T minus 2 weeks until I fly to Anchorage! For those that don’t know I’m heading up to hunt Dall Sheep. What was just a dream is becoming a reality.
I knew I wanted to hunt sheep if possible in my lifetime, but I didn’t think it would happen for many years. I had about half the money I needed and a plan to slowly build it over the years without impacting our other life goals. My grandmother died in December at 102 years young. At Christmas I received a very unexpected, modest monetary gift. Not enough money to significantly change the timeframe of any of our big life goals, but I realized it was enough to just barely make my dream of hunting sheep come true. I realized I could do that now, while I’m still relatively young and fit and probably have a more enjoyable hunt than if I were to go in 20 or 30 years.
I knew it was very late to be booking a sheep hunt and that I would probably have a pretty hard time finding an opening. But I started looking around at prices and searching for recommended outfitters. I found an outfitter that was in my price range and came highly recommended and emailed him. Amazingly he had a space. After talking to him on the phone he told me that he usually saves one spot to sell at the SCI show, but since it had been cancelled it was available and it was mine if I wanted it. Now I really had to make a decision as I knew this hunt would be gone if I didn’t jump on it. I got some references from him and started making calls. After having honest conversations with four of his previous clients I felt comfortable booking and did so. The months have flown by since I booked in January and now it’s go time! I booked with Steve Johnson of Ultimate Alaskan Adventures. My interactions with him so far have given me confidence but I obviously can’t comment further at this point. If you want to see what this hunt will be like, watch Western Hunter season 5, episode 3, “The Pinnacle.” In this episode Chris Denham and Mike Duplan go on the exact same hunt with the same outfitter.
This is considered one of the more difficult sheep hunts and he likes to book younger guys for it if possible. My outfitter tells me it’s about a day and a half of walking to get into the sheep. It is in the Chugach range several hours outside of Anchorage.
That’s about all I have to say for now. I'm sure I won't be able to update during the hunt but I'll do a write-up when I get back. I'm happy to answer any questions or do anything I can to help push any of you into this sort of thing. I hope I can inspire someone to take the plunge and make a dream a reality…. This is much more than just a sheep hunt for me, it will be an incredible mountain adventure that I’ll remember long, long after the sheep meat is gone. Get after those adventure hunts!
I knew I wanted to hunt sheep if possible in my lifetime, but I didn’t think it would happen for many years. I had about half the money I needed and a plan to slowly build it over the years without impacting our other life goals. My grandmother died in December at 102 years young. At Christmas I received a very unexpected, modest monetary gift. Not enough money to significantly change the timeframe of any of our big life goals, but I realized it was enough to just barely make my dream of hunting sheep come true. I realized I could do that now, while I’m still relatively young and fit and probably have a more enjoyable hunt than if I were to go in 20 or 30 years.
I knew it was very late to be booking a sheep hunt and that I would probably have a pretty hard time finding an opening. But I started looking around at prices and searching for recommended outfitters. I found an outfitter that was in my price range and came highly recommended and emailed him. Amazingly he had a space. After talking to him on the phone he told me that he usually saves one spot to sell at the SCI show, but since it had been cancelled it was available and it was mine if I wanted it. Now I really had to make a decision as I knew this hunt would be gone if I didn’t jump on it. I got some references from him and started making calls. After having honest conversations with four of his previous clients I felt comfortable booking and did so. The months have flown by since I booked in January and now it’s go time! I booked with Steve Johnson of Ultimate Alaskan Adventures. My interactions with him so far have given me confidence but I obviously can’t comment further at this point. If you want to see what this hunt will be like, watch Western Hunter season 5, episode 3, “The Pinnacle.” In this episode Chris Denham and Mike Duplan go on the exact same hunt with the same outfitter.
This is considered one of the more difficult sheep hunts and he likes to book younger guys for it if possible. My outfitter tells me it’s about a day and a half of walking to get into the sheep. It is in the Chugach range several hours outside of Anchorage.
That’s about all I have to say for now. I'm sure I won't be able to update during the hunt but I'll do a write-up when I get back. I'm happy to answer any questions or do anything I can to help push any of you into this sort of thing. I hope I can inspire someone to take the plunge and make a dream a reality…. This is much more than just a sheep hunt for me, it will be an incredible mountain adventure that I’ll remember long, long after the sheep meat is gone. Get after those adventure hunts!
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