DIY caribou alaska

Does anyone know if it is possible to do a caribou hunt without doing a drop in hunt is there accesible areas to hunt that a group of guys could go up there a hunt with out any guide services. I am sure the resident of alaska dont all use guides or own planes.

You're right, we all don't own planes or always use guides. There are places that you can hunt off the road system for Caribou, but they tend to be a madhouse (crowded) and few in number. There is a registration hunt around a small town called Chicken. You need ATV's to hunt the area and it really gets crowded. It tends to close after a few days to a week as the quota gets filled. Another option is to hunt the Haul road north of Fairbanks. It is bow only from 1/4 mile off the road out to the 5 mile mark. Once you get out to 5 miles, you can rifle hunt. It is a hard hunt as you have to walk in 5 miles (if you find the Caribou right at 5 miles), then back out with your meat on your back. You cannot have a motorized vehicle in this area. It is tundra walking all the way (equals very hard loaded with meat). If you rifle hunt, make sure you are at least 5 miles from the road using a GPS. The game cops are very active and will stop and check on you if they see you out there. They are not very forgiving of breaking the 5 mile mark rifle hunting. Make sure you read the regulations very carefully and know exactly where you are and what you're supposed to be doing.

Lots of folks do the haul road hunt, so most likely you will see folks out there. I'm not trying to discourage you from trying it, but want you to be aware of what you are getting into.

My advice is to stay off the road system and charter a fly-in trip. You will get away from most of the people and with a little planning, have a good hunt. Best of all, you are not paying a guide, but it will cost you about 1/2 the price of a guided trip after all is said and done. If you are planning for 2006, you are almost too late. By mid January, most of the good, reputable charters will probably be full. Start calling around now.

Here are a couple of great web sites that are dedicated to Alaskan hunting with lots of knowledgable folks posting: www.outdoorsdirectory.com and www.pristineventures.com
Read through the forums and check the archives. A question like this gets asked many times a year and there is loads of info in the archives about the Haul road hunt and Caribou in general. If you don't see anything that helps you out in the archives or you still have questions, just ask. You will most likely get an answer fairly quickly, even if its not what you want to hear.

Alaska is not cheap to hunt. An average unguided, fly in hunt will set you back about the cost of an average guided elk hunt in a non-trophy area.

Again, I'm not trying to discourage you, but hopefully I'm giving you some useful info. Sorry for the rambling post.

Take care,
Garion

I've done 2 caribou drop camps and enjoyed both. Costs were around $3,300 each for unguided outfitted drops-That included air, hotels, food, connections, tags, licenses-everything! I am also looking into a haul road type hunt for next time around. I just want to try something different. I do not think you can hunt caribou as a non resident for cheap anymore. All costs added together, I think cheapest is about $2,500 for 1 guy going it alone- several folks may get the average down some.

LAST EDITED ON Feb-10-06 AT 08:23AM (MST)[p]I'm looking into doing a drop hunt for Caribou, do you mind telling me what outfitter you used? I went to the Sportsman show here in Portland,OR last night and found one outfitter that seemed pretty good but their fee of $1950 was just the plane ride out and didn't include air, hotel, food or anything else so total cost after all said and done for an unguided drop hunt would be about $4K.

I used Tony Lee at Westwind guide service both times. I researched for 2 years before I settled on him. Only real drawback is his hunts go through Illiamna which adds another $500 or $600 to the cost due to extra nights and extra flight. If you have other questions...
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Nick Sr

Just curious if you are from alaska and are very familiar with the area. Turns out we are going to try the DIY caribou without the drop in and I am considering buying a bear tag just wondering if it would be worth buying. Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks

Not me, I'm from Idaho!

Buying a bear tag depends on where you are going to hunt. I hunted Chicken last year because it was my first year up here and i hadnt figured things out yet. Its a 30 mile fourwheeler ride in. It reminds me of the Kiabab during archery season (zoo). Its an ok hunt but pretty much just a meat hunt. The haul road ( bow within five miles of road)is also a zoo but has good herd and you stand a good chance at a decent one. I would personally fly out and i think you are going to here that from allot of alaska residents. I moved up here thinking that i would just drive to a spot and hunt but its as crowded (around the roads) here as anywhere else. If your going to spend the money do it right and get the remote alaska hunt and not the zoo. Just my 2 cents Good luck Mountaineer

If you do your reserch you can find a decent unguided drop off hunt for 1000 to 1500 sometime this will include the rental of the amp gear I lnow you are looking for a road access hunt but using a plane greatly increaes your odds