Dall Sheep Hunt
Gear and Equipment

Footwear

Only the best boots.

Boots are your single most important piece of gear. Without your feet in good condition, you cannot effectively hunt. Wear your boots, hike in them while wearing a heavy pack, and use them prior to your hunt (this does not mean walking around the yard or golf course). Poorly fitting boots will at best make you miserable and at worst completely ruin your hunt. There is no “best boot” – everyone’s foot is different. What is great for some may be terrible for others. Below is a list of high-quality boots that have always given me and the majority of my clients consistently good results. Try them and wear them!

• Quality mountaineering boots: I recommend Lathrop & Sons Mountain Hunter Elite with L&S custom footbeds as the surest choice for a boot that will fit your foot. Other great options are Kenetrek Mountain Extreme non insulated, Lowa Tibet Hi GTX , Crispi Briksdal Pro GTX, Scarpa Ribelle Tech 3.0, Schnee’s Granite . There are many other options.
• Insoles: L&S Custom Synergy Othotics, Superfeet, Spenco Original Total Support.
• Gaiters: Kuiu Yukon Gaiter, Outdoor Research Crocodiles.
• Camp Shoes: We use these for crossing creeks and the river, in order to keep our boots dry. I would only bring Crocs Classic Clogs for this.
• Wool Socks: I recommend at least 6 pairs of the highest quality sock such as Darn Tough Heavyweight Hunting Sock, Kuiu Strongwool Hybrid Crew Sock, Smartwool Hunt Full Cushion Tall Crew Sock.
• Sock Liners (optional): I personally prefer to use sock liners. They are great to help reduce hot spots and keep your socks dryer and cleaner. Injinji Liner Crew Wool Socks (3 pairs).
• Puffy Booties (optional): These are great after a long day of hiking to slip on and keep your feet warm while back at the tent. I like the Enlightened Equipment Torrid Booties.

Base Layer

Absolutely NO COTTON!

I prefer lightweight merino wool or merino/synthetic blend for its ability to avoid stinking and its excellent breathability and insulation.

• Lightweight Short Sleeve Merino Wool T-Shirts (2): Kuiu Ultra Merino 120 LT SS Crew-T, Stone Glacier Chinook Merino Crew SS.
• Underwear bottoms (4 pairs): Exofficio Give-N-Go Boxer Brief, Kuiu Ultra Merino Boxer Brief, Stone Glacier Chinook Merino Boxer.
• Lightweight Merino Wool Top (1): Kuiu Ultra Merino 145 Weight Zip-T or Stone Glacier Chinook Merino Hoody.
• Lightweight Merino Wool Bottoms (1 pair): Kuiu Ultra Merino 145 zip off bottom, Stone Glacier Chinook Merino Bottoms, Smartwool Classic All-Season Merino Baselayer Bottom.

Mid Layer

Hoody and Pant.

• Mid Weight Merino Wool or Grid Fleece Hoody (1): I wear this over my t-shirt. I prefer hoodies, which not only can be worn when it is cool but also offer better concealment from sheep eyes, which easily pick up bright human faces. Some options are; Kuiu Ultra Merino 210 hoodie or Kuiu Peloton 200 Zip T Hoodie, Stone Glacier Helio Hoody, First Lite Kiln Hoody, Sitka Heavyweight Hoody, Eberlestock Pioneer Half Zip Hoody.
• Soft Shell Pants (2 pairs): Do not bring heavy-weight warm (late season) pants. You live in these and wear them everywhere. Lightweight, stretch, quick drying time, and breathability should take precedence over heavy weight warm pants, which will leave you miserable during high output hiking. These are just a few good options; Black Diamond Alpine Pant, Sitka Ascent Pant, Kuiu Attack Pant, Stone Glacier De Havilland Pant, Arcteryx Gamma Pant, Mountain Equipment Ibex Mountain Pant.

Insulation Layer

Jacket, Parka, Pant.

• Lightweight Breathable Synthetic Puffy Jacket (1): I prefer to have one lightweight synthetic puffy jacket with me. This should weigh about a pound and be highly compressible, breathable, suitable for wearing while hiking in the cold, damp weather, or wearing under your heavy parka when it gets cold. My two favorite options that fit this bill are as follows;  Sitka Ambient Hoody or Sitka Arrowhead Kred MLX Hoody-MDWi. Another option is the Stone Glacier Cirque Lite Jacket, or Arcteryx Proton LT Jacket.
• Super Warm Down Puffy Parka (1): Should weigh no more than 1 pound & be very warm and highly compressible. For this reason, I prefer down rather than synthetic, as it is both warmer, lighter, and more compressible than synthetics. Some options for this key piece of gear are; Kuiu Super Down Pro Hoody (my favorite), Stone Glacier Grumman Jacket, Sitka Kelvin Lite Down Jacket, First Lite Brooks Down Sweater, Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisper Jacket.
• Lightweight Puffy Pant (1): Kuiu Super Down Pro Pant, Stone Glacier Grumman Pant or Mountain Handwear Ghost Whisperer Pant.

Rain Gear

Buy Only the best 3 Layer Gore-Tex Type Rain Gear!

• Gore-tex Rain Jacket (1): OR Pro Allies Microgravity Jacket, Kuiu Chugach TR Jacket, Sitka Dew Point Jacket, Arcteyx Alpha SV jacket, Stone Glacier M5 Jacket.
• Gore-tex Rain Pant (1): OR Pro Allies Mountain Pant, Kuiu Chugach TR Rain Pant, Sitka Dew Point Front Pant, Arcteryx Beta AR pant, Stone Glacier M5 Pant.

Pack

Only High-Quality Packs!

Only High-Quality Packs! You MUST have a pack that is at a minimum, 6900 Cubic Inches, and I prefer 7900. Besides your boots, this is your second most important piece of equipment. The pack must fit 12 days of food, your gear, tent, sleeping bag and pad, and anything else. You must be able to comfortably carry 50 lbs with it. Do not bring a small pack thinking you will have to carry less. A high volume expedition pack weighs virtually the same as a small pack. You need the larger volume pack for this hunt, no exceptions.

• Barney’s Pinnacle Pack and the Stone Glacier Sky Guide 7900 are really the only two packs I would consider.

Other Gear

• Warm hat and ball cap: Enlightened Equipment Torrid Hat.
• Fleece Gloves: Sitka Jetstream Glove, Outdoor Research Gripper Sensor Glove, Kuiu Guide X Glove.
• Ultralight Puffy Mitten (optional): Enlightened Equipment Torrid Mitt, Kuiu Superdown Pro Mitt.
• Water Containers: You should have one Platypus 3L Hoser to drink from while hiking and one 48 oz Nalgene Bottle.
• Water Filter: Platypus Quickdraw Filtration System.
• Head net, bug dope, sunscreen, camera/phone.
• Camp soap.
• Headlamp (2): Fenix HP65R with extra battery.
• Blister patches such as Glacier Gel, Rock Tape, Moleskin.
• Small roll of backpacking duct tape.
• Recharging battery bank (to charge your phone, inreach, etc) : I prefer Anker Powercore Essential 20k.
• Communications (optional): Garmin Inreach and/or Irridium Sat Phone.
• Reading Material: A couple of good books, or book on phone/audio book: (no hard cover/heavy books).
• Trekking pole(s).
• Cook Stove: Jet Boil Stash (pot and stove sold as single unit) or MSR Pocket Rocket Delux and MSR Titan Kettle .85L (must buy stove and pot separately).
• Long Handle Spork: Sea to Summit Alpha Lite Spork.
• Lightweight Drinking Mug: GSI Outdoors Infinity Backpackers Mug.
• Binocular Harness: Kuiu, Stone Glacier, Mystery Ranch, Marsupial Gear.
• Ultralight SilNylon Dry Bags: I like at least 3-4 of these compressible ultralight dry bags of various sizes to put my jackets, gloves, extra socks, and other gear in so that it is organized in my pack and safe from moisture, and tightly compressed so as not to take up space. A mix of sizes is best depending on what you plan to put in each bag. I prefer the Kuiu Roll Top Dry Bags or the Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil Dry Sack.
• Soft gun case (optional): You will want a basic soft gun case to travel with your gun on the flight to camp because you will be storing your heavy travel gun case in Fairbanks or Cold Foot. You also have the option of flying to camp with no case for your gun, as most of us guides choose to do.
• Knife: If you bring a knife, don’t bother bringing a heavy weight large knife. Just bring a small, superlightweight folder or fixed blade, such a Victorinox or Havilon.

Sleeping

• Lightweight down sleeping bag rated between 10 and 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Should weigh between 2-3 pounds and be backpack style: Kuiu Super Down Sleeping Bag 15 Degree, Western Mountaineering Versalite or Alpinlite (my favorite), Stone Glacier Chilkoot 15 degrees, Feathered Friends Lark 10 UL.
• Light weight sleeping pad: Thermarest NeoAir  XLite is the only way to go.
• Inflatable Camp Pillow (optional): Sea to Summit Aeros Pillow Premium.
• Compression Stuff Sack for sleeping bag: Sea to Summit Ultra Sil Compression Dry Sack.

Rifle, Ammunition & Optics

• Caliber: When hunting sheep, I personally prefer the non-magnum 6.5’s and 7mm’s, paired with proper bullets, which are plenty powerful and very accurate, over the 7mm and .300 magnums. Just a few options are as follows; 6.5 PRC, 6.5-284, 6.5×47, 6.5 GAP, 6.5-280 AI, 270 Win, 280 AI, 7mm-08, 270 WSM, 7mm Rem, 7 PRC, 30-06, .308 Win, 300 WSM, 300 Win Mag. or 300 PRC. I suggest bringing two boxes of ammunition (40 rounds).
• Rifle: I recommend very accurate purpose-built lightweight mountain rifles. Kimber Montana or Sako Finlight are two very nice factory-built rifles. There are literally countless custom-built mountain rifle options available, Alterra Arms, Fierce, Gunwerks, Borden, Double Broom Mountain Rifles, Proof Rifles, and Gunwerks – just to name a few. Your rifle set up with scope should not exceed 8.5 lbs on the heavy side, and can easily be made much lighter, in the 6 to 7 lb range.
• Rifle Scope:

  I recommend high-quality optics. These should be variable power in the 2-15x range, give or take, with 1″ or 30mm tube diameter, and no more than 44mm objective diameter to save on weight. finding the right balance between quality glass and lightweight is difficult, but your scope should not weigh more than 20-23 oz at the most. The scopes I have listed are proven very durable and repeatable, and have adjustable elevation turrets for shooting long range;

  Leupold VX3 2.5-8.5 x 33mm, VX3 4.5-14×40 or VX6 2-12×42, Nightforce NXS 2.5-10×42, March-F 3-24×42, Zeiss Conquest V4 4-16×44, Swarovski Z6 2.5-15×44.

  I strongly suggest getting a Ballistically matched turret for your scope or knowing the MOA/Mrad come up at different ranges. This is the best way to shoot repeatedly accurately at longer ranges, beyond your 200-yard zero range.

• Rings and Bases:  I recommend Talley Ultralight.
• Binoculars: Swarovski, Leica, Zeiss – 10×42 are best. Use the best quality optics.
  
• Spotting Scope (optional): Swarovski ATX 65 or 85, with quality tripod such as Outdoorsmans or Gitzo Mountaineer, and fluid head such as Gitzo or Outdoorsmans. I do not recommend clients bring spotting scopes unless you do not mind carrying the significant extra weight.
• Bipod (optional): Spartan, Atlas, etc…