Caribou hunt

Sable123 said:

Moer!! Thats it Im sold. I dont even have kids yet and I already know that Im scrapping their College fund in favour of me going to hunt Caribou. My ultimate dream hunt is Moose, Elk and Caribou in Alaska.

Thanks for sharing the pics.

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Careful Sable, there are at least 5 different kinds of caribou recognized by Boone & Crocket if you go once your gonna want to go again and again. Maybe you should get together with some friends and try a DIY caribou/moose hunt in Alaska, but be warned it's all fun till you shoot a moose.

In case anybody is interested this is what caribou hunting in Nunavut looks like in Nov. Sorry about the quality of the photo but I think you get the idea. That's me, I didn't take off the face mask for the photo cause it was frozen to my beard and mustache. Ah, the memories.

On second thoughts!

Spooksar, great pics, and congrats on your caribou(s).

Like others have mentioned, Boone & Crockett recognizes 5 subspecies of North American Caribou: Mountain, Woodland, Barren Ground, Central Canada barren ground, and Quebec-Labrador. The description of the boundaries of each are here: http://www.boone-crockett.org/bgRecords/records_boundaries.asp?area=bgRecords

Safari Club International recognizes 6 subspecies of North American Caribou, the same 5 as B&C plus Arctic Islands (Peary) caribou which B&C includes in their Central Canada barren ground category.

Caribou from the mainland of Nunavut are classified as Central Canada barren ground caribou which is not the same as the Barren Ground caribou from Alaska and the northern Yukon Territory.

jduckhunter said:

Careful Sable, there are at least 5 different kinds of caribou recognized by Boone & Crocket if you go once your gonna want to go again and again...

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Yep, I've hunted 3 of them.

buffybr said:

Safari Club International recognizes 6 subspecies of North American Caribou, the same 5 as B&C plus Arctic Islands (Peary) caribou which B&C includes in their Central Canada barren ground category.



Yep, I've hunted 3 of them.

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I'm afraid it can be addicting, I got all 6. It took a while and drove the wife nuts but I did get them.

Group hunt, I'm in! Bet we could negotiate a hell of a rate on that!

Bullthrower338 said:

Group hunt, I'm in! Bet we could negotiate a hell of a rate on that!

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Which one do you want to start with?

jduckhunter said:

Which one do you want to start with?

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Always dreamed about barren ground Alaskan double shovels. Only reason I haven't been to Alaska yet is fear I will never return to the lower 48!

Bullthrower338 said:

Always dreamed about barren ground Alaskan double shovels. Only reason I haven't been to Alaska yet is fear I will never return to the lower 48!

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I understand your concern it is a beautiful place and hard to leave, but it gives you something to think about while you plan your return trip. There are a bunch of outfitters up there that offer DIY trips for caribou, anything from fully outfitted to bare bones transportation only. If you get a group together I'm sure you can negotiate a good deal

jduckhunter said:

I understand your concern it is a beautiful place and hard to leave, but it gives you something to think about while you plan your return trip. There are a bunch of outfitters up there that offer DIY trips for caribou, anything from fully outfitted to bare bones transportation only. If you get a group together I'm sure you can negotiate a good deal

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I've been looking at some float trips, they appeal to me the most. Adds more excitement to the hunt and more beautiful country to see. I will definitely do this trip in the next couple years, especially if I can get my buddies to quit wasting all their money on frivolous things such as food and shelter!lol

I wish you the best of luck, it will be a trip to remember. Three of my friends and I did a DIY, 10 day moose/caribou hunt 25 years ago. We all got our caribou and I got a moose, it was a lot of fun but also a lot of work.

jduckhunter said:

I wish you the best of luck, it will be a trip to remember. Three of my friends and I did a DIY, 10 day moose/caribou hunt 25 years ago. We all got our caribou and I got a moose, it was a lot of fun but also a lot of work.

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Thank You, with hard work comes success, or at least the feeling that you tried your damnedest and that can't be taken away or undersold. Besides it makes the beer taste better at the end of the day! Cheers all.

Bullthrower338 said:

Thank You, with hard work comes success, or at least the feeling that you tried your damnedest and that can't be taken away or undersold. Besides it makes the beer taste better at the end of the day! Cheers all.

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That is so true with hard work comes success. The problem with a DIY moose hunt is that after the hard work and success comes a lot more hard work. Cheers!

jduckhunter said:

That is so true with hard work comes success. The problem with a DIY moose hunt is that after the hard work and success comes a lot more hard work. Cheers!

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And that is what makes the beer taste better! Lol. I've been on one moose packing adventure and it was an amazing amount of work, but lord the backstrap was heaven!

Bullthrower338 said:

And that is what makes the beer taste better! Lol. I've been on one moose packing adventure and it was an amazing amount of work, but lord the backstrap was heaven!

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Fried in bacon grease over an open fire, I don't see how it could get much better then that.

jduckhunter said:

... The problem with a DIY moose hunt is that after the hard work and success comes a lot more hard work...

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I've been lucky enough to have drawn two Montana Shiras moose tags. Both hunts were DIY, and the second was just me, my Golden Retriever, and my two horses which were a GREAT help in getting that bull out of the wilderness.

jduckhunter said:

Fried in bacon grease over an open fire, I don't see how it could get much better then that.

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Bighorn or Dall sheep loins, mmmmmh. The moose that I've shot tasted like willow bushes, and were just about as tender.

I shot my Alaskan BG caribou back in 1980 when 5 of us did a drop DIY hunt out of King Salmon.

I've always thought that it would be great to do a drop float hunt for Alaskan moose.

I'd like my next caribou hunt to be one of the eastern Canada varieties.

Great job, one of my near term goals is to do a caribou hunt in northern Manitoba. I've been researching some different outfitters and I'd love to know if anyone could recommend one.

Thanks.

I was planning to do a caribou hunt this fall but ended up going to Africa haha. I was looking into a DIY hunt as you can go on them for a pretty cheap price. I'll get around to going on one eventually. I'm not picky on the area and maybe add a bear tag, a second caribou, and a wolf haha. Just make sure to do a good job butchering and not leave any meat behind, even if it is damaged and to document it by taking photos. They are very strict and will whack you with fines, etc if they think you wasted even an inch of useable meat.

Hello Caribou Hunters,

Not sure about elsewhere but in Alaska; what Bsums said about being sure to not leave any scraps of meat behind, and also to photograph your progress on the field butchering, in case you do get into any conflict with the local Bush Law is wise counsil.

I will add that sexually mature bull caribou are not edible during the rut.

They make rutting mule deer meat seem like a delicacy.

Why nobody has filed a Court Injunction or even a law suit against the State of Alaska for allowing hunters to take adult bull caribou during the rut remains a mystery.

I have eaten all sorts of animal flesh, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fishes (raw & cooked), bivalves, insects, birds, snails, urchin and my share of hearts, livers, kidney, intestine and stomach but, the very worst in my life I have tried in vain to eat, was the flesh of one rutting bull caribou, (antlers shown in one of my 12 photos posted, with zebra rug in the foreground).

Neither would my dog eat it, and I ended up donating all that nasty meat to the Anchorage Zoo here, so as to be sure and not get busted for wanton waste of game animal meat.

It will pay off for you to research the rut cycle in regards to where you're thinking about hunting, then book your hunt well before or well after that time of year.

Non-rutting caribou on the other hand are quite excellent table fare, also they make quite good jerky.

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

Velo Dog said:

...I will add that sexually mature bull caribou are not edible during the rut.

They make rutting mule deer meat seem like a delicacy.

Why nobody has filed a Court Injunction or even a law suit against the State of Alaska for allowing hunters to take adult bull caribou during the rut remains a mystery.

I have eaten all sorts of animal flesh, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fishes (raw & cooked), bivalves, insects, birds, snails, urchin and my share of hearts, livers, kidney, intestine and stomach but, the very worst in my life I have tried in vain to eat, was the flesh of one rutting bull caribou, (antlers shown in one of my 12 photos posted, with zebra rug in the foreground).

Neither would my dog eat it, and I ended up donating all that nasty meat to the Anchorage Zoo here, so as to be sure and not get busted for wanton waste of game animal meat.

It will pay off for you to research the rut cycle in regards to where you're thinking about hunting, then book your hunt well before or well after that time of year.

Non-rutting caribou on the other hand are quite excellent table fare, also they make quite good jerky.

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

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Velo Dog, outstanding tops on that bou in your picture!

Either they weren't in the rut or I was lucky on the caribou that I've shot (Alaskan Barren Ground, Canadian Mountain, and 2 Central Canadian Barren Ground) were all excellent eating. They were all mature bulls.

However, my Montana Mountain Goat, now that meat was inedible...