ALASKA SHEEP HUNTING

Alaska’s sheep hunting season always opens on August 10th, which is the end of summer for all practical purposes. The mountains get nippy at night and the rainy season is in full bloom, leaving hunters stranded at airports waiting for their guides or stuck in tents in downpours that won’t stop. I’ve often told people to dress in rain gear, run the cold water in their bathroom showers, and crawl around on their hands and knees in the spray if they want to know what sheep hunting is like. It’s amazing how long bad weather can last.

The biggest challenge for sheep hunters is their physical conditioning, and the only way to properly prepare yourself is to climb up and down mountains. Otherwise, it makes no difference how long you jog, do sit ups, and work out in a gym you’re never quite in shape for rough terrain. I would always drive to Flattop Mountain, located in the Chugach State Park just east of Anchorage, and work out for at least a month on its slopes so I was ready for what lay ahead of me. The Alaskan Range, the Chugach Mountains, and the Wrangell Mountains take no prisoners, and the Brooks Range, although not as precipitous as the first three, still requires top conditioning. Legal rams live in steep places.

There are three things you have to carry on a sheep hunt—great binoculars, a powerful spotting scope, and a flat-shooting rifle. The reason for the optics is obvious, but choosing the right artillery is a bit more complicated. Dall sheep aren’t any harder to kill than deer, but the windy distances that bullets must cross can be challenging. What’s more, you’re always in grizzly country and don’t want face one with something like a .243 or .308. Carry a cannon that can shoot 300 yards in crosswinds and flatten bears in one blast.

Nothing compares to taking a full-curl ram, so make that your next goal.