Arctic Air Unguided Caribou Hunt

[Paulcobb]

Our group had a very poor experience with arctic air for the 2019 season. As others have mentioned our group of 5 hunters were dropped at a lake to replace another group of hunters who went 0 for 4 on tags. After a couple day’s AA brought in another group of hunters to share our very small caribou-less lake. We never had a shot opportunity and hunted very hard. Our group were very experienced hunters from Idaho/wa. The experience left us disappointed in the un-organized and overcrowding service that was provided. Our last day on the lake AA dropped 2 more groups of hunters on the same lake knowing that the last 2 camps hadn’t killed any. We understand that the migration can be finicky, however it was extremely evident that AA’s only focus is cost savings and efficiency over hunter experience.

 

[oregonbowhunter]

Sorry to hear how bad your trip went. Makes me feel very lucky for how well ours went.

 

[Northwestalaska]

So how’d you do? Here’s my monster without me standing behind it to inflate it! Shot last hour of last day flew out next am.
Baby Bou?

View attachment 159902

 

[mooster]

It might have been a “baby bou” but if you’ve had bou you know how good the meat is, and it was ez to pack the antlers for home. They made a nice mount to remember our adventure. And another downside upside is that I don’t need a massive spot on the wall to enjoy them. It’s cool as it’s a nice small rack fairly representative of a bou formation, even with backscratchers too.

 

[Kevin Dill]

It might have been a “baby bou” but if you’ve had bou you know how good the meat is, and the it was ez to pack the antlers for home. They made a nice mount to remember our adventure.

Darned right x all 3 points. Fixation on antler size is how you come home empty and hungry. Getting it done when animals are next to nonexistent is definitely meeting the challenge in my mind.

 

[mooster]

Darned right x all 3 points. Fixation on antler size is how you come home empty and hungry. Getting it done when animals are next to nonexistent is definitely meeting the challenge in my mind.

Thx. Yeah my buddy went home empty handed and he would have loved to have my rack. We had an unforgettable adventure. We had unbelievable views, experienced wild like we had never before, enjoyed everything from snow squalls to the northern lights. That’s what I signed up for and dreamt about for the months before we went. Yes we would have loved to have some monster racks, but It’s called hunting for a reason.

 

[CO_jakrabt]

We are headed up Aug 26-Sept 4. with Arctic Air. Went through Russ at OI. I've spoken with a lot of guys that had great success with them and jsut with the pictures they post on FB and sent updates. Who had great success and who didn't?

We jsut got an email that there's a 90% chance we get dropped off in a float so waders would be needed. I'm hoping they are not dropping people off close to us and I plan on reaching out the Shelia regarding this...I don't really feel like hunting right next to another group. We have 3 guys in our group...hoping to tag out, but will be hard if there are other hunters in area.

TIA for any advice and experiences/recommendations!

 

[oregonbowhunter]

TC your bou looks great! You are right, they are very good eating!

 

[NUGGET]

@twincedar nice bou! Love the color on that one. Did you save the hide?

Also dont worry about old Walt. He’s just here to try to get clients. Can’t make a post without trying to promote his “business”.

 

[Northwestalaska]

Not exactly Nug....Business will move forward as it does, just offering direction for folks who are needing some.

Walt

 

[mooster]

@twincedar nice bou! Love the color on that one. Did you save the hide?

Also dont worry about old Walt. He’s just here to try to get clients. Can’t make a post without trying to promote his “business”.

I plan to go back to Kotz next year, guess Walt has plenty of business.

I didn’t save the hide, didn’t even give it a thought until afterwards realized my mistake. That said, we stopped by the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center on our layover via ANC , and they had some really and soft nice bou hides for sale for ~$225 bucks. Would have been cheaper and quicker than taking my own home. They even sell online, https://www.alaskawildlife.org/product/reindeer-hide/

 

[WapitiWhackers]

No wolves or ptarmigan where I was. You will want hiking boots. The ankle support Is worth the chance of damp feet. Buy waterproof socks. Those help when ur boots didnt dry and u start a new day. If you dont do that just pack extra wool socks and change out regularly. No place for cotton. Didnt use a bipod. Use your pack save the weight.

Word to wise. Pay attention to cape care. Mine didn't survive. Landed today right to local tax and said couldnt salvage it. The meats most important as we all should know but take the time to flesh your cape early once that's done. Mine was In field 8 days and wasnt usable. Salt buys you a day or two.

My only complaint with arctic air was the fact I asked via sat phone if they could snag my meat and cape early as it was by their account unusually warm and got zero response via garmin. I didn't expect a special trip but saw them 2 or 3 times in our area throughout my 8 days.Beings they are the only ones with float planes it was easy to identify and thought it might be logistically possible they would be in the area at some point already and might snag it. I had at least 2 other groups within 3 miles of me. (Only one was arctic air transport customer to my knowledge). Moral of the story your responsible for all that game and nobody will do you any favors so plan accordingly. Also use plenty of tape on meat boxes at airport. One of ours was soggy and busted. We had a 12 hr layover though. Hope this info helps you folks. If anybody wants more details I can get you my digits.

Would you go back with Arctic Air?

 

[TSAMP]

Yeah i think I would.

 

[VernAK]

To be dropped next to other hunters when the migration is focused there would be something most of us could live with but to be dropped among other camps when there are no caribou in the area, is unacceptable in my book.

 

[TSAMP]

I totally get that. To be perfectly honest i was successful so it no doubt impacts my decision on if i would use them again. I do think we have to consider the fact that these locations are choosen from past history as well. Perhaps AA was playing the odds on that spot. As most of us know. A place that has no caribou today could be loaded tomorrow. There were some hiccups in my trip, but we grunted it out and from what I saw AA held up their end of the deal.

 

[AK Shane]

How far does everyone go when researching an outfitter? Experiences of others is always important. What else can you/do you do for research? Do you find out who the company owner are or any partners and research them? Check Better Business Bureau? Other search locations? How do you weight negative reviews against positive ones? How many positive reviews does it take to negate a negative review?

 

[AKBorn]

I totally get that. To be perfectly honest i was successful so it no doubt impacts my decision on if i would use them again. I do think we have to consider the fact that these locations are choosen from past history as well. Perhaps AA was playing the odds on that spot. As most of us know. A place that has no caribou today could be loaded tomorrow. There were some hiccups in my trip, but we grunted it out and from what I saw AA held up their end of the deal.

Glad you had a good experience. In that mostly open country, if a transporter had a couple of groups that were unsuccessful, they should have been flying around the unit trying to figure out where the caribou were, on the trips back to home base each day after dropping off or picking up hunters. There are other lakes that support landing by floats, and there are strips that support landing by wheels. The way the unsuccessful hunts above are described, makes me think that perhaps this lake is closer to town and saves on use of fuel, so they kept dropping people there. Or, they picked a spot based on past years experience, and didn't have a backup plan when that spot wasn't producing. Just sounds like not much thought went into tings on part of the transporter. Glad that you were able to connect, sorry to hear the stories from the other groups.

 

[Kevin Dill]

The deal-breaker for me would simply be the business strategy of dropping multiple groups of hunters on the same lake. My MOST important criteria when going on a backcountry or true wilderness hunt is to get away from other people. I would personally be very dissatisfied to sit on a hill and glass other hunters walking about. Killing the animal is an important goal perhaps, and it may well be the most important goal for a person who is only going once or twice. I completely get that for certain. The best of both worlds is to be where you are amongst animals and hunting them where there is no other human presence.

 

[VernAK]

The deal-breaker for me would simply be the business strategy of dropping multiple groups of hunters on the same lake. My MOST important criteria when going on a backcountry or true wilderness hunt is to get away from other people. I would personally be very dissatisfied to sit on a hill and glass other hunters walking about. Killing the animal is an important goal perhaps, and it may well be the most important goal for a person who is only going once or twice. I completely get that for certain. The best of both worlds is to be where you are amongst animals and hunting them where there is no other human presence.

Last fall, I booked a caribou hunt for 2020 in a favorite location not knowing if there will be a caribou within hundreds of miles. This is not what I'd advise most of you to do but my goals have changed over many decades of these hunts. I don't intend to shoot a caribou unless it's really one that gets my attention and I've seen very few of those in the past decades.

I can assume that I'll at least see some straggler caribou in that area. I'll see a few grizzlies and a smattering of moose while hunting with some great friends and we'll have a great camp atmosphere.

If I see another hunter, he'll be a hiking SOB!

 

[tmull1]

We are headed up Aug 26-Sept 4. with Arctic Air. Went through Russ at OI. I've spoken with a lot of guys that had great success with them and jsut with the pictures they post on FB and sent updates. Who had great success and who didn't?

We jsut got an email that there's a 90% chance we get dropped off in a float so waders would be needed. I'm hoping they are not dropping people off close to us and I plan on reaching out the Shelia regarding this...I don't really feel like hunting right next to another group. We have 3 guys in our group...hoping to tag out, but will be hard if there are other hunters in area.

TIA for any advice and experiences/recommendations!

Hey man I booked my hunt in 2022 with Russ and Arctic air too. How did it go?