Epilogue to 2010 Sheep Hunt

Following the successful harvest of a great ram with scenery to match…let me tell you about what is involved after the harvest.  Lots of work.  Albiet work that is easily done when you’re smiling after a successful hunt!!

Deboning all the meat and looking after the cape is an important part of the hunt.  We deboned the entire ram.  All 4 quarters, backstraps, tenderloins and even the ribs.  Given how late in the hunt it was, we knew we had a lot of ground to make up and it was without delay that we would start out right away and go as long as we could before setting up camp for the first night. 

Fully loaded and ready to go.  Pack weight is well in excess of 100 lbs with meat, and head (which still wasn’t caped out at that point).  We would hike hard with no break until we were well into the timbered valley again that was familiar to us.  Its much easier and quicker covering ground when you know what to expect and what lays ahead!!  It was still a big grunt effort. 

That night rain moved in and we were tired, so we figured to spend a few hours resting while I looked after the caping of the ram.   Chef extraordinaire, Brent, took that time while I was caping out the head, to gather wood and build a fire in order to cook what has to be the highlight of the trip.  Sheep ribs sprinkled with seasoning and slow cooked over the coals of the fire.  Absolutly scrumptious.  Many sheep hunters don’t bother with the ribs when packing out a sheep.  They are missing out the best part of the sheep hunt, and that is ribs over a fire.  It is delicious. 

 

After a great feast of greasy ribs!  I set about the task of turning the ears, eyes, lips and nose.  Brent tackled the skull to clean off the flesh and remove the lower jaw. 

Brent working away.

Soon after … we packed and loaded up our packs!!  With full stomachs and renewed energy we struck off.  Another long day of hiking with heavy loads.  Not much was said as we knew we had a long ways to go.  Pretty much the only conversation centered around, “Lets take a break for a few minutes.”  At this point we were hitting all those streams (I prefer to call them small rivers) and fast water crossings.  This time, instead of taking our packs off to put our crocs on, we just taped the bottoms of our boots and trudged on through.  This saved a lot of time.  We each took turns standing by in case one of us fell into the water.  Heavy loads combined with fast water can make for tricky crossings.  One important thing to do is to undo all the buckles on your pack, and take your hands out of the hiking pole straps.  Should you fall, you want to be able to get out of your pack as fast as you can.   This is just one crossing I decided to snap a couple photos of Brent.    We would yet  make another camp that night.  Our 2nd day enroute with loaded packs.  We were exhausted to say the least and we didn’t even bother cooking dinner but downed a protein bar and turned into bed to sleep.   This is what happens when you push yourself deep into sheep country.   Like the old saying, what goes up must come down …. can apply to how far one hikes into the mountains.

Brent making one of the many crossings we would do.

We woke up early on our third day to start our backpacking the rest of the way to make it out.  We were 2 very very tired hunters at this point but we would make it.    Looking back, we pushed quite hard to cover ground and consequently our cameras never came out of their pouches.   I will have to remind myself to do so next time.   We were both happy and tired and just wanted to start the road home. 

Exhausted on the 3rd day of backpacking … but still grinning!!

The beaver!! 

Quickly loaded up for the drive home!!  The salted cape and all the meat was stored in the cooler we brought.  Back at the lodge at Muncho Lake, we were able to get ice to keep the meat cold for the drive home.   We thanked Marianne and Urs for their wonderful service and flying once again on a great sheep hunting adventure.  

I hope you all enjoyed reading about this Stone’s sheep hunting adventure and this inspires new and aspiring sheep hunters to make your dreams a reality and one day pursuing mountain monarchs…and to those with sheep hunting experiences under their belt, a renewed thirst to pursue sheep as well as rekindle your own past and future adventures in the mountains.

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