Hunts On Outfitting Podcast
Stories! As hunters and outdoors people that seems to be a common thing we all have lots of. Join your amateur guide and host on this channel Ken as he gets tales from guys and gals. Chasing that trophy buck for years to an entertaining morning on the duck pond, comedian ones, to interesting that's what you are going to hear. Also along with some general hunting discussions from time to time but making sure to leave political talks out of it. Don't take this too serious as we sure don't! If you enjoy this at all or find it fun to listen to, we really appreciate if you would subscribe and leave a review. Thanks for. checking us out! We are also on fb as Hunts on outfitting, and instagram. We are on YouTube as Hunts on outfitting podcast.
Hunts On Outfitting Podcast
Sardine Tins And Sheep Butts: An East Coaster's Rocky Mountain Adventure
What happens when an East Coast truck driver who hasn't camped since middle school finds himself pursuing North America's most challenging big game in the Rocky Mountains? Pure adventure.
Join me as I recount my recent bighorn sheep hunt in Alberta with friend and hunter Chris Palmer. This wasn't just any hunting trip – it was a journey that pushed physical and mental boundaries while offering a masterclass in wilderness self-sufficiency. With 40-pound packs and near-vertical climbs, we ventured many miles into terrain where one misstep could mean disaster.
The mountains taught hard lessons about proper gear (those $60 merino wool boxers suddenly seemed worth every penny), the psychology of endurance, and the art of spotting animals that have evolved perfect camouflage. We watched in awe as a promising ram with a "dump truck" rear end appeared briefly before vanishing into the vast landscape. Meanwhile, encounters with fellow hunters, midnight wolf howls, and the discovery of a 1930s New Brunswick sardine tin atop an Alberta mountain added rich layers to our backcountry experience.
Though we didn't harvest a ram, this hunt delivered exactly what Chris promised: an unforgettable adventure that reconnected us with something primal and authentic. As I tell Ryan and Lane, it's a stark reminder of why Alberta sheep hunting is compared to pursuing Boone & Crockett whitetails – extraordinarily challenging, yet deeply rewarding whether you tag out or not.
Listen now for an unfiltered look at what it takes to pursue bighorn sheep in some of North America's most breathtaking wilderness. Have you ever considered a similar adventure? Let me know at huntsunoutfitting@gmail.com – I'd love to hear your story!
Check us out on Facebook and instagram Hunts On Outfitting, and also our YouTube page Hunts On Outfitting Podcast. Tell your hunting buddies about the podcast if you like it, Thanks!
this is sunset outfitting podcast. I'm your host and rookie guide, ken marr. I love everything hunting the outdoors and all things associated with it, from stories-tos. You'll find it here. Welcome to the podcast. Hey, I'm thrilled to have you listening to this week's podcast. I'd like to thank you guys for in for a treat, as always, but this week you will be getting a story told by none other than myself. When I have people on the podcast telling one of their hunting adventures, I like to try and get a good picture of it in my head. So I will try my best to articulate my past week's hunt back to you, but I may forget some things. So also on this podcast are good friends of mine and very frequent past guests, ryan Wasalius and Lane Lewis. They will hopefully be asking me some of the questions that you may be thinking of in your head while you listen. If you want to get ahold of me and reach out to maybe be a guest on the podcast or suggest someone or correct me on something, you can email me hunts on outfitting at gmailcom or find me on Facebook or Instagram, ken Meyer, or also on Facebook Hunts on Outfitting.
Speaker 1:On this hunt we worked hard and burnt a lot of energy and calories, but with some great peak refuel packs and other food, we were able to keep going. My hardworking hounds at home were all set to run as soon as I got back, thanks to my wife feeding them and Anook Shook dog food. For your pet to be able to work hard and keep going, anook Shook is the perfect dog food to help refuel them. If you go on their website, you can check out one of the blends that will help fit your dog's needs with their handy chart. I highly recommend it, and there's over 800 trusted resellers all across North America. If you put in your address, it's going to show the closest one to you All.
Speaker 1:Right now let's talk sheep Lane Ryan. Thanks for joining me. Boys, I know you guys have had some questions about the hunt and I have myself and I'm hoping to work through that tonight. No, but I figured we'd just do this podcast while it's still fairly fresh in my mind, except for I was sleep deprived and crying a bit and worn out on the hunt, but I should be able to remember most of it because it's just a couple days ago. So I figured, yeah, I'd have you guys out tonight and we'll go through the sheep hunt. Thanks for coming out, boys.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having us, ken. Yeah, thanks. Stare at me awkwardly, okay.
Speaker 1:So yeah. So this past week I was able to go on a bighorn sheep hunt in Alberta with my friend, chris Palmer. Chris was on episode 28 of the podcast where he talked all about his sheep hunting tactics and everything out there, and that episode's done really well, I was on that one too, you were on that one.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, that's right. Um, how it met Chris. We met through, uh, a mutual friend and, um, chris came to the podcast, you know, and talked about sheep hunting. And then, remember, lane, you know, let me know. I'm like, oh, yeah, you know, never thought much about it, right? And then, uh, chris had mentioned it a couple more times. I'm like, yeah, like, uh, I'm going to be honest. Chris was surprised Cause I told him. I said I haven't camped in a tent since elementary, middle school, maybe, like I, I like hunting. I'll stay out in the woods all day, I'll go coon hunting and run it all night, but I usually want to come home at one point.
Speaker 1:I'm not a camper I'm just not a camper. Anyways, I did it, I did it fine. Chris was surprised when I told him that he's like oh, so this is like a shock to you. I'm like a little bit uh, yeah, you know, I did fine, but I'm normally just not a camper, I'm an outdoorsman. But yeah, um, and then, uh, what sold it for me was chris's little montage video, uh, from last year's hunt, the highlights from it and everything like that. After I saw that I'm like, oh, that was really cool. And he's like, well, just come out. So I was like, all right, I'll do it, I'll come out, you know, um, so that's that's how I got you know linked up with going out on the hunt.
Speaker 1:So then the next thing for the hunt is, uh, you know, after I bought my plane ticket and everything is the gear. So I've never I've spent a lot of time in the woods hunting, running the hounds, stuff like that, right, uh, I've never had real good hunting gear. I just kind of suffered it out because I knew it'd be home at some point during the day. So, you know, rubber boots and a plaid jacket from walmart good to go, right, uh. But I knew that up in the mountains in the rocky mountains of alberta, probably wasn't going to cut it. So I was lucky.
Speaker 1:I got everything on sale, except for my boots and my boxers and the thong. No, but I was lucky. I got everything on sale but that. So Kuyu and Scree I just wait, they're having their big Labor Day sale. They're having their Spring Mad labor day sale. They're having like their uh, spring madness sale or summer savings sale or whatever all this sales. So I was really lucky. I was getting, you know, 40, 50 off, 25 off. So that was lucky. Um, I discovered new things like gators, the old boot chats. Um, those were cool because Chris was like. He like, I'm not saying you need them, he's like, but I'm just saying that I never leave home without mine on. I'm like okay.
Speaker 1:So I ended up getting those. Those were like 50% off, right and very cool. The old boot chaps. I had them on and there's even a video of me going across this creek or whatever, and I think the water stopped like damn near my knees, just low below, never got wet at all, like couldn't believe it. And then just going through, like the day we were hiking out there, there was a lot of um, there was a lot of dew and all that. It's really wet. It rained a bit, it rained a little bit on us, but we were unbelievably blessed with the weather. Like no complaints at all. But going out there that day it was a bit wet, it had rained overnight and everything and my boots. That was fun with the gators on, you know. Uh, for boots I went with the loa boots. I can't remember what model they are, but they're the second most expensive pair on their website. That narrows it down for anybody so um, they're the.
Speaker 1:I think the military wears them. I got a friend in the military and he had the exact same pair of boots. Chris wears them for work. That same set. Mine were brown, his are black. Really happy with the boots, so I treated them not once but twice. You spray them with this stuff, wait 24 hours and you rub in this cream on it or whatever helps waterproof them, because it's got gore-tex on it and everything. Uh, I couldn't believe how lucky I was with. I mean, I wore them a bit to break them in before the hunt, but you think you've got, you know, say, 40, 50 pounds on your back. You're going straight up, straight down on all these rocks, putting all these miles on, going through water and everything. I didn't have a single blister.
Speaker 2:I couldn't believe it not, not one.
Speaker 1:My feet yes I know, um, yeah, not one blister at all all the walking that we did and they're still newer boots. I think I had them broken enough, but not a tremendous amount of miles on them and the boots held up really good, really good. Uh, the, the Scree Gators again awesome For pants. I had on for the whole trip. I had on the Scree hardscrabble pants Gotta talk a little shit about Scree.
Speaker 1:They got a lifetime warranty, so it's good. But the, I mean they were tough, I wore them the entire time but the stitching was coming out by the pocket a little bit. Not real bad, but the stitching did come undone a bit and stuff on the right hand side of the pocket, so I wasn't overly impressed by that. Like Chris was saying, he's like well, you can tell Scree, you know, not to make a comparison necessarily, but the Kuyu attack pants he had on the whole time and his pockets were fine. The camel pattern on them was pretty cool though, and then. So this is the nice thing about having quality gear. I've never had gear that does this. You know, if it's hot, just sweat it out, whatever. Uh, we're like hiking and I'm like man, like I could. At first it's cool and then, um, you know, it warms up.
Speaker 1:And then I was like man I could fucking put on a pair of shorts right now. Right, it was so warm. And then I realized, on the hard scrabble pants, you just unzip the side and then you know it's that mesh there and you can breathe. So I I'm like, oh, so I unzipped. Then just you feel all this hot air come out because I've been farting all day. But, um, anyways, I was like, wow, that's comfortable. So like we're going along and um, yeah, just had that unzipped when it got real hot and it just it aired you out so nicely and then when we'd stop it would cool down again really quickly because we were sweating and all that just sipping right back up till we got going again. So I was like that was neat, like just having quality gear, you know, like that. Um, so that was, that was really handy. Uh, what else? I got a, a Sitka toque to wear there, just to wear at night, and all that. It felt like there was nothing on and I was so comfortable.
Speaker 1:And what was Chris saying? The Sitka slogan is Be Bold, start Cold. I think it is. Yeah, be Bold, start Cold. The guy that has Sitka said that, yeah, so like starting out in the morning, it'd be a little chilly. It'd get down at night, I don't know, like three, four degrees, and so in the morning you'd be like kind of cool, but you're not layering up Cause he'd be heated up in about 10 minutes maybe, right, so you just like shivering going along and then warm up marina ones. They were like. They were like 50, 60 bucks, right, I'm like holy shit, that's a lot for boxers. But then, um, I got thinking my walmart fruit and loom boxes when I'm going up the mountain my ass is chafing. I was like you know what.
Speaker 1:I think I could have splurged and spent a couple more dollars than 10 uh on boxers. So the boxers that I had on, uh, no complaints at all, sweating and this, and that the odor, it kept the odor down and um and they were comfortable chris, thank you for that, yeah, um no, they were really really comfortable.
Speaker 1:Uh, I didn't have any butt chafing, nothing like that. Like no complaints to the boxers at all. Um, what else did I have on for gear? I had uh, the, uh, oh, the kuyu could be 300 merino wool, hoodie thing, whatever. That was really comfy. That was really really comfy. I wore it at night zipped up and all that in my sleeping bag to keep me warm. And then during the day, when it was a bit cooler, glassing and stuff, good material on it, really, you know, tough and everything. Yeah, just kind of gear like that. I had the Scree long john Johns on for at night and everything. I didn't really need them during the day. Those were awesome, handled well.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, uh, real happy with that you ran a base layer under everything too, didn't you?
Speaker 1:Um, so just at night, during the day, we hike in the mountains and get warmed up pretty quick. Yeah, uh, I hadn't at night too Pretty quick. Yeah, I had at night too to keep my core warm and everything it helped. I had an Under Armour muscle shirt on. That helped a lot too. But no, during the day I had on like one of those like long-sleeve T-Max, almost like an Under Armour material shirt, long-sleeve, and I just rolled the sleeves up when I got warm, rolled them down when we stopped for a bit. You know that worked really well too.
Speaker 2:What were the daytime temperatures?
Speaker 1:Daytime temperatures were, I mean, it'd be anywhere from 10 degrees to, I don't know, maybe 15, but 15 like mid-afternoon at the sun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean up on the mountains that when you're up there it is amazing, changed like, and especially like the sun's there. It's warm, the sun goes away. I noticed that a lot too in the mountains is the sun takes a while to come up, and when it goes down at night it goes down way quicker because we're up so high. Yeah, so, um, yeah it, uh, yeah, that was interesting, just being like that. So it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the temperatures during the day were pretty good and you probably was there a difference too with elevation? Yeah, definitely definitely.
Speaker 1:Higher or lower the temperature would change. Yeah, being from New Brunswick here, and at sea level, yeah, I could definitely notice the thinner air. Yep, yeah 100%, I could.
Speaker 2:That was the gear. Did you end up trying any of your rain gear out?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that was the awesome thing. I spent a lot of money on rain gear. I got the Kuyu rain pants One of the pairs of Kuyu pants on sale and they're still. I think they're over $300. And the Cabela's Instinct jacket, which I also got on sale. Like Chris was saying, it's like an insurance thing. It's kind of pricey. You hope to never use it, but when you do have to you're damn glad it's there.
Speaker 2:One of those things you're rather looking at than looking for.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly. So we got rained on a little, but not enough to break out the rain gear, so we were really lucky about that. When we got back later on the last day, that night it did rain a bit. So we're like huh Dodge that Yep, no, super, super fortunate with the weather. So the plane ride in. I forgot how much I hate flying.
Speaker 2:I mean I'll do it, but I don't like it.
Speaker 1:No, but you know, just getting to the airport and I'm a people person, I like people in general, until you get to like airports and stuff and it's like, oh man, I just hate everybody right now.
Speaker 2:Well, I think that's the most miserable a lot of people are too is in an airport, because they just want destination, yeah, and in a rush too well, it's just so many people there.
Speaker 1:I'm not like a huge germaphobe, but like he had everyone from all these, from everywhere. Right now it's like coughing and farting and sneezing and going it's like anyways. Um. So, not a huge fan of flying, but don't mind doing it to get to my destination obviously beats walking, right, yep, um. So yeah, I had to take a few flights Went from Moncton to Montreal to Edmonton, to Calgary on the way out. On the way back it was just Calgary to Montreal to Moncton, but yeah, going out there and then, yeah, you know you're getting on the plane and yeah, everyone's on there.
Speaker 1:Everyone in first class is like staring at you, right, it's funny too, on first class how they even put that curtain across. Like these guys made more money than you. They're doing better in life. You don't need to see what they're doing now. Right, when I go by, I fart, I fart. Going by, I was just like let it off, didn't know. All right, shut the curtain, see. So yeah, and then, you know, on the plane my ears did pop a little going on the first flight. So I've got the gum in, right, you know you're supposed to chew gum and swallow, not the gum, but just like make, yeah, kept going through gum like you wouldn't believe swallowing it all down, but just swallowing too.
Speaker 1:You're supposed to keep your ears from popping. I don't know, it didn't do great, but I'm just like Like. Just like, what'd you say? We're landing soon, no, but anyway. So, yeah, I did that and yeah, I got through it all and stuff. You know a couple of kids crying. I was crying a bit, but just because my ears were hurting. But you know, it was good, it was good. It was funny. Though, coming back, I almost didn't make my flight from Montreal to Moncton Airport because we got in just a little late, not really, but they're like. They get on the plane. They're like, ladies and gentlemen, this here, captain speaking, it appears like we're at the wrong terminal, so we're just going to have to wait and get towed to the right one.
Speaker 2:Everyone's like, oh for fuck's sake.
Speaker 1:It's funny too, you know, when planes land, I'm not one of those people Everyone just like stands up and runs up to the front, right, it's like you're not, you're not gaining any, we're all getting off here roughly the same time. You're not getting gaining it. So everyone's like standing there like all bitchy. Right, I was sitting down, I knew, you know, I knew not to to go right. And then so they're standing there right. And then, um, it was like I don't know 10, 15 minutes later, the captain goes like ladies and gentlemen, it's your captain again. Uh, I'm just gonna have to ask everybody to uh take a seat because while we get towed so you don't get knocked over, thanks, everyone's like.
Speaker 1:Ah, everyone's like going back to their seats like and then uh, and then I knew who was going to be a little eager beavers when we were getting off Right. So when we could finally get off, I stood up first and, like, ran off, I was like yeah.
Speaker 1:I got you guys, um, but I barely made I get to the gate going to Moncton. I didn't really see anybody there. I was like looking. I was like, oh, it says I think it was later, I'm early and I, you know I go up. And I was like, hey, uh. I was like, yes, going to monkton. Or she's like, are you? I'm like I think so. Yeah, I hope so. And then she's like, well, you better run. She's like because they just boarded and they're doing the last call, she's or they already did last call, sorry. So anyways, I ran through the little tunnel thing and got on the plane, but they were done, they were loaded. I'm like, oh yeah yeah.
Speaker 1:Sorry, I was just talking to a friend out there.
Speaker 2:Everyone on the plane is just glaring at you.
Speaker 1:I haven't seen him in a while. Yeah, so the plane ride. So we get out there and get into Calgary. It's awesome and Chris picks me up. First stop we went to was the Bass Pro out in Iron Cross, iron Mills or Iron Cross Mills Mall, and it's awesome. I and it's Iron Cross, iron Mills or Iron Cross Mills Mall, and it's awesome. I think it's the largest Bass Pro in Canada. If not, it would definitely be one of them, but it's a good size. So that was great. Picked up some stuff there. We got the, so then we started getting food right. So we got the Peak Refuel food. So I'd never used them before. My buddy, connor, who's in the military. He gave me his jet boil and he's like, he's like here. I got another one. He said you can take this jet will, because I borrowed a bit of gear from Connor board a 800 Gram down jacket, stuff, which is pretty cool. I didn't know that the down meant down feathers, cuz I was like holes in it.
Speaker 1:I'm like pulling out these. I'm like, well, that's where my feathers on, like fuck thing is. Like pulling the feathers out and then Coming from the jacket, I'm like, well, it just uh, it's not 800 grams now.
Speaker 2:That's now 750. Yeah yeah. Down jacket 699. The way to go, I got one.
Speaker 1:Uh, it's pretty cool Connor's saying, though they're not supposed to get like real wet. I guess I don't know.
Speaker 2:Anyways it didn't Probably because of the feathers in them.
Speaker 1:Old duck feathers get wet.
Speaker 2:I mean they can still get wet. I was wearing, that's what I was wearing during the moose hunt and it was a very wet moose hunt, oh yeah, and I was dry Like.
Speaker 1:I said I didn't know they had feathers. I'm like, oh, down-filled feathers, I'm like pulling them. I'm like, oh, I must have caught these somewhere at home or something, except for I don't have any birds, but anyways. And then I realized I was like plucking connor's jacket. But it's fine, connor, it's fine. He stuffed it feels like crow feathers and jammed them back in. It's like wearing a straw jacket now, but, um, anyway. So, uh, yeah, I had that. So he gave me the jet boil and I was like, well, how do you, how do you use jet boil? Connor's like, oh, he's like the guy, the guy you're going with, will know how to use it, chris. I'm like, okay, um, slick, holy shit those things like you.
Speaker 1:Just well, you just you put in the water that you need a cup, two cups in there, whatever. And when you have those peak refuel meals, um, you, just so, you put the jet boil on this. You have a little fuel canister thing, it all folds up. You just click the button, it it lights itself. I'd say a minute, a minute. It's heated, two minutes max.
Speaker 1:Your water's boiled and there's a little thing on the side and it turns orange, like this little screen thing I don't know, we don't call it on going around the canister on the sleeve and it goes orange. When the top of it, it goes up. And when the top of it's orange, turn it off. Water's all good, boiled, ready to go. You just pour it into the peak refuel pack and then you shake it up and all that, everything, seal it, leave it for 10 minutes and it says how much water is put in it, like a cup, two cups, cup and a quarter, and then open up and eat and I'll tell you.
Speaker 1:Uh, chris was saying this is why competition is so good, because competition it breeds excellence. I think, and he said that these meals, the dehydrated meals, used to be like so-so and then more companies started getting into it and it's really tasty. So everyone else started stepping up their game and the peak refuel packs that we had. I mean, if I did one at home and put it on a plate here, you wouldn't know it, it's dehydrated.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no complaints at all.
Speaker 2:So, in the run of a day, what would your meals look like? Like what all did you eat?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so Chris had said this before when he'd come on and then we did that, so we went to. We didn't eat like overly healthy, okay, because it's still a vacation, even though it's a hard day.
Speaker 1:So breakfast consisted of coronas and, uh, kinder surprises, no, uh. So breakfast consisted. So we went to the 7-eleven because they got 7-elevens out there in alberta everywhere and he bought these, uh, cinnamon buns in a package and they're 590 calories. Because you just him and I are both small guys. You want to get calories in you. Yep, right, we're not watching your weight out there, because we're burning a lot. You're always caloric deficient, so we have that. And you take those sticky buns and you dip them in coffee. Holy shit, it is good. Now, speaking of coffee, so to start the coffee in the morning, you use the jet boil and all that. And Tim Hortons for you Canadian listeners, tim Hortons and I guess there's Tims in the States too they have double-double pre-mixed packets, dry packs.
Speaker 2:Really that's cool, yeah.
Speaker 1:so you just take the double-double dry pack, put it in there, put your boiling water in, stir it up. It tastes just like a regular double-double.
Speaker 2:And then you dip your cinnamon roll in that.
Speaker 1:Dip your cinnamon roll in that and yeah, it was really good, so we'd have that. Then you have, like you know, some cliff bars, beef jerky. You'd always have a package of beef jerky throughout the day. Snickers, twix, you know stuff like that. Mangoes he had dehydrated mangoes. We had those too and everything. But breakfast was mainly some beef jerky, a cliff bar or something like protein bar, cinnamon bun, coffee and all that. So, yeah, that was breakfast basically most mornings.
Speaker 2:And then would you just snack throughout the day and then have a big supper at the end.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so throughout the day, yeah, just snack and then at the end of the day have the dehydrated meal. You get back to camp and all that. I'll be looking forward to it because I was really hungry and it was good. But during the day, yeah, you have enough. Like I said, all that, beef jerky and protein bars and this, and that I mean you're. You're getting not maybe exactly what you need, but I was okay, you know, uh, for then for water. So where we valleys and he he called it's a creek. Apparently here we call it a river and the water's just beautiful. It's like that nice blue color.
Speaker 1:It's because it's glacier, it's coming, it's coming from the glaciers so it's glacier water, so it's like that nice almost turquoise tinge to it sort of thing. Uh, it was really cool, so we stayed at the bottom there. So then for water, I mean you could have drank it straight. He said probably, but he's had beaver fever before or whatever it's not worth risking it. Well, I don't want to be shitting myself all the way out. So, yeah, it just wasn't worth risking it, but he probably could. I brushed my teeth in it.
Speaker 1:It was cool to wake up in the morning you know, brush your teeth in there, splash clear, nice creek glacier water on your face in the morning to wake up and it was cold. So so we we had he had a big, uh, bigger bag thing that he'd fill up and then that I'd filter it at the camp and then for just on the go or whatever. He had this other thing where you just dip it in the water, screw the top on it's got a filter on there and then you just squeeze it, this bag, and then it goes into your water bottle and stuff so yeah um, so that was handy.
Speaker 1:So I guess that covers it basically for food and everything yep packing for it. So then the next day, so we get up and uh, so I'm not getting super into specifics for the hunt because, in respect to ch? Uh, because he's put in, so Chris has put in quite a bit of time it's hard to completely hone your skills on the sheep hunt because you think about? I was listening, I was watching this video on YouTube of this outfitter in Alberta and he said that when people come hunting with them they'll ask him what are my odds of getting a? You know, a legal Ram? A legal Ram in alberta is a trophy ram, it's, it's a, it's a trophy um, not just a legal one. And he said about as good as getting a boone and crockett whitetail. And if anyone's got shot boone and crockett whitetails, they know how hard that is. But the thing is about that is, with whitetails for most people you can, you know, work at it on the weekends, you can work at it every day after work. You know stuff like that. Right, with the sheep hunt you're not just like, oh, I'm gonna pop out to my spot, uh, tomorrow after work. You know it's, it's remote, it's very so it's hard to do that.
Speaker 1:So chris spent a lot of time figuring out different things and all that. So where we went, we're about, oh, we're a little ways outside of jasper, we're outside of jasper park, I guess we'll put it that way and it's remote, you know, you think about, we've got pretty big woods here, but I mean out there, see, we're, I'd say, over an hour and a half in either direction, where we drove the vehicle out to the park without cell service. So yeah, but an hour and a half either direction, without cell service. And then the hike in was around 25 kilometers, give or take a kilometer or two in that we hiked in, and that's no. There's no logging roads, there's no clear cuts. You're going through Like that's wilderness.
Speaker 2:So were you? Did you follow like a creek bed or something? Or it was through the woods and over. So here's the cool thing.
Speaker 1:So there is a bit of an old trail. So there's an old trail that was created there, apparently in the 1930s, give or take. So trails, there's an old trail that was created there, apparently in the 1930s, give or take. So we followed that. The only thing with that is horse hunters had come through the other way years ago and uh, and if you guys listen to this and you guys run horses through their hats, off to you because like I don't know how you get a horse through that terrain unreal, even like with the clear road, but they'd cut a lot of the dead not not a lot in sections of it of the dead falls that had gone across. So that helped because I mean the trail going in, like I said, it's like an old trail for like the 1930s.
Speaker 1:But the trail going in in spots wasn't too bad. In other spots it was pretty hard. But what made it worse was when there'd be all these dead falls across it and you're trying to climb over it. Or the trees are too big, you're trying to climb over it, or the trees are too big, you're going all the way around it, or you're trying to climb under it and stuff. I mean that definitely took a bit more time and it's hard when you've got, you know, 40, 50 pounds on your back right and I'm not used to having a backpack in the woods, uh, and I'm a small guy, I'm about 130, 135, soaking wet. So having that much weight on my back, I could feel it, you feel it, you know you cinch up the belt thing on it and all that in your hips and your shoulders and stuff.
Speaker 1:I mean it's heavy enough for me, but yeah, so going in on the trail, that was neat. Like I said, it's about 25 kilometers give or take in, so it was remote where we got to the camp location. So Chris's plan was there's areas where we'd see more game and that are sexier areas, but this time of year the ewes and the lambs, the sheep they're together, and the rams it's not breeding season yet, so they're off doing their own thing. So he had an idea that you know, in this valley at the top of the mountain there on the other side, he said we can glass into. He said there should be a little bachelor group of rams there, right? So that's what. That's what his plan was and I'll get to that later. I think his plan kind of worked, but he spent a lot of time trying to hone in on figuring out where the sheep, the rams, could be, cause we we weren't hunting sheep, we're hunting rams. Now you can get drawn for a U tag in Alberta. Do you have a question, ryan?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so by figuring it out was he looking at like GPS topographic maps, or was he actually? Boots on the ground. Ever in there before the hunt.
Speaker 1:So Chris had been in there before.
Speaker 2:Yes, so he's done that hike in he's been.
Speaker 1:He's done that hike in, but he's done the backside of where we were into. He's done all around there, but where we actually hunted, he had been in there before too. So he took his knowledge from the past few years of being behind that spot, in front of that spot, in that spot around it, looking on Eyehunter, looking on all these maps and everything, to figure out okay, I think the rams are going to be here. Okay, yep, and we did find rams there. So I mean you know it worked. So anyway, so we get into camp and I remember, you know, when you first start, I mean I'm an active guy, I'm a truck driver, I trade, but I have a farm, I've got my hands that.
Speaker 1:I run, I'm in the woods all the time and everything as much as I can be. I'm in decent shape. I'm not in extraordinary shape, so I was dreading it. I did better than I thought I'd do, but obviously it's still very tough. So, going in, I've got that weight on my back and everything. You're going in.
Speaker 1:At first your body's like whoa, whoa, whoa, crazy. You know like you're just like trucking along and everything and um. But then it's funny. You know, near the end of it, you're, you're, you're tired and stuff like that. But your body's like all right, we're doing this, you know. It kind of it takes you back to, uh, not your primal thing, but just I don't know. Your body learns to all right, we're gonna do this, you know, and stuff. It's good to get back to that, to challenge yourself. It's funny too, alber, every time I go to Alberta they always test when I'm native, because the first time I went to Alberta I was like 19.
Speaker 1:I went to work on the drilling rigs. That tested me, see what I had. Then the second time, years later, went and fracked, you know, swinging a sledgehammer around all day, moving pipe and stuff. That'll test you and it's. I've been up there for something On the sheep hunt. So Bird has always been the province that tests me. So, anyways. So we hiked into camp and Chris said. Chris said at first it was like yeah, it's 12k in. I'm like holy shit, like alright, whatever. Anyways, comes to find out, chris Like oh, whoops, I undersold that.
Speaker 1:It was actually, like I said, like 25, I'm like actually I said I'm glad you told me 12, because I didn't have any concept of, I knew it was taking a while and stuff. But yeah he, he realized that after it's like oh, whoops, I was like, no, no, I'm fine with that, you know whoops, it's only twice as much, but I'm glad if he said 25 to start up like I don't know.
Speaker 1:So no, it's fine, uh, chris promised. Chris said I can't promise you we're gonna find any's fine. Chris said I can't promise you we're going to find any sheep on this hunt. He said but I can promise you two things. He said you're going to have an adventure and you're going to get a hand job. And he delivered quite well on both. I was like Chris, you were a man of your word. I think you undersold one of them. No, but you know. So it was good. Obviously, no, but it was an adventure. So we get into camp the first day and I was like man, we're staying here. He's like, yeah, I'm like this is beautiful. So we set up the tent. We were just up on this bank in the creek. You can tell that in the spring a lot of water comes out through there because, like the, the sides are washed, the banks are washed right out and then it goes down to a creek.
Speaker 1:But, like I said, we call it a river here but it's not there, it's, you know, it's a creek, um, a good flowing one. So we camped right beside that. So that was awesome, like water and everything. And then we're right in the valley. So we were glassing that night from camp on both sides above us, and then, um, spotting scopes and so, yeah, for optics, I had the vortex diamond back 10 by 42, um, so those worked, those worked really well, because you're gonna spend a lot of time doing that.
Speaker 1:Um, so the first night I was like looking way up on this this hill, way, way up on the part of the mountain, you can see like this grassy knoll, and I see how this thing moved. And I was like looking, I'm like holy shit, it's a sheep. So thing move. And I was like looking, I'm like holy shit, it's a sheep. So I got Chris I'm like sheep up there. He's like, okay, so Chris has a spotting scope, because that's a necessity, somebody's got to have a spotting scope. The binoculars work well if you want to see what something really is. Though, spotting scope, right he, because you think about it, I can't believe how high they get, because when you think of mule deer, you're thinking rolling prairies. They're bouncing along like jackrabbits out there. No, there's mountain muleys and they are way the hell up there. I could not believe it.
Speaker 2:Like in the same kind of country that the sheep would be living in.
Speaker 1:Not quite as high, but not nearly as high as the sheep, but still way, way, way up. I couldn't believe it. I was like wow, like high, so that was crazy, but they're out that high. I'm like okay, wasn't? She was like good either? Good spot in that. So then, so we had supper. No, that's were there.
Speaker 1:And then Chris, like were you saying something earlier? Because he was spotting, he was scoping in one spot, I was scoping another right glassing, and I was like no, wise, scoping in one spot, I was scoping in another right Glassing. And I was like no, why? He's like, oh, I thought I heard voices. I was like that's in your head, like we're, you know, 25 kilometers from anything, anything. And even once you get to the road that we came in on, like I said you're an hour, so we're sitting there. I thought we heard some more voices Like no, that's weird. And then all of a sudden, two guys appear. We're like holy shit, and we're naked, because we thought we were the only ones out there. No, no, we weren't naked, he wasn't, I wasn't.
Speaker 1:No, it's like I'm on vacation, I'll do what I want Sun tan, tanning. Yeah, it was sun tanning, except for it wasn't sunny. Um, no, we were closed. Uh. So these guys pop out and we're like holy shit, and it was, uh, andrew and paul, they're gonna listen to this. Um, so shout out to andrew and paul. Anyways, uh, luckily they were awesome. They're super awesome because, like you know, sheep hunting can be. I mean, there can, um, people don't want to share their secrets, their spots. People can get like a standoffish, I guess, and all that Cause it's so hard and there's only so many spots in this and that. No, these guys are great, so they show up. We see these guys.
Speaker 1:One of them, um, andrew, had a bow on his back. We're like hi, and they had the same idea as us. They were leaving on friday it was uh monday and um they andrew had been in that area before and hunted there and uh been successful with the guy that he was with in an area near there, but they'd camp there and stuff. So andrew was lucky enough that in alberta you can get drawn for a uteg I think it's every four years you kind of have the possibility to get it, or something like that. So he had it, and then it's funny though. So I asked him and Paul, I said, how long have you guys you know, we're just talking like how long you guys known each other? And then they'd only met like two weeks before at the local archery club.
Speaker 2:Really yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they'd met two weeks before the local archery club and Paul. We found out because Paul had this accent and he's like I'm from the UK obviously, because we're like okay, I didn't think you're Canadian.
Speaker 1:Because, he had this strong accent, but it was cool he's moved here. I think he said in 2010. And he was saying you know good for him. Because I said how much hunting do you do? He said as much as possible, he tries to put in for all his tags and do everything right. Because he said you know, in England or whatever, like everything's so regulated, like they keep track, you have to register, not your guns, your caliber, you have to. Like they keep track of how much ammo you have at home. You know, ryan, your family's from Holland, like in Europe, it's so.
Speaker 2:Very, very regulated.
Speaker 1:So regulated, right, and he's like in Canada. He's right and he, he was. He's like in canada, he's like this is he just? He said you have so much opportunity here, especially in alberta especially with the amount of game you can hunt here yeah, and he said he's like he takes full advantage of it.
Speaker 1:Why wouldn't you right? And he has, like you know, people from alberta and canada in general that are from here. I think a lot of us realize that, but maybe not to the degree that that paul does, because he knows what it's like, you know another in another, elsewhere, right so?
Speaker 1:like, yeah, he's just so thankful for it. And they're like, yeah, let's, let's get at it, right. So then Andrew was going to come out solo. And then they met at the club and they got talking and Andrew's like, well, yeah, you can come out sheep hunting with me. So Paul's like, right, man, yeah, bloody hell, Ready for it, right?
Speaker 1:He he talked like that a bit, but it was awesome. Paul was great, though, because he just had that like yeah, let's get after it, energy right, and it was contagious. You know he's like we're gonna be having lamb chops on the fire tomorrow night like that. Alright, fucking right, sweetheart. You know like it's just, it's good. You know he wasn't negative or anything, and, and Andrew too right, they just had good attitude, good spirits, and it was awesome. We get talking to them. It was interesting.
Speaker 1:Paul does uh I think he said he does like consulting work here before, but when they left me and uh, chris looked at each other like man, that guy's ex-military he's got to be. And then, you know, get talking paul. And yeah, he's a former sniper in the royal marines, so really interesting. And he does competitive shooting now. Um, so that that was cool talking to him and all that he's telling. You know his guns and everything, and I was asking him too. I said I said like what would be like your comfortable killing distance, like shooting big game here? Like like you know, somebody just shoot 100 yards, what would be like your 100 yards? Wouldn't even think twice about it? No big deal. He's like a thousand like just no big deal like that. You know that'd be just like I'll shoot, shooting 100, right, like that's pretty cool, you know, um. And then it was really neat andrew he uh, he's a fish biologist.
Speaker 1:He was interesting to talk to, really smart and stuff, and uh, I don't know how andrew listened to this. I don't know how old he was, I'm gonna guess early 50s or mid. He was in really good. They both were like really good shape. So then Chris and I were like do you do marathons or anything? He's like no. He said I hike a lot with my daughter and do a bicycle. We're like okay, it's like really good shape. Yeah, um, but he and he was really smart guy Interesting. He had this thing on his watch. I didn't quite understand all of it, but you can put in your bullet specifications in there and all that it's going to tell you for your trajectory and everything on shooting. It's all on his watch. That was really cool.
Speaker 2:It does the calculation for you. I know Garmin's are pretty advanced, yeah, stuff like that.
Speaker 1:It knows your grains, the shooting distance, what's going to follow it? That in in your watch?
Speaker 2:wow, yeah, so they were camping near you, or?
Speaker 1:so yeah. So we told them we're like well, chris, like well, you know, if there's room there, you guys go see, go check it out. You can't camp right next to us, right? So they did, they're right next to us, which was nice because, you know, that night we had, you know, supper with them and stuff and everything. And uh, you know, the next night I had breakfast with them in the morning. You know it was really cool. So the next morning we get up and it's like I said, andrew and Paul shout out to them Great guys, really great guys. We lucked out because I was like I told Chris, I'm like hopefully no one else comes out here, because the odds of having another set of really good guys like this probably slim. He's like, if they're sheep hunters, yeah, probably so. Um, so we got lucky with them, uh. So the next morning we get up and, uh, yeah, we start hiking out the mix. We're already part way up the mountain where we were camping, right.
Speaker 2:But then the next, day, so you're not camping right at the creek bed we were.
Speaker 1:We were camping at the creek bed, but it's still. The elevation was still up a bit because the water's like flowing down from the glaciers.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, so we, we were at the bottom of these two mountains con, but not the very bottom, because the hike in we were slowly gaining ground, the whole, you know, all the way in. So we weren't at the bottom, bottom, uh. But the next morning, yes, we had to go up. You know what? When I say up, I mean like up, like you're like almost on your hands and knees at some point, crawling, like it's steep, and I've. So, if you guys want to see what I'm talking about with this, on my facebook, ken meyer, I've got a video of some of the highlights from the hunt and all that. And even then you got. You guys saw it.
Speaker 1:It doesn't do it just probably don't do, it just never do deep, and I mean steep, um, like if you're one of those people like oh, I tripped over my own two feet, you're going to die. You would die on this hunt Cause there's, there's rocks that are unstable and all that and everything. I mean it's not like you're in a park and they've got guardrails up and it's regulated. I mean, you just kind of find and go up right. It's so steep and dangerous. Yeah, so if you're, so if you're, that's how dangerous my voice cracked.
Speaker 1:I was freaked out by it, Anyway. So yeah, if you're clumsy, don't do sheep.
Speaker 2:So you left from camp. How far of a hike would it have been to get to the top?
Speaker 1:Elevation change. I guess Straight up it's hard, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Five, six clicks, maybe it's hard to say that you had, that you had to walk to get to the top of the mountain. Yeah, roughly, maybe a little less straight up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's straight, it's straight up like it. Yeah, it doesn't. Uh, what policy we're like going off like jeez, like it doesn't traverse very well, like no, because like some trails like kind of wind up a little, but how we were going is just up, um, so it's a bitch getting up there. But once you're up it's it's so cool out there because you think about, when you're in, say, the woods, the woods is really big and you're walking around the woods, um, it's cool. But when you're up here on top of the mountain, there's trees up there too and everything in spots. It's like your own little world because you know that there's nothing else around you. Like, when you're up at the top there, you're at the top, that's, that's your section. It's not like big woods where there's, you know, other stuff that can get to you closely, like you're. You got to get up there right. So once you're up, it's really cool and peaceful. I got a few naps up there because I was tired, but it was unbelievably peaceful up there. It was incredible.
Speaker 2:And how far, so you could look out everywhere. How far could you see?
Speaker 1:So at first in the morning, the first morning there, it's a bit smoky. I think it was the smoke from the wildfires in BC. You couldn't see that far at first and then as the smoke dissipated and stuff quite a ways, I don't know how far. I mean there was a mountain just on the other side of us and it looked like it was like 200 yards away, but Chris Range find it and it was like 716 or something.
Speaker 2:I'm guessing a huge valley right in the middle of it. Huge, oh yeah, huge valley.
Speaker 1:I'm guessing a huge valley right in the middle of it, huge, oh yeah, huge valley. So that was really neat. So we ended up getting to the top and then Andrew kind of had an idea of where to go. So he took him and Paul, because they're hunting for ewes, right, yeah, so Chris and I went up to the top of this one we were glassing so we could see them. They ended up going. Yeah, they were off. They went on quite a stroll and were successful. They did get a U.
Speaker 2:On that first day.
Speaker 1:Yep, they did Like I said. He got into the area and all that, and they ended up seeing I think they saw maybe 12 and they waited. They even said this they waited until they found one that did not have a young one with it, and that's the one that they took. So that was really good. It's weird how the mountains play tricks. And that's the one that they took, yep, so that was, that was really good. Um, it was uh.
Speaker 1:It's weird how the mountains play tricks on you with sound. Because we're up there, we heard the gunshot right and it was like I don't know. A few hours later we thought we could hear voices. I'm like, oh, I said that's the boys coming. I said, well, you know, let's go see what they got. So we're still up at the top of the mountain. We just walked up through the trees a little bit that are up there, because there's like a miniature woods, if you want to call it up there to see them, like nothing. We're like that's weird. So we went back and then it was about half an hour later. Chris didn't hear the voices the first time and then he heard them them again for like an hour and stuff.
Speaker 2:So yeah, so they. They had that sheep like shot, retrieved, packed up and they were carrying it back with them yeah, so they get back at dark.
Speaker 1:So we made a nice fire for them. When they came down, they appreciated that like, oh, thanks for the fire, michael. I figured you guys would need it. You retired, so they get back. Yeah, it's a bit after dark that night. We got down, I guess just a little bit before, because I didn't want to go down there in the dark. I mean, we had headlamps with us.
Speaker 2:But still, you guys have like a handheld gps system in case um, so chris had I hunter downloaded on his phone.
Speaker 1:Okay, once you have it downloaded, you don't need service to use that. So that's the other thing Chris was saying. Like you know a lot of people, we're about four days without any service whatsoever and actually it was awesome. You know, I love my friends and family and everything, but it was nice to be unplugged, like it didn't matter what was happening. No one's getting a hold me, and sometimes you get thinking like, oh, I hope everything's okay at home.
Speaker 1:I got, you know, the farm at home, the cows and everything, like everything's okay there and the wife and stuff. But then, um, at the same time it's it's kind of nice like, well, whatever, I can't do anything about it, and there's, it's just nice to be unplugged because us as humans, I don't think we're supposed to have technology like that on us all the time, the electrodes and everything or whatever you want to call it going. So it was cool but, like Chris was saying, a lot of people can't do that, couldn't even do that. They couldn't go a few hours, let alone a few days, without any service. I had my phone to take pictures, that's it. You would never get a hope in hell of getting service out there. And he said a lot of people just couldn't do that, not at all.
Speaker 2:Give me a test for us at Moose Camp this year, because we'll have a Starlink at camp.
Speaker 1:Oh, you're roughing it big time. We only have Starlink. No, we're from the morning when we leave 80 channels on the cable.
Speaker 2:From when we leave in the morning. We're going to go all day with our cell phone service. You'll get it that night.
Speaker 1:When we come back, the star link. Um, yeah, no, it's nice, actually it's quite nice. Uh, I enjoyed just being unplugged, you know, and it's good for your body, it helps, I think, reset you really. Um, so, yeah, that was good. Uh, where was it going with this?
Speaker 1:we were talking about I hunter yeah, I hunter, yeah, so we had that pre-download on his phone, so that's, you know that was. That was really handy, um. So yeah, they came back to camp, congratulated them, you know, did awesome. We had a nice fire that night. There's lots of like wood washed up on old dry wood washed up on the creek bed there that we could put in for the fire and everything, uh, because it was so old and stuff.
Speaker 1:You wouldn't believe how fast the fire just like oh yeah yeah, but then chris had brought um, uh, like a camping whiskey. Uh, jar not jar, yeah, a gallon of whiskey. No, it was. It was a like a flask. It was a camping flask made out of plastic and everything you know to bring along. So, uh, you know, gave, we all had a shot of that congratulated the boys, he's like. He said when they're coming back, he said I'll give him a shot of whiskey when they get back. The boys, he's like, he said when they're coming back, he said I'll give them a shot of whiskey when they get back. He said if they got a shade piece, like, or if they didn't get one, just for the sorrows, we're like, or if it's dark, we'll have it too. So yeah, that was really nice. So that was cool. And then Andrew and Paul headed the next day, uh, which I didn't blame them, because they wanted to get the meat out and stuff like that so no, that's good, it's awesome meeting them and I'm sure um hear from them again.
Speaker 1:But, yeah, that's cool. So then, um, so, yeah, so the first full day, that day that chris and I are out there. So we're glassing and glassing and I didn't. I didn't know what to look for. I've never seen a bighorn sheep in my life. Right, I've seen pictures of them, some videos, but I didn't know what to look for. And then we're looking. We're looking on the mountain just across from us and we're pretty much eye level with that one because we're up so high up there.
Speaker 2:Do you know how high elevation you're?
Speaker 1:I didn't know damn high quite high yeah yeah, yeah, like I said, we beat the sun by a long shot getting up there, because the sun just takes so long to rise above it over the mountains, like yeah, oh yeah, and then like I said it goes down quick too.
Speaker 1:So we're looking, we're looking and then it's amazing, the sheep where they live, like it's crazy. So. So Chris had an idea, like I said, this area on the other side of the mountain. It had not too many trees and stuff or anything like that. Actually, not too many trees and stuff or anything like that. Excellent, a lot of trees and all that. But, like you said, it wasn't like a sexy area where, if you're sheep hunting, like, oh, this is where I'm going to go. But he had the idea about the ramps.
Speaker 1:So we're looking and looking and, like I said, I don't know what to look for. So I'm just like pretending to glass around. Oh, yeah, it's quite a sight today, no, but no, but uh, look at that mountain. Yeah, we're looking. Then chris is like chris, like sheep, I'm like what? He's like sheep. So I look and I can't quite see it. And then he got the spotting scope right on it. He said, see, right there, I'm like. No, I said because chris was looking with binoculars first, right, and he's like, and we've been glassing for I don't know a couple hours and he's like that rock's gonna make me look at it again a little closer. So then you got the spotting scope out, right, put it up. Bam Could tell right away it's a sheep, but it's a sheep. So what gives them away?
Speaker 2:is their spot, so you're sitting in the same spot when you're glassing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we moved around a bit, but Chris was saying what they say is, if you're really going to pick a part of the spot and tear it up, rip Two hours, because they say in two hours, in that time normally the animal will get up to take a piss or something, or the light's going to change within that shadows and all that Within that time, something's.
Speaker 2:So it's the butt that you'll see, because they're so camouflaged into the environment.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So there's a little, Like I said, even though we're up so high, there are some mature trees. I mean, these trees are probably I don't know how old, just to get to the size that they are, because it's kind of harsh growing conditions. So then it looks like rocks.
Speaker 1:But Chris got the spotting scoop on it and I looked and it was a sheep. It was a butt because they're white, because their bodies are like brownish right, and then their butts are white. They almost look like a mule deer, but sort of um. So I'm like holy shit. So then I get my binoculars up and then, where I knew after I knew where it was, I could pick it out. So we're like watching that and the thing the back of it was built like a dump truck, I mean big, wide, but so we're like that's gonna be ram. If not, that is the fattest you have ever seen. But for you to be by yourself like that, yeah, super rare so the use are generally in groups like that yeah Super rare, so the ewes are generally in groups, like that's why the other guys had seen 12.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, the ewes? I don't think they're. I don't know a ton about the sheep, but I don't think they run alone they're, it's like domestic ones. They're flock animal, right, they're group animal, except for the males. They will go and they don't. They're not unless they're real young, little, you know banana horned males. They're by themselves for the most part. So Chris's hunch kind of looked like he was paying off, right. So then we're like all right, we're going to move. So we could get more across from him, because we saw him on the side like where we were sitting on one mountain looking at the other.
Speaker 2:he's just off on the side, so then, so you would be like that.
Speaker 1:7-800 yards away from him. At first glance, no, at first glance we'd be well over 1,000. Okay, well, well over 1,000.
Speaker 2:And at that distance there were you able to tell enough how much of a horn he had.
Speaker 1:So that's the thing. We couldn't see his horn. We could see everything up. We could see his neck, they almost his whole neck. They almost his whole neck. We could see everything but his head because he was standing still, no, because he was laying down.
Speaker 2:So I said to Chris.
Speaker 1:I said I think he's laying down because I can see his leg tucked up underneath him like laying, like a cow, right. So we're like we're gonna move because the rest of it his head was in like a group of trees there. So, anyway, so we could see him. So yeah, we'd be. Jeez, I bet you we were probably 2000, 000, damn near 2 000 yards away from how we're looking at him like sideways, right. So then we're like we're gonna get up and move so we can be directly across from him. So we're making our way down, not down, the mountain across. So we're up on top of it, right. So we're just going across like across the top across the top.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're not going down just just across. So he's like all right, so we're all excited. So I have my binoculars on and then luckily I saw this before we moved I have my binoculars on him and I see him stand up and then go into the trees. I'm like he went into the trees Like all right, well, we'll find him to keep looking, because it's not a big group of trees. Surely we'll see him if he moves out, right. Anyways, nothing for a while. We're like, well, he's probably bedded down for a bit. He's kind of getting hot. This is probably 3, 30, 4 o'clock ish in the afternoon. Um, so we're looking, we're looking nothing.
Speaker 1:So then we and then we couldn't quite tell where exactly was, because we used this group of four trees to use as a bearing. Because when remember, when chris first showed me where he was, he said, see those four trees up there. I'm like, yeah, he said go down a little bit from there there's another tiny group of bushes, whatever. Then down again, that's where the ram is. We're like, okay, so we're using that as a bearing. Looking again, right, and then nothing. So then I ended up going back to try to see if we were looking at the same patch of trees because it kind of blended together way up there, right. So I was, and then, anyways, the glass thing. And then Chris bam saw another one. He's like there's one and I don't know how long he'd been laying there, but it's laying just in the side of the mountain and it blended in perfectly and if you watch to the mountain yeah, to the mountain.
Speaker 1:If you watch the video, there's a picture of it in there. He's just, he's laying there we're like how many times do you glass over him? Didn't see him, but we you're thinking is it the same one? No, so this ram here, we could see his whole body, right and um, his horns didn't go very far, he. He was probably three, four years away from being legal.
Speaker 2:So explain to us what a legal ram is.
Speaker 1:Right, so in Alberta, I think for sheep in general, whether it's doll sheep, stone sheep or bighorn sheep somebody correct me if I'm wrong the curl has to go only on one side to at the just past I think it's the tear duct in the eye and that's where the horn needs to go to. So for a ram to have the horn grow, to there the curl, so the curl's got to go up. Like I said, you want it about the middle of the eye, that's what you want. About eight years Is what it takes for that to happen Roughly. Yeah, so that's what they say, that the sheep hunting so difficult is that the year you start hunting is the year your ram's born, because it can take that long to finally get one yeah, a legal ram that's, but a legal ram is a trophy ram.
Speaker 1:Same thing, right, you know so anyway. So we saw that one couldn't see the other. We knew it wasn't the same ram because this one was, you know, he's all right size, but the back of him wasn. Saw that one couldn't see the other one. We knew it wasn't the same ram because this one was, you know, he's the right size, but the back of him wasn't that big, he wasn't quite as dark. And the other one was darker and, just like I said, built like a truck, just a big old booty on him. You know what I'm saying. So, anyways, and then it's starting to get dark and all that, and we thought we heard the guys didn't or did. I don't know where they were, just the mountains this was day.
Speaker 1:This was day one, day one, yeah, so then, you know, we went down, except for that night, whiskey and, you know, bonfire and all that. And it's the next day, you know, said goodbye to the boys and uh, and then headed, headed up the mountain again and then chris said to it you know, it's neat, he said you, to put it in perspective, he said you, just, you said you, you climbed a mountain. He said today he's like we got to say you climbed a mountain. Not, it's not a like, not a gradual hill or something it was, a mountain, it was a mountain.
Speaker 1:He said like a lot, you know, it's neat putting that in perspective. He said a lot of people can't do that. He said you would be surprised, or you wouldn't be. How many people would get halfway and be like, no, I, I can't, I just can't. He said it happens a lot like. Outfitters will have clients, though, and they're like I can't do it, I just cannot get up there.
Speaker 2:Whether it be just physically ability or just mentally, after they look down and realize how high up.
Speaker 1:they are Well just physical ability, because we're still taking your packs up there, right, and it wasn't as heavy as it was because we had the tent out and the sleeping bags and we didn't have all of our food and all that.
Speaker 2:But you still got some weight on you a day going out.
Speaker 1:So you're bringing your rain gear. Chris has got the gun spotting scope binoculars, food for that day. I'm bringing my jet boil up. Have a coffee later and stuff, or if we have to end up eating up there.
Speaker 1:Just layers of clothes and all that in case you end up getting stuck up there if the weather changes and it gets super foggy or something, but you can't get down Just everything. But, like I said, the tent stayed, the sleeping bag stayed, sleeping bag pad. Oh, you're bringing your water up and all that. How much water would you bring up for a day? So about two liters.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:And the problem was we would have camped up there, but there's no water up there.
Speaker 2:So then you'd have to go down for water all the time.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, it would have been great to just camp up there, and we did see a few sites up there that you could have, but you got to go all the way down for water.
Speaker 2:How long did it take you in the morning to climb up?
Speaker 1:We got faster. So the first morning I think we were like two hours, and then the second morning and then the second time coming down, I thought we were like maybe an hour and a half.
Speaker 2:Going down or so Coming back up.
Speaker 1:Okay, the second day and stuff yeah, and you know, because your body, like I said, you just get used to it and then I do a lot of mind over matter, but you got to give yourself goals because it's tough, right, it's right, it's really tough, it's considered one of the toughest well, I mean a two hour straight up climb.
Speaker 2:That that's.
Speaker 1:That's a long, that's a long time yeah so, but you give yourself goals like your first day coming in. I was just thinking in my head I just want to get to camp, just want to get to camp it's only 12k oh yeah, it's only 12k.
Speaker 1:Oh, he's like I'm sorry, I'm like, no, I'm glad you told me that because if you started off with the 25 or whatever you know, I I was like I would have been. Oh, I'm glad he said that you think I would have realized, but I don't. I don't keep track because I don't keep track of my steps or anything like that when I'm running around the burn or hounds and everything. So I don't want to know.
Speaker 2:Would have been interesting to have one of those.
Speaker 1:Oh, Chris had one steps, I think like 15,000, 16,000.
Speaker 2:I actually would have guessed more. But you've got to think though that's 15,000, but some of those are going straight up the mountain yeah, we're not on asphalt walking straight. Did it count him like thinking he was going up a staircase or anything like that? I don't know Because. I know someone will be like you climbed 1,000 flights of stairs today.
Speaker 1:But I think heading out. I forget how much we were over that, but I think our average day I can't remember exactly, but I think it was around that 15,000 or so- which is a lot, considering you're spending a lot of time glassing and stuff like that. I can't remember exactly but, like I said, we're not on asphalt. You'll see in the videos. If people watch it, it's steep, you can tell in the video a bit, but it's.
Speaker 1:you'll see in the videos if people watch it it's, it's steep. Yeah, you can't. You can tell the video a bit but it's still hard to tell Um so where was I on that Day?
Speaker 2:two, you're going back up the mountain.
Speaker 1:Yes, you're going back up. Um, so we had a plan, we're going to look for that ram and everything Right. So we get set up there looking for the ram I had is so peaceful. And then, uh, I decided I was like I'm gonna go for a bit of a walk, chris. Like all right, chris, still glass, he's just ripping it up. Looking.
Speaker 2:He said there's, you know there's a method to glassing and everything and that's how he's doing. Just did he talk about I? I watched a video the other day on glassing and it was saying to go left to right, not right to left. Did he say anything about that?
Speaker 1:he might have. Sorry, chris. Um, I was trying to take in as much as I could, but I was really tired and exhausted.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because I guess if you go, left or right is the way you shouldn't go, because that's the way you would read a piece of paper.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:And then you'll catch yourself moving too fast. But if you go right to left, it's the opposite of he was tearing up.
Speaker 1:Chris was good at being patient about looking it all over and everything too. Oh yeah, I was talking too about goals. Right, it's like getting the first day of the goal and then going up the mountain. My goal was I want to see sheep, I want to see sheep, I just want to see sheep, I want to get the hell up that mountain. So I'm just like hammering down, just going up the mountain and at the same time, the day that we're leaving and and everything right, like I just want to get back to the vehicle, I just want to get back there, I want to get back there.
Speaker 1:So you just mind over matter, you don't have to think about your body. It's like hey, hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. No, but your body does, it does get used to it, it really does. I mean, it's still hard and tiring, but it gets used to it. And, yeah, I'm so glad I didn't take my pack with me. I took my bear spray because, although we didn't see any grizzlies, we saw signs of them. There's 100% grizzlies in the area. There's a lot of elk around us too. I've found lots of sign of elk and all that around us.
Speaker 2:And the grizzlies will be up on that high elevation too.
Speaker 1:They wouldn't be that high, but like where we were camping in the creek, oh, there's grizzly tracks up and down the creek. So, yeah, so you carry your bear spray and your bear spray. So Chris was shooting a 6.5 Creedmoor, or some people say a 6.5 Needmoor. No, but you're no. The guns are very adequate for the job but, honestly, paul had a 300, a 300, I thought he said a 300 Norma or something like that, but he was saying this it's true, your bear spray is probably a better defense, because a charging grizzly, if they're so big and heavy duty bear spray is probably going to outperform your bullet.
Speaker 1:That's what I've been told. So yeah, so I had my bear spray on.
Speaker 2:Not something you want to learn, though, no.
Speaker 1:So although I didn't see one, saw lots of sign of them and a lot of grouse, Not quite that high up, but on the way up and everything. I got a lot of grouse out there.
Speaker 2:Multiple grouse out there, same as here.
Speaker 1:So they have rough grouse, they have spruce gross, they have blue gross, and in areas of alberta they have ptarmigan.
Speaker 2:So if you're looking to uh check off your, yeah, upland bird, slam, gross, slam, yeah, you could damn near get all your bird stamps yeah, uh.
Speaker 1:So it's cool seeing a lot, a lot of gross, a lot of gross uh squirrels way at the top. I'm like holy shit, like way up there just chattering away and I saw some I think they're lemmings A little rodent up there, lemmings and stuff and it was too rocky where we were at, but they have marmots way up there too.
Speaker 2:So, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I ended up going for a walk and I was glad All I had on was my bino harness and my bear spray, because you don't go anywhere without that. Up there Didn't see any, but saw a lot of signs.
Speaker 2:How'd you like your bino harness?
Speaker 1:Loved it.
Speaker 2:My Vortex bino harness. I was wondering, because you've never used one before.
Speaker 1:No, they are a little weird to get used to.
Speaker 2:They're a necessity for what you're doing, though, I find any hunting. This keeps them clean and dry.
Speaker 1:Chris had a nice Sitka. Most of Chris' gear Sitka be a nice Sitka, Harness. Andrew Paul had a Sitka one, I think, and Andrew had like a Badlands one, I think that's the brand.
Speaker 1:Badlands. Then I had my Vortex one. Yeah, you need it, you got to have it right. So it got a lot of use, worked great.
Speaker 1:But yeah, where I was going like there's some stuff in the video like some rock slides, like I accidentally hit a rock trying to get, you know, climbing up the mountain just a bit higher up, because I went further down and then when you go further down you can go up even more.
Speaker 1:So I was in that I was going across of it, across it to look on the side, you know going to uh, try to check out this other valley, and like my foot accidentally hit a rock and just like you see it go down and you can hear it going down. It's going down for a long ways. So you're like man, but it gets. I got a little in my head a bit more coming back through because I'd gotten, not lost, but just a little bit turned, not turned around. I couldn't remember exactly where I'd come over. So when I was heading back I couldn't remember how high up and down I was on the mountain because I was going on the side and like, how high up and down it was on the mountain because I was going on the side and like it it's.
Speaker 2:The rocks are so, and that's why we're so steep, so like how far of a walk, like in distance, you would have went like a couple hundred yards from where chris was at probably a bit further, maybe a kilometer or so okay, and then you were just glossing a different area yeah, but just going across, I was going to the side of it there and it was like it was.
Speaker 1:So I couldn't have done that section with a pack on guaranteed. I wouldn't like. I was like holding stuff with my hands like the rocks and all that cutting your hands up a bit on the rocks and everything doing like it was. It was pretty wild, uh. So I ended up finding uh way down I couldn't quite get a picture so far off, but a couple used down there, so that was neat okay used together.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that was pretty neat. Um, and then, coming back through, I saw this old tin up there, like an old sardine tin, yeah, and I was like, oh, that's pretty neat. And it had like the key. It was all rusted and stuff obviously, but had a key turn thing on it, not like the you know, beer can tab, like the new ones and I was like that's pretty cool. So I took a picture of it and then when I was coming back through I saw it again. I was like, oh, you know what I'm gonna take it, it's gonna be my souvenir for the trip, right, and it was really cool.
Speaker 1:So when we got back, chris has I'm not a big tech guy, even though I have a podcast um, chris has chat gdp, the kind that you pay for. Is it gdp or gpt or chat gpt? Yeah, pt, that's pte, abc, um, so he, this was really cool. So we took a picture of it, right. So the chat thing goes all through it and it said that in its analysis of like the way the key is, the way it's built, all that I could get all this in the picture. Like freaking ai stuff blows my mind.
Speaker 1:Um, it dated it the 1930s to the 1940s at earliest, but it said possibly from the late 1920s. And it said that judging from what it could tell on it even though there's no paper on it, obviously, or stamps that you could make out it estimates that it was from Blacks Harbor, new Brunswick, called Brunswick Sardines. I think it was from there. So that was really cool Because Chris and I are looking at it. It's so well built we could tell it was old. We could tell it was really old. The fact that it was for sure at the very latest pre-World War II. That was cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's insane. I'm glad I took that. What are the chances? That was cool. Yeah, that's insane. I'm glad I took that. What are the chances? Artifact A New Brunswick boy up on top of a mountain in Alberta Finding New Brunswick. Potentially New Brunswick made tin from 100 years ago, 80 to 100 years old.
Speaker 1:Here's the other thing. Speaking of that I was telling Chris, Chris and I were cuddled in the tent one night.
Speaker 2:You guys were sharing a sleeping bag.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you gotta make small talk because if not it's weird. No, but we were sharing a sleeping bag. No, we were at the fire one night and I was like you know, I said it's pretty crazy. I said, because Chris is from New Brunswick as well, busted, busted, um. I said here we are. I said a couple beers tonight, there was um. Anyways. I said here we are out here. I said on a bighorn sheep hunt in alberta, in the rocky mountains, a couple east coasters, right, like it's pretty neat. I mean like he's an alberta resident now but we're both from new brunswick.
Speaker 2:It's kind of cool, right, you know it is, it's, it's, it's pretty remember you when you first thought about going and you're like I don't know, I'm like you can't pass up that opportunity no, no, so just kind of putting that in perspective too, sort of neat.
Speaker 1:You know a couple of new brunswick boys out there, um, yeah, so that was uh. So we, other than that we did not, we were not able to get eyes on the Rams that day.
Speaker 2:On day two.
Speaker 1:No, no, looked and looked so and then on day three we were scouting down at the bottom and all that and everything, but we had to head out later. So we were, how long were we? It was a whole day, you know getting in, getting set up, basically and all that. We left really, we left before sun up in the morning and then two full days out there and then we got back a little after supper that night.
Speaker 2:So about four days, you know four. Two.
Speaker 1:You did two full, like you were pretty much a day in three nights to full full day Well the first day that we left before sun up, we're at there, so three full days, but like two full days of really hunting and then a little bit on the third day, yeah, yeah, and then, um, then, yes, we glassed it there, but I mean, even though, uh, we didn't harvest anything, I mean the your success rate is so low on that with as a resident, um, with an outfitter it's a little bit higher because you know they, a lot of them, will pay. That's what they do and they'll pay people to find the rams in the summer and stay with them, like you stay with this ram, because you've got clients in that are paying 150 000 yeah 100, 150, 000 or what you know minimum.
Speaker 1:The cheapest I've seen a sheep hunt in alberta with no fitter and if you're non-resident, unless you're tagging along like I was, you have to go with an outfitter is $100,000 US. That's the cheapest, and that's not guaranteed.
Speaker 2:Wow, so you're close to $140,000 Canadian. Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:But your odds go up because these outfitters will pay people to find sheep in the summer and just kind of camp out with them.
Speaker 2:So that one ram that you guys seen but we're not able to quite see the horns like, what are the odds that that maybe possibly could?
Speaker 1:have been a legal ram. Very good. So chris's plan.
Speaker 1:Chris said to say he's not coming back on the podcast until I say sorry for what happened out there until um, until he gets a ram so he gets so he's going back out in October Into that same spot, into that same spot and when the snow because there very well could be snow out there then the sheep will be easier to pick out, yep, and we can see a lot of sheep trails and all that, but they just weren't being used then, because the sheep they will start changing their ranges a bit and stuff like that. I think it's going to be a little better that time of year, yep. So we'll see.
Speaker 1:So we could be hearing from them again Because that sheep there compared to that other smaller ram that you had seen, it was way bigger, it was way wider I mean, yeah, yeah, he was big the rear end of him and all that that we could see from the neck down he was. He was big, the rear end of him and all that that we could see, from the neck down he was thick.
Speaker 2:What time of the day did you see that? Uh, it's like 3, 34 o'clock ish so there was no way to there was.
Speaker 1:Unless you actually could see that it was a legal ram, there was no point in trying to get closer to him we, we'd have to go all the way back down that one and then try to go all the way back up the other side, so it would would have been nighttime before you got there, no, but from there the shot would have been, like I said, like 650, 700 and some. So I mean.
Speaker 2:Is that something, chris? Chris?
Speaker 1:was comfortable shooting. I think he said he could do like five or so. So it would have been, we would have hummed and hawed or we would have had a really solid game plan for the morning. Yes, we look to see where he bedded up, you know. So, um, yeah, uh, but Chris, I think Chris is going to get his Ram here soon because I mean, he's, he's putting in the work and he's definitely learning as you go and stuff. Like I said, it's not like. It's not like a deer where you're hunting a deer. You're like, oh, set up and this, and that You're not setting up cams out there.
Speaker 2:And food plots planted yeah and food plots planted.
Speaker 1:You're not doing that out there, right You're?
Speaker 2:not. You're going in there for two days, you're hunting, and then everything after that is what you're reading and researching.
Speaker 1:Yeah, even if you're out there for a week, you're still just. You know, even though he's been out there before, he's still get a boone and crocket white tail. But that's the heart. You know how hard it is to get right. So, um, yeah, so we got out there. And then chris. Chris lives in lake louise. Uh, if anyone's been there, it's inside bamf national park. Chris is a park warden keeping everything on the up and up out there. It's good protecting wildlife and upholding the. I didn't know they had as much authority as they did. But if you're in the Park of Banff, which is massive in Canada's gem, he upholds the laws of Canada in there. So you know, truck drivers, he plays DOT, plays police officer, all that Doesn't play it, he does it. You know, wow. So because he said he's I didn't know that either because he said that he's handed out speeding tickets and this and that to people and someone. People like well, that's a. You know, that's a police ticket.
Speaker 2:Like you don't have that authority, it's like well, I do, I'd pay the ticket. Are you gonna find him? Um, I gotta he probably.
Speaker 1:I have a radar gun in my vehicle yeah, he said people think he just plays with the bears or the elk and all that you know, but he, they uphold the laws of canada in the park and the park is massive. Banff national park is huge. Um, so then Chris said it's kind of like tradition. He said after we're done, he said we're going to go into Banff. He said I'll buy you whatever you want to eat, wherever you want to eat. So we went there and we're like looking around and then, um, there's so many choices, burgers, shout out to Eddie, the man himself. I don't know if Eddie was there or not, unless Eddie's a girl. Um, so we went there. It was amazing. Food, just just amazing. Uh, banff is something like out of a fairy tale and a storybook, cause it's. It's incredible when you're in the town of Banff, everything is so nice and it's just, it's just unbelievable. There's so many people, holy shit, there's like everywhere. And I was just unbelievable. There's so many people, holy shit, there's like they're everywhere. And I was like, is it always like this? Chris is like uh, no, it's usually busier, is that right? He said so. Banff gets every year about 4 million visitors a year. There's just people everywhere, but they do a good job of running everything. You know like they're set up to have a lot of people. It's a little packed right in the town. Um, I wouldn't want to try to get a big RV through there and people were trying to and it was like, yeah, it's tight in there, but, um, it's so nice, man, it's nice to even have uh, for you Canadians listening to this, you might know cow's ice cream from Prince Edward Island. They, it's nice, they even have for you Canadians listening to this, you might know Cow's Ice Cream from Prince Edward Island. It's the same. They have the same franchise in Banff. So the ice cream that they make in Prince Edward Island is trucked out to Banff and they send it there.
Speaker 1:And we were there. I remember it was like after supper there's a lineup out the door To get it, to get it. Wow, yeah, like it was crazy. And then we went out, chris, like let's go. So we went to the banff springs golf course, which is world renowned and famous golf course, and he said we should be able to see some elk out here because they're rutting and these are wild elk, and so, anyways, the elk were. So I was like, oh, I said I see a cow elk. So he's like I can't pull over here, I'll just pull over up here. So he pulled over. I'm like holy shit, I see a bull and it was like a great big, like six by seven or seven by seven, I can't remember. Now you guys saw the video, so then I get out there and it's just yeah, the video you.
Speaker 2:You posted a video on your tiktok yeah, my tiktok with the weird music in the background I don't use tiktok ever, but if anyone wants to go see it and see how massive this is, I put it on facebook?
Speaker 1:no, I put it. I put it on my ken meyer facebook. I know I'd never use TikTok at all. I have it for the podcast and then what was it? This bull's like bugling, and then at the end, here, if you need help, If no one's asked you lately, are you okay? But it's actually a song, do we?
Speaker 2:have to check up on you.
Speaker 1:I don't know how to get rid of that, because I don't know how to use this shit.
Speaker 2:It was a suggested song for that, such a cool video of a massive elk.
Speaker 1:So if anyone's on Hunt's Unoutfitting Podcast TikTok and hears that I don't need help. No one on the podcast, it's okay, but it's also my Facebook, so I see him out there in this bowl. It's just. I mean, I've seen elk before wild elk in Alberta. I just I mean I've seen elk before wild elk in Alberta. I've not been that close to them because normally they're really skittish, I find.
Speaker 1:But he's out there and then he's bugling and I got him like perfect, full bugle. And then the fucker takes his head down and just starts tearing up their golf and it was neat, though. So he puts his head down, he's like tearing up their nice sod right, and then he's like tearing up their nice sod right and uh, and then he's like tearing up with his antlers and pawing at it and he's pissing in it and all that. And then he just lays down and the cow elk that we'd seen running earlier she comes out to him just before he laid down. He's smelling, he's like, he's like yeah, I know she's coming, she wants this because he'd been screaming away. And she comes out. She's like like panting, she's out of breath, she ran out, and then he stands up and then he's like following her around and stuff, but it was just unbelievable uh, what other game did you see while you were on the hunt?
Speaker 2:like you mentioned, you've seen the mule deer right away, the first day saw mule deer, uh, saw a lot of grouse.
Speaker 1:Saw a lot of squirrels. Unfortunately, uh, they're just annoying uh, the lemming, the sheep, the elk. Saw a lot of grizzly tracks and everything. Oh and then, oh yeah, so I forgot this. This is in the video Coming back through, we're still. I don't know how far we were from the vehicle, 10 kilometers or so. We're like going along like, oh shit, found this deadhead of a nice. Part of it was chewed off, but wide 10 point buck, and you guys saw a picture and that was a white tail.
Speaker 2:White tail, yeah, that was?
Speaker 1:that was a white tail yep 100 beautiful deer yeah, wide, holy shit, he was wide.
Speaker 1:And then chris like oh wow, good finally, and we we'd walk past that on the way in because we we tried to take the same path, right, uh, and I kind of remember that area, but I don't remember seeing that and it'd been there for a while. And then, uh, I don't know how that one died he, he could have died of old age. So I'm like, oh, that's cool, so I left it there. Chris is going to go back and get them. You can get a permit.
Speaker 1:Salvage permit In Alberta. You can't in New Brunswick, which is stupid. But in Alberta you can get a salvage permit and get them. So he's going to mail them back. So we left it there because we couldn't. Elks were coming out unless we had a sheep. We were pretty tired and he's coming back from them. We're going out and there's like I don't know. A few K later I'm like whoa, whoa, whoa and I go over and I find this pretty nice bull elk skull and you could tell Chris that's a predator kill.
Speaker 2:So that was probably killed by wolves.
Speaker 1:No, oh yeah, so that was snoring. I guess you could hear the wolves and you can tell it was not coyotes.
Speaker 2:How far off in the. I mean because you said everything would echo really weird there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's so hard to tell. Like probably miles and miles, but still quite something to hear yeah, so deep Like you can tell that's not a coyote Especially when you're in a tent in the middle of nowhere's with a little campfire, yeah I wasn't, I wasn't worried at all. Is is really neat to hear, but I mean deep, they're just like heard. It's like an eerie kind of sound they're deep, you can tell it's a big dog doing it yeah, but that that elk was definitely a predator yeah, so we're.
Speaker 1:But we're figuring cat because we saw some shit coming in and it was not bear for sure, maybe wolf, I don't think so. I think it was. It looked like cat, big cat. No, there's a lot of mountain lions there. And then the area we were, you know, we were outside of jasper, which has a lot of mountain lions too. Uh, so in between those two places, I mean there's, you know, there's cats. There's definitely mountain lions out there. Um, when we were in banff, uh, I didn't see a mountain lion, but I saw a couple cougars.
Speaker 2:The elk kill. That was an old deadhead there too.
Speaker 1:Not as old.
Speaker 2:Not as old.
Speaker 1:No, not nearly as old. There's still some tufts of hair on the head itself. It was older, but not like the white tail. That was really cool and yeah, like I said, I had a great meal and all that, and the next day it was a hell of an adventure. Yeah, just unbelievable. Chris did such a good job. It lived up to my expectations.
Speaker 2:It was a hunt of a lifetime. It was yeah, A hundred percent.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And like I said, Chris, if you're listening, he's going to get his RAM one of these days. He's going to get it soon, I think.
Speaker 2:Well, he's back in October. Hopefully he has luck then.
Speaker 1:Might be on the podcast after talking about it.
Speaker 2:He doesn't have someone dragging him down. I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1:Okay, that hurt.
Speaker 2:So that's the hunt for us. Actually, is he going to be going on his own when he goes in October? Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Let me go with you. Especially when you're that far out, it's not a good idea to go solo.
Speaker 2:And if you do get something you probably want to hand 100% need help Packing out. Yeah, oh absolutely.
Speaker 1:I mean we were talking that a legal ram head alone probably 40 pounds.
Speaker 2:Wow, 30, 40 pounds. What would be the weight of the body then that you would have to?
Speaker 1:So we talked about that. So like a really large white tail, oh yeah. Really large white tail yeah.
Speaker 2:So that's a pack Holy shit.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And you already have a 50 pound pack on.
Speaker 1:Some guys that are bigger dudes and all that going in, they're going with like 70 pounds on their back.
Speaker 2:So then you would basically double in your pack weight Could be To go out with me, to go out with 25K, yeah.
Speaker 1:Wow, yeah, so I know, because we were thinking like man, that would be hard. But I mean, if you do it you have so much like holy shit, we made it happen, kind of thing. You did it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, to get out of them if I miss my flight.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it's pretty incredible, super cool. Thanks for listening, boys.