We were lucky enough to get a call in spring from Arrowhead Outfitters about our spot on the waitlist being in the number 1 position for a South Brooks Range flyout in Mid-September. Two of us were in and were finally able to convince a third to come along. The three of us grew up hunting together and far too much time went by without the three of us being in the field together for more than a weekend at a time. This was neither the location or the time we did all the research on, but we gladly took it.
We all had expectations of what we were pulling the trigger on and figured we would be selective with our 10 scheduled days in the field. On the flight in we were seeing caribou in the surrounding areas and upon setting up our camp we were glassing bulls on the surrounding skylines. Given that we had already seen caribou, we took it easy on the next morning and probably got out of camp around 0830. We quickly were left with a decision to go north or south as we had seen bulls in both directions and we ended up choosing north as there was more of a blind spot in that direction that we could not see from camp.
About half way into the hike we were starting to formulate a plan about getting to the high ground ridge and setting up a kill box for the 5-10 bulls we had seen. We got to the first location and it was about a 400 yard shot to a place that had a 50% probability of bulls coming through. After a quick snack we decided to push forward and up another 200 yards to see beyond the next ridge but still have some cover. When we did that things starting getting pretty chaotic. The 10 caribou we were looking at turned into a full herd coming down from the top. We were able to see 2000 yards or ridgeline and they were packed in full and all moving towards us. This is day one remind you. Darren had 2 tags and Zack and I each had one so Darren was up first.
After letting a fair amount of bulls walk by, Zack and I glassed up one that we told Darren not to pass. Good shovel, check. Back scratchers, check. Good tops, check. Hard horned, check. White mane, check. Game on, let's get one on the deck and spend the rest of the time not stressed out. After a couple of minutes of making sure we were all looking at the same bull, Darren put his 300 PRC on his pack, lined up. I grabbed a range, Darren dialed it in. 390 yards, squeeze. Dropped him in his tracks.
Day 1, trip goal achieved. 3 guys can pack out a single bull in one trip. What a great day. That is not the end of the day though. 10 minutes later, Zack is looking at the ridgeline 1500 yards away and another amazing bull was sticking out. We tracked him for 25 minutes and decided, heck, why not. He meets all of the requirements, and a second bull is not going to be horrible. We can probably get another load back to camp in the same day as it was only ~1200. The hills were full of bulls and while we were strategizing, we lost track of that bull. About 20 minutes later we picked him up again and continued to watch him for another 40 while he fed his way down to us. We waited until he got to be about the same level as the first bull Darren dropped and Zack made another great shot and dropped that one with a 300 WSM. 2 bulls down. Still day one. We all knew it was going to be a long day, and we started organizing our gear. As we were packing up, I looked up and there were still nice bulls coming down from the top. I decided to put my rifle on my pack just in case something popped out. This was our first caribou hunt and a little voice was reminding me of stories where these herds are there one day and gone the next. All of a sudden a new bull came into sight that just looked different than the rest. Perhaps not as big and not as pronounced of a shovel but tops that extended rearwards that made him look a little like he was mixed with an elk. I debated it for 5 minutes. Neither Darren nor Zack said "dude, please no" rather "dude, that thing has cool tops" I asked Darren for the dope. I dialed it in. Slow squeeze. Done. Dropped our third bull with a 300 PRC at 405yards around 1300. As you can image what came next was a load of work. We got the three bulls broken down and brought down off the mountain to the lake. We made it back to our cots soaked to the underwear in blood around 0130am. We spent the next day cleaning capes, repositioning meat, chewing Advil like skittles.
I will save the story on the fourth bull for another post as this one is getting long, but that is also a fun spot/stalk/ambush that worked out just right two days after these three bulls were taken. All in all, we spent 8 amazing days in the field. We ended up with bulls better than what we were expecting. We caught fish. We had an amazing camp. We reconnected. And Arrowhead was AWESOME as was Alaska 4x4. What a trip.
We all had expectations of what we were pulling the trigger on and figured we would be selective with our 10 scheduled days in the field. On the flight in we were seeing caribou in the surrounding areas and upon setting up our camp we were glassing bulls on the surrounding skylines. Given that we had already seen caribou, we took it easy on the next morning and probably got out of camp around 0830. We quickly were left with a decision to go north or south as we had seen bulls in both directions and we ended up choosing north as there was more of a blind spot in that direction that we could not see from camp.
About half way into the hike we were starting to formulate a plan about getting to the high ground ridge and setting up a kill box for the 5-10 bulls we had seen. We got to the first location and it was about a 400 yard shot to a place that had a 50% probability of bulls coming through. After a quick snack we decided to push forward and up another 200 yards to see beyond the next ridge but still have some cover. When we did that things starting getting pretty chaotic. The 10 caribou we were looking at turned into a full herd coming down from the top. We were able to see 2000 yards or ridgeline and they were packed in full and all moving towards us. This is day one remind you. Darren had 2 tags and Zack and I each had one so Darren was up first.
After letting a fair amount of bulls walk by, Zack and I glassed up one that we told Darren not to pass. Good shovel, check. Back scratchers, check. Good tops, check. Hard horned, check. White mane, check. Game on, let's get one on the deck and spend the rest of the time not stressed out. After a couple of minutes of making sure we were all looking at the same bull, Darren put his 300 PRC on his pack, lined up. I grabbed a range, Darren dialed it in. 390 yards, squeeze. Dropped him in his tracks.
Day 1, trip goal achieved. 3 guys can pack out a single bull in one trip. What a great day. That is not the end of the day though. 10 minutes later, Zack is looking at the ridgeline 1500 yards away and another amazing bull was sticking out. We tracked him for 25 minutes and decided, heck, why not. He meets all of the requirements, and a second bull is not going to be horrible. We can probably get another load back to camp in the same day as it was only ~1200. The hills were full of bulls and while we were strategizing, we lost track of that bull. About 20 minutes later we picked him up again and continued to watch him for another 40 while he fed his way down to us. We waited until he got to be about the same level as the first bull Darren dropped and Zack made another great shot and dropped that one with a 300 WSM. 2 bulls down. Still day one. We all knew it was going to be a long day, and we started organizing our gear. As we were packing up, I looked up and there were still nice bulls coming down from the top. I decided to put my rifle on my pack just in case something popped out. This was our first caribou hunt and a little voice was reminding me of stories where these herds are there one day and gone the next. All of a sudden a new bull came into sight that just looked different than the rest. Perhaps not as big and not as pronounced of a shovel but tops that extended rearwards that made him look a little like he was mixed with an elk. I debated it for 5 minutes. Neither Darren nor Zack said "dude, please no" rather "dude, that thing has cool tops" I asked Darren for the dope. I dialed it in. Slow squeeze. Done. Dropped our third bull with a 300 PRC at 405yards around 1300. As you can image what came next was a load of work. We got the three bulls broken down and brought down off the mountain to the lake. We made it back to our cots soaked to the underwear in blood around 0130am. We spent the next day cleaning capes, repositioning meat, chewing Advil like skittles.
I will save the story on the fourth bull for another post as this one is getting long, but that is also a fun spot/stalk/ambush that worked out just right two days after these three bulls were taken. All in all, we spent 8 amazing days in the field. We ended up with bulls better than what we were expecting. We caught fish. We had an amazing camp. We reconnected. And Arrowhead was AWESOME as was Alaska 4x4. What a trip.
