Arctic Air Unguided Caribou Hunt

[TSAMP]

With it being so warm what were you guys doing for meat care? Anything other than what’s stated above you wish you had/took?


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Nothing specific. Salt for the Cape, which you can buy in Kotz. I didnt do it and kept meat in a tarp covered bush for a week. It aged well even with the heat. My cape however I am concerned about. Wont know till I show the taxidermist. Photo minus the tarp. Kept it off the ground to keep moisture away.

 

[Ecmiller35]

Good to know! So no citric acid treatment or anything, looks like it worked well.


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[mooster]

I hunted the area all though the 90's. It is not what it was back then. When we hunted there, we took moose over 50 and averged 340 P&Y caribou. The herd was 500,000 strong then, and it was still hit and miss. The Grizzly bear management was none, and that destroyed the moose and caribou herds. Now most of the area has a shut down as you must know. Only land left has very few caribou and almost no moose.
Kirk

Thanks for the info. Any wolves, ptarmigan, or black bear? Fishing good? Muck boots vs. hiking boots? What worked vs. didn't work? would have left behind or carried but you didn't? Also from a shooting perspective, re: bipods, how high a bipod do you need to clear the tundra 9-13"?

 

[TSAMP]

Thanks for the info. Any wolves, ptarmigan, or black bear? Fishing good? Muck boots vs. hiking boots? What worked vs. didn't work? would have left behind or carried but you didn't? Also from a shooting perspective, re: bipods, how high a bipod do you need to clear the tundra 9-13"?

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.

 

[mooster]

Thanks for great info

so no bears? any fishing?

 

[mooster]

got an email today indicating the weather has slowed things dramatically, no snow on slope, bou not started migration. We leave in a couple days, so guess we won’t scrimp on the fishing gear!

 

[mattparliament]

I got the same email.... we're going to have to bust our butts to get it done if/when we get out there! I get to Kotz thursday morning....

 

[mooster]

I got the same email.... we're going to have to bust our butts to get it done if/when we get out there! I get to Kotz thursday morning....

We arrive Wed am. Flight out thurs

 

[Jackal7]

We got back Monday after hunting with Arctic Air August 31-September 7th. The weather was warm at first and we had a south wind until our last day. Saw hardly any caribou until the 6th which was cold with a strong north wind, and then they were all over us. We shot three that day, and could have shot the fourth but my buddy passed since he didn't see a really big whopper that he wanted to shoot and pack out. The three we shot were decent but not B&C caliber.

Trekking poles, butt pad and bug spray would be with me long before a spotting scope goes into my weight limit. Bring two water filters (we used two Platypus filters) as we drank so much water because of how hard the hiking was. Hilly as hell and tundra is god awful to walk on.

Shotgun for ptarmigan is a complete waste of space and weight. Nobody would want to spend their energy looking for birds in the tundra. We head shot some with our pistols and they tasted great.

Lots of bears. We used a UDAP bear fence around the camp which gave us peace of mind at night. Worked great.
Even though AA's food kits were good, I recommend each guy bringing some extra energy food like Cliff Bars etc. We really needed it as we were putting on 4-8 miles a day looking for caribou. Especially the day you are packing meat.

Lastly, where we were dropped was the swampiest and wettest place you could imagine. We started out with waders and wading boots, but after a day and a half my Simms G3s didnt have enough ankle support for hiking in that country. We all switched to our mountain boots with gaiters which worked way better.

Message me if you want any more info. Happy to provide my insights into AA etc.

 

[mooster]

Thanks for the great intel. We’re at ATL airport so for us kinda committed to what we’ve packed. Amazing how much stuff we can bring and still be within weight. We didn’t buy their camp option. So where’s your bou pics?

 

[TSAMP]

Thanks for the great intel. We’re at ATL airport so for us kinda committed to what we’ve packed. Amazing how much stuff we can bring and still be within weight. We didn’t buy their camp option. So where’s your bou pics?

 

[mooster]

FYI if your flying AK Air into Kotz be aware only two checked bags are assured to fly with you on a flight. Additional bags may fly standby on a later flight. You designate which bag(s) would be the standby bag. So if your flying out same day as you arrive this may be a concern if all bags are essential.

 

[mattparliament]

I saw that alert, seemed like it only applied if you purchased your flight after May, if ticket was purchased prior that didn’t apply, I got my flight early thankfully!

 

[Jackal7]

AK Air only gave us that caution on our flight back to Anchorage from Kotzebue, not into Kotzebue. We put the meat and antler boxes on standby status. FYI: Delta charged us $540 for two boxes of meat and one antler box. AK Air didn't ding us on our Anchorage leg. Not sure why. Good luck and I hope the weather turns for your hunt.

Here are the 'bou pics. I put them up on the Meat Pole too. We don't have any pics of the third one as both those guys' phones had died.

 

[Jackal7]

In response to the questions about bipods, my two cents is that you are just adding weight. Use your trekking poles crossed with the handles looped over the other one. I practiced out to 400 yards on those before the trip. Rock solid, weight saving, and that is the rest that i shot my caribou off of in the field last Friday. I am new at this so more experienced hunters may have different views, but it worked well for me and saved me weight.

 

[a2thak]

Heading out Friday with Golden Eagle. What has everyone been doing for camp stove fuel?

 

[mooster]

Heading out Friday with Golden Eagle. What has everyone been doing for camp stove fuel?

And how many canisters used in a week?

 

[Jackal7]

We had a ton of left over cannisters of fuel. We used one every other day. Not an issue. AA gives you excess of what you will likely need. We had two stoves but cooked on one the whole trip.

 

[mooster]

We had a ton of left over cannisters of fuel. We used one every other day. Not an issue. AA gives you excess of what you will likely need. We had two stoves but cooked on one the whole trip.

Thanks! Guess we’ll need less. Losing a day of hunting due to high winds, 2nd day beerless in Kotz.

 

[a2thak]

Thanks! Guess we’ll need less. Losing a day of hunting due to high winds, 2nd day beerless in Kotz.

Dang. Looks like wind should be calming down. Good luck! Luckily we shipped up a bunch of beer for the trip and this type of delays, lol.