CANADA: 2023 Yukon Dall’s Sheep & Caribou With BPO

[Scott CWO]

Prelude
Clear back in 2001 at the WSF Sheep Show, my wife and I found a listing of the North American 29 Slam of big game animals that was printed on a round piece of cardboard. It had an arrow dial on it and you could spin the arrow/dial to point at a picture of each individual animal which then revealed a small description of that animal. Being the son of an outfitter, we thought our five year-old, Cody, would love it, so we gave it to him when we got home. Cody grabbed it and immediately went downstairs to his bedroom to study it. Over an hour later, he emerged from his room and excitedly told me he had decided which animal of the NA 29 that he wanted to hunt first - Dall’s sheep! I chuckled a bit and told him that Dall’s sheep were definitely one of my favorites too but that we didn’t have any in Colorado. I asked him if he would perhaps like to start with deer, elk and pronghorn when he got to be twelve years old and do a Dall’s sheep hunt a bit later. He readily agreed so I made him a promise right then and there that if he did good in school and graduated from college, that I would take him Dall’s sheep hunting. He never let me forget it!

Cody did very well in school and college and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Petroleum Engineering with a Minor in Economics, all while also playing college football as a QB. He is now twenty-seven years-old, married with two young sons and works as an Engineer for a major oil company. He loves to hunt and fish and has spent a lot of time with me in the Colorado backcountry.

True to my word, in 2018, I booked a 2020 hunt for us both with my friend, Chris McKinnon, owner of Bonnet Plume Outfitters in the Yukon. Cody will be hunting sheep while I will hunt caribou. I first met Chris back in 2003 when he was a guide for Art Thompson at Gundahoo River Outfitters for Stone’s sheep. We have been friends ever since. I was guided on that hunt by well-known guide, Brent Sinclair, but also met Chris at Art’s base camp.

When COVID reared its ugly head, the 2020 hunt was delayed until 2021 and then again to 2023. We couldn’t go in 2022 because of my Zambian safari.

Travel and Prep
Cody flew to Denver from Texas on August 16th while I drove to Vail for an X-ray and to get clearance from my doctor/surgeon to go on the trip. Some of you may remember that I had surgery on my right tibia back on December 15th to re-fracture it and straighten it. Years earlier, I sustained a double compound fracture of my tibia and also fractured the fibula in a motocross wreck, which left me with a twisted tibia that caused my foot to be rotated 20 degrees different than my knee. The doctors told me I should be 100% by June 1st. Unfortunately, the December surgery failed and I had to have another surgery on May 25th to remove the plate, rod and 9 screws from the December surgery and install a bone graft from my hip/pelvis and a different plate with 8 screws in May. To say that 2023 has been a bit rough on me is an understatement!

The August 16 X-ray showed that the May bone graft and surgery was a success and that I had significant new bone growth on both the topside and underside of my tibia since my last X-ray on June 7th. You can see the difference on the two X-rays in the picture below. The new, thicker plate with 8 screws installed in May also looked good. The doctor cleared me for the trip but told me to be careful. I am only three months post-op in a recovery that will take six months to be 100%. Since I only started walking without crutches in late July and I haven’t been able to do much cardio exercise since December, I knew this trip would be very tough but I was determined to go with Cody. We flew out of Denver the next day, on August 17th to Whitehorse.

 

[Scott CWO]

August 17th
Our UA flight to Vancouver was uneventful. Since we had a three hour layover before our flight to Whitehorse, we thought we would have plenty of time to clear Canadian Customs and re-check our baggage for the flight to Whitehorse. Geez were we wrong!

Customs was a bit slow and took about an hour. I had all the proper paperwork for my two rifles, a .300 WSM for my caribou and a 6.5 GAP SAUM (Gnat Ass Precision based on a .300 SAUM case necked down to 6.5) for Cody’s sheep. I packed both rifles in one case but brought another gun case for two axles for a Honda UTV that Chris asked me to bring up to base camp. Cody and I also each checked a duffel bag containing our Kuiu 7200 backpacks, as this was to be a backpack hunt.

Customs had no issues with the UTV axles being in a second gun case but did ask to see them. No problems. After leaving Customs, we had to go up a level to the check-in kiosks and all the way to the opposite end of the airport to check our baggage to Whitehorse on Air Canada. Once at Air Canada, we had to wait in line for 1.5 hours! There were only two lines open with probably 50 people waiting! The Air Canada employees were slower than molasses in January! No sense of urgency! It would take them 10 minutes to check-in a family of four! By the time we were helped and went through all the gun and ammo declaration forms, we had to about run to our gate. We made it during the last call for passengers with no time to stop for lunch. The flight was fine and we had exit row seats with extra leg room. Our baggage made the flight and we got everything In Whitehorse, which I am told is not usually the case. We had planned on an extra day in Whitehorse due to baggage concerns but it wasn’t needed.

Next time, we will fly through Edmonton. I have done that before with no issues.

 

[Scott CWO]

August 18th & 19th
After a day of relaxing and walking around Whitehorse, we were picked up at our hotel the next morning by the charter company and driven to the airport. On the charter flight with us were two more sheep hunters, Dennis and Mike; a base camp cook named Kelly and a guide, Devon, who was to be my guide. The flight was spectacular due to the scenery and we landed at the BPO base camp in time for lunch, cooked by Chris’ wife, Sharron.

We repacked after lunch and stowed our extra gear in one of the nice cabins at base camp. We met Cody’s guide, Wyatt. Chris decided to also send his son, Wyatt, with us as a packer. So we had two guys named Wyatt going with us on the hunt. We called them “Old Wyatt” and “Young Wyatt” as did everyone at base camp. Of course, Damon would also go with us as my guide.

After repacking our backpacks and adding in ten days rations of freeze-dried breakfasts and dinners, as well as candy bars and protein bars for lunches, the five of us loaded up in a jet boat and went down the Bonnet Plume River for several miles. We beached the boat and tied it up. We then put on our backpacks and hiked 9km by the crow flies up a nasty drainage without a trail through bogs, willow thickets, alder thickets and also crossed the big creek in the drainage several times on our way to spike camp. There is no way to land a plane in this drainage so hiking is the only way to get there. The hike about killed me! Chris knew this would be hard on me instead of flying out by Supercub to a different location but he had seen a big broomed ram up this drainage and wanted Cody to get it. Not far from where we made camp, I turned down a decent caribou on the way in. We set up our individual tents and after a freeze-dried dinner, I fell asleep easily and so did everyone else.

 

[375Fox]

I see the first hint of success poking out from the pack. Looking forward to the rest.

 

[Jettech]

looking forward to seeing the sheep pics

 

[Nyati]

 

[BourbonTrail]

Looks like an awesome father/son trip in the making

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Dall sheep hunts in the Yukon are spectacular adventures! Just getting there is an adventure! Looking forward to this report.

 

[Tucketed]

Just finishing up “A Man Called Red” autobiography about Red Sorensen. Great read on early times outfitting and hunting Sheep, Goats etc in British Colombia Rockies so I am looking at more to come from you and your sons hunt.
Thank you

 

[Scott CWO]

August 20 & 21
After the long hike with heavy backpacks and setting up camp the evening before, my leg was definitely sore. In addition, my good leg was doing about 70% of the work to compensate. I needed any easy hunt so Devon and I hiked up the valley about half a mile and climbed up the left side a couple hundred yards to glass. We glassed all day and spotted several caribou and moose but no shooters. We had a freeze-dried dinner that evening while glassing and returned to camp at dark.

Cody and both the Wyatts went up the valley a bit further and hiked up the right side to look into a bowl on that side that made a dogleg turn to the left. They spotted some caribou and two rams. One of the rams was legal but it wasn’t the heavier ram that was broomed on the right side that they were looking to find so they turned it down and returned to camp.

On the 21st, we all started up the valley again and spotted three caribou bulls feeding on the right side and about 3/4 of a mile up valley from camp. The bull with the most developed antlers was a bit narrow but had good tops with seven points on the tops, decent bez points and one nice shovel. He also had back tines that pointed backwards off the mainbeams. Not all bulls have back tines or so many points up on top so even though he was a bit narrow, I decided to go for him.

The wind was coming down the main valley in our faces. The caribou were up the valley a bit from us and up in the bottom of a big bowl to the right that emptied into the main valley. We thought if we climbed up the right side of the bowl to look down into it where the caribou were feeding that the wind would be fine as a crosswind. All was going well until the wind switched. I saw our target bull lift his nose into the air and get nervous. With the curvature of the bowl, we could see the caribou while we were standing but if I dropped down to make a rest to shoot, I couldn’t see them. It wasn’t long until the caribou got more nervous and started walking up out of the bottom of the bowl. They began climbing our side but I still wasn’t able to get down to shoot because of the curvature of the mountain. Even though the wind was now bad, I started moving faster forward while gaining elevation at the same time in an effort to get an unobstructed shot before the caribou topped out of the bowl. The caribou were about to disappear over the top and I realized it was now or never. The range was 250 yards. I dropped down to a kneeling position in the rocks and fired. There was no time for a solid rest off a backpack. I hit the caribou as it was quartering away. It didn’t drop but was obviously hit hard and couldn’t keep pace with the other two bulls. While trying to chamber another round, the mountain gave way beneath me and I slid about five feet. It was very steep. I got a new round chambered and moved back up the mountain for another shot. I took another kneeling shot at about 280 yards and the caribou dropped and began rolling down the mountain! The caribou came to a stop in an awkward precarious position. I could see it kicking one leg in the air.

After gathering our wits and chambering another round, we headed towards the caribou. It was slow going for me. The mountain was steep and loose. When we were about halfway to the caribou, it started rolling again but then stopped after about 50 yards. When we got to it, it was dead and could see that my first shot had quartered all the way through and out the right shoulder. My second shot went into the right shoulder and into the left shoulder without exiting. The guides were pretty happy with my shooting without much of a rest.

The mountain was so steep that the caribou was sliding down while we took pictures. After pictures, we dug out a flat spot on the mountain so we could skin and quarter it safely. I caped it and quartered it while the other guys started packing loads down to the main valley.

 

[Scott CWO]

Just finishing up “A Man Called Red” autobiography about Red Sorensen. Great read on early times outfitting and hunting Sheep, Goats etc in British Colombia Rockies so I am looking at more to come from you and your sons hunt.
Thank you

I hunted Red’s old area in BC in 2003 for my Stone’s sheep. I heard some great stories about him that were handed down to the guides. It’s a great area and I killed the biggest ram taken that year in BC on the 13th day of a 14-day hunt!

 

[Scott CWO]

August 21 continued
After getting the caribou quartered and down to the main valley, Cody and his guide continued up the main valley and then climbed up the right side to make their way towards a distant basin where the heavy broomed ram had been seen. Meanwhile, Devon and Young Wyatt packed my caribou back to our spike camp while I rested my leg at spike camp. Young Wyatt built a fire and he cooked up some of the caribou blackstrap. Early season caribou are delicious!

At 9:49pm, I received a message on my inReach from Cody and his guide, Wyatt. It said, “RAM DOWN! - CODY.” That was music to my ears! I only wish I could have been with Cody but I would have slowed them down too much and I told them to go find the broomed ram without me.

Turns out they found six new rams, including the target ram. The rams were further away from our spike camp then when Chris and Old Wyatt saw them earlier in the season. It was a really long hike and Cody and Old Wyatt found them at the top of the farthest basin. The rams actually crossed over the top of that basin as well and before it was over, Cody shot the ram on the backside, that looked down to the Bonnet Plume River. Cody shot the ram at 325 yards through both shoulders and it tumbled 300 yards, breaking its jaw and spine in the fall. This country is incredibly rugged! The ram is 37 2/8” on the longer side. Both sides are broomed with the right side broomed the most.

 

[Hogpatrol]

Man, what an awesome hunt! Congratulations to both of you and thanks for posting the pics and report.

 

[WAB]

Those are great trophies, well earned Scott. Congrats to you and your son!

 

[BnC 04]

Outstanding Scott! Big congrats to all involved. Always a special time when your above or in the clouds play peekaboo with sheep.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Well, the wait was worth it Cody. I'd take that Ram any day of the week.
There is nothing wrong with that caribou either. You made a good assessment.

Congratulations to you both.

 

[Tucketed]

Beautiful ram and bull. Congrats

 

[shotgungibbs]

Wonderful hunt! Beautiful scenery, and beautiful animals! Good for both of you!

 

[gillettehunter]

Wonderful ram and a good solid boo. Congrats! Good shooting for both of you. Way to go.
Bruce

 

[LivingTheDream]

The mass on that ram is amazing!!! Great job and sounds you both did some great shooting!