1980, Van Smith and I were hunting Moose up the Ship Creek drainage, between Anchorage and Eagle River Alaska. We had camped up near the pass between Ship Creek and Bird Creek. One morning we had ridden our horses up near the top of the Southern ridge. From this vantage point we could glass most of the vally. We slipped the bits on our horses so they could graze while we glassed from the saddle. After sitting there for about an hour my saddle horse Charro, alerted on something behind us. He turned to face the new intruders. Dall Sheep, about 6 or 7 adult rams were standing there looking at us. After a few minutes Charro started grazing again. As soon as he started grazing the sheep lost all fear and started grazing also. For over an hour the sheep grazed closer to us, ignoring the fact that humans were sitting on the horses. Van came clos and whispered "As long as we stay on the horses they won't spook". You know he was right. The sheep grazed to within fifty yards of us. After a while the sheep grazed farther away, Van and I slipped off the horses on the far side. Staying behind the horses we slipped behind some near-by rocks. We laid down for a short nap during the middle of the day, in the warm sun. After a short nap we woke up and saw the sheep bedded down on the slope below us. We also saw a person walking up the valley. This person had seen the sheep and was trying to get closer. After a while we noticed the sheep were watching him. Not all at the same time, but one was always looking in his direction. The hunter started climbing the mountain we were on, the sheep stayed bedded, and watched. About 1000 yards away the hunter slipped down into a drainage that would bring him close to where the sheep were bedded. As soon as he disappeared the sheep got up and ran over the top on the ridge out of sight. Van and I just laid there and watched. After about an hour the hunter finally got close and peeked over the bank trying to locate the sheep. We stood up and waved, this guy came unglued. This guy began yelling and screaming at us, saying we had ruined his stalk. For a good ten minutes he ranted and raved about his ruined stalk. Finally after he settled down we sat him down and explained what had transpired during his stalk. How the sheep had seen him down in the valley, and as soon as he had disappeared into the ravine the sheep had left. We shared our lunch with him, and told him how we had been there since early morning. How the sheep had came out and grazed near the horses, as we sat in the saddles. He finally realised we had not ruined his stalk, but he could not get over the fact that we were riding horses in sheep country. He did not feel that we should be allowed to ride where the sheep were. I think he was really jealous of the fact we had the horses and did not have to climb all the way to the top like he did. But I've noticed that when the horses were grazing other animals would lose their fear of them and come out and graze along beside them. The first Moose my wife ever shot was standing sniffing noses with Charro early one frosty morning in the middle of a big meadow.
