See this story in the Summer 2008 Issue of Trophy Hunter Magazine

A big Idaho Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep.

As with all stories, this one starts with a simple impulse. On April 30th, 2007 I was in the Driggs Idaho Corner Drug store getting what I hoped to be the summer supply of allergy medicine for my 6th summer in Teton Valley Idaho. While I was waiting for the prescription, I filled out the form for my annual fishing and hunting license combo. Elsie Woulk mentioned that the 30th was the last day for application on controlled hunts so coincidentally I put in for my first lottery try on Big Horn Sheep. No one I know has ever drawn a Sheep Tag in Idaho so I put in for my wife Star at the same time hoping to increase the odds. In early June I stopped as I do every morning to check our P.O. box and found the expected sorry Charlie note from Idaho Fish and Game on Star’s draw request. Strangely there was no note on mine. I figured the mail was just a day late on mine and expected the same in a day or so. We live in Felt Idaho population 52. We get the USA Today guaranteed delivery tomorrow, so a delay in the mail is not a crisis. The next day sure enough the letter from Idaho Fish and Game came for me in exactly the same looking envelope as had been sent to Star. I almost threw the dang thing out without opening it but being a glutton for punishment I opened it expecting to see the reject wording. Imagine my shock and delight when the letter started out with Congratulations!

I asked Star [my wife] if she wanted to go. Happily for me, she was very positive about a combo hunt for Sheep and Deer which we booked. George and I were both surprised when she not only said yes to the trip, but wrote out her own check for half the cost. Of course the surprise was over when she quietly said that she could not think of a better way to spend our 4th anniversary which I had totally forgotte! I fear there may be a pay back in my future, which if I am lucky may be another hunt trip.

Tag Drawn.Trip Booked…next came the conditioning which consisted of 3 to 5 treadmill days each week, some diet changes and a commitment to take advantage of the great hiking we enjoy near our home at the foot of the Grand Teton. Lucky for me we live at 6800 feet in elevation. I dropped a few pounds and increased my wind a bit but even a fairly fit 62 year old will have a tough time in the River of No Return Wilderness. There is no terrain more vertical in the state and the big rams do not hang out at the bottom. We would have to go up to have any chance of these tremendous creatures.

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The stage was set and now the work began. I was able to follow through on most of the conditioning and could not wait for the flight in to area 26. My hope was to be able to get in position to see Rams and if I was lucky enough to get a chance to stalk, be in shape to do my job. The way I see it the guide does most of the hunting and the hunter is along for a lifetime adventure and the thrilling experience of hunting North America’s toughest game trophy. My job was to keep up (no easy task), keep quiet and shoot straight if given the opportunity. The flight with our pilot Steve was through some cloud cover and involved looking for a hole in the clouds to clear the highest of the ridges. Star was in the front of the small 4 seat Cessna and I was in the back with our gear. The country was rocky, grey and vertical dropping down thousands of feet to the Salmon River and its many small tributaries. We rolled and weaved through the mountain canyons and descended toward a small landing strip some 60 miles from the nearest road or trail head. The Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness is the largest mass of land in the lower forty eight without roads. As we circled in, I could make out two strings of horses and mules heading for the small strip. We soon found out that the welcome party was four hunters coming out and the High Country crew ready to get us on our way. After a smooth landing on the gravel strip we spent some time on introductions and watched as the outfitters unpacked deer, elk and gear for the departing group and packed up the gear we had brought. Among this group was Jeremy Haney a 21 year old fire fighter who grew up on a horse ranch in Oklahoma. In the 34 degree grey morning, Jeremy had on a cotton tee shirt and coon skin cap that one of the departing hunters had dared him to wear. When I learned that Jeremy was to be one on our guides, I wondered if my fate was to spend two weeks in the mountains with a hillbilly. It turns out that Jeremy like most of the young wranglers and guides was taking up the challenge of mountain living and working to save some cash for school. What these boys make generally goes to savings since it is pretty hard to spend money when you are in the wilderness for months on end. It was October 12th and Jeremy had been in the wilderness since August. He came out with us at the end of our hunt and went to do some hunting of his own hear his home east of Boise.

The outfitter, had told me that besides Jeremy, we would be hunting with an experienced sheep guide Shane Reynolds from Boise. When the gear was nearly packed, a second small plane landed and we met Shane for the first time. This was the time for first impressions and Shane made a good one. Square shouldered, pigeon chested, thin waist and piston legs, Shane was the ultimate walking machine and I found out soon enough a dog nuts sheep man. We would trust our fate to this man for at least ten days and I was impressed by his professional demeanor. On the other hand I would have a lot to do to change Shane’s first impression of the couple he first met on that small air strip. You see my grandfather had been a hunt guide and school teacher in Basalt Colorado in the 20′s. I do not hunt in camo, I still have my Trapper Nelson wood frame pack, the gun I shoot best weighs 11.5 lbs and I think we may be the first grey haired old hunter and wife combo that Shane had guided. No high tech here just old school. Shane would later find out that Star was raised without her mother by a father who valued hunting and the outdoors. She has hunted deer since her eighth year and spent two years working cattle in southern Oregon.

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Sleeping on the ground and enduring freezing temperatures is nothing new to my bride. Shane of course did not know any of this until day three or four. His first thought was they brought too much gear (he was right) and he might be in for a tough trip. Shane’s first comment to me after the name exchange was “Are you tough?” I was puzzled at first but now remembering how we must have looked to him, it was and appropriate question. I told Shane that I had killed sheep before and thought that I would be as tough as I had to be. He told me that George had a spot that had not seen any pressure and held some good Rams. Shane also told me that I was the guy he would be taking along to harvest a big one. There was a resolve in Shane’s comments and a commitment to making this a fruitful hunt. Later I found out that this was Shane’s 20th sheep hunt with a client and this would be his 15th kill. Most impressive though is the fact that in a mix of Rocky Mountain, Dall, and Desert sheep hunts, Shane has given his clients 100% opportunity under 200 yards from a dead rest.

From the air strip, it was off to the base camp for a quick few minutes to pack food and a small tent for Star and I. Shane and Jeremy planned to sleep on the horse blankets under a tarp. Pedro, a stocky paint horse, was my ride and became a friend as well. High Country has good stock and there would be no outfitter rodeos on this trip. I asked the fellows what they were packing for food and Shane nicely reminded me that we were here to hunt not to eat. The bill of fare would be ready meals, energy bars, oatmeal, coff