There are easier ways to hunt.
There are warmer places to sleep.
There are certainly vacations that require less effort than carrying a heavy pack through Alaska’s mountains for days on end.
Yet every year, people willingly sign up for one of the most physically and mentally demanding hunts available.
Why?
It’s a question I’ve thought about often since harvesting my first Dall sheep in 2024.
That hunt changed something for me.
The mountains have a way of doing that.
I’ve thought about sheep hunting on a regular basis ever since.
Success Has Two Meanings
For me, the objective of a sheep hunt is straightforward.
The goal is to harvest a legal ram.
If I leave the mountains without accomplishing that objective, I don’t consider the hunt successful from a hunting standpoint.
That’s simply being honest about why I’m there.
At the same time, sheep hunting offers something that can’t be measured by a punch tag.
Ten days in some of the most spectacular country Alaska has to offer has value regardless of the outcome.
There is something uniquely peaceful about being completely removed from everyday life.
No schedules.
No emails.
No constant notifications.
Just mountains, weather, wildlife, and the people you’re fortunate enough to share the experience with.
Those memories remain long after the hunt is over.
The Team
This year I’ll be hunting alongside my wife and my brother-in-law.
When you’re spending ten days in the mountains, who you hunt with matters just as much as where you hunt.
I couldn’t ask for better partners.
They’re mentally tough, positive, and driven.
Anyone who has spent time sheep hunting knows adversity is inevitable.
Plans change.
Weather moves in.
You climb a ridge only to discover sheep are somewhere else.
There are moments when everyone is tired, wet, sore, and questioning the next climb.
Those are the moments when character matters most.
I know these two won’t fall apart when things get difficult.
Just as importantly, I genuinely enjoy spending time with them.
We’ll split gear wherever practical, helping reduce individual pack weight while working as a team throughout the hunt.
Choosing the Hunt
I won’t be sharing the location of this hunt.
Part of the experience—and part of respecting Alaska’s sheep country—is allowing each hunter to do their own homework.
Our destination is a fly-in hunt into a remote mountain range.
The decision wasn’t random.
It came from months of curiosity, conversations with experienced hunters willing to share advice, studying harvest reports, population statistics, and trying to piece together enough information to make an educated decision.
Whether those decisions prove to be the right ones remains to be seen.
That’s part of the adventure.
Preparing for the Unknown
If everything goes according to plan, we’ll fly into the mountains on August 12 and return on August 22.
The biggest unknowns aren’t necessarily physical.
They’re weather and experience.
Weather can dictate everything on a sheep hunt.
It can keep you in the tent.
It can prevent flying.
It can change where sheep feed.
It can completely alter your plans.
The mountains don’t care how much preparation you’ve done.
They’ll always have the final say.
Preparing My Body
My previous sheep hunt covered roughly 90 miles in eight days.
This hunt could be very similar.
Because of that, I changed my training this year.
Rather than emphasizing high-intensity conditioning, I’ve focused more on building an engine for sustained effort.
Current training includes:
- Four strength sessions each week.
- Twenty minutes of low-intensity cardio after lifting, maintaining a heart rate around 120 beats per minute.
- Two weekly rucks carrying approximately 65 pounds.
- One extended mountain hike each week lasting three to five hours with significant elevation gain.
The reasoning is simple.
Much of sheep hunting isn’t sprinting.
It’s hours of steady climbing, hiking, and carrying weight.
I’ve been interested in research surrounding fat oxidation and aerobic efficiency during prolonged efforts, and this year’s training reflects that.
Whether it proves to be an improvement over previous years is still an open question.
The mountains will provide the answer.
My Gear Philosophy
Like most backcountry hunters, I’ve spent countless hours thinking about gear.
Every ounce matters.
But every piece of equipment also serves a purpose.
My philosophy is to be as light as reasonably possible while accepting strategic weight penalties that allow me to hunt harder.
There’s a difference between surviving and thriving.
If carrying a little extra weight helps me sleep better, recover better, stay comfortable, and continue hunting effectively throughout a ten-day trip, I’m willing to make that trade.
It’s also a reflection of another philosophy I’ve developed over the years:
Buy once. Cry once.
Quality gear is expensive, but dependable equipment becomes more valuable the farther you get from the trailhead.
What Concerns Me Most
Without question, my biggest concern is finding a legal ram.
No amount of preparation matters if there simply aren’t legal sheep where you’re hunting.
Beyond that, weather is always on my mind.
Being pinned in a tent while valuable hunting days disappear is something every sheep hunter hopes to avoid.
Unfortunately, it’s also part of the experience.
What I’m Looking Forward To
People often assume harvesting a ram is what keeps drawing hunters back.
While that’s certainly the goal, it isn’t the only reason.
I’m looking forward to ten days in the mountains with the people I care about most.
Those are experiences that simply can’t be recreated anywhere else.
The hunt eventually ends.
The stories don’t.
Looking Ahead
This hunt also gives me the opportunity to evaluate several new pieces of equipment.
My updated rifle system and a new Flextail air compressor are two items I’m especially interested in putting through real mountain use.
Beyond that, nearly every piece of gear, every training decision, and every planning choice will be tested over the next ten days.
Some decisions will prove to be good ones.
Others probably won’t.
That’s exactly why I plan to document the entire process.
Over the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing articles covering my complete gear system, training, food strategy, daily experiences in the field, and—perhaps most importantly—the lessons learned after the hunt is over.
If those experiences help another hunter avoid a mistake, make a better gear decision, or shorten their learning curve, then sharing this journey will have been well worth it.
The mountains have a way of teaching lessons.
Hopefully, by documenting this hunt honestly, some of those lessons can be passed along to the next person preparing for their own adventure.
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