2020 Golden Eagle outfitter Report

[Horby]

Paying attention to this thread closely as well as all other mentions of Golden Eagle. They are near the top of my short list. I'd really like to hear others opinions on golden eagle as well as doing everything from Kotzebue. Another on my short list is out of Fairbanks hunting Porcupine herd. trying to weigh the pros and cons.

 

[bowonly]

@bowonly We are booked w/ GE for first week of Sept ‘21 and were planning to buy camp fuel in town. That’s great they helped you out but based on your experience getting the fuel- would you do something differently next time to make sure you had it when you arrived?

also how’d you guys do with bow? I’d much rather hunt archery but would hate to hunt all week and never get an archery range shot so leaning toward rifle. Feel free to PM to keep this thread on track.

 

[bowonly]

@bowonly We are booked w/ GE for first week of Sept ‘21 and were planning to buy camp fuel in town. That’s great they helped you out but based on your experience getting the fuel- would you do something differently next time to make sure you had it when you arrived?

also how’d you guys do with bow? I’d much rather hunt archery but would hate to hunt all week and never get an archery range shot so leaning toward rifle. Feel free to PM to keep this thread on track.

Maybe use another type of stove. There was Coleman fuel available. Or talk to the transporter about where you could find canisters left by other hunters who could not fly home with them. Got to figure of the hundreds of hunters leaving them behind, there should be some laying around up there somewhere, right?

We did not shoot any caribou, although several had been rifled from that strip. We were flown out about as far as they ever go up against the mountain range. We were told the caribou had not started migrating yet, so going during your time frame should be better. Of course, using a rifle will always increase your chances.

 

[.280AI]

I used Ram Aviation good outfit. We saw close to 1000 caribou most were to far from camp. Golden Eagle looked like a good outfit to there hunters were successful as well. Like what was mentioned have your side of things in order and it will make the transporters job easy and they appreciate it. Enjoy the trip neat place. Bieber’s is a revolving door of people in and out the lady that runs it is a character.

 

[Ownthewest]

Sounds like most hunt Kotzebue in September. Does anyone have experiance hunting mid to late August?

 

[FSUhunter1010]

Following-we re also looking to hunt this time of year in 2022. I talked with Golden Eagle and Jared made it sound like they will do their best to find the migration and get you in a spot. Sounds like this time of year they may be a little further north.

 

[Skullwhite_designs]

Looking at this trip myself. Any success mid to late august??

Sounds like most hunt Kotzebue in September. Does anyone have experiance hunting mid to late August?

 

[Catag94]

Add me to the mid-August information request. Anyone have anything to share??

 

[kpalu]

Sounds like most hunt Kotzebue in September. Does anyone have experiance hunting mid to late August?

I hunted in mid August of 2020 with Artic Air. Had a warm front come through a couple days before we went in. Not sure if the caribou actually stopped the migration or we got placed in a bad spot. It seemed like we were slotted for that camp no matter what the weather/herd was doing. Needless to say we saw <20 caribou the whole trip. All 3 of us did tag out but if we saw a bull we shot it. Closest downed caribou to camp was over 3 miles across the tundra. We spoke to a couple groups that went in with Ram and Golden Eagle that same week and they adjust their placements. Those groups saw hundreds of caribou. Weather plays a roll but so does the transporter.

 

[mooster]

I hunted in mid August of 2020 with Artic Air. Had a warm front come through a couple days before we went in. Not sure if the caribou actually stopped the migration or we got placed in a bad spot. It seemed like we were slotted for that camp no matter what the weather/herd was doing. Needless to say we saw <20 caribou the whole trip. All 3 of us did tag out but if we saw a bull we shot it. Closest downed caribou to camp was over 3 miles across the tundra. We spoke to a couple groups that went in with Ram and Golden Eagle that same week and they adjust their placements. Those groups saw hundreds of caribou. Weather plays a roll but so does the transporter.

My buddy and I felt same way with our Ram hunt. Guys they pulled from our spot hadn’t seen squat and shot dinks, they only legal bulls they saw in a week. We had same experience. I was successful the last hour of our last night with the only bull we had within 2 miles of us. We hiked our azz off but just no animals around. Fun, expensive, camping adventure. Ran or Golden Eagle will be our choice on next bou adventure assuming the unit remains open to non native, non res hunters.

 

[westonhoma]

We stayed at Sunny Willow B&B. It's a guy's house, so basically an AirB&B situation. I'd definitely recommend it.

Skip the hotel - when we were there, they were using one floor for COVID quarantine, so it was never a consideration, but after seeing it and the cost, I'd definitely look at other options.

Bibber's B&B was right across the street from Sunny Willow. Never went in, but it looked more like a motel. Definitely saw a lot of camo going in and out of the door (note: don't do that. take non-camo clothes for town). In doing our research, we saw mixed reviews of Bibber's.

Looking back through these old threads as I am looking to go with a group in September 2023. I hear a lot of guys do that one hotel in Kotz but I had not considered one of these B&Bs yet. I know that hotel has a freezer. How does the price compare to that hotel? Did the B&B have a freezer?

 

[j3butch]

Looking back through these old threads as I am looking to go with a group in September 2023. I hear a lot of guys do that one hotel in Kotz but I had not considered one of these B&Bs yet. I know that hotel has a freezer. How does the price compare to that hotel? Did the B&B have a freezer?

Sunny Willow was great but depending on how many hunters he has staying it can get tight. We were able to butcher our meat on his back deck and freeze meat in his chest freezer but I’d confirm that with him-he does not broadcast that option but I asked him if I could share the info and he was cool with it. The hotel is a nice option though if you want some personal space, TV etc..however the hotel is dry, NO alcohol and they take it seriously. Basically if you want a drink in your room just need to sneak it in. Pricing for all places is relatively close, just depends on what you are looking for.

 

[westonhoma]

Sunny Willow was great but depending on how many hunters he has staying it can get tight. We were able to butcher our meat on his back deck and freeze meat in his chest freezer but I’d confirm that with him-he does not broadcast that option but I asked him if I could share the info and he was cool with it. The hotel is a nice option though if you want some personal space, TV etc..however the hotel is dry, NO alcohol and they take it seriously. Basically if you want a drink in your room just need to sneak it in. Pricing for all places is relatively close, just depends on what you are looking for.

Roger that this was very helpful. Definitely something we will consider. Thanks!

 

[j3butch]

I‘m researching our first AK caribou hunt and after scouring the posts on here I‘m leaning towards Golden Eagle early September. I’m trying to get the most up to date recomendations I can so hopefully I can hear from those of you that went this past fall. That said I’ll take any info on them along with budget. We will be flying from CO and I’d prefer to bring back my meat frozen in whole muscles opposed to getting it processed. I had a good combo moose woodland caribou hunt in Newfoundland but was not thrilled with the processor so do not want to go down that road again.

Thanks you Rokslide community for all the information I’ve gotten so far.

Thought I’d share a brief recap on our hunt with RAM. Sorry, not going to edit much just stream of memories:
-When picking an outfitter ask how many pilots they have-all these outfits are busy as heck and it does not take much to back everything up.
-if you want to hunt mountains ask about that-we were dropped in an area that was surrounded by Tusik in all directions for 3-4 miles and that makes for very hard travel-the caribou were primarily in the mountains and others we talked to that were closer to the mountains were able to hike greater distance each day. In short, you can not get infront of them hiking through the tusik, they turn on a dime for no reason so it takes some luck.
-we had to share camp with another group for 2 nights cause of weather and logistics-RAM dropped us off and were supposed to pick up the other hunters but due to logistics had to go get another group and then weather cam in. This was a bit of a bummer but the guys were OK, just not the remote experience we wanted at first. Also, there were shit piles all around camp-we spent some weather days taking care of others crap-not cool.
-prepare to walk for water if you are not dropped off on a stream-closest water was a 45-min walk.
-Be prepared for the game warden. He was very cool but on us within 15-min of my shot, we could not believe it. Actually a cool experience though and we enjoyed talking to him.
-we had grizz every day but never closer than 300 yards even with my caribou gut pile within 250 yards of camp.
-Would I do the hunt again? Absolutely especially now that I’ve been on one-learned a lot. Would I go with RAM again? Yes, but I would be more specific with them and request a mountain camp.
-The small stores in Kotz were better equipped than I thought, sure more expensive but you can get most camp snacks etc that you would want. Beer or whiskey is tricky though-we had RAM get us a 12 pack ahead of time and worked out great! So nice to have a few camp beers to celebrate a kill or keep the spirits up.

 

[westonhoma]

Thought I’d share a brief recap on our hunt with RAM. Sorry, not going to edit much just stream of memories:
-When picking an outfitter ask how many pilots they have-all these outfits are busy as heck and it does not take much to back everything up.
-if you want to hunt mountains ask about that-we were dropped in an area that was surrounded by Tusik in all directions for 3-4 miles and that makes for very hard travel-the caribou were primarily in the mountains and others we talked to that were closer to the mountains were able to hike greater distance each day. In short, you can not get infront of them hiking through the tusik, they turn on a dime for no reason so it takes some luck.
-we had to share camp with another group for 2 nights cause of weather and logistics-RAM dropped us off and were supposed to pick up the other hunters but due to logistics had to go get another group and then weather cam in. This was a bit of a bummer but the guys were OK, just not the remote experience we wanted at first. Also, there were shit piles all around camp-we spent some weather days taking care of others crap-not cool.
-prepare to walk for water if you are not dropped off on a stream-closest water was a 45-min walk.
-Be prepared for the game warden. He was very cool but on us within 15-min of my shot, we could not believe it. Actually a cool experience though and we enjoyed talking to him.
-we had grizz every day but never closer than 300 yards even with my caribou gut pile within 250 yards of camp.
-Would I do the hunt again? Absolutely especially now that I’ve been on one-learned a lot. Would I go with RAM again? Yes, but I would be more specific with them and request a mountain camp.
-The small stores in Kotz were better equipped than I thought, sure more expensive but you can get most camp snacks etc that you would want. Beer or whiskey is tricky though-we had RAM get us a 12 pack ahead of time and worked out great! So nice to have a few camp beers to celebrate a kill or keep the spirits up.

Good stuff. Congrats on the kill. Thats crazy about the game warden. Is that the Kifaru 8 man or Sawtooth? I have a Sawtooth and was great for 2nd season elk Colorado. Was not sure if floorless was a way to go for the tundra. Also the potential for storms with the hole for the stove pipe always worries me.

 

[j3butch]

Good stuff. Congrats on the kill. Thats crazy about the game warden. Is that the Kifaru 8 man or Sawtooth? I have a Sawtooth and was great for 2nd season elk Colorado. Was not sure if floorless was a way to go for the tundra. Also the potential for storms with the hole for the stove pipe always worries me.

Yes Kifaru 8 man-it was perfect and we went back and forth on shelter. We considered brining a smaller back up incase the wind was bad but in the end only brought the tipi-no issues but did use the MSR spiral pegs. We also rented cots & camp chairs from RAM and that was really nice. Brought our stove and collected wood-not easy. We never lit the stove cause we were hanging on to the wood we had incase of really bad weather day-so next guys were stoked! We did make a fire after the kill for the ribs

 

[westonhoma]

Yes Kifaru 8 man-it was perfect and we went back and forth on shelter. We considered brining a smaller back up incase the wind was bad but in the end only brought the tipi-no issues but did use the MSR spiral pegs. We also rented cots & camp chairs from RAM and that was really nice. Brought our stove and collected wood-not easy. We never lit the stove cause we were hanging on to the wood we had incase of really bad weather day-so next guys were stoked! We did make a fire after the kill for the ribs

Gotcha yeah we will be renting some gear for sure. Dang that pic is the dream right there. Hoping it works out for us and they still allow the caribou hunting to continue up there next year!

 

[kwackkillncrew]

good to see the troopers out there, only time i have been checked up here was duck hunting and then at a gas station in delta.

Pretty cool how that one shovel sticks out half way up the bez tine.