Sheeping Trip 2012

Steep Slopes

The sheep scouting trip was a huge success and no rams were spotted. What? Yes, you read that right. Let me explain.

Steve and I had an initial plan for access on this hunt and with the newbie kiddo at home, scouting opportunities were going to be limited this summer. A prior attempt with Paisley and me hitting the ATV trail ended abruptly with me swamping my ATV, underwater, miles from the trailhead. Sheesh, talk about an ordeal. It only took me five hours of freezing my toes off in waist deep water to get that thing muscled around and started again. All that with a 1.5 year old sitting on the grassy slope constantly wanting to slide down and play in the water kept me going back and forth between kid and atv duties. A submerged cell phone not working for the drive home added to Liz’s worry about us until we finally showed up, mud everywhere, just after midnight. That was a great Father’s Day, one for the books for sure!

Okay, now the success part. I hit the same trail again, this time just me, the dog, the ATV (renewed after 6 oil changes), with my pack ready for some hiking and finding those rams. For various reasons, even with getting past the water successfully, this trail wasn’t going to work out for us to hike. I called it the trail from hell. It was swampy, buggy, wet, brushy, nasty, filthy, get mud on your lips kind of horribleness. Probably a normal 4 wheeler’s dream but not for this ORV amateur. And since we would be hiking in on the hunt, all I could think of was “this is really going to suck and we’re going to need waders.” A Sat phone call to Steve over a midday coffee break had me figuring out what to do next since I didn’t have my notes for alternate access with me. We soon had it figured out and I was ready to get out of there. I picked whitesocks out of my coffee, gulped it down before any new bugs could dive in, and turned the mechanized transportation around to head back to the truck.

Water Break

The new spot we picked to try was flat out awesome. It wasn’t long before I was above tree line and hiking across a high basin of goodness towards a distant mountain pass. It sure felt good to be hiking, and I smiled at the thought of “using the quads God gave you.” There’s something about hiking in the high country that’s just all around good for the mind, body, and soul.

18 Hour Camp

Up and over a couple mountain ridges and I was starting feel like I was getting close to a pretty good starting point. A small band of ewes on a distant green mountain slope hinted at better things to come. It was 7pm when I put the spotting scope away and found a place to set up the tent as it started to rain. 18 hours later with the clouds pressed in and about, it was time to get going back home. I climbed much more than I needed to getting out of there; being in new country and trying to find the right spot to slip over a mountain ridge in the fog has it’s challenges. It ended up being a good get-in-shape hike despite the rain.

The "go home" View

Back home I scored with my shortened trip by having an extra day with the family.

So where’s the success?

Well, having a route figured out to get you back to where you want to get too without aimless wanderings around in places that are hellish is huge. Or worse, time lost with miles and miles of backtracking can be devastating on a weeklong trip. Knowing your access, especially for those difficult to reach areas, is crucial intel for the makings of a successful sheep hunt.

Only fifteen days to go till Steve and I slip by the “18hr” camp spot as we make our way further and further into the mountains in search of Dall Rams.

July and Sheep Training

July is a great month with the countdown to opening day of sheep season only one flip of the calander away.  This is the month that sheep hunters in Alaska really start to amp up their summer training.  Folks can be seen early morning and late evening hiking the neighborhoods with backpacks weighted packs.  For me, it's looking a little different this year as I've had to get a bit creative with it.  I've still hit a few of the local mountains, including a 45 min hike up Flattop with the 60lb pack...not too shabby, and a buddy and I even dumped our water jugs out on Wolverine Peak after an evening hike.  6.5 gallons of water in the backpack makes for about the perfect training hike and being able to unload all that weight up high, saves the knees on the decent.  I'm liking this a lot more than the bag of dirt I used to haul up and down mountains.

Other alternative ways to train for the family man sheep hunter includes giving the daughter rides rides around the yard atop the pack/shoulders while I mow the lawn.  What's that make, 80lbs for an hour. 
See, everything applies to sheep hunting!
Of course my favorite training is hauling a truck load of firewood out of the woods on a wheel barrow.  Last night I brought home the third load of such.  Paisley came along on this last one to join in on the late evening fun.  Piggyback rides while dad pushed the wheel barrow resulted in another good work out as I turned 100yrds into a couple miles!  I don't take the pack filled with water on these excursions...the demand is already enough to soak a shirt.

The Boy

Sage Emerson Luber
June 29, 2012

Sage -  “Does not wisdom call out...from the heights along the way where the paths meet.” Sage has all the connotations of wisdom and as Proverbs says, wisdom is found in the high places, the mountain ridges, where a man walks narrow trails, step for step with God in awe of His creation.

Sage also captures the allure of the West.  The “West” has for me always been the high country where the sage meets the pines and it holds all sorts of adventure, exploring, and wonder of the cowboy.  The smell of wild sage beckons one to leave what’s familiar and comfortable; to enjoy a remote campfire, and to hear God speak in the wilds.

Emerson -  This one won out on the short list of names that we thought would fit.  It means Brave, Wise, Powerful, and the Victorious son of the Leader.  The “wise” fits well with Sage and the latter part tells me that he’s going to be a better man than me.

...Sage Emerson

Youth Hunt 2012

The Crew



                 My fifth year with this Proving Trail Adventures youth hunt was a trip that in all aspects, reminded me of how much I enjoy doing this; taking kids on an adventure that’s bigger than anything they’ve done before…and for most of them, their first hunt.  This being one way I can share my love for God and the outdoors with others.

                This year’s hunter, Levi, was new to hunting Alaska but that’s it.  At thirteen years old, he’s put a few whitetails in the freezer and this kid can hike!  His dad’s a good friend of mine and this was to be Levi’s initiation to manhood trip.  Or better put, welcome to the journey to manhood.



Levi - The Bear Hunter

                Other than a couple days of strong winds, we had awesome weather and enjoyed the sun on our face.  Bears did their part by making a great showing to keep things lively.  The first evening into camp had us stalking up the mountainside with multiple bears to pursue.  The highlight of the trip came as we snuck up on a ridge top and had two lone bears close by.  One was moving away at 315 yrds so he was out of the picture.  The other was a big bear, up in the top of a cottonwood tree, feeding on new leaf buds and oblivious to our presence.  We snuck to 196 yrds and got ready for the shot; it was a perfect set up, but I couldn’t give him the okay to shoot.  I knew that an hour before there’d been a bear with cubs up in this area so I explained that we were going to wait till we could be sure.  I picked apart the little patch of trees and surrounding area with my binoculars and couldn’t find anything but I decided we’d wait till the bear climbed down and moved out of the patch of trees to see if anything would follow.  After a long 10 minutes the bear finished it’s meal, clambered down the rough bark, and meandered out into the meadow across from us.  Sure enough, three little cubs came out of nowhere and followed her.  Levi, who’d never seen a bear before, was thrilled with the moment.



Doing what it takes to get these guys bears



                That experience later fueled a good chat around the campfire about the importance of a man’s character in decision making and being able to think in the midst of a situation and not just react.  I explained that there’s more than a few hunters out there who would have thought nothing other than “here’s my chance to be successful” and shot that bear within the 10 minutes that we waited, but that it would have broken your heart to walk up to it and suddenly have some scared cubs  start scurrying about.





The Stalk

                The next evening we had a nice bear start feeding in the corner of a meadow.  A half hour later we were creeping across the same clearing while judging hand signals from another buddy down at camp.  Things quickly got exciting for those watching from camp as we were suddenly 30 yards directly above the bear, which was feeding towards us.  Our view only provided a shadowy glimpse of his back due to the terrain.  I advised Levi to lock and load and coached him quietly as the bear continued to come closer.  Finally, at 17yrds, he had a broadside shot and put a bullet right through the shoulders.  Both dad and son commented on how things were starting to get “a little intense” in those final few moments.  I still smile thinking of how that evening went.  It’s fun stuff for sure with black bears on a mountainside.

                After a great breakfast the next day, we did what we could trying to burn up all the dry wood around, cooked some of the bear meat, enjoyed all the wildlife, and did a little exploring.  Those guys made the trip home with tired legs and great stories to share with everyone back home.



Breakfast