Alaska Caribou getting started Questions

[ZAdams 1]

I've been about 6 pages deep in this forum and have picked up a bunch of info. However since I am not familiar with Alaska geographically I have a few questions.

First off the difference in heards of Caribou, most of the air transports or outfitter mentioned on here fly out of either Tok, Alaska or Kotezbue, AK. Am I correct in thinking that the companies from Kotezbue focus on the North Slope and Brooks range heards? Then those out of Tok are hunting the 40 mile heard? Are there other heards or areas I should do research into?

With the location of the heards, what are the differences in hunting them? Time of year? Populations? Access? Terrain? Migration?

suggestions on which to hunt? I am starting my planning for a DIY unguided possibly drop camp hunt for me and my dad. With that being a factor areas with less hiking or less difficult hiking would be preferable.

Lastly, even though there are a ton of Air transport suggestion threads on here I'll ask it anyway. What are well know reputable outfitters or transporters?

Thanks,

-Zach

 

[VernAK]

How far out are you for this hunt?.......at least two years I'd suggest as it can be difficult to get a transporter.

Are you flying to Alaska or driving up?

Archery or rifle?

 

[Dexter Grayson]

The two main herds hunted by non-residents are the western arctic herd (Kotzbue), and the 40 mile herd (Tok).

The terrain is quite different but the time of year is the same. The western arctic herd is much larger than the 40 mile but the area they live in is much larger as well.

The main difference that I have personally noticed is: the style of camps, one big and one minimal. The other is the herd density, I feel the 40 mile herd sticks together whereas the western arctic can be pretty spread out.

 

[AKBorn]

The two main herds hunted by non-residents are the western arctic herd (Kotzbue), and the 40 mile herd (Tok).

The terrain is quite different but the time of year is the same. The western arctic herd is much larger than the 40 mile but the area they live in is much larger as well.

The main difference that I have personally noticed is: the style of camps, one big and one minimal. The other is the herd density, I feel the 40 mile herd sticks together whereas the western arctic can be pretty spread out.

Dexter, I hunted southwest Alaska for several years, but not Western Alaska. My sense (given that he mentioned his Dad is a little older) is that on balance, the terrain in the 40 Mile area might be easier to hike (not everywhere, but on balance) than Western Alaska. Is that an accurate assumption?

 

[VernAK]

I'm 78 and I prefer the 40 Mile but it is also in my neighborhood. Flying in on 9/5.
It's been many years since I hunted in NW AK but even before that, I preferred the Ak Pen which is no longer much of a herd.

 

[ZAdams 1]

How far out are you for this hunt?.......at least two years I'd suggest as it can be difficult to get a transporter.

Are you flying to Alaska or driving up?

Archery or rifle?

I was hoping for a August 2021 hunt, will be flying and rifle hunting.

 

[ZAdams 1]

The two main herds hunted by non-residents are the western arctic herd (Kotzbue), and the 40 mile herd (Tok).

The terrain is quite different but the time of year is the same. The western arctic herd is much larger than the 40 mile but the area they live in is much larger as well.

The main difference that I have personally noticed is: the style of camps, one big and one minimal. The other is the herd density, I feel the 40 mile herd sticks together whereas the western arctic can be pretty spread out.

I have read here and there that the 40 mile heard is more of a local heard and less dependent on the migration. Is this accurate?

 

[ZAdams 1]

I'm 78 and I prefer the 40 Mile but it is also in my neighborhood. Flying in on 9/5.
It's been many years since I hunted in NW AK but even before that, I preferred the Ak Pen which is no longer much of a herd.

I understand every hunt is different but would you consider a hunt of the 40 mile is something that does not require miles of hiking on average?

 

[ZAdams 1]

Dexter, I hunted southwest Alaska for several years, but not Western Alaska. My sense (given that he mentioned his Dad is a little older) is that on balance, the terrain in the 40 Mile area might be easier to hike (not everywhere, but on balance) than Western Alaska. Is that an accurate assumption?

That is accurate my dad is 60 and doesn't move like he used to so a balance of good hunting and walkable terrain.

 

[alexanderg23]

Book it sooner than later.

 

[Sourdough]

I'm 78

WOW............

 

[Salmonchaser]

Vern for what it’s worth we are seeing more bou out on the peninsula, just enough to remain hopeful. Buddy of mine got a good one up on Whale Mountain. I bumped into the largest group I’ve seen in 20 years down on Cabin creek last September. Still, a far cry from the days you could fly and hunt the same day.
Back to the question, I like the 40 mile herd/country, for caribou. I can remember caribou hunts when I was a kid, one or two days, no four wheel drive, six to nine caribou piled in and on top of our 1959 ford station wagon, all drug out whole.
If you’re in the right place they will come right to you. They are however always moving, but I guess I’d give the nod to 40 mile in deference to your dad.
I’d book soon.

 

[VernAK]

Vern for what it’s worth we are seeing more bou out on the peninsula, just enough to remain hopeful. Buddy of mine got a good one up on Whale Mountain. I bumped into the largest group I’ve seen in 20 years down on Cabin creek last September. Still, a far cry from the days you could fly and hunt the same day.
Back to the question, I like the 40 mile herd/country, for caribou. I can remember caribou hunts when I was a kid, one or two days, no four wheel drive, six to nine caribou piled in and on top of our 1959 ford station wagon, all drug out whole.
If you’re in the right place they will come right to you. They are however always moving, but I guess I’d give the nod to 40 mile in deference to your dad.
I’d book soon.

SC,
Great to hear!

The largest caribou I ever shot was south of Port Heiden and when shot he dropped in a few inches of water. My buddy was up on a hill watching and wouldn't come to help because he could see several brown bears down wind of me sniffing the wind. Being close to dark, I covered the quarters with the hide and hiked back to the rag cabin. The next morning I didn't even have a blood spot on the ground......antlers and all were gone.

ZAdam,

Sorry to hijack your thread with our remembrances.

If you are into caribou, a lot of walking shouldn't be required as they are moving steadily.
Getting booked with a reputable air service may be your greatest challenge.

PM sent.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Dang bears

 

[AKBorn]

That is accurate my dad is 60 and doesn't move like he used to so a balance of good hunting and walkable terrain.

I'm gonna craft an answer that addresses this comment as well as your comment to Vern about pack distances...

Good hunting - I have hunted the 40 Mile herd 9 or 10 times in the past 15 years (VernAK has hunted it many more times than that). This past fall (I was 58 then), we were seeing 150 caribou per day; there have been a couple of years when the movement was erratic, and we saw perhaps 75 to 100 animals over a 6 day hunt. I shot meat bulls in those two lean years, and what I consider very nice bulls in the other years (although I never keep the antlers or hide anyway). The herd numbers are good (although early reports are that this winter has been tough), so it's a good herd to hunt if you can find a flight in.

Pack distances - In 2014 and 2017 I shot really nice bulls, that my hunt partner and I packed about 2 miles back to the top of the ridge where the Super Cubs could pick it up. The two meat bulls I shot were both shot within 300 yards of camp. This past fall (2019) I caught a bug while in camp, and wasn't feeling 100%. So after my hunt partner got his nice bull, I said I'm gonna try to shoot one right on the ridgetop where the planes land, and to heck with packing meat very far! We were seeing lots of animals, and I still had 3 days to hunt, so I figured I would take a shot. After a day of glassing, I ended up shooting a nice bull about 250 yards form where the planes land, so we didn't even put the meat in our packs - just put quarters on the bone in a garbage bag, tossed them up on our shoulder, and humped them 250 yards like that. I enjoyed that pack thoroughly.

Another twist to the 2019 hunt - I was hunting with an old high school friend and baseball teammate, who had never hunted caribou or hunted in Alaska. The first hunting day, we saw a lone bull on a ridge across the valley, and he said "should I try to make something happen?" It's hard to tell someone to be patient when they might only get one shot to hunt Alaska - so I told him to go after it, and I would watch him from the rock outcropping where we had been glassing. He had to walk down the ridge; find a way through thick brush higher than his head near the swift creek at the bottom of the draw; find a place to cross the swift deep creek; and then chase the caribou that was moving higher on the opposite ridge. I was preparing myself for a pack of over a mile, through tough country, if he caught up to the bou - luckily he did not. He was pooped when he gave up the chase after the caribou topped out over the ridge.

As I was watching him through my binoculars, it seemed to me that he was waving for me to come over. I thought that was odd, as I never heard him shoot or saw him shoot, and saw the caribou he was chasing go over the ridgetop unharmed. It turns out that he was trying to signal me to TURN AROUND - he was watching a herd of 82 caribou walk the ridgetop about 300 yards behind me! He said there were two really nice bulls in the herd. I was focused on him, and never heard nor saw them. But, that really hammered home to him the need to stay patient and not chase a distant bull, better than any words I could have spoken would have. He ended up shooting a nice bull the next day, right from where I was sitting when he chased the lone caribou the day before.

 

[AKBorn]

Vern for what it’s worth we are seeing more bou out on the peninsula, just enough to remain hopeful. Buddy of mine got a good one up on Whale Mountain. I bumped into the largest group I’ve seen in 20 years down on Cabin creek last September. Still, a far cry from the days you could fly and hunt the same day.
Back to the question, I like the 40 mile herd/country, for caribou. I can remember caribou hunts when I was a kid, one or two days, no four wheel drive, six to nine caribou piled in and on top of our 1959 ford station wagon, all drug out whole.
If you’re in the right place they will come right to you. They are however always moving, but I guess I’d give the nod to 40 mile in deference to your dad.
I’d book soon.

Not to hijack the OP's thread, but a small digression to the good old days...

I was born in Alaska in 1961. In the 60s and early 70s we would hunt the Denali Highway every year for caribou. A lot of years we took our Scout down the trail toward Osar Lake (at about the 36-Mile Marker, just above the McClaren River Valley) and hunt there for 7-10 days. My dad would never shoot a moose or caribou he couldn't drive the Scout to, and we always seemed to tag out! I had the impatience of a youngster, and would shake my head when he would pass up a caribou and say "we can get one closer to the trail, just give it time." Now I understand how much toll he saved on his back, shooting them where he could drive to them.

 

[Salmonchaser]

I was actually born in Dc, dad was at the Pentagon. 1959, I was 3, he came bounding into the house, he had orders for FT. Wainwright, we were poking around that country about the same time.
Dang, sorry hijacked again.

 

[spin05]

We hunted the porcupine herd on the south slope and flew out from just outside Fairbanks. The Porcupine herd is the second largest in Alaska at 169,000. There is lots of different herd thou as evident by this map. http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/species/speciesinfo/caribou/images/caribou_herds.jpg

 

[Sconnie77]

There is a book called Hunting in Alaska by Chris Batin. I think some of the information on herd size is of little use at this point, but it does cover the various herds and GMU's they are in. It covers all big game species in AK, including Caribou. If you can find a used copy on Amazon it might be worthwhile to pick one up. Maybe your local library as a copy???

 

[Scott F]

We hunted the porcupine herd on the south slope and flew out from just outside Fairbanks. The Porcupine herd is the second largest in Alaska at 169,000. There is lots of different herd thou as evident by this map. http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/species/speciesinfo/caribou/images/caribou_herds.jpg

Who did you fly with, and would you recommend?