I am back from my Alaskan caribou hunting adventure. I spent 9 days in the back country of Alaska with 3 good friends. The adventure began well before we started traveling. All of the planning, gathering equipment, shooting practice, packing and re-packing to meet weight restrictions.
Day 1: Traveling to Kotzebue, AK
Traveling to Kotzebue was very uneventful and very smooth. All of our equipment arrived as planned. Flying over the Cook Inlet into Anchorage provided beautiful views of snow covered mountains and glaciers. Upon arrival into Kotzebue, you realize just how small it really is. Our transporter arrived as scheduled and picked us up at the airport and took us to their office to store gear for the night. That evening we stayed at a B&B and would be the last chance to enjoy the conveniences of running water and electricity.
Day 2: First day in the back country
After taking care of the administrative tasks, buying licenses and permits, discussing field care, and camp expectations we loaded the plane to our camp. We took a short 30 min. flight on the Cessna 180. Camp looked promising along a large corridor that caribou historically travel. Since we could not hunt on the same day we fly, we set up camp and gathered firewood, tried to catch fish, and did some scouting. We spotted the first herd of caribou, moving south as we expected. We also spotted our first bear in Alaska. The bear was miles away and was never an issue. But the caribou sighting gave us hope for a good first day of hunting.
Day 3: First day of hunting…
Our tactics for hunting were to hike up to vantage points and spot the caribou moving and move to intercept them. We crossed the river first thing in the morning to put us in the middle of the migration path. The problem was that the caribou were not migrating through the area that morning. Later that afternoon we spotted a herd of caribou with one decent bull. Our group’s attempt to harvest the bull did not work out. We ended up eating Mountain House dehydrated meals that evening…
Day 4: Closest we have been to caribou
We split up this morning and went to different vantage points. I spotted a few caribou a few miles out and we watched them move to under 250 yards from us. However, they were not legal to shoot but it was interesting to watch their path. The other group set out to a different vantage point over a mile away from camp. They spotted a group of bulls moving away from them a couple miles out. The one thing we understood better was the fact that you cannot catch up to moving caribou. The tussock / tundra is grueling. Everyone told me it would be like walking on frozen footballs, but I think they are more like frozen sponges. Every step your foot sinks about 6 inches.
The rest of the story…
I will add more days to the blog soon and will also include pictures as I get through them.
The trip includes more plane rides, camp setups, difficult hikes, and some pics of caribou.