I had been fascinated with dall's sheep since my childhood school days, and at the age of 70, I decided it was time to do something with that fascination.
On August 10th, 2006, I was with guide Bob Nelson, hunting a vast Alaskan mountain range that took us 2 days of backpacking to reach. We were walking through a narrow draw when 12 sheep came from over the top of the mountain, moving single file and fully broadside.
I estimated them at 300 yards and moving farther away by the second. Bob and I pulled off our packs and I began searching for the sheep through my riflescope. Through the spotting scope, Bob immediately determined that there were two legal rams—the one in front being the biggest. I knelt behind a rock ledge and steadied for the shot. Bob, now looking through his rangefinder, whispered, "It's a 280-yard shot."
At the crack of the rifle, the ram spun and began to run the opposite direction, away from the other sheep. The remaining sheep scattered and the smaller ram ran straight toward us. When he caught sight of our movement, he turned and headed off in the direction of the bigger ram.
Bob and I both agreed the ram was hit hard, but we still waited 40 minutes before taking up the trail. Just over the top of the ridge, the big ram was expired on a pile of rocks, sporting horns bigger than any I'd ever seen on any mounted trophy or in any magazine. His horns were extremely symmetrical, with each base exceeding 14 inches. Each horn was 37 1/2 inches long and the tip-to-tip spread was 26 inches. My 70-year-old dream had come true.