairbanks for the past several weeks. It was over 200 miles away. The problem for us was that if the wind blew in the right direction, it blew the smoke our way and it would cover the mountains tops and make it very difficult to locate the sheep.
The next two days we were just hanging around camp waiting for Mike, the other two guides along with the horse and mules to arrive in camp. It was very hot. There was a beaver pond about 100 yards behind the camp. You would think that it would be very nice to swim in, but it was so cold it would take your breath away once you got in it. But we still did it!
One day in camp we had some visitors. A small plane landed and two Alaskan State Troopers got out of the plane. In Alaska they don’t have Conservation Officers like we do here in Michigan, not only do the Troopers handle all of the criminal matters, but they also handle the enforcement of the fish and game laws. After a brief visit and a check of our hunting license, they departed.
On August 10th Mike arrived in camp with the other two guides as well as the horses and mules. They had spent the night on the trail, sleeping under the stars and were very tired. The plans were for them to get caught up on their sleep and then we would depart the following day the 11th to begin our hunt.
We had quite the assortment of people in camp. Our cook was from New Jersey, one of the guides was from New Zealand, another from Montana, and the wrangler was from Louisiana, my guide who was also an elk outfitter, was from Wyoming. The plans were for Mike who would be guiding Ken Lehman and my guide (Tim Hockhalter) and I would be leaving in the morning to set up a spike camp off Dick Creek. It was going to be about a 5-hour horse ride to Dick Creek, we were going to take enough supplies for about 5 days. Not only were we taking the horses we were going to ride, but also one extra horse and two mules. The mules were mostly used for packing out any game we would harvest.
It was very interesting to watch them pack the horses and mules for the trip. The packing containers used to store the items we were hauling, that were attached to the mules, had to be equal in weight. You could tell they had done this before, there was no scale used to weigh each container. They would hold one in each hand and then lift them up and from experience they could tell how much each one weighed or at least that they both weighed the same.
My horse’s name was Blue, of course he was called Blue because he was Blue in color. I tried to talk to him and work out some kind of an agreement before we left. I told him that if he took care of me and didn’t throw me off or took off running unexpectedly, that I would not let any bears get him while we were traveling through the Alaskan wilderness.
I have been on horseback hunting trips before, plus my wife owns a horse and I did spend sometime riding Turtle (my wife’s horse) during the summer to get prepared for this trip. I really didn’t have much concern about this aspect of the hunt, in fact I was looking forward to riding horseback through the Alaskan wilderness.
We had one river to cross and several mountain ridges to travel before we arrived at our spike camp location. Did I mention that it was still very hot? Just about every time we crossed a mountain steam we stopped for a drink of cold water. I also would take off my hunting cap and dip it into the cold water and put it back on top of my head. This was a great feeling to have while enduring this heat. One thing that you had to make sure you didn’t do, that was to drink from any creek or stream that wasn’t flowing down from the mountain. You wanted to make sure it wasn’t one that flowed out from a beaver pond. If you drink from one of those you have a good chance of getting sick from the bacteria in the water from the beaver.
We finally arrived in a valley between several mountains. This was going to be our spike camp and home for the next several days. While setting up our tents we had a young bull caribou walk into our camp (with-in 30 yards) and feed for over 30 minutes. Once we finished setting up the tents, we went a short distance on the horses and started to glass for sheep. We didn’t see any sheep because of the smoke in the peaks of the mountains from the fire, but we did watch a female grizzly bear with three cubs chasing caribou in the distance. The female was dark brown and the second year old cubs were blond.
The 12th of August was our first day of hunting. Before the sun rose over the mountain tops it was rather cool, once the sun got over those mountain it got hot very fast and you couldn’t get your layers of clothes off fast enough. The mountaintops were still full of smoke and you couldn’t see much of anything. We headed off to a river drainage that Mike had hunted in the past and he believed there were several rams in that area.
After arriving at the edge of a valley and tying up the horses we began to glass for sheep. We didn’t want to enter the valley without glassing it first just in case there were sheep in there. It was very difficult to see anything because of the smoke. Mike did notice two rams at the top of this mountain right in front of us. But he couldn’t tell if they were legal rams. They need to have either a full curl or have eight growth rings on their horns. Each ring indicates a year that the ram has lived. Mike didn’t think either ram was legal so we continued on foot into the valley.
The incline into the valley wasn’t too bad, but it kept getting warmer. We stopped after an hour to take a break and get some water from a mountain stream. Mike got out his spotting scope and took another look at the two rams we had earlier looked at. The smoke had cleared somewhat and after studying them better from a different angle, Mike thought that the one ram might be a full curl. After some discussion it was decided that Tim and I would climb the mountain and take a better look at this ram. Mike and Ken would continue to climb the current mountain that was facing us and try to find some rams there. Prior to us leaving something spooked the two rams and they both disappeared over the top of the mountain that they were on. At this point neither Tim nor I thought there would be much chance of those two rams being on the other side of the mountain. But we decided to go after them for a better look anyway.
Once you look at one of these mountains you think there is no way you could climb one of them. But once you start glassing them you can see ways to climb them and it’s not as difficult as it appears through the naked eye. Tim and I took our time studying the side of the mountain and then figured the best way to climb it. We took our time and only went about 40-50 yards at a time and then took a short break. I could tell that my pre-conditioning for the hunt was paying off, but it was hot and getting hotter. After about 3 hours we finally were getting close to the top. We had to be very careful with our footing, the last thing we wanted to do was to start a small rockslide and spook the rams if they were still on the other side of the mountaintop. Of course about 50 feet from the top I started a small rockslide and all I could think was if those rams were still there, they are gone now.
Finally we reached the top. We had to keep our heads down, if we got above the skyline of the mountaintops and those sheep were there bedded down they could spot us very easily. There was a huge rock sitting on the very top of the mountain, we decided we would hide behind it and glass for the sheep. We had no idea what was beyond the huge rock, if there was a flat area on top of the mountain or if it started to decline.
Tim was ahead of me and reached the rock first, once I got there we decided to catch our breath before we peeked over the rock. The rock was over 6 feet high and was probably 6 feet in length. As I watched Tim glass for the rams, I kept thinking this was too easy and that they wouldn’t be there. After a couple of minutes, which seemed like an hour, Tim turned around and put up two fingers. He whispered that the two rams were on the backside of the mountain bedded down. The first thing I wanted to do was jump up there and take a look, but I knew if we made any noise the rams could be gone in seconds.
I waited until I fully caught my breath and had a chance to get a little strength back after my climb. After a few minutes I carefully worked myself to the rock. After looking at it I decided that I would not be able to look around it as Tim had done. I was able to stand on another rock next to it and look over the top of it to see the rams. They were bedded down 214 yards away, at an angle facing away from us. I could still see the vitals on the ram and after confirming with Tim as to which ram was the legal ram, I started to figure out a way to get a good shooting rest so I could harvest him.
I wasn’t able to shoot on either side of the rock, the only option I had was to shoot over the top of the rock. I couldn’t lay my backpack on top of the rock for a rest, I was too concerned about spooking the rams. Both Tim and I took our baseball caps and laid them down on top of the rock as my rest. This was probably the worst rest I have ever had to use, but it was going to have to do. I lined the ram up in my crosshairs on my Leupold Vari-X 3.5 X 10-50 scope. At 214 yards away, I just put the crosshairs right on the ram’s front shoulder. I couldn’t get a good sight alignment on the sheep, I was shaking too hard. So I put the safety back on and tried to calm myself down. I repeated this two more times until I was finally able to get a steady hold the ram. I was thinking to myself, I wonder what Tim is thinking right now, what is he waiting for. I had to make sure everything was right before I pulled the trigger on this magnificent animal, the last thing I wanted to do was miss or wound the animal.
As the rifle fired, I never felt the kick and barely remember hearing the shot go off. I did hear the bullet hit the ram, he stood up and my second shot missed. I knew he was hit hard, before I could fire a third time he disappeared behind a rock. I thought he was down, and in a couple of seconds I saw him moving very slowly. The third shot put him down and he started sliding down the side of the mountain. Needless to say both Tim and I were very excited, not only was this my first Dall Sheep it was also Tim’s first time of guiding someone on a Dall Sheep hunt. Not only was I very happy that I had harvested my sheep, but that I would not be climbing any more mountains in this heat.
However, I also know that the work was just beginning. We watched the ram slide down the mountainside for about 100 yards. I figured that the ram was now about 400 yards away from us. It took us an hour to walk to him. The entire mountainside was covered with rocks about the size of baseballs. Every time you took a step you slid another three. You had to be very careful not to slip. You wouldn’t fall far, but it would hurt falling on those rocks. The only reason the ram stopped where it did was because it was hung-up on a larger rock.
Once we reached the ram we began to clean it up for pictures. We were on the shade side of the mountain, but you could see the shade slowly disappearing and the sun making its way toward us. After the pictures were taken it was time to cape out the ram. In Alaska the law requires you to de-bone the entire animal, all edible meat must be harvested including the rib meat. As Tim did the capeing I started the de-boning of the ram. Once the sun appeared over the stop of us, flies appeared by the dozens. It took us over 2 hours to cape and de-bone the ram, and during this entire process the sun was baking us. One nice thing about our location was that we could see for a long distance. One concern you should have in grizzly country is the bears picking up the scent of the blood or meat in the air and paying you a visit. This is a much bigger problem for hunters hunting in the Rockies, the bears there have learned when they hear a shot its like ringing the dinner bell. Tim told me that every year at least once they have had a grizzly bear pay them a visit in Wyoming after shooting an elk, while they are trying to cape it out. Usually one person stands guard while the other does the work.
Finally we were done. Tim being the guide got the heavier load to carry down the mountain. It was slow moving with full backpacks and while trying to maneuver around those baseball size rocks. We took breaks often. It probably took us three
hours to climb to the bottom of the mountain. We were very tired and decided to leave everything there, except our firearms and walk back to the horses. I thought it would be a short walk, but as it turned out it took us about 2 hours to walk around the mountain we just climbed and back up the valley to where we left the horses. Just prior to getting to the horses Mike and Ken came riding up to us with all of the horses. Their day was pretty unsuccessful, after climbing the mountain they were on and back down again they were as tired as we were. They saw several sheep, but no legal rams. It was getting late, we decide to leave the cape, horns and meat at the bottom of the mountain over night and pick them up in the morning. Ken had a thermometer with him and told me the temperature was 95 during the middle of the day.
Day two began just like day one, smoke covering the mountaintops. The four of us loaded up on the horses and took the mules and headed to the bottom of the mountain to pick up our gear and the sheep. I would be lying if I said I didn’t think at least one time during the night about a grizzly bear or wolf finding my sheep during the night.
We found it right where we left it. Tim and I loaded our gear and headed back to camp, while Mike and Tim headed off looking for a legal ram. Once we arrived back in camp our mission for the day was to flesh out the cape, finish trimming the meat and find a cool place to keep it. There was a nice cold mountain stream flowing not 50 yards from out camp. After trimming the meat and getting the cape ready (which took most of the day) we put them both in separate meat bags. We then found a shady spot next to the river, covered the meat bags with branches and took another meat bag and dipped it into the river and laid it over the branches. I had my doubts that the meat would last the day with the heat. We did salt the cape down, which would prevent it from wasting.
Mike and Ken returned from hunting around 6pm, they had only seen a few sheep and one legal ram. They spotted the ram on their way back in a valley and decided it was too late to go after him. Mike figured with the heat that the rams were tucked away in the shade somewhere and not moving. I had always been told that sheep meat was very good. I found out that night that they were correct. We had steak on a steak (that’s what they called it). We cut some small branches and sharpened the ends of them. We then cut up part of the back strap into small pieces and stuck it on the end of the branch and cooked it over an open fire. All we needed were a couple of cold beers and I could say it doesn’t get any better then this!
Day three was going to be the longest day of my hunt. Mike, Tim and Ken were going after the ram they spotted the day before and I was going to stay in camp and keep an eye on the meat, cape and my horns. There wasn’t much chance of a bear or wolf coming along and finding my trophies. With it being as hot as it was they weren’t moving during the day either, but I wasn’t going to take any chances. I was surprised to find that the meat was still cool when I checked it.
I did bring a couple of hunting magazines along with me just in case I found myself laying around in camp all day with nothing to do. I forgot to mention earlier that while climbing the mountain my watchband broke and my watch slid down the mountainside. Talk about a long day, trying to stay out of the sun with only a couple of magazines to read and no watch to tell the time. I may have had a nap or two during my wait, I really can’t remember! Didn’t have to worry about a bear sneaking into camp in case I did take a nap. With two horses and a mule tied up in camp, you couldn’t ask for a better sentry to keep guard.
The other three members of my hunting party arrived in camp around 5pm, they were hot, tired and hungry. They didn’t find the ram they spotted the day before. After another dinner of steak on a steak, it was decided we would pack up the spike camp in the morning and head back to the main camp. Once there, Mike would attempt to fly and locate some rams. In Alaska you can’t hunt the same day you fly, so once back in camp Ken would have to wait until the next day to hunt. We were hoping that the father and son team from Iowa had better luck and hopefully had two rams down and were back in camp.
I had decided that once I got back to camp I would try to catch a ride out early and head home. I had a tooth that had been killing since the second day I was in camp. There is nothing worst then a toothache, but I wasn’t going to let it ruin my hunt. After a four-hour horse ride we were back into camp. I was surprised to find out that the father and son team had been back in camp for a day. Dad had pulled a hamstring and was done hunting. They had the same problem that we had, too much heat and too much smoke in the mountaintops.
The first thing I did was run and jump into the beaver pond. The second thing I did was drink a couple of cold beers. Of course I had to tell the story to everyone about my successful sheep hunt. It was nice to be back in camp and eat a fresh hot meal and take it easy.
I realize that the next thing I am going to say may be a little hard to believe. I called home on my cell phone. Yes, it did work. 200 miles from Fairbanks, Alaska and I could call home and tell my wife that I was still alive and that I harvested my sheep. The hell with roaming charges, it was worth it.
The plans were for the pilot to fly in the next day if the smoke wasn’t too bad. He would fly and try to locate sheep and then he was going to fly me back to Anchorage. I had already been gone for 7 days and had another 6 days before I was to leave. But I had my trophy, it was still very hot and I was ready to go. The next day everything worked according to plans. The smoke wasn’t too bad and the pilot arrived on time. But instead of a 20-minute flight into Healy, I had a four-hour flight to Anchorage.
Before I could leave Alaska I had to get my horns sealed by the fish and game department. I arrived in Anchorage at 6pm local time and they were closed. I was dropped off at an airport used by local bush pilots and not the main airport. There was a phone booth there and I started calling motels looking for a room. After my tenth call and finding out that all of the motels rooms in town were booked, I decided to call a taxi and go look for one. The taxi driver told me that the cruise ships were docked in town and all of the rooms at the good motels were booked. But we might be able to find a room at one of the less desirable motels in town. After checking with four of Anchorages less desirable motels I was finally able to find a room. Yes, it was a dive, but at this point I just wanted a bed to sleep in.
The next day I had my sheep horns sealed by fish and game. I then arrived at the airport at noon and had to wait until 8pm to catch the red-eye to Detroit. Then a short flight back to Traverse City and I was finally back home in another hour.
I had finally fulfilled a long time dream of mine, harvesting a Dall Sheep from Alaska. There were several uncontrollable mishaps along the way. The outfitter breaking down in the Yukon, the bus breaking down near Mt McKinley, the fire in Fairbanks, the heat and of course my tooth ache. But it was a great hunt, with a great outfitter. Mike does an outstanding job with his hunts. It was everything he said it was going to be and during a normal year you don’t have the heat or the smoke from the fire to contend with.
After returning home I discovered that the other two hunters in camp harvested their sheep later during the hunt. Mike also has grizzly bear, caribou and moose hunts. If you are interested in hunting with Mike you can contact me at JPTROPHYHUNTS@HOTMAIL.COM OR AT 989 344-9038.
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