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The fall of 2009 found my hunting partner and I in WMU 400 searching for the elusive bighorn ram. As fate would have it, I did locate a ram that was ever so close to the full curl requirement, but after an hour of glassing him, I was unable to determine whether he was legal or just “short” of legal.
As our mid-September hunt wound down, talk turned to the possibility of a sheep hunt in the Willmore Wilderness for the 2010 season. We both agreed and committed to the idea and shortly after returning home, started planning.
Willmore Wilderness Park is located north of Jasper National Park, encompasses 4600 square kilometres and harbours about 20% of all bighorn sheep in Alberta. Within the boundaries of the Willmore, no motorized vehicles are allowed and the primary method of travel is by horse or on foot. This trip would be our first experience hunting the Willmore and would involve both riding and hiking.
The first stage to planning our hunt would be to search the web, gathering information on trails and potential hunting spots. The Willmore Wilderness Foundation (WWF) has an informative website with listings of books, video, general trail and staging area information, as well as contact information.
Additionally, I found that the WWF has fundraising events and decided it would be beneficial to attend one and maybe “pick the brains” of a few members and attendees for more detailed information. Along with web searches, I also began to pick out potential areas to hunt and accumulate the appropriate topographic maps.
The second stage of planning was to attend the 2010 Edmonton fundraiser for the Willmore Wilderness Foundation and attempt to qualify the area we had in mind. After communicating with several very friendly attendees, it became obvious that the area we planned to hunt was not appropriate for sheep. Alternatively, several other areas were indicated to have good potential, so our plan would have to be reworked and new trails would have to be investigated.
After many hours of scouring topo maps and Google Earth, I came upon an area that looked to be quite remote, yet camp could be accessed by horseback. Once again, a member of the Willmore Wilderness Foundation advised me on the trails we would have to follow and approximate travel times, as well as providing locations at which to set up camp.
As summer proceeded, a five-day scouting trip was planned. This trip proved to be very helpful for our second trip (which would be in mid-September). We were able to prepare our campsite and familiarize ourselves with the area and the trails leading in and out.
Forward to September 15, 2010, after countless hours of research and planning, our trip began. The first day involved driving to the Cowlick Creek staging area and spending the night in the truck. The following morning was cool but the weather was decent for riding and my partner and I and six horses headed out. The trip in was grueling but went well. The weather held out for the day and a half it took to get in, as well as for setting up camp and our first day of hunting.
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| It snowed steady for two days. |
Then the snow came. It snowed steady for two days at the end of which we were left with a foot. Oh joy! As it turned out, the snow was good because it allowed us to see tracks at some distance and the sheep stood out much better.
Day 8 found us heading out from camp to a new area. The decision was made to travel light, one backpack and one spotting scope, a rifle each and one pair of binos. By 11am, we had reached a vantage point we felt would give us a reasonable view of the area, so we set up for some spotting.
After about an hour of glassing, I spotted a legal ram. He was bedded facing towards us and about two kilometres away. I motioned to my partner to come over and for the next 30 minutes, we formulated a plan of attack. On the advice of my buddy, I would come in low along the base of a cliff and attempt to get as close as possible to the ram for a shot. The first kilometre would have me exposed to the ram but the idea would be to move slowly through the waist high willows and get below his line of sight. With the final plan made, I set out with the bare essentials, a long sleeved shirt, hat, knife, binos, rangefinder, rifle and eight rounds of ammo, hoping to move as quickly and stealthily as possible.
It took me about an hour to reach the base of the cliff and all the excitement, which had waned somewhat on the hike over, reappeared.
It was hard to go slow while climbing the final steep incline below the ram. The anticipation and exertion was causing my heart rate to climb and with it, my breathing.
I peaked up as I approached the top and frantically searched for the ram. Then all of a sudden, I spotted him. Or was it him? He was facing the opposite direction. The view from my binoculars told me it must be him. Nice big curl! (As my partner told me later, the ram had turned and re-bedded facing away during my stalk).
Turning to face away was the best thing that could have happened. It gave me the opportunity to slip into some stunted spruce and retrieve my range finder. It was 308 yards to the front of the ridge he was on and 389 to the back. I raised my rifle and attempted to steady it on a spindly, dead spruce. The ram picked up on my movements, stood up and faced me. At that moment, I decided to squeeze the trigger... BOOM! A HIT! But he remained facing me. Now the shakes hit me and I missed my next three shots. “Oh no! He’s going to slip away,” my mind screamed.
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| Ken poses with his well-earned bighorn ram. |
The ram moved to the back of the ridge, went straight up and stopped broadside. Thinking quickly that I would have to aim over him for a hit (he was now out close to 400 yards) I once again squeezed the trigger and before the loud retort of the 300 WSM had diminished, the ram went over backwards and I knew he was mine! The moment was surreal. I had my first bighorn ram!
My hunting partner witnessed as much of the event as he was able to see through the spotting scope from his vantage point. At the sight of the ram going down, he quickly shouldered the pack and headed towards me.
The backpack trip back to the horses was grueling but neither of us complained; we just had big grins. Once at the horses, we mounted and were back in camp just before dark.
Intensive planning was a big reason I think this trip was successful. We dealt with all the details before we left the truck and on our exhausted return 12 days later, we had an unbelievable feeling of accomplishment. My only regret is that we were unable to harvest a ram for my great hunting partner and friend, Sheridan Hiebert. Only with his help was I able to attain my first trophy bighorn ram.
Thanks Pal! ■
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