2013 40-Mile closure

[Yellowknife]

This one for the Alaska guys

Looks like they just closed the 40 Mile hunt for the fall season. No surprise, but I'm disappointed they ran over the harvest quota by so much. Looks like they may not have a winter hunt, which is a bummer. I prefer to do that hunt in December.

I've killed caribou seven years running, so I guess I can skip a year, but now I'm regretting not looking for one this fall.

http://www.newsminer.com/news/local...cle_dadcfb10-2037-11e3-b8bb-001a4bcf6878.html

"The annual harvest quota for the herd is 1,000 animals, with 750 reserved for the fall season and 250 allocated for the winter hunt.

Since the fall harvest exceeded the fall and winter quotas, it’s uncertain at this point what will happen with the winter hunt, Fish & Game spokeswoman Cathie Harms said."


Yk

 

[Bambistew]

Do you know how many NR take out of this herd?

 

[O'Really]

I hear ya YK...It's looking like I won't get a chance to hunt my Nelchina permit, kinda bummed about that, but guess that's how it goes some years. I saw a bruiser yesterday while packing out my buddies bull, but alas, not my permit area. Oh well, on too goat hunting!!

 

[Nick Muche]

What part of AK does this hunt take place in?

 

[Yellowknife]

Do you know how many NR take out of this herd?

Bambi,

I know you know how to look this stuff up.

No numbers for 2013 handy, but in 2012 non-residents took 156 out of a total of 1003 caribou harvested during the RC860 fall hunt. Suspect 2013 isn't too much different. They can't hunt the winter hunt.

What part of AK does this hunt take place in?

Nick,

This hunt covers a huge chunk of ground south of the Yukon from the Dalton Highway to the Canadian Border. Most people hunt it off the Steese or Taylor highways, which makes it a very accessible hunt. I have often done it as a day hunt from Fairbanks, and have been quite successful over the years. It's been controversial, because when the caribou are near the highways, word gets out and it can become a bloodbath. That's one reason I have moved to hunting it in December. The cold/dark thing really cuts done on competition.

Yk

 

[Nick Muche]

Great information! Thank you for explaining it a bit better as the article did not break it down quite as well.

 

[Bambistew]

Just wanted to make a point that I'm sure will come up.

Glad I filled my tag a few weeks ago. Tough year for caribou it seems. Few of us were thinking with warm weather and fierce bugs this year may have pushed them higher than normal, or made them stay up longer? Either way I like hunting them early in the rocks.

 

[Yellowknife]

Just wanted to make a point that I'm sure will come up.

Glad I filled my tag a few weeks ago. Tough year for caribou it seems. Few of us were thinking with warm weather and fierce bugs this year may have pushed them higher than normal, or made them stay up longer? Either way I like hunting them early in the rocks.

I don't know if I'd say it was a tough year for caribou hunting. The Taylor closed almost immediately. The Steese took a little longer, but when the caribou arrived they promptly went over quota there too. The Nelchina herd harvest seems steady, if not exactly the slaughter that it sometimes is. What do you mean by tough?

That said, I do like the early season high country caribou hunts also. Did that in August when I helped a buddy get his first caribou. They can be a great mountain hunt. Unfortunately(?) I've been a little TOO successful on moose recently, and had just killed another caribou in Feb, so couldn't justify shooting one myself this fall.

Not a bad caribou you got there. Any particular reason you used a muzzleloader?

Yk

 

[VernAK]

The 40 Mile Herd is a managers nightmare. It's impossible to predict the wanderings of caribou. The over-harvest is disconcerting but not population threatening. ADF&G really struggles to get this one right so expect more changes. One change proposed is an early Youth Hunt on the Taylor Highway so kids can have an opportunity prior to fall classes.

Bambistew......you nice bull has partial velvet.....do you recall what day you got him?......things seemed later this year as I was seeing bull moose in velvet on 9/7.

 

[Bambistew]

YK, I was being a bit facetious... Reading the "official thread" on AOF I have to laugh at how "hard" the hunting is this year, or every year for that mater. I'm hardly a caribou master, but have been on about 5 successful hunts in the unit 13 area, all totaling about 3.5 days of effort. This year was no different. Spent about 10 min glassing while drinking coffee in camp, and then spent 3 hours hiking up to the final kill site... From where my bull died we saw easily 300 cars/trucks drive right by, no one stopped to glass. Basically 1 car every 4-6 minutes. It was similar in years past. I think people expect them to be standing on the road or just drive around on an ATV until they run into them. Maybe they're looking for the big migration herd or something? I kind of like hunting bou. Plenty of them around if you want to walk a bit.

The unit 13 harvest stats from last year compared to this year are similar for bulls, maybe a few more bulls shot this year, but considering there was about 40% more hunters this isn't a surprise.

I haven't hunted with a muzz in a while, thought I'd give it a go. May hunt with it for the next few years.

Shot my bull Saturday of Labor Day weekend. I stripped some of the velvet as most of it came off when he fell down the hill in a rock slide. He was just starting to shed. My neighbor shot a moose on the 8th that was in full velvet, and his pard shot a bou that was brown horned. Seemed similar to years past to me.

Mine was a really old bull, hardly any teeth left.

 

[Yellowknife]

YK, I was being a bit facetious... Reading the "official thread" on AOF I have to laugh at how "hard" the hunting is this year, or every year for that mater.

Ha! ok, my sarcasm radar wasn't functioning I guess. I usually resist any urge to read the AOD caribou threads so didn't realize how much "trouble" people were having. I've read past ones a bit, and was amazed at the number of "I drove back and forth across the Denali twice, and didn't see anything! Where are they???" posts. Or my other favorite "put 150 miles on the wheeler this weekend, and didn't see anything!" Pretty much cured me of reading caribou threads.

While I have lucked into caribou standing just off the road a couple times, the usual techniques of finding a glassing spot and and actually looking around is a much more reliable producer for me. Given the unpredictable nature of caribou herds, sometimes they just flat aren't there... but on the Denali especially I believe that there is enough resident caribou that a guy can usually find one with some effort.

Bull moose I killed this year was still in full velvet on the 5th, but he was a little guy, living low down, so I don't know if that's too weird. It was basically ready to fall off, and I'm sure he would have stripped it himself in the next day or so.

Yk

 

[Snipershirt]

One change proposed is an early Youth Hunt on the Taylor Highway so kids can have an opportunity prior to fall classes.


This would be pretty sweet as I'd love for my son to have a chance at a bou without having to be so concerned as to where and what other hunters are shooting at!

$

 

[Snipershirt]

This one for the Alaska guys

Looks like they just closed the 40 Mile hunt for the fall season. No surprise, but I'm disappointed they ran over the harvest quota by so much. Looks like they may not have a winter hunt, which is a bummer. I prefer to do that hunt in December.

I've killed caribou seven years running, so I guess I can skip a year, but now I'm regretting not looking for one this fall.

http://www.newsminer.com/news/local...cle_dadcfb10-2037-11e3-b8bb-001a4bcf6878.html

"The annual harvest quota for the herd is 1,000 animals, with 750 reserved for the fall season and 250 allocated for the winter hunt.

Since the fall harvest exceeded the fall and winter quotas, it’s uncertain at this point what will happen with the winter hunt, Fish & Game spokeswoman Cathie Harms said."


Yk

Yk-
Any issues with meat quality on those late season hunts? Haven't done one as of yet having been successful during the fall however I've heard mixed feelings regarding the meat freezing quick and the overall taste of the meat.

Thanks!

$

 

[Snipershirt]

Just wanted to make a point that I'm sure will come up.

Glad I filled my tag a few weeks ago. Tough year for caribou it seems. Few of us were thinking with warm weather and fierce bugs this year may have pushed them higher than normal, or made them stay up longer? Either way I like hunting them early in the rocks.

Awesome smoke-pole bou Bambi!

 

[Yellowknife]

Yk-
Any issues with meat quality on those late season hunts? Haven't done one as of yet having been successful during the fall however I've heard mixed feelings regarding the meat freezing quick and the overall taste of the meat.

Thanks!

$

Basically, good meat quality on a winter hunt requires you to keep the animal thawed at least through rigor. Skinning and quartering it out in the field in sub zero conditions can allow it to basically flash freeze and then it can be very very tough indeed!

After a lesson learned the hard way, I go to great lengths to keep the hide on until I get it home. The hollow hairs will keep it from freezing for quite a while, although eventually the legs start to get hard. If you can do that, everything comes out fine. Last year I had to overnight, so I actually covered the caribou with a space blanket and shoveled snow over it as insulation. That kept it thawed out overnight, and the meat came out great.

Yk

 

[Snipershirt]

Basically, good meat quality on a winter hunt requires you to keep the animal thawed at least through rigor. Skinning and quartering it out in the field in sub zero conditions can allow it to basically flash freeze and then it can be very very tough indeed!

After a lesson learned the hard way, I go to great lengths to keep the hide on until I get it home. The hollow hairs will keep it from freezing for quite a while, although eventually the legs start to get hard. If you can do that, everything comes out fine. Last year I had to overnight, so I actually covered the caribou with a space blanket and shoveled snow over it as insulation. That kept it thawed out overnight, and the meat came out great.

Yk

That's what I've heard...keep the hide on it and prevent freezing. Guess it'll be next year before I'm able to give it a shot. Thanks again for the info!

 

[Nick Muche]

How about October or November bulls? How is their meat? I am hearing it is pretty disgusting due to the rut, any truth to that?

 

[luke moffat]

YK, I was being a bit facetious... Reading the "official thread" on AOF I have to laugh at how "hard" the hunting is this year, or every year for that mater. I'm hardly a caribou master, but have been on about 5 successful hunts in the unit 13 area, all totaling about 3.5 days of effort. This year was no different. Spent about 10 min glassing while drinking coffee in camp, and then spent 3 hours hiking up to the final kill site... From where my bull died we saw easily 300 cars/trucks drive right by, no one stopped to glass. Basically 1 car every 4-6 minutes. It was similar in years past. I think people expect them to be standing on the road or just drive around on an ATV until they run into them. Maybe they're looking for the big migration herd or something? I kind of like hunting bou. Plenty of them around if you want to walk a bit.

The unit 13 harvest stats from last year compared to this year are similar for bulls, maybe a few more bulls shot this year, but considering there was about 40% more hunters this isn't a surprise.

I haven't hunted with a muzz in a while, thought I'd give it a go. May hunt with it for the next few years.

Shot my bull Saturday of Labor Day weekend. I stripped some of the velvet as most of it came off when he fell down the hill in a rock slide. He was just starting to shed. My neighbor shot a moose on the 8th that was in full velvet, and his pard shot a bou that was brown horned. Seemed similar to years past to me.

Mine was a really old bull, hardly any teeth left.

That is 100% my experience as well...I can't think of a single day on the Denali over the 20+ years I've been tooling around out there that I haven't seen atleast one caribou every day! Yesterday was no exception





Now granted we had to pack aross this creek with temps in the teens...but that keeps the riff raff out. Saw 100+ caribou in 10 minutes of glassing from the road and decided to go hike after them since everyone else was just watching from the road and many asking if we even saw any caribou.....not like they were hard to spot with brown on white either....people these days

 

[Nick Muche]

I cannot wait! That looks like a blast! How close were you able to get, bow range?

 

[Bambistew]

Nice bull Luke! Did you ot the wife take him out?

I was about 65 yards but couldn't see though my peep due to fogged up glasses and water in the peep. Once i got it sorted out the shot was about 85-90 yards. If i didn't get a shot he would have dropped off a bench an i could have got really close. I think spot and stalk with a bow would be doable no problem.

Bou are really fun to hunt. Can't decide what to do next year. Good to have options.