12 days, 3 hunters, 6 tags, DIY Dall Sheep & Grizzly

Burnt Reynolds

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
May 29, 2015
Messages
272
Location
Silverton, OR
My youngest sister married this guy a few years back. His cover story is that he is an optometrist and so is his twin brother; all Alaska residents. The brothers are excellent sportsmen having grown up climbing mountains in Alaska & Wyoming in pursuit of game. Alaska has this 2nd Degree Kinship allowance for non-residents to go on many hunts with a resident relative such as a brother in law in place of a guide.

Tags, license, airfare, transport: few thousand bucks vs $20k, $30k, or $40k or more for a guided hunt + tags, licenses and airfare. Luck has finally found me! So I grew a mustache.

Under cover of darkness on a moonless night many months ago we hatched a plan while enjoying some scotch over facetime and certain that the CIA was eavesdropping given my past life. I was completely blown away when then President Elect Trump conferenced us in on a call with NATO and the joint chiefs - I wasn't ready for the mission they assigned us, but for love of country I agreed to do my part.

We were assigned an area in unit 19, the Eagle Creek area where the Dall sheep had been getting out of control and attacking people right and left. We were told it was a secret Russian plot meant to destabilize our country to spray wildlife with contrails from planes that would make them hyper aggressive, many good men died to get us this information. I could barely handle some of the pictures in the mission file. Wiley creatures that are few and far between, but some toads among them if you're willing to work and luck favors you.

Getting in is another concern. Initially we talked about a HALO jump from the secret pods on Air Force 1, but potential weather issues shelved that plan. The next best option was to hide in plain sight and hire a local pilot; SecDef Mattis suggested we talk to a former operative he knew up there. Boy am I glad we did! Our pilot is well known in international espionage circles for some of his stupid crazy successful missions during the break up of the USSR. He was grounded years ago after an accident in which he was totally cleared of any wrongdoing but felt it was time to hang up the .gov life and live simpler, luckily he still has his chops.

Our ingress into the area of operation is to be one hunter at a time: we bring only what we are wearing, a rifle and a pack no more than 60lbs. We are to rally upon drop off of the 3rd member on September 1st and we wouldn't see the pilot again until September 12th. On our own in no-mans land against a beast genetically modified in a secret government lab - seems like a great way to ease into the fall right? What could go wrong...

After my personal kit inspection and physical fitness evaluation in January a few matters were made crystal clear.
1) I needed to retire some various pieces of kit, figured selling for cash was the way to go. See here: http://www.rokslide.com/forums/rokslide-classifieds/64210-deals-hot-theyll-melt-kuiu-vortex.html
2) While my fitness wasn't bad, the preceding several months were tough given the gym renovation, house projects, family obligations, holidays, work and my part time alcoholism (holidays ;))
3) I needed a rifle and spotting scope. Those would be my big acquisitions. But I had "turning 40" as a smokescreen if you will.
I had given away my trusty Tikka 7mm to a client when he retired and had my dad's old Ruger '06. I wanted light, accurate, compact and easy to carry given my past experiences hunting in the mountains. I needed the glass to see enemy compounds before they could see me too.

Fortunately the gym renovation was winding down so I was back to 4-5 days per week + my Saturday pack hikes around February. As I filtered out kit items that were to go on down the road in favor of light weight and compact I also shopped for a spotter and rifle. I also trained. But it was tough going until about April when I remembered my old CIA handler had recently retired and was a little "too short" when he stepped on the scale, so I gave him a call. He needed a little coaxing to get on board but eventually agreed to train with me beginning early April. That was the nexus of plateau transitioning to progress.

Training looked like this:
Sunday - Chest Day Eve
Mon - Fri 30-40 minutes cardio on treadmill, pushups, abs, stretching
Monday - Flat bench, Flies, dumbell press
Tuesday - Lat pulldowns, seated rows, other random back exercises
Wednesday - squats, Hungarian deadlifts
Thursday - Clean & press, other shoulder exercises
Friday - Sun's out Gun's out: biceps and triceps
Saturday - pack hike

I'm down 25 lbs since April and within a few pounds of what I weighed as an NCAA swimmer 20 years ago. Unbelievable! Practically had to buy all new civilian clothes because everything else looked like I was wearing a potato sack.

Some regulatory issues were giving us a little grief in May. I had been in contact with Austin Atkinson @ Hunting Fool regarding some technical & terrain matters when he mentioned AKG&F might have a new rule which consolidates bag limits for 2nd degree hunters and their resident guide - in other words, if I harvested a ram, my brother in law was also tagged out and vice versa. We'd have to wait until the new regulatory year began on 7/1. I was on the phone immediately with AKG&F and they were fantastic about responding with detailed information. Turns out the proposed rule met with such opposition that it was dropped. I still wanted to wait until it was confirmed with the new regs before I bought my tags. Good news was mine on July 1st. We're all in. Then, the plot thickened. Grizzly bear tags.

$25.00 for them, $1,000.00 for me. My plan was to take a Christensen Arms 308 shooting Federal 165 grain trophy bonded tip factory cartridges. Not only had I been dealing with some optics issues with my new rifle but I was now faced with whether or not the platform was the right one given the 2nd tag. Mental turmoil ensues, contemporaneously my tactical CIA riding mower had broken down at the furthest nastiest spot on my property and wife's dad offered to sell me a large chunk of land I can't not work on buying.

Status update forthcoming: but here's mission critical supplies. Older Mystery Ranch Marshall & 2k inch Kuiu bag, Leica APO 16-48 x62 spotter, Christensen Arms 20inch 308 Ridgeline, chest harness with binos, garmin, etc. Currently the bag weight with spotter & tripod is 51.8lbs without water and a few minor odds and ends.
 

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Burnt Reynolds

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
May 29, 2015
Messages
272
Location
Silverton, OR
Until about 10 years ago I struggled with routine workouts. Between missions the world over and girlfriends running amok I had to accept that something needed changing. Early in the morning or after work were totally inconsistent and the results were poor. It was then that I made the commitment to try the lunch time routine. Be it weights, biking or running - it would take place mid day. It was a huge leap of faith for me to devote 1.5-2 hours daily to exercise/shower/chow, particularly in light of what the stock market (the industry in which I work) was doing in '07 & '08. But early in 2007 I saw that my theory was working and this motivated me more, creating a positive self reinforcing loop. Life still happens and days are missed here and there but on the whole over the last decade I've enjoyed 400% more consistency. When I look back I see it as no coincidence that my time in the wild has dramatically improved and increased: I'm a firm believer in fitness begets activity, activity begets fitness. You know what they say, if you sweat in the gym you won't bleed on the battlefield...

Things really got a shot in the arm beginning 2014 with the passing of my father at age 63. Too young. I was 38 at the time. What would he have done differently if someone told him he only had 25 more years when he was 38? Professionally, I deal with clients prior to their passing more than I'd like - none of them ever tell me they wished they would have worked more. My dad taught me to hunt and fish, fishing was his passion however; in order to give myself and my sisters a great upbringing he opted out of several destination fishing trips over the years that I'm aware of. Frankly, these could have been easily accommodated at the time and it's a great tragedy that they weren't. Later in the fall of 2014 I made it through selection and was offered a New Mexico archery elk tag with a group of seasoned traveling hunters who would later teach me that I was doing it wrong. All wrong. After getting a blessing from wife unit I was set to prep for my first out of state hunt, something I never thought would be on my calendar.

My skills & boots totally sucked on that trip. I loved every minute of it and had some opportunities which I ruined all by myself, but what I learned was that building my entire year around one or several hunts vs buying a tag a few days before the opener was the way to go. Staying on point and knowing I'm taking time and resources from my family keeps me sharp and motivated. Shortly after returning from New Mexico the specter of a Kodiak goat/deer hunt came up for 2015. I'd never been to Alaska, much less to hunt. The plan was to airlift the entire family so that wives/kids could play together while we were away. We left 3 wives and 6 kids ranging from newborn to 6 years in Anchorage - they melted our visa cards lol. This trip was totally and completely remarkable in terms of knowledge gained, learning how to contend with difficult conditions for preserving game meat and how my kit and I interfaced in epic terrain. Fitness was good but I had been focusing on cardio and less weight training. I quickly decided that wasn't the best after discovering how my body handled going from sea level to 3500 feet in coastal Kodiak terrain. 2016 began with high expectations but with loads of work related activity and home renovation projects the best I could muster was 6 hunting days during the coast archery elk hunt. I took (almost) every lesson I'd learned and applied it to this hunt. Since it was an area I'd been in since I was 8 years old I didn't do much scouting (see almost). Had I done at least some scouting I'd have known that active logging was going to effectively block off 1/3 of my hunting area. I discovered this the day I arrived. No matter! I pressed on, found elk to chase and finally was in position with good wind the morning of closing day with a herd of about 40 elk single file walking out of a clear cut about 45 yards below me. At full draw with my shooting lane ranged I gave a "mew" when the first legal bull walked through, a spike. But I didn't care. This particular spike had been seen stealing cars and selling drugs to kids so he was #1 on the FBI's most wanted. I effing missed my perfect shot. High over his back, he wheeled around but then rejoined the cows filing out as if nothing had happened, I nocked another arrow and the same exact sequence of events replayed themselves - including a 2nd missed shot high over his back! The herd bolted and that was it. Demoralized I ranged the spot again and again, 45 yards on the nose. Finally I discovered that I had an equipment issue, the gang adjustment lever on my spot hogg Tommy Hogg had come loose. Back at camp with sight tight I was dead nuts on, but when I loosened it in the manner it was when it mattered I was about 15 inches high. Even lost two damn arrows proving this. First year of no elk in ages. While I don't profess to be the worlds greatest hunter who knows the tricks for every species I do pride myself on taking care of equipment. My overlooked and completely preventable equipment failure haunted me for months. Then one of the damn sub contractors I'd hired to do some tape, mud & texture stole my entire bow kit: bow, arrows, release. That's a whole other story there...

As if all these things weren't weighing on me enough, being told that we needed to save western civilization from the apocalyptic plan of doom wrought by the Russians I initially was plagued by uncertainty while simultaneously projecting confidence.

They say you should never buy a new rifle right before a big hunt. True it is. I bought mine months ago and was certain I'd have plenty of time to work out any bugs. Several months and several hundred rounds later I was returning my Swarovski optic for warranty repair as the groups were worse than an antifa protest. I quickly discovered I didn't much care for the Vortex I bought to replace it (despite having my usual accuracy back). I briefly toyed with taking my heavy old '06 to Alaska and even more briefly listed the Christensen for sale. Then one night while perusing intelligence gathered for my pending operation I randomly swapped my old Leupold VX2 3-9x50 onto the CA. Couple days later at the range I was back in the game finally having settled on that setup: great balance all around despite the light weight (which gave me some troubles) and busting rocks off my pack at ranges out to about 400. I've had a good night sleep ever since.

Then grizzly tags. $1,000.00 is a lot for me to spend on something I might not even get a chance to chase. Knocking out a triple for the rams will be hard enough, but grizzly? Now I'm back to pondering my weapon choice. I ultimately bought the tag for an opportunity shot or to avoid any DLP kill issues with game & fish if need be (and I'm still alive). I'm still planning to take the CA 308.

More to come...
 
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Burnt Reynolds

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
May 29, 2015
Messages
272
Location
Silverton, OR
Is that stick wearing a Spartan Precision Javelin?

Yes indeed. Gift from wife. I've only used it training, never in the field. While super light weight and robust, it's a little tall in its shortest setting for my taste, but I'm still taking it with me.
 
Joined
Apr 9, 2012
Messages
1,847
Location
Fishhook, Alaska
My youngest sister married this guy a few years back. His cover story is that he is an optometrist and so is his twin brother; all Alaska residents. The brothers are excellent sportsmen having grown up climbing mountains in Alaska & Wyoming in pursuit of game.

Ha. I know those guys. Rode bikes and took apart of volkswagons with them when we were kids. Looking forward to seeing how this goes.
 
Joined
Mar 21, 2012
Messages
3,995
Location
Alaska
Sounds like you have a sense of humor and a good attitude, you're going to have a blast sheep hunting. Best of luck!
 

dotman

WKR
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
8,201
If you ever decide to hang up the trading game I think you have a future as secret agent hunting writer 😜
 
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Burnt Reynolds

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
May 29, 2015
Messages
272
Location
Silverton, OR
The whole missed elk equipment matter is no longer under investigation by the senate and while I've personally interrogated a number of people aboard prison ships the world over and officially it's a closed matter - I can't stop thinking about it. It's turned me into a man obsessed and has actually colored how I see a lot of non-hunting matters. I bought my trusty Mystery Ranch Marshall new several years ago and it's been through many hunts and is stained with mud & blood which would tell it's own story but with the handful of new kit items in my possession there's been a nightly ceremony wherein I pack and repack my pack several times in different configurations trying for the "light through the clouds" moment. I personally think this is a good habit especially if you're not the most experienced middle of nowhere hunter such as myself. It's actually pretty soothing to go through the motions of load configuration as well as function testing gear.

New kit items:
Hilleberg Akto (bought off Rokslide)
Leica Televid APO 16-48 x62 (bought off Rokslide)
Christensen Arms 308
New hike poles. Aluminum. Last set got bent when I landed on them after jumping over a creek.

Everything else is tried and true:
MSR Reactor stove
Lowa boots
Kuiu everything practically (God bless my wife, but try as she may I'll never look like a model)
Garmin 650
Swaro SLC 10x42
Fire kit
FAK
tools
toiletries
lights/batteries
There's also a good smattering of odds and ends.

Regarding the pack matter, I've basically got two options:

1) Stuff everything inside the main bag and go. Advantage is it's lower profile overall, less snagable and carries way better - much less sway and more of that locked in feeling I love. But it's packed super full. Stuffed so full it might require me to use some pants pockets. I hate having shit in my pockets, thus the reason for the chest harness. This way everything is on my torso and I know right where it is.
2) Kuiu bag with food & misc items on the meat shelf. This configuration leaves a lot of space in the main bag for things I won't be taking. It's sort of awkward compressing everything and isn't that bulbous of a load but seems like I could do better.
3) While I really like the Kuiu gear bags tonight I'll try emptying the small one which contains food, extra butt wipe, extra stove fuel, camp water bladders, etc and get all those items in the sleeping bag pocket at bottom of pack which in conjunction with the internal shelf should keep all the loose items in place. I think that will give me the extra couple inches on top I need. Plus it'll save me a few ounces and slightly lower how I carry the weight.

This is a good challenge for me. You see, in the past most of my missions sent me to tropical islands where I'd blend into the surroundings by surrounding myself with babes in bikini's that always had a great set of personalities. You know, the usual: racing Ferrari's away after retrieving the stolen dossier, gun fight always seems to follow, then enjoying female company on my 75 foot yacht in the afternoon while drinking good scotch and eating oysters. But all that became sort of ho-hum after a while. I figured this cold weather action is where it's at! You see, the thing with the islands is that you're always in sandals. I don't do well with sandals. Years ago my feet were a dumpster fire of athletes foot and nasty toe nail fungus. I just lived with it until it was impacting boot fit among other things. Took some prescription I got after a mission in Hong Kong and poof! everything cleared up. Except for one small bit of my right big toe.

As 2016 turned into 2017 and our sheep plans were starting to form and I was increasing the intensity and tempo of my workouts I would dream of scaling all the mountains in top fashion, strong as an ox and then greeted with 180 inch Dall sheep who desperately wants to go on plane ride. None of that will happen if you can't walk. They say take care of your feet. Save for the aforementioned long gone nasty I've never had problems with my feet, that is until now. I've got awful plantar fasciitis in my right heel and then last week at the gym I dropped a 25 lbs plate square on my right big toe. It hurt something fierce but I carried on. Then my toe turned into this swollen mess that looked like an elk carcass after being hit by a train. Suddenly I'm like wtf? Do I have a staff infection? With a freaking month to go until I'm wheels up? Wife implored me to go to the Dr, but I said not until I've completed my self-surgery. Most of my self-surgery is of the field grade type in that it usually involves my Leatherman, a blow torch and duct tape. I thought to myself as I worried about being a gimp on the mountain that I shouldn't be so damn weak, there are guys with cancer or who are missing a leg who do these hunts on shows like Sheep Shape, I need to toughen up. A stupid toe injury of all things. Take care of your feet. Lucky for me, the swelling has gone down considerably because I'm part self-healing cyborg which is also another story...
 

blackdog

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Messages
211
Wife implored me to go to the Dr, but I said not until I've completed my self-surgery. Most of my self-surgery is of the field grade type in that it usually involves my Leatherman, a blow torch and duct tape. .

This (along with many other parts of this story) cracked me up! I'm glad I'm not alone.
 

Steve O

WKR
Classified Approved
Joined
Feb 29, 2012
Messages
2,877
Location
Michigan
Yep. I'm in.

Son is going off to college in a matter of days with hopes of being a surgeon...I've already let him know there are programs to go work in AK for a few years to pay off those medical school loans!
 
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