RAFFLE: Win A Fully Paid Dall Sheep Hunt

[BRICKBURN]

Charter from?

 

[K-man]

Update:

I just got off the phone and wanted to give an update. And wanted to post this quickly so I'm doing it from my phone.

License and Tag is not included. I'm sorry if this confused anyone. This cost varies depending on residency. And I will get those tonight

Charter and food is included. Hunt dates are 8/21 to 9/2.

Please feel free to keep asking me questions and I will get answers ASAP.

Thanks for getting more information, always helpful. Even with those costs, still a sweet ticket.

 

[wesheltonj]

Charter from?

McCarthy Alaska, you have to get from Anchorage to McCarthy by either car or plane.

 

[Ryan]

Well, I can't make the dinner since I live in the state this hunt is in. But I may drop a dime on it to chase a sheep one more time.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I can't find any of the details of what's included in the hunt.
Flights, tags, ??

McCarthy Alaska, you have to get from Anchorage to McCarthy by either car or plane.

Just bought my raffle ticket.

I talked with the folks at Ultima Thule Lodge (http://www.ultimathulelodge.com/ ) a few years ago when I was planning my Dall sheep hunt. NOTE: When you get on their website, you have to scroll down to the bottom of their homepage, on the righthand side enter the password "hunting.'

I almost booked with them but instead went to the Yukon instead of Alaska. Would still love to hunt with them. I filed away a DRAFT contract from them and this is what the DRAFT contract had.

Included in this hunt are: Food and Lodging at Ultima Thule Lodge and while hunting, 1X1 guide service, all flying during the course of the hunt, transportation via Anchorage or Valdez.

Not included in this hunt: Transportation to and from Alaska and housing and food before and after the hunting dates, Tags and Licenses, tips for the staff and guides.​

NOTE: This may or may not be what the Outfitter is actually offering for the raffle hunt.

From Anchorage, they drive you to Chitina, which is the end of the road for HWY 10. Ultima Thule has several of their own planes and they fly you to the lodge, about 80 miles due east.

Alaska license info: http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=license.prices

 

[LivingTheDream]

@375 Ruger Fan You are spot on...

Here is the exact wording from our contract. I want to be as transparent as possible.


Included in this hunt are: Food and Lodging at Ultima Thule, 1X1 guide service, all flying during the course of the hunt, transportation via Anchorage or Valdez to and from the lodge, field dressing of the trophy and transport of the trophy to Valdez or Anchorage.

Not included in this hunt: Transportation to and from Alaska and housing and food before and after the hunting dates, Tags and Licenses, tips for the staff and guides.

"Hunting big game by its very nature is a potentially dangerous sport. Even though our guides are well qualified and experienced and are instructed to put safety first, we must advise you that we cannot be held responsible for your personal safety, or for the loss or damage to your personal property. We are not responsible for any additional expenses incurred by the hunter due to any flight delays, weather related incidents or any other disruptions in the planned trip or for the negligence of any company personnel entrusted to work for Ultima Thule, Inc. As a sportsman or sportswoman, you will understand that there can be no guarantee that you will secure the trophy or trophies you are seeking. There are a great number of variables, some of which are simply beyond human control. To the largest extent, your success is dependent on your ability and preparation. We will do what we can to help ensure a successful safe and legal hunt for you but in the end you are responsible for yourself and your own safety. We WILL report all illegal activities to the proper authorities.

Our hunting areas are within the boundaries of Wrangell/St. Elias National Park. We were selected by the National Park Service to provide hunting under their rules. We hunt in the Preserve area of the Parkas allowed by law. We are a concessionaire for the Park Service. Our areas are exclusively ours to guide.

Only federal land has exclusive guiding rights in Alaska. We will not jeopardize our contract with the Park Service by doing anything illegal."

Thanks everyone for their support, please don't hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions! And Good luck!!

 

[BRICKBURN]

What an amazing location to hunt.
Flying close and then hiking up after the sheep.

Thanks for the site password. That gets you in to where it tells it all.

Check out the gear list. New plastic boots. That is serious sharp rock they are dealing with.

 

[LivingTheDream]

We can probably have a great debate on plastics vs leather. Definitely not a walk in the park but it will be a hell of an adventure.

 

[thi9elsp]

Just bought my ticket. Now to start getting into mountain shape. Two years will go by quickly!

 

[BRICKBURN]

We can probably have a great debate on plastics vs leather. Definitely not a walk in the park but it will be a hell of an adventure.

Personally, I would be listening to these guys. I looked at their pictures of the country .

 

[Ryan]

We can probably have a great debate on plastics vs leather. Definitely not a walk in the park but it will be a hell of an adventure.

This park has the allure of pulling out the #1 B&C Dall sheep back in the ealy 60's.
It's a beast.

I used leather and I've had friends who prefer the plastics, including my partner when I got mine. I walked mine out 5 miles on hillsides to our camp and then 7 miles over a glacial moraine with the really sharp lose stuff and then glacial tailings and river bed to the pick up spot. They both work.

 

[BRICKBURN]

This picture from their gallery does it for me.
Incredible Ram.

 

[Pheroze]

I just told my Schnees Granite boots to stand ready! This is the thing dreams are made of.

Just bought my ticket. Now to start getting into mountain shape. Two years will go by quickly!

And, training for the off chance is good for the body and mind!

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

When I was checking references in early 2015, I received a fairly detailed and very positive reference from a guy in Houston that had hunted with Ultima Thule in 2014. It will give you a good idea of what this hunt is like.

I’d be happy to tell you about my experience with Ultima Thule. The Claus family are great people. The run an honest business; they work well together; and they treat guests great. They also have really nice facilities at the base camp, but hunters don’t spend much time at the lodge.

My hunt was 14 days for Dall’s Sheep and Mountain Goat. The experience was all I was looking for. Beautiful country and very steep and rugged. I’m glad I was in peak shape because I needed it. Genetically, the sheep are as good as it gets and there is so much area that you can be confident there is a mature ram out there for you. Getting to it is the challenge. Plenty of goats as well. My hunting buddy was after a Dall and a grizzly. Although I didn’t see him for the 2 weeks because we out separately with our guides, he harvested his ram early and spent 10 days looking for a griz. They never saw one. He ended up shooting a small black bear (really small), but they didn’t even see much sign of griz. I did see a few griz tracks on streams sides once when salmon fishing. I would really think twice if your main objective was an inland grizzly. You may need to ask them for a reference about bears. I believe that they only take one or two griz per year. There was a moose hunter in camp while I was there and he was successful. I think the moose hunting would be fine based on all of the miles of river bottom that is in the area.

I really like the way they hunt. A hunter guide pair is flown out of the lodge in a super cub with 4 or 5 days supplies. They fly over once a day for radio contact and will pick you up when you harvest an animal or drop more food when you need it. If you like being out in beautiful country tent hunting, I can’t imagine anything better. Views out of the tent were unreal!
Here are my comments on your 2 questions:

1. UTO picks you up in Anchorage if you book a hunt with them. Could be by plane, but they picked us up in Anchorage in a van and drove us to Chitina with a couple of additional lodge guests (non hunters). I am glad that we got to go in the van because the drive is relaxing and absolutely beautiful. Then they fly you from Chitina to the lodge as that is the only way to get in there. From the lodge, they fly you out to your hunt area in a super cub.
2. Great question about the plastic boots. I am a seasoned Rocky Mountain hunter so I always have a couple pairs of high quality leather hunting boots. I really questioned this recommendation. I was convinced to go with the plastic, and that was a wise decision. On a sheep hunt, they will take you as far as you can go. The better prepared that the hunter is, the deeper you will be able to go. They took me on some serious mountaineering, and I was able to get to a ram that previous hunters had not been able to reach. I certainly would not have made some of the rock walls in my leather boots. The rigidity and support of the plastic is far superior and it was required for me. Of course you will not find a moose where we were sheep and goat hunting so the Moose hunt may not require it as much. The terrain is tough! You may have to go over some tough ridges to get into new moose areas. I would recommend the plastic. I am certainly glad that I got a pair and broke them in prior to my hunt. The last few years have brought some major design improvements. They are no longer uncomfortable. They make you walk a little different, but comfort was never an issue for me. A couple of advantages to the plastic boots that you may not have thought about are 1) they are extremely warm and waterproof, and 2) the inserts serve as camp slippers so you can get out of your boots when you get back to the tent each afternoon / evening. If you wear 9-1/2, I could get you into a pair that is broken in with one hunt of wear. You should also consider glacier socks from Barney’s Sports Chalet. You can wear them all day rolled onto your gaiters of stop at stream crossing and remove your plastic boot liners and put the glacier socks on. Probably more necessary for moose than sheep, but I had a pair with me that I never used.

More good questions.

1. When we were flown into camp, there was already a large tent set up by the gravel bar that we landed on. That was base camp. We hunted 2 days out of that base camp before back packing a light camp across a glacier where we finished the sheep hunt. We did the goat hunt off the river so rather than fly in, we took a motorized raft downstream from the main lodge. Our camp sites for that were just on gravel bars in or along the river.
2. Yes. Shot my sheep on Aug 29 and had to what a couple of days for goat season to open on Sept 1. My legs appreciated the couple days of rest.
3. Weather was comfortable. All day light rains on a couple of days, hiking in long sleeves on others. There was frost early in the mornings. Temps probably ranges from 30 in the am to 60 mid-day. No problems with bugs. The frosts took care of that. May be a little different on a moose hunt lower down and in brush / timber. Sounds like you’ve hunted enough to have great rain gear.
4. They will test your shooting at the lodge at 100 yds and talk to you. They will get you within your range. They didn’t want you to shoot beyond what you were comfortable and competent at. I knew my ballistics and had practiced out to 500, but both my shots were one shot kills inside of 150. My sheep was 95 and he never knew we were there. In through the top of the back, through the spine and our through the heart. Just laid his heavy head down. Good thing. He would have had a giant fall if he’s rolled either way. See photo 250.
5. They pack food for each day from the lodge. We took 4 days’ worth and had arranged a food drop on day 4 if we hadn’t called for a pickup by then. When they flew over for the food drop, we had just returned to spike camp with my ram. We radioed to not make the drop. We didn’t want to have to carry the food back out across the glacier. We ate sheep tenderloins that night. See photo 274. Typical food was hot cereal in camp. Energy bars, jerky, sandwich, nuts, cheese, candy for snacks and lunch, and Mountain House dinner back at the tent.
6. Base camp tent was large. Like a 6-man that you can stand in. Spike camp was a small tent just large enough for 2 guys to get into. Sleep w/ heads in opposite direction. My hunting partner was flown into a cabin on a small lake when they were after the griz. I never experienced such luxury though.
7. My buddy hunted McColl’s the whole time. I hunted Hawkins for the sheep and downstream from UTO for the goat.

​

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

The Google map snapshot below has the lodge (UTO) on the north side of the river and the general outline (I think) of the hunting area. From the UTO website, they listed their 3 main hunting areas as: 1. Barnard Glacier 2. Hawkins Glacier 3. Mt. Holmes (or McColl Ridge)

 

[GA Hunter]

Looks like we are swaying the odds in favor of an AH member hitting this lottery.

I'm in!!!!

 

[LivingTheDream]

That ram would of had a hell of a fall either way! Wow! Talk about in the edge can't imagine it would have fallen towards camp either.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

That ram would of had a hell of a fall either way! Wow! Talk about in the edge can't imagine it would have fallen towards camp either.

LTD: Aren't you getting real close to leaving on your Yukon Dall sheep hunt?

 

[LivingTheDream]

LTD: Aren't you getting real close to leaving on your Yukon Dall sheep hunt?

One week till wheels up. I am about to take my pack for a walk here in about 30 minutes. Can't wait!

 

[Big Country]

1 more ticket sold... Dream trip for me