Bambistew
Well-known member
Its been far to long since the wife and I have gone hunting together. We originally planned on chasing a ram I'd found earlier this fall, but the weather had different plans for us. We found the ram late in the day, put him "to bed" in a fairly accessible spot, we'd have a good chance at him in the AM.
While sitting in camp glassing, I found a bachelor herd of caribou, including 2 really nice antlered bulls, a few old crusty big boddied white maned bulls, and a few smaller of various size. We woke the next morning to fog at tree line so hunting sheep was not really an option. Forcast was partly cloudy, but forecasts are next to worthless in Alaska... It was likely going to rain as well. We glassed up the bulls much lower on the hill and would likely just feed back up to where they were bedded the evening before. The ram isn't going anywhere either.
While glassing up the bulls we also spotted a really, nice grizz... What are the odds? 3 high quality animals to chase on one weekend hunt? I ruled out the bear, only one rifle, and it was a bit light for an 8' plus griz in the pucker brush, the clouds where probably socked in for days, but may lift and I have a feeling I knew where the sheep would be, but the caribou... those two bulls were not something to pass either.
We decided to try to put some caribou in the freezer and headed out after them. We had a play a bit of cat and mouse with what seemed like a bull behind every bush on the way to the ridge a half mile off. We passed up a few of the old crusty bulls, knowing those two big boys were on the hill. Hard to walk past bulls easily within rifle range that I would happily hang a tag on in most instances. As luck had it, we spotted one of the big bulls at about 400 yards slowly feeding up the ridge line. We made a circle around below them and slowly inched along up the ridge. During this time the fog was getting thicker and thicker.
The ridge was basically a washed out moraine, with undulating mounds and folds, perfect for stalking. We crested a ridge and spotted the big bull about the same time he saw us. Range was a little over 300, I dropped the pack and inched up closer. He was getting nervous, and it was now or he'd vanish in the fog. He stood quartering toward, I put the x-hair on his neck/chest fold and touched off. The shot was solid, he spun to run uphill, ran about 5 steps and flipped on his side. That POS Kimber put number 13 on the ground
As luck would have it the fog got really thick at that point, we struggled to find him even though we knew about where he was. Visibly was cut to about 100 yards, it took about 10 minutes before we found him pilled up in some rocks.
While looking for him, the other big bull ran by us at about 150 yards, he had rubbed his velvet the day before, and his red antlers were remarkably reflective in the fog. It was a toss up, big tops, or big bottoms between these two. Both were tremendous bulls, and I couldn't be happier, more so that I got to share the experience with my wife and pup.
While sitting in camp glassing, I found a bachelor herd of caribou, including 2 really nice antlered bulls, a few old crusty big boddied white maned bulls, and a few smaller of various size. We woke the next morning to fog at tree line so hunting sheep was not really an option. Forcast was partly cloudy, but forecasts are next to worthless in Alaska... It was likely going to rain as well. We glassed up the bulls much lower on the hill and would likely just feed back up to where they were bedded the evening before. The ram isn't going anywhere either.
While glassing up the bulls we also spotted a really, nice grizz... What are the odds? 3 high quality animals to chase on one weekend hunt? I ruled out the bear, only one rifle, and it was a bit light for an 8' plus griz in the pucker brush, the clouds where probably socked in for days, but may lift and I have a feeling I knew where the sheep would be, but the caribou... those two bulls were not something to pass either.
We decided to try to put some caribou in the freezer and headed out after them. We had a play a bit of cat and mouse with what seemed like a bull behind every bush on the way to the ridge a half mile off. We passed up a few of the old crusty bulls, knowing those two big boys were on the hill. Hard to walk past bulls easily within rifle range that I would happily hang a tag on in most instances. As luck had it, we spotted one of the big bulls at about 400 yards slowly feeding up the ridge line. We made a circle around below them and slowly inched along up the ridge. During this time the fog was getting thicker and thicker.
The ridge was basically a washed out moraine, with undulating mounds and folds, perfect for stalking. We crested a ridge and spotted the big bull about the same time he saw us. Range was a little over 300, I dropped the pack and inched up closer. He was getting nervous, and it was now or he'd vanish in the fog. He stood quartering toward, I put the x-hair on his neck/chest fold and touched off. The shot was solid, he spun to run uphill, ran about 5 steps and flipped on his side. That POS Kimber put number 13 on the ground
As luck would have it the fog got really thick at that point, we struggled to find him even though we knew about where he was. Visibly was cut to about 100 yards, it took about 10 minutes before we found him pilled up in some rocks.
While looking for him, the other big bull ran by us at about 150 yards, he had rubbed his velvet the day before, and his red antlers were remarkably reflective in the fog. It was a toss up, big tops, or big bottoms between these two. Both were tremendous bulls, and I couldn't be happier, more so that I got to share the experience with my wife and pup.
