Caribou were few and far between so I took the time to fish, explore the area, and watch other wildlife.
On day three I saw a gorgeous grizzly I wish I could have caught up with. But it was on a mission feeding along the side of a mountain. Man can they cover some ground. So I stayed put and watched through the spotter. At one point I got to watch it dig up a ground squirrel, carry it around for a few minutes, and finally sit down to enjoy it's catch.
By day four I had only seen 3 caribou. They were between 5-6 miles away. None were sporting any decent head gear so I didn't go for a closer look. I still wasn't getting discouraged. I was thoroughly enjoying the peace and quiet away from the hub bub of normal life.
Day 5 dawned and I immediately started glassing like the previous mornings. Today would be different though. I actually spotted 3 caribou from camp. A somewhat decent bull with a cow/young bull 3/4 the way up one of the mountains by camp. Shortly after spotting them a young bull strolled by camp within 3/4 of a mile. I loaded up the pack to cut some distance to the nicer bull and kept the smaller one in the back of my mind. I got about a mile closer, set-up the swaro spotter and watched him for about 90 minutes. I decided since he wasn't huge and there was no use trying to kill myself trying to get to him. Think THICK alders thickets, a marshy bottom with a beaver damn to cross, and at least a thousand feet of elevation to gain. So I decided to see if I could find the young bull from earlier in the morning. Putting meat in the freezer was winning over looking for a trophy. I made a mistake here...I really didn't think I would find him so I left my pack and spotter behind. I was thinking it would be just a quick 30 minute round trip.
As fate would have it the young caribou hadn't gone more than a 1/4 mile from earlier. I was about 200 yards from him when I first spotted him. I ducked behind a hill to drop my binos and get ready. Crawled to the top and peaked over....no caribou. Sat and watched for a few minutes with nothing moving and I couldn't figure out where it went. Thinking it might have laid down in the alder thicket it was standing in I went to check it out. Still no caribou and now I was stumped. About 30 seconds later it busted me, it had back tracked about 100 yards while feeding. It quickly turned around and started jogging towards the lake and angling my way. I sprinted to the top of a little hill, laid down, and rested the gun on a rock. I decided if it stopped I would take a shot. Well about 20 yards before it would have disappeared he decided to stop and look back giving me a perfect 300 yard broadside shoot. I made the shot count, he took 2 steps and dropped in view. I was ecstatic!! I made a great shot and popped the cherry on my new rifle!
After the shot I had to back track a mile to get my pack. Lesson learned! I made quick work of breaking him down and got everything loaded into game bags. Packing him out was a butt kicker but I eventually got all of him to camp. I proceed to pack up camp and headed home. I was quite happy with the outcome, meat for the freezer, enjoying the wilds of Alaska, but I had a twinge of sadness knowing it was over.
A few notes from the trip. All my new gear performed great except one item. I hated the exped pillow, dang thing slipped and slided everywhere. Tried letting some air out, wrapping a spare shirt around, and finally gave up. The little black looking fly bugs we have up here are horrible. I have been itching everywhere since I got back. My arms and legs are scabbed up from itching so much. Dang things are Satan himself! With that said though I tried some "Mosquito Coils" I found at wally world for cheap. I was surprised how well they worked on the bugs. They would be a nice lightweight option to carry along if expecting bugs.
I just finished up butchering my caribou this morning. It's a great feeling knowing the freezer is stocked. I need to go through my gear to dry and clean it. Then I am hopefully off to chase Silvers in Valdez this weekend and then head north for a 10 day fly in hunt for caribou in the North Slope!! Gotta keep the freezer stocked!!
Good luck to everyone else!!
