An overdue sheep hunter picked up by a rescue helicopter in the Brooks Range says he wasn't lost.

The 54-year-old Fairbanks man, Bob Zachel, says he knew right where he was, had plenty of food and was more concerned about finding a Dall sheep than meeting back up with his brother and nephew.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the hunters had been dropped off last week by a pilot, but Zachel turned up the wrong drainage and was delayed by a snowstorm and missed Saturday's pickup flight.

His brother reported him missing to the North Slope Borough Search and Rescue Department. The copter found him Monday after he hiked down from a cloud cover.