MDHunter
Ultimate Member
Been back at work for a couple of weeks after my Alaska caribou hunt, finally have a minute to catch my breath and post some pics. This was a different year for caribou in Alaska – the very late spring, hot dry summer, and wet start to fall really altered the typical migration patterns.
Scott (my hunt partner from PA, met on another outdoors forum) and I flew into the bush on August 28 – a cloudy morning, the clouds were dropping throughout our 90 minute bush plane flight. I was worried we might have to turn around and head back to town, but we made it to camp. Here’s a pic from the Super Cub, you can see the clouds dropping onto the ridgetops.
After landing, we started setting up camp, stopping a couple of times to say hello to some visitors.
A pic of our camp, with the sleep tent, gear/food tent, bucket stools, and UDAP bear fence.
Scott (my hunt partner from PA) enjoying camp and checking out the scenery.
Time for dinner – I always cook up ribeyes the first evening in camp, before we start our dinner regimen of Mountain House or bacon and eggs.
About 45 minutes after dinner, I was checking out a far ridge through the spotter when I heard some rocks clattering up the creekbed. I was about to tell Scott we had some more caribou coming past, camp, when I saw a grizzly roaring down the creekbed towards camp! I grabbed my rifle and jacked a shell in the chamber; he came running past camp about 40 yards away, saw us, didn’t like what he saw, and kept right on trucking. I think he thought we saved a steak for him! Here’s a picture I snapped while still holding my rifle.
The next afternoon, I saw a couple of bulls heading our way about a mile away, and when they got closer Scott and I ran up the ridge to intercept them. I snapped this picture just before Scott shot the larger bull on the left.
Scott made a good shot from about 200 yards, and was elated to have a great bull down – his first Alaskan big game animal!
For the next few days we had a lot of rain and not too many caribou – here you can see that although we had rain along the creek, it was falling as snow on the ridgetops.
When the pilot came in to get Scott’s meat and antlers, he said the forecast called for quite a bit of rain in the days ahead – based on the weather and the relative lack of big bulls we were seeing, I decided to shoot the first decent meat bull we saw. Here’s the pilot landing to get Scott’s meat and antlers.
On day 5 I spotted 4 bulls about a mile away, and after watching their route for a while Scott and I moved up the creek about 250 yards to intercept them. There were bigger bulls with this one, but I took the first clear shot I had, and was glad to down this guy.
A different pic of our camp and the country surrounding it – beautiful wild country.
After I shot my bull and we took care of the meat, we decided to fly back to town a day early, as the weather wasn’t looking good and we didn’t want to be stuck in camp for 3-4 days waiting for the weather to clear. A pic of the mountains surrounding our camp on the flight out.
Overall, another great adventure in the Alaskan wilderness, and made another great friend and hunting partner! Scott is eager to chase Alaskan moose now, so he and I may join up in the future. Can’t do it in 2014, as my best friend is already committed to go chase moose with me – his last try for an Alaskan moose, he has shot caribou in years past.
Scott (my hunt partner from PA, met on another outdoors forum) and I flew into the bush on August 28 – a cloudy morning, the clouds were dropping throughout our 90 minute bush plane flight. I was worried we might have to turn around and head back to town, but we made it to camp. Here’s a pic from the Super Cub, you can see the clouds dropping onto the ridgetops.
After landing, we started setting up camp, stopping a couple of times to say hello to some visitors.
A pic of our camp, with the sleep tent, gear/food tent, bucket stools, and UDAP bear fence.
Scott (my hunt partner from PA) enjoying camp and checking out the scenery.
Time for dinner – I always cook up ribeyes the first evening in camp, before we start our dinner regimen of Mountain House or bacon and eggs.
About 45 minutes after dinner, I was checking out a far ridge through the spotter when I heard some rocks clattering up the creekbed. I was about to tell Scott we had some more caribou coming past, camp, when I saw a grizzly roaring down the creekbed towards camp! I grabbed my rifle and jacked a shell in the chamber; he came running past camp about 40 yards away, saw us, didn’t like what he saw, and kept right on trucking. I think he thought we saved a steak for him! Here’s a picture I snapped while still holding my rifle.
The next afternoon, I saw a couple of bulls heading our way about a mile away, and when they got closer Scott and I ran up the ridge to intercept them. I snapped this picture just before Scott shot the larger bull on the left.
Scott made a good shot from about 200 yards, and was elated to have a great bull down – his first Alaskan big game animal!
For the next few days we had a lot of rain and not too many caribou – here you can see that although we had rain along the creek, it was falling as snow on the ridgetops.
When the pilot came in to get Scott’s meat and antlers, he said the forecast called for quite a bit of rain in the days ahead – based on the weather and the relative lack of big bulls we were seeing, I decided to shoot the first decent meat bull we saw. Here’s the pilot landing to get Scott’s meat and antlers.
On day 5 I spotted 4 bulls about a mile away, and after watching their route for a while Scott and I moved up the creek about 250 yards to intercept them. There were bigger bulls with this one, but I took the first clear shot I had, and was glad to down this guy.
A different pic of our camp and the country surrounding it – beautiful wild country.
After I shot my bull and we took care of the meat, we decided to fly back to town a day early, as the weather wasn’t looking good and we didn’t want to be stuck in camp for 3-4 days waiting for the weather to clear. A pic of the mountains surrounding our camp on the flight out.
Overall, another great adventure in the Alaskan wilderness, and made another great friend and hunting partner! Scott is eager to chase Alaskan moose now, so he and I may join up in the future. Can’t do it in 2014, as my best friend is already committed to go chase moose with me – his last try for an Alaskan moose, he has shot caribou in years past.
