Hey guys!
Just wanted to report on our trip. We got back last Tuesday and had a great time. Mike at Alaska Bush Sports is second to none in service and honesty. I can't say enough good things about the guy!
We saw 4-5000 caribou, over half of them were the night before season opened (the same day we flew). There were a few bulls in the group, I counted 3 mature bulls. We only saw one mature bull the next day (opening day), and I shot him. The rest of the week we only saw 3 bulls, and all 3 were fairly small (no points on top). The numbers of bulls in the Mulchatna Herd is very, very low.
The bugs weren't bad at all (by Alaska standards) as it rained pretty much every day, highs were in the low 50's, and we had a little breeze constantly, sometimes up to 40-50 mph. It was strong enough to bend 2 of the aluminum poles on our Bomb Shelter tent...We had bad bugs 2 of the days, and the ThermaCell worked amazingly for the mosqitoes. It didn't do much for the White Socks, but it knocked the bugs down by 50% and allowed us to work on the ones that remained...
I would recommend a ThermaCell for anywhere the mosquitoes are a problem. It was 100% effective!
We saw 40-50 bears, they were everywhere eating blueberries. Saw 2 packs of wolves, some foxes, and caught a lot of fish after our hunt.
Good luck to everyone else headed up there this fall!
Thanks,
Corey