DIY Alaska caribou

[JARHEAD1371]

An old HS buddy of mine asked me if I would be interested in an Alaska DIY caribou hunt in '21 or '22. We are looking at the 40 mile herd or on the North Slope. We are looking for transport via air or boat, but we want to get away from people. Any help and advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[frostop]

I'm interested in this as well.
My uncle and I were going to do a Caribou hunt and he unfortunately and surprisingly passed away completely un-expectantly. So I would like to go and do this as well. I'll be watching!

 

[2Rope]

I did a hunt out of Kotzebue a few years ago. Caribou every where. You might call some air charter services in the area you want to hunt, they really helped us. Those guys fly over the migration and know where to set you down for a good chance to see a lot of animals. The Alaska fish & game guys are a good resource as well.
It was a truly amazing trip, saw grizle bear and 2 cubs walk by camp at a couple hundred yards, sleep was fitful that night! I can't describe the northern lights, they are mesmerizing. It's a strange feeling being out in the country above the Arctic Circle, 2 hours from the nearest road by Cessna and you've flown over way too many rivers to walk back. You are on your own in true wilderness.

 

[XSIVSPD]

An old HS buddy of mine asked me if I would be interested in an Alaska DIY caribou hunt in '21 or '22. We are looking at the 40 mile herd or on the North Slope. We are looking for transport via air or boat, but we want to get away from people. Any help and advice is greatly appreciated.

If you can afford it, a fly in hunt would be really cool. I'd love to do one for moose at some point, but I can't justify the expense since I've finally collected a river boat, atv, and utv. Even with the utv my wife and I had to pack the one in my avatar 3 miles through a marsh just to get to it, then 12 more miles back to the road. After boning we ended up with a 150lbs of meat. Just for some info, I spotted him at 472yds but the brush/grass was too high to use the bipod or pack, and by the time I got another good open shot at him I was at about 70yds. Also, they move awful fast even though it looks like they're just walking lol. I hope you can come up and do it, I'm always excited for people to experience real Alaska. There's no other replace like it

 

[dok7mm]

My son is headed to Kotzebue this fall to hunt caribou, if this Corona virus doesn't shut things down again. I'm sure he'll be dropped off near water and the bears like the water. Some friends of mine, that hunted in that area, killed out the first day or two, and fought the bears off the 'bou for 3 more days as the weather kept the plane from picking them up. Must have been fun?

 

[XSIVSPD]

My son is headed to Kotzebue this fall to hunt caribou, if this Corona virus doesn't shut things down again. I'm sure he'll be dropped off near water and the bears like the water. Some friends of mine, that hunted in that area, killed out the first day or two, and fought the bears off the 'bou for 3 more days as the weather kept the plane from picking them up. Must have been fun?

My wife got drawn for a muskox this year (once in a lifetime odds) and we most likely aren't going to be able to afford it Tha KS to the economic impact to us.


Just fyi: For flying up here with guns/ammo Alaska Airlines is the ticket. Super easy to deal with.

 

[JARHEAD1371]

Thanks for the info everyone. Does anyone know if we can share a rifle or does each hunter need their own?

 

[XSIVSPD]

No reason you couldn't share, I'd bring a handgun for bear for each of you if it was me though

 

[Jeffrey Van Zandt]

An old HS buddy of mine asked me if I would be interested in an Alaska DIY caribou hunt in '21 or '22. We are looking at the 40 mile herd or on the North Slope. We are looking for transport via air or boat, but we want to get away from people. Any help and advice is greatly appreciated.

I live by the 40 mile herd along the taylor hwy some years they move good other years they go right over in to Canada before the season, 40 mile air in Tok can fly you in. when they are above Fairbanks there are a lot of hunters wheelers best to fly in and with out anyone around the noth slop hear would be best

 

[imrich]

I did a drop hunt a few years back. Drove to Happy Valley and had a charter take us out from there. Pilot dropped us off on the east fork of the Kuparuk river. Picked us up a week later. It was awesome, we each got two bou including a very special one with a double main beam on one side. It was totally worth it and cant wait to go again.

 

[VernAK]

The demand for fly-in hunts exceeds the supply. The better flight services can be difficult to get booked with as they often are booked with repeat customers from the previous years. Because of this demand, you can expect prices to rise.

For the Kotzebue Area, I'd look at Golden Eagle Outfitters. The Cummings do a good job bot in Kotz and Delta.
40 Mile Air does a great job in the 40 Mile Country but they are usually 95% rebooked from the previous year.

 

[440coronet]

Did the Kotzebue caribou hunt a few years ago Believe it was first week in Sept as we flew out day after Labor Day
4 of us Hired a fly service out of Kotzebue (which was an interesting city to explore in-itself) Golden Eagle outfitters I think? We flew 1.75 hours up the Noatak River and got dropped off Was to be a 5 day hunt Temperatures soared to the mid 70's and the migrating herds stalled on the tundra we could glass them at 900+ yards but stalking was pointless flat ground like walking across a peat bog they would stay 900 yards from us Too bad we didn't have a Marine sniper with a 338 Lapua with us! Saw a mom Grizzly with 2 cubs across the river, thank the lord We packed in a bunch or MRE's but we caught some late run Salmon and the largest Grayling I've ever seen every day so ate fish a-lot! Day 2 I was sitting on a large knoll glassing and getting a suntan when I heard a noise to my right coming thru the brush slowly turned my head while I upholstered the .44mag pistol and a Wolverine came past me at about 10 feet. He stopped, looked at me and then kept on going looking for food.. That was pretty exciting to say the least The moon rise was truly phenomenal every night and it stayed light til about midnight I swear we could see the old moon rover it was so close! We called in for a pickup late on Day 3 and left day 4 with no Caribou but a fantastic life experience I'll always have

 

[NDAR15MAN]

I am also interested a caribou hunt.
I have 2 questions. Is there a way a person could do a float trip for Caribou ? I know they do it for moose. I have both knees replaced and I would like to do a pure float trip for Caribou and maybe a moose.
2nd I have never eaten caribou and I was wondering how it taste and best way to prepare it ? I want to bring all the meat pack if possible. Thanks. Marty

 

[BigDon]

I am also interested a caribou hunt.
I have 2 questions. Is there a way a person could do a float trip for Caribou ? I know they do it for moose. I have both knees replaced and I would like to do a pure float trip for Caribou and maybe a moose.
2nd I have never eaten caribou and I was wondering how it taste and best way to prepare it ? I want to bring all the meat pack if possible. Thanks. Marty

Caribou taste Great! My top 5 are Moose, Caribou, Elk, Zebra and Antelope - in that order. Go for it!