Alaska caribou hunt-flight and shipping

[mitchparker6]

Just looking into doing a hunt at some point in the future and looking to do a flight into the back country and if we get caribou how I would get the meat and antlers back. My cousin and here husband live up there so I could freeze the the meat and Debone it at their place. Just checking to see what back country flights cost approximately per person, I know every price is different but just want a ball park figure. And I have done some reading on here that checking coolers thru Alaska air is the cheapest? Also heard of guys hauling meat and antlers in a semi thru a meat hauler. Looking to bring back both meat and antlers. Also i could have my cousin hold the antlers and send another time if there is a cheaper way? Any help and advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Kevin Dill]

Plan on spending a minimum of $1500 and up to $4000 per man for bush flights depending on the transporter and destination.

I don’t recommend coolers for flying meat home. Get it frozen in stout cardboard meat/fish shipping boxes. Check prices and either fly it home with you as baggage, or have it shipped down to you via Alaska Air Cargo after you get home.

 

[VernAK]

Mitch,
Kevin has the cost pegged.......to break it down: $2K for hunter, $750K to transport caribou, $1K for gear load etc.

Those are rough numbers and some cost can be split with partner.

Bone the meat in the bush and label each bag as to cuts etc.

For transporting meat, I prefer the polarbearcooler.com.....size 48 full of meat will just make 50 pound baggage limit.....Oct/Nov they have a 2 for 1 sale. I have a dozen and baggage handlers haven't ruined em.

Antlers can be a bugger for airline travel......

 

[jhm2023]

It somewhat depends on where you plan to hunt, but I know on the slope flights typically start around $2k to $2,500 per person. Meat can be brought back as checked baggage for a pretty reasonable rate. When I fly commercial air I always put my hunting pack in a decently built cooler on my way to the hunt, and on my way home my hunting pack goes into a spare duffel and the meat in the cooler with about a third of a roll of quality duct tape around it. As for antlers I guess that would depend on what kind of mount you wanted. With a shoulder mount you can split the skull cap and that will certainly make things more manageable. I haven't shipped antlers to the lower 48, but I spoke with a taxidermy buddy to get rough prices as my cousin will be doing a bou hunt with me this fall. He said about $150-$250 through Alaska air cargo. That sounds about right because I just had a 110 pound raft shipped to me from Idaho through them for just $150.

 

[rayporter]

go sooner rather than later -the cost goes up every year. nine years ago the total round trip from Memphis was just under 5000 bucks.
this was to bettles and to the bush and all meat back with us.

yes to taking the meat with you. and don't forget the take the magic marker to mark the bags in the field.

if necessary have the cousin ship gear later.

 

[mitchparker6]

Vernak when you listed those prices, that is for the Bush flight I'm guessing. Is there usually enough room for 3 people, gear and 3 caribou? Also jhm2023 when you say slope hunts what do you mean by that? We would probably be flying out of anchorage, but also would be willing to drive if it's going to save a ton. Do they usually put you on the herd or relatively close?

 

[VernAK]

Yes that was for the bush flight for one person in a Supercub!

 

[Trial153]

In the process of booking flights for 2019, deposits going in as soon as the transporter opens his books for the year.
Prices were all gernerly 2500 to 3000 with meat transport out, per person. That said we were quoted up to 4500 a person from another transporter in the same area, plus 500 extra to bring meat out.

 

[jhm2023]

mitchparker6 by slope I'm referring to the North side of the Brooks range. Typically for that area people drive up to happy valley and catch a bush flight from there. Another option is to fly out of Kavik camp but you will still have to get to deadhorse or happy valley and catch a short flight to Kavik before catching your final bush flight. There are other options but I don't know much about them. I've taken bou out of 5 different herds and the Porcupine herd on the North side of the eastern Brooks in the ANWR is still my favorite place to chase them.

 

[Kevin Dill]

There is wide variability in transporter pricing, and it really comes down to what they decide to charge. Top end prices don't always mean best service, or longest distances. Some pilots just want more money for what they do. I think the main thing is to determine their credentials and reputation from other hunters...ignoring the cost...and then see what your money is buying you. An extra $1500 per man is a lot of money, but most of us would rather pay it and have a great hunt versus go cheaper and end up on a fly-out camping trip. This is not to say you can't have a superb hunt with a $2000 per man bush flight service, because plenty of people do.

Caribou hunts are going to increase in cost, mainly due to demand. Quebec Labrador has dried up. The days of sign-and-go guided caribou hunts for $5000 are gone. It's looking like $7000 to $9000 or more, and the word is out on DIY hunts in Alaska. Pilots see this and their phones are ringing. In some cases pilots have dramatically raised their prices in response to this opportunity. The message is pretty clear. Don't wait. Book your DIY hunt soon.

 

[KJH]

I agree that Caribou hunts are going to go up. I hunt Caribou in Unit 23 in AK, and the subsistence closures debacle is forcing the few remaining transporters to move or consider moving fall operations elsewhere due to the uncertainty of clients to transport. If you do your homework, you can still get a great DIY trip for a good price. Soon it will be a higher. But still worth it...

 

[mproberts]

Myself and two buddies are flying in this year for our first DIY bou hunt, if our outfitter aka pilot turns out well I would be happy to recommend them after the hunt.

When I first really looked into this hunt it was 2k for the flights in and out with 70lbs of gear, game removal, and one relocation flight if needed. The bag limit was also 2 bou per person. When we booked the hunt in early '17 the flight cost had jumped to 3k and the limit was reduced to 1 per person, which from what I have read is unlikely to change back in the near future. I just checked and their 2019 rates have jumped again to 3.5k... so like everyone has said book sooner rather than later. I really wish I had done this hunt a few years ago when prices were lower and bag limits were higher. I'll try to post a trip summary when we get back with any tips we can provide, but honestly there are guy on here with tons of advice on this type of hunt and lots of questions have already been answered in previous postings on here.

 

[mitchparker6]

So I was looking at tags and I pull up the tags on the website and it shows the draw hunts and then when I look up the hunts by unit specific areas using the map, it shows the species to hunt and what not. Are the tags in the unit specific areas on the map just general season tags?

 

[bmrfish]

Reg book identifies general units. All general units have the same tags. You will need a locking tag which you can get from ADFG over the internet. And you will need a harvest ticket which you can also print from internet. Or you can also obtain in person in AK


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[Larry Bartlett]

The Harvest Tickets (tags) are given to every hunter who intends to harvest a caribou and who has purchased a hunting license. The Harvest Ticket has 5 tags for 5 caribou. Non residents must purchase one metal tag for each animal they harvest. This is a system to help the state keep record of how many caribou were shot and from where. Each Game Management Unit has a bag limit, and perhaps most have "draw hunt only" areas where "general hunting" is not allowed. Stay away from "draw area" boundaries with general hunting harvest tags and you're good. But DO NOT fill a harvest ticket without possessing a metal locking tag for each animal, and DO NOT shoot more than the bag limit. You're good to go.

 

[westtrout]

When I did a North Slope caribou hunt a few years ago out of Deadhorse, I used AK Airlines air cargo and highly recommend it for sending gear up, and also for meat back. The nice part about sending gear up a week or so ahead of time is that you know that it arrives. We sent everything that was necessarily for the hunt that would be challenging to find in Deadhorse in the event that it was lost by the airline (tent, sleeping backs, hunting gear, food, Pro Pioneer, oars, etc...basically everything but rifles). Because I could track the shipment, I knew for a fact that it would be there when I got there. On a trip like that it can save a big headache if luggage is lost or delayed. On the way back, they put our coolers with meat in their giant freezer and shipped them out after a couple of days. The meat arrived in Montana frozen solid. It might be a little more expensive, but not a lot -- especially considering the total cost of the trip -- and when I go again, I'll do it exactly the same way.

 

[AKBorn]

If you happen to fly to/from Alaska through Anchorage, there's a store called The Package Store or something similar in Anchorage downtown. They built a customized cardboard box for our caribou antlers - we split them down the middle and then packed them in Styrofoam pellets. The custom container cost about $125, and the oversize bag cost on Ak Airlines was $75 a few years back.

 

[spin05]

We just went last year. We hunted south slope of the brooks range.Transporter was $ 3K including unlimited meat runs. We flew with Bushwacker air. We brought all meat,cape and horns back. We went and got a bicycle shipping box from a bike shop. Horns went in that with skull cap cut. have to put protection on points for all horns. Meat went in the lined fish boxes as did the cape. Go buy a scale. Box wieght limits are strictly enforced. We put dry ice in with the cape and meat. There are max amounts allowed. Pay attention to this. They will check. We brought the meat,cap,horns all home with us as extra carry on bags. I think we had 5 total extra costing about $70 a pop if i remember right.

 

[austinphps]

Mitch,
Bone the meat in the bush and label each bag as to cuts etc.

For transporting meat, I prefer the polarbearcooler.com.....size 48 full of meat will just make 50 pound baggage limit.....Oct/Nov they have a 2 for 1 sale. I have a dozen and baggage handlers haven't ruined em.

Antlers can be a bugger for airline travel......

How many of those 48 coolers do you use for a boned out caribou? 3-4?

 

[VernAK]

3-4 for a huge bull.