Dall Sheep Pics

GaryinPA · Nov 18, 2003

Here is a picture of the dall sheep I took this August. This was my first sheep hunt and was something I dreamed about for a long, long time. I hunted the Wrangell Mountains in Alaska with Ellis Big Game Guides. EBGG is a first class opeation! He may not be a record book ram but I'm thrilled with him.

Here are all of the rams taken during the hunt, 5 for 5.

YELUM · Nov 18, 2003

That picture made me dizzy. Super ram though. Thanks for sharing.
Yelum

kilowatt · Nov 18, 2003

Congrats to you Gary on that great Ram. Man what a sight there in that picture, one better be sure footed and not make a mistake and slip, or you might be kissing your rear good bye.
What did your ram score? The group picture is really nice too.

Brian

Blueoak · Nov 19, 2003

Nice Ram! I love that country, looks like everyone did well.

GaryinPA · Nov 19, 2003

Brian-
Thanks for the kudos. In all honestly, I can't say I scored the ram. It didn't really matter to me. But I do have a chart that provides some guidelines to the scoring. I did check that so I guess it matters just a little! He's just shy of 36" in length and has bases of 13.5". That should put him in the low 150's according to that chart. Of course, that's before taking into account the ram's right side which is slightly broomed.
Gary

3bigelk · Nov 21, 2003

Congrate's,
You just lived my dream hunt. Could you please let me know how much a hunt with this outfit would run a guy?
Thanks
JT

GaryinPA · Nov 24, 2003

JT-

Here is a the address to the EBGG website. Pricing information is there. Prices for next year have increased a bit from '03. It hurt to write checks for that amount of dough but it was worth every penny. I'd do it again in a second.

http://www.ellisbiggameguides.freewebspace.com/index.htm

BCBOY · Nov 24, 2003

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome! I've got to hunt Dall's one day. Thanks for sharing the picture.

hunterjmj · Nov 25, 2003

Gary,

That is an awesome ram... Whats the story?? I want to hear the story.... Great Ram congrats..

Jer

NVBighorn · Nov 26, 2003

Great ram and great picture. I can only dream. I see that Eastern FNAWS is raffling a hunt with Ellis this year. Guess there goes a few more pesos. Damm sheep junkies.

woodey · Nov 26, 2003

Gary, I also hunted with the Ellis crew in 2002 on a cancellation hunt. Anyone looking for a great outfit, needs to look no further. The Ellis family and their entire operation is first rate. Kirk is a great pilot, the guides are great hunters, and lots of sheep. I shot my ram in Mosquito Drainage and also hunted in Edge Creek Drainage. Check out my ram in the 2002 photos. I am the guy wearing the S.F. Giants hat. Glad you had a great trip, and what a beautiful ram. I'm am also hooked for life.

Woody

GaryinPA · Nov 26, 2003

Woody-

Nice ram! We just need to get you a Phillies cap. I hunted in Edge Creek too. Never had a need to go anywhere else! It took me all of 12 hours to kill my ram. Heck, the only reason it took that long is because we got pinned down twice by smaller rams for hours! But watching those critters is just awesome.

We came in from above on the ram I took. He was with three others. To make a long story short, we closed in on them while they were bedded. The whole time, all I saw was the ram's left side. I was set at 200 yards, crosshairs on the bedded ram just waiting for him to stand...and he finally turns his head and looks uphill. At that point I see he is slightly broomed on the right side and tell my guide, Carey, I think I am going to pass. Well, Carey is as mild mannered and quiet as they come...until you tell him your going to pass on a really good ram! At this point the ram starts to stand up and Carey is getting a little more nervous. In the back of my mind I hear that little voice saying..."trust your guide". Ka-Boom! Wow, I'm glad I listened to that voice in my head (and my my guide). I'll try and shoot one next time that isn't broomed. Matter of fact, all but one of the rams killed while I was there had at least one broomed horn.

And you sure are right about the Ellis crew. If somebody wants to go on a first rate sheep hunt, they are wasting their time looking anywhere else. I kind of stumbled into the Ellis crew. But man am I glad I did.

If you get a second, tell us about your hunt.

Gary

PleaseDear · Nov 26, 2003

Nice Ram congrats! backpack or horse hunt??

GaryinPA · Nov 27, 2003

Fly in & backpack from there.

woodey · Nov 27, 2003

Gary, Got offered a cancellation hunt. Had to pay the balance and be ready to go in three weeks. Started in Edge Creek. Hunted a ram they called crooked horn, but passed. He was a fine ram, but like your first girl, wanted one with two beautiful horns. Seemed like everytime we zigged the sheep would zag.While in Edge we hunted up the left drainage and got on a group of 16 rams. There was a real bomber in the bunch, but all the rams were too close together for a shot. Have never been scared before on a hunt until the climb we made chasing after those rams. At least three times during that climb I truly felt scared. Anyway we got within about 350 - 400 yards of the group before they spooked and that was that.Stayed in Edge for three days and then Kirk flew us into Mosquito. We got on rams each day as well, but something would always happen. Either the wind would shift, one day a grizzly spooked the rams we were hunting, always something. Finally on day 8 of my hunt,able to get within about 400 - 450 yards of a group of 13. We lost the rangefinder in Edge creek when it slipped out of my hand, and the last time I saw it, it was tumbling out of sight 1000 yards below us. So the yardage was a quess, but the shooting was long. I shot one of the two biggest, and was a very happy camper. The ram fell down a avalanche shute. That is how he got so dirty and bloody. Anyways, like all who go sheep hunting, that was the start of the addidiction. Now I can say that my name is Woody and I am addicted.

Anyone looking for there first sheep hunt or a dall sheep hunt, needs to look no further than Ellis Big Game Guides. Over 40 years of making it happen, with lots of happy hunters.

Woody

cb · Nov 28, 2003

Gary, congratulations on a beautiful ram. Looks like you earned him from the looks of the country. It also looks like Ellis runs a nice outfit. I did look at their website and thought a couple things were.... say we say odd???

Average ram is 35" with 12-13 bases and "hunters are encouraged NOT to pass any rams as another may not be seen." The site also says they take 1 or 2 rams in the 38-40" range every year.

Are the rams in that area smaller genetically than the ones in the Yukon and NWT???? I must be missing something because the $$ of the hunts look about the same. Help me out.

Again, very nice ram. Thanks, Cal

GaryinPA · Dec 2, 2003

Cal-

Thanks for the kind words.

As far as answering your questions, I don't know if I'm qualified. This was my first sheep hunt and I didn't spend time researching the Yukon and NWT hunts for the simple reason that I wanted to hunt Alaska. I can't really say why. Just something I needed to do before they put me in the box, if you know what I mean! Anyway, I think the averages that the EBGG website quotes are reasonable, if not maybe a little conservative. In my experience, the best outfitters are the ones who don't promise you too much. During my stay at the outfit, the five rams taken were between 34" (broomed on both sides) to 36". All of the bases were well north of 12". Most were 13+" class. And they sure do kill bigger rams than that. If this is smaller than a NWT or Yukon ram, and I really have no idea if it is, I suppose it may have something to do with genetics and horn configuration.

As far as passing a legal ram, read Woody's story above. He sure did it and still had success. I can tell from first hand experience that nobody's got a gun to your head to drop the hammer on the first legal ram spotted. I was about to pass and my guide told me I was making a mistake. Turns out I'm glad I listened to him.

Other things that may need to be considered when comparing prices are the method of transport and length of hunt. Kirk uses aircraft and offers 10 days of hunting. And he told me before I booked if I needed more time and could stay away from home/family/work, he would take care of me.

woodey · Dec 3, 2003

Cal, Will try to answer your questions. Never have been to the Yukon or the NWT, so no clue about the size differences. However, the guide I hunted with in Alaska, commented that the truly big ones are in the Yukon. However, were we were hunting was about 60 miles from the Yukon border. Like Gary commented on, absolutely no pressure to shoot the 1st ram you see. The 1st ram we saw was a ram that they called crooked horn. one side was about 40 plus, the other side was deformed and had started growing into the rams face. He had obtained legendary status, after a couple of close calls with hunters over the years. Actually, the guy who cancelled on his trip, which I hunted on, had booked specifically to hunt this ram only. The guide really wanted me to shoot this ram, and it would have been a relatively easy stalk and shot, but wanted one with two good horns. My passing on that ram had no effect on my guides determination to get on another. Re your question about being encouraged to shoot the first legal ram. I think this has to do with the rough country and most hunters are not prepared to get after it, after a couple of days. Also, the sheep are as wild as can be. If they even think somethings up, they were gone, like smoke in the wind. The good news is lots of rams. We put on hunts every day on rams, just something would go wrong. We hunted one group of 16 and the bunch I got my ram had 13, with about half of that bunch being legal. We hunted other rams from a single to groups from three to five rams. My ram had horns a little over 36 inches and had bases over 14 inches. We busted a** for 8 days. I'm glad I did pass on the ram they called crooked horn, because it would have been over the very 1st day. My 1st trip to Alaska and my very 1st sheep hunt was just like the Jack O'Conner stories I read almost every day when I was a young pup.

I hope this answers your questions, and if looking for a great dall sheep hunt, the Ellis crew is 1st rate. Kirk and his brother are excellent pilots, have great country, with a crew that will hunt as hard and as long as the hunter wants to go.

Woody

cb · Dec 3, 2003

Thanks guys. Congralutions on some great rams. Sounds like you both have the fever like some of the rest of us. Good luck on your future sheep hunts. I know you'll have more to come. later, cb

Blueoak · Dec 4, 2003

Guys, I have hunted NWT twice. I killed good rams both times. I will bring back my post, so you can see one of them. He is 38 and the bases are 15 1/4. Both trips guys killed 40's.I went with Redstone outfitters and had great trips. The country is amazing. You can combine it with mountain carriboo{sp}. They are everywhere up there and huge. Also, the guides won't let you shoot a ram they judge under ten years of age, because they get brownie points with the wildlife guys.