I've been on a few caribou hunts off the Denali highway using 3 n 4 wheelers. I don't hunt those mountains now. Had some scary stuff that had to do with gravity. Went out with 2 buddies on 4 wheelers. Got into a dry river bed out of the wind and surrounded by caribou. 1 buddy harvested a nice bull. Next morning we're headed back out there is a brown bear romping down the trail to camp from the gut pile on ridge above us. Beautiful blond colors. I had a harvest ticket in my pocket. I still remember telling myself as I pulled my 44 and fired over his head that I'll likely need to shoot a brown some day, but not today and fired over his head. And I did end up shooting a big brown,,another story.
We saw some caribou on the ridge on the other side of a river. Drove up the canyon until we could find water we could cross. Wheeled back twards camp, no caribou anywhere. Moved on. And we didn't have enough gas to get back to camp from where we were. We could see the camp but had to guess the right route or go over a sheer cliff into the river below. Ready to bail n watch all your gear get destroyed. Without going with it. We make it but still makes me shudder. Beautiful wife n me spent 3 nights in a monsoon on a small platow. Crushed caribou heads next to a bear den next door. Last day n headed home with clear blue sky no,wind just perfect. And harvested 2 caribou along the way. Went up,there once with beautiful wife while her parents watched the kids for a planned 4 day hunt. Harvested a nice caribou on the way in. To the viewing detriment of a bunch of tourists watching Rudolf. Went right back home n enjoyed my beautiful wife for a couple days.
Couple things I've noticed. Waving a white rag seems to attract them when they're walking away on the next ridge. At least make them curious. I harvested 1 and hearing the shot all of a sudden there were a dozen caribou. They would stand on their rear legs trying to figure things out. A good Eskimo friend told me that the caribou with their tails higher on their backs had more fat.
Hey kinda like most hunts ya gotta be there. Sure glad that we tried
We saw some caribou on the ridge on the other side of a river. Drove up the canyon until we could find water we could cross. Wheeled back twards camp, no caribou anywhere. Moved on. And we didn't have enough gas to get back to camp from where we were. We could see the camp but had to guess the right route or go over a sheer cliff into the river below. Ready to bail n watch all your gear get destroyed. Without going with it. We make it but still makes me shudder. Beautiful wife n me spent 3 nights in a monsoon on a small platow. Crushed caribou heads next to a bear den next door. Last day n headed home with clear blue sky no,wind just perfect. And harvested 2 caribou along the way. Went up,there once with beautiful wife while her parents watched the kids for a planned 4 day hunt. Harvested a nice caribou on the way in. To the viewing detriment of a bunch of tourists watching Rudolf. Went right back home n enjoyed my beautiful wife for a couple days.
Couple things I've noticed. Waving a white rag seems to attract them when they're walking away on the next ridge. At least make them curious. I harvested 1 and hearing the shot all of a sudden there were a dozen caribou. They would stand on their rear legs trying to figure things out. A good Eskimo friend told me that the caribou with their tails higher on their backs had more fat.
Hey kinda like most hunts ya gotta be there. Sure glad that we tried