2012 Sheep Hunt

I took my great friend Rob to my sheep hunting area. We had to walk through this creek bed that cuts through the mountains to get to it. This picture shows the terrain we had to manage for a few miles. You really have to watch your step if you don't want go home early. Ankles and knees take a beating.

 We woke up on opening day to dense fog and visibility that was less than 100 yards. I love the ptarmigan silhouettes. Or are those rocks. Is that why some of them are called rock ptarmigan?

 It can be quite challenging when you're hunting in this kind of visibility.

 This is where we camped. We hunted the mountains behind us. We saw many sheep, 20-30 of which were rams. Of those, only 2 were close enough to full curl that we even studied them for more than a minute. Sadly, we too no pictures of them. We got so lost in watching and studying them without getting busted that we never even got our cameras out.

 So, after we quit sheep hunting, we decided to go bear hunting. We had seen one the night before we hiked in. Any one who knows me knows I have a bit of clownery engrained in me. Rob does too. There was record snow fall last winter. Two years ago, there wasn't any snow remaining in the creek bed. I couldn't resist a photo.

 This is Gunsight mountain. Of the last six years I spent in Alaska, I rarely saw this mountain top when it wasn't enshrouded by clouds. When I did see it, I didn't take a picture. Now it is mine forever!