2004 Alaskan Caribou(pics)

Here are two pictures that "Bullscat" sent to me and I have posted for him. He just got back from his DIY hunt up there and will let Brett fill in the story about the hunt. Very interesting reading about the trip and success for his buddy and him. Congrats to you Brett and your friend.

Thanks for posting the photos Brian!

We had a great trip. We were hunting about 100 miles east of Kotzebue, AK. We were on a do it your self hunt and brought along all our own gear and camping equipment. We were flown out to our location by Mavrik Air in a single engine turbo otter. They put us on a lake in the middle of the migration route which was supposedly about 30 miles in front of the main Caribou herd. The pilot told us we will probably see a few small bands, but to hold off filling our tags because thousands of caribou would be streaming in with in a few days. A few hours after we were dropped off, a state trooper (Fish and Game)flew in in a super cub. He told us the same exact thing! He said don't go hiking all over they will come right by your camp. No reason to pack them farther than you have too. Thousands of Caribou! Our excitement level was through the roof!

So of course I went ahead and shot my caribou the first day, 2 miles from camp, across the swampiest tundra and just before dark! The bou had nice tops, but I could not see the bottoms very well. After I put him down I found that he didn't have very big bez tines or shovel. Still I was happy with him and hey, thousands are coming anyday, right?

Well, the tempurature was abnormally warm and the wind changed directions blowing smoke from the 6 million acres of forest fires. These factors evidently stalled the migrations and the thousands never showed up. We ended up only seeing 100 caribou for the week. However, all three of us got our bulls and the country was simply awesome. It was a peak hunting experience and it was definitely worth all the money and effort!

Brett

Looks like it was a great time Brett. You guys made the right call on what to shoot and when. I really like seeing folks heading up to Alaska on these guidless drop off hunt's. It may help some to see that with a little research and some hunting savy you can have a great hunt on your own for a much lesser price that a outfitted trip. Thanks for the post

~Jeff~
http://www.jeffalaska.com

Thanks for the story Brett. My brother in-law and myself leave for alaska on the 2nd of october for a DIY Caribou hunting trip out of king salmon with alaska bush sports we are so ready we can't stand it. I hope our trip is as exciting as yours.It is amazing how much thought has to go into a trip like this, we shipped all of our food and some personal stuff up there.I am going to be hunting with my muzzleloader with open sights.Any suggestion would be very helpfull.

Thanks guys! I know what serious hunter most of the folks on this site are and I really wish everyone can have a chance to do one of these hunts sometime. The vastness and remoteness of the country is almost overwhelming and add to that the all the different kinds of wildlife we don't see very often...between the flight in and the camp we saw Grizzly bear, black bear, moose, caribou, beaver, Arctic Loons, tundra swans, eagles and although we didn't see them there are many wolves in that area. The best thing we didn't see was other people...zero! I just know everyone would have a blast!

NVlonghunter I would be happy to help out with any questions I could answer. You are going to have an awesome trip!!! Drop me a line at [email protected]

Brett

LAST EDITED ON Sep-27-04 AT 03:26PM (MST)[p]Great pics and story BS! Congrats! Sounds like you had an awesome time in some killer country. Thats what its all about! Thats definately on my "to do" list sometime down the road.