Page 19 - Safari Trails

sheep had probably relocated into the sunlight on
…. It began raining as we worked on the the other side. The only practical way to glass the
caribou. The weather just wouldn’t cooperate on southern and eastern slopes was to scale this
this hunt. Our pack train started back to spike camp mountain.
about seven that evening, with several hours of Tethering the horses at the base, we began
daylight remaining. We glassed occasionally as we the steep, treacherous ascent. Once again I found
returned, and on a distant mountain we spied seven myself on all fours
rams in a bachelor group. One had churning in shale and
non-typical horns, a physical scree. After an
abnormality. These strangely exhausting hour and
configured horns differed from a half of climbing,
the usual symmetrical curl on scrambling and
both sides of the ram’s head. crawling, we reached
I had seen a few of these the summit.
non-typical sheep mounts We made our
before and always wanted one. way to the edge of
Here was my opportunity. I got the south rim to
excited fast. Billy was more search for the sheep.
than happy to accommodate, The view below was
hoping to eliminate this stunning. A wide
anomaly from the gene pool in valley of trees and
his hunting units. Most sheep water unfolded for
hunters, especially novices, miles to the left and
don’t want a non-typical right. Dark shadows from
specimen. My outfitter said he wouldn’t even charge the various peaks contrasted with the brightly lit
me a trophy fee for the caribou if I would shoot this green landscape below. Finally, a blue-bird day on
strangely horned Stone ram. It was a deal. We this hunt. The scenery was mesmerizing—but we
planned to return the next morning to hunt this had sheep to find.
unique prize. We sat on the rim of this treeless, shale-
We stumbled into camp at nine-thirty. We covered summit scouring the slopes below. On this
were tired, cold, wet and sweaty. After laying out the relatively warm, sunny day, Billy thought that the
caribou meat to cool in the night air, we put together sheep would be browsing and bedding on the shale
a quick spaghetti dinner. I had hoped for grilled slopes below us. Frustratingly, the sheep were not
caribou backstraps, but we were too worn out to where they were supposed to be. In the distance
make the effort. I crawled into my sleeping bag below, I could make out the lush, little valley where
exhausted but still pretty excited about hunting that we had taken the caribou the previous afternoon.
non-typical ram the next morning. I wouldn’t be We glassed futilely for a couple of hours and
sleeping much that night. into early afternoon. I thought of all the energy we
Up by six for a quick breakfast, we rode out at had expended to get up here. What a
seven in bright sunshine toward the mountain with disappointment if our efforts were wasted. Billy said
the non-typical ram. A little more than an hour later that he was going over to a nearby ridge to glass in
we were glassing the slopes of the mountain where another direction. He wanted Cayman and I to stay
we had seen the rams the previous evening. No put and wait for a signal if he spotted the rams. If all
sheep. From the base of the mountain, we could only of us were walking around the rim, the sheep would
glass the northern and western slopes. Billy said the more likely see our silhouettes on the skyline. 19