First Time DIY Drop Caribou

[unclericco]

A couple of friends and I are in the beginning stages of a Caribou hunt in Sept. 2019 or 2020. We are interested in something similar to the 40 mile Air deal and we are thinking we would want the extra gear drop. I have a Cabelas instinct Outfitter tent with stove jack with fold up stove and was wondering if that would be a good choice and we could also bring a light weight back packing tent if we needed it?

Thanks in advance for any other ideas!

 

[Gunnersdad49]

Am I reading Cabela's website right that your tent is 65 pounds without the stove? If so, you may want to reconsider. It is nice to have the stove and stand up room up there, but that is a big weight penalty for it. We took a Seek Outside 8 man tipi with liners and stove, and the whole package was around 16 pounds. It was big enough for 3 guys plus gear and a palace for 2 guys plus gear plus firewood.

 

[unclericco]

Mine is the smaller tent but yeah it does weigh 51 pounds total. Should I get a different tent for this? I really want the wood burner if possible

 

[Gunnersdad49]

If you have the funds, the tipis are pretty awesome for the weight. I went with Seek Outside with a liner because of the sod skirt (a 4" flap of fabric around the bottom that seals out drafts). Kifaru stuff is bombproof too. They both offer titanium stoves that are super compact as well.

Instead of that 51 pounds, you can get:
one of the tipi shelters, stove, pipe,
plus a kuiu chugiak rain jacket and pant, a Kifaru Lost Park Parka, Simms wading pants, Simms wading boots, x-therm sleeping pad, Marmot 0 degree sleeping bag, Sea to Summit pillow, 100' of paracord, Havalon knife with spare blades, MSR Windburner, 2 8 ounce fuel cannisters, a Toaks Titanium spoon, 2 pair of Darn Tough socks, 2 rolls of toilet paper, a Sitka blizzard Beanie, a blue, 8x10' tarp, 20 Mountain House meals, a pair of Mechanix gloves, a pair of Kuiu Northstar gloves, 48 packets of Starbucks Vias instant coffee, a 16 ounce jar of peanut butter, 3 Bic lighters, Fiblink 4 piece fishing rod, Abu Garcia reel, a deck of cards, and still get 5 cans of beer in there.

 

[VernAK]

There's a huge difference in early August hunting versus late September hunting. When are you planning for?

Your tent is too heavy!

 

[unclericco]

I’m not too concerned about price of the tent. I just want to have as good a good hunting experience as possible. We want to hunt in early to mid September. Is there going to be wood available to burn in the area or is it pretty hard to come by? If not much wood then what about like a Hilleberg and mr heater?

 

[Gunnersdad49]

Wood depends on the location. Plan on sticks, not logs. We also brought in a duraflame log. We cut off a 1.5”-2” chunk for a quick warmup and to dry wet sticks.

 

[VernAK]

A stove is nice when hunting September as nights will be freezing in most areas.
Your pilot may put you on a barren ridge where wood is non-existent but most areas
have some squaw wood.

A Hilleberg is great when camped on a windswept ridge but it makes for a confining camp.
Not sure how many tents I own but it takes several to cover all the bases up here.

The Kifaru Sawtooth is light and handles wind well but not quite big enough for three.
Take a sil-tarp along also.

Early September is a good time to hunt caribou as the meat is quality and trophy quality
is advancing rapidly........but be aware that you may be competing with moose hunters
for airplane space.

 

[Kevin Dill]

Count me in Vern's camp.

There is no need for any shelter weighing more than 15 pounds, depending on size. A good 6 or 8 man tipi shelter is very hard to beat. As for wood stoves, be SURE you'll have access to wood first. I've done the Fortymile caribou deal above treeline and wood was nonexistent. The lack of a stove made little difference however. There is no way I would take anything more than an ultralight wood stove on that hunt.

 

[unclericco]

Thanks a lot for the comments guys,I really appreciate it! So awesome to be able to talk to people who have been there and done it. I’ll have to figure out which way to go in the tent but have a pretty good idea on most of the other stuff

 

[OXN939]

Thanks a lot for the comments guys,I really appreciate it! So awesome to be able to talk to people who have been there and done it. I’ll have to figure out which way to go in the tent but have a pretty good idea on most of the other stuff

Hunted AK last year in September, and an outfitter tent would have been very desirable, to put it lightly. I'm hunting the Brooks Range this year the last half of August, and our camp is going to be a two person dome tent for gear/ accessories, and two single person backpacking tents to sleep in that also offer the ability to spike camp. Total tent weight under 15 lbs. Will let you know how our setup shakes out.

 

[unclericco]

One more question, I have a WM Badger GWS sleeping bag I was thinking of using. It’s only rated to 15 degrees though? Should I be bringing a warmer bag for this hunt?

 

[Kevin Dill]

The WM Badger is actually likely to be more bag than you'll need 95% of the time. Excellent bag and I would take it!

 

[unclericco]

The WM Badger is actually likely to be more bag than you'll need 95% of the time. Excellent bag and I would take it!

Right on, oh man I’m very happy to hear that. I really love that bag and glad I don’t need to buy another one! Thanks a lot for the reply!

 

[OXN939]

The WM Badger is actually likely to be more bag than you'll need 95% of the time. Excellent bag and I would take it!

Decided to go with my Kelty 0 degree bag instead of an ultralight 20 degree option... never hurts to be warmer than you expect you'll need to be in Alaska. Anyone else going this year? How's everyone's preparatory process coming?

 

[mproberts]

Decided to go with my Kelty 0 degree bag instead of an ultralight 20 degree option... never hurts to be warmer than you expect you'll need to be in Alaska. Anyone else going this year? How's everyone's preparatory process coming?

I'm headed up there for a brooks range hunt the last half of August. We are all VA boys as well. I think we are on track with everything, we just sent up all our food ahead of time and have a list of things we need to grab while in Fairbanks. Going to do a final check this weekend on our combined weights and figure out areas we can cut done weight to add some luxury items.

It's hard figuring out what the weather is going to be like and I'm currently debating if I need insulated glassing pants or not. I figure we will be doing a lot of sitting and glassing, and thought it would be nice to slip them over my pants for long sits. Not sure what other guys do, but it seems like you can't really chase migrating caribou so we were planning on glassing and then trying to cut them off. Anyone got any idea how the weather has been up there so far this summer? bugs worse than normal? colder or hotter than normal?

 

[Maverick940]

I'm headed up there for a brooks range hunt the last half of August. We are all VA boys as well. I think we are on track with everything, we just sent up all our food ahead of time and have a list of things we need to grab while in Fairbanks. Going to do a final check this weekend on our combined weights and figure out areas we can cut done weight to add some luxury items.

It's hard figuring out what the weather is going to be like and I'm currently debating if I need insulated glassing pants or not. I figure we will be doing a lot of sitting and glassing, and thought it would be nice to slip them over my pants for long sits. Not sure what other guys do, but it seems like you can't really chase migrating caribou so we were planning on glassing and then trying to cut them off. Anyone got any idea how the weather has been up there so far this summer? bugs worse than normal? colder or hotter than normal?

Not sure which side of the range you're hunting, but I would presume the north side, as that's where most everyone goes. I can't precisely speak specifically to the north side, but elsewhere it's been a great July. If it were me on the north side and specifically hunting caribou, I'd ditch the insulated pants.

 

[OXN939]

I'm headed up there for a brooks range hunt the last half of August. We are all VA boys as well. I think we are on track with everything, we just sent up all our food ahead of time and have a list of things we need to grab while in Fairbanks. Going to do a final check this weekend on our combined weights and figure out areas we can cut done weight to add some luxury items.

It's hard figuring out what the weather is going to be like and I'm currently debating if I need insulated glassing pants or not. I figure we will be doing a lot of sitting and glassing, and thought it would be nice to slip them over my pants for long sits. Not sure what other guys do, but it seems like you can't really chase migrating caribou so we were planning on glassing and then trying to cut them off. Anyone got any idea how the weather has been up there so far this summer? bugs worse than normal? colder or hotter than normal?

On last year's moose hunt near there, I brought a pair of rain pants that cut the wind nicely, and that was sufficient. Much lower volume than anything insulated- a base layer plus the hunting pants I wore seemed to do the trick just fine. We'll be on the "X" 16-25AUG out of Happy Valley area.

 

[mproberts]

Not sure which side of the range you're hunting, but I would presume the north side, as that's where most everyone goes. I can't precisely speak specifically to the north side, but elsewhere it's been a great July. If it were me on the north side and specifically hunting caribou, I'd ditch the insulated pants.

Yeah sorry, North side. Good to know about the pants. I just feel like I'm not sure what to expect with the weather. I'll still be bringing a puffy jacket as a just in case type item. Maybe I will just bring a lighter pant and a heavier pant to cover all my bases, or just throw in some base layer bottoms. I keep going back and fourth on clothing which normally I have locked it.

Anyone got any tips or tactics for hunting the migration on the north range? Also any idea about trophy quality and what to expect? I know it used to be 2 bulls allowed which probably made it easier to get meat and then hold out for a true trophy, but now with only 1 bull allowed you only get one shot at bringing back the trophy you want. I don't think I will ever get to do this trip again, so I would like to hold out for something nicer but it sounds like it is literally just hit or miss up there with the numbers and trophy quality.

 

[mproberts]

On last year's moose hunt near there, I brought a pair of rain pants that cut the wind nicely, and that was sufficient. Much lower volume than anything insulated- a base layer plus the hunting pants I wore seemed to do the trick just fine. We'll be on the "X" 16-25AUG out of Happy Valley area.

We have nearly the same game plan. Flying out of Happy Valley area on 20 Aug - back around 28 Aug. Good tip on the rain pants, I didn't think that would provide be enough warmth, but maybe you are right.. that just cutting the wind is good enough. What hunting pants were you wearing?