Thoughts on gear from sheep hunting

Home, and I ache more from 8 hours in the truck than all those miles on the rocks.
As a hunter the trip was a page right out of the dream book. We seldom miscued on hiking (well there was this muskeg and 120lb packs!) scouting or stalks. From a technical standpoint most of the gear was primo. The Zeiss optics (rifle scope, binos, spotting scope) were perfect and the new Victory range finding binoculars were beyond belief. DON'T pack these out on the mountain unless you have the change in your pocket before hand! Matt ranged to beyond 1600 yards and the clarity made them seem to be 15x or more. The Rocky Mountain Rifle in 260AI was light weight and flawless, shooting 3/4" 300 yard groups with handloaded Berger 130 grain bullets. The packs worked well, my Kenetrek boots, OR gaiters,bamboo shirts, underwear, camo duct tape and schuller pants will all go back up the mountain with me. The tent and sleeping bag, and a couple of others will be traded out for lighter equipment.

There is a lifetimes treasure store of memories packed into the 4 days. The goats, the rams, the lambs that jumped up out of the scrub 5' away scaring the daylights out of us. Sweat washing the rocks at your feet as you bent over catching your breath. The struggle to balance the huge packs and cling in the gale force wind to the "Devil's Eyebrow" a sheep trail over a vertical canyon. The enormous grin on Matt's face even when we were ripping the elevation climbing out with the ram on our backs.

As a Dad I'm known to be tough and rather short with even well deserved compliments especially for my children. Anyone who knows me at all will attest that I don't give false praise to make people feel better. But I'm very proud to say my boy is a good man to hike the sheep trails with.