The Steve R Stick Part I
The SteveR Stick Part I
I grew up reading Jack O’Connor’s tales of sheep hunting in his books and monthly columns in Outdoor Life magazine. Those stories generated an intense desire to do likewise, but by the time I could do so almost all US sheep hunting was by drawing a permit. There were literally thousands of applicants for every sheep permit. What to do?
The exception to drawing a permit was the ‘unlimited’ areas in Montana. An unlimited amount of permits were issued, but a legal bighorn ram had to have horns of 3/4 curl.
So it was that in the fall of 1986 I found myself and hunting partner climbing towards Diamond Lake in Montana’s Spanish Peaks mountain range. We had been given information the area had produced legal rams in the past.
As we toiled upwards under a clear sky, we two flatlanders took frequent breaks. On one of these, my partner insisted upon cutting a walking stick for each of us. Using the saw blade of his Swiss Army knife, he trimmed a pair of pine branches to the correct length.
I had occasionally grabbed a stick going downhill with a heavy pack, but usually discarded it when I reached level ground. I’d never used one when climbing. More to please him than convinced it would be of value, I accepted it, and we continued on.
We ended up making a dry camp on a ridge high above the lake. With water bottles and plastic ziplock bags, we descended every few days for water.
Over several days we used binoculars and a spotting scope to search for rams, but had no luck. All too soon it was time to end the hunt and head back for the trailhead. Once there, I threw the hiking stick into the car, I guess as a souvenir of the hunt.
Years passed, and the hiking stick sat in the corner of my apartment. In due time I married and moved to Alaska. Somehow the hiking stick went along.
Alaska is home to the wonderful Dall sheep, and I went on my first hunt for them in 1992. I’d read a hunting book by an Alaskan author, and he recommended a long ice ax as a combination hiking staff and snow/ice tool. I took one along and found it didn’t fit my style of movement at all.
When sheep season rolled around the next year I took my old Montana hiking stick along. It was perfect for my hunt. In addition to hiking, I used it to support a temporary shelter from the sun, to keep control while crossing a steep snow slide, and to break off pieces of snow to cool the sheep meat pack. By the end of the season’s last hunt, the muscle development of my right arm was noticeably better than my left! I was using it continuously.
After several years, I realized my stick was getting too short. All that climbing around in rocky terrain was wearing it down. Large drying cracks had appeared, running its length, threatening to split it in half. Repairs were necessary if I was to continue using it.