It's Me vs. The Wife... you guys tell me who wins

[Hamburger]

i will say as of today the yukon is offering the best caribou hunting but you cannot use of course helicopter here.
mountain caribou is a name made for books there is woodland or barrenground in the taxinomy.

 

[Hamburger]

I always have the last word…”yes dear”
But seriously I would prefer an enjoyable hunt with my wife than a hunt that causes stress for her sake. Even though the worse the hunt the better the story and more memorable. Sounds like the bear thing may be an issue for her and a guide who is a pro will ease that feeling.

 

[DawnPatrol]

Oh no! My wife wants to go an a guided caribou hunt in Alaska! My life is so hard!

I’m totally kidding, and totally jealous of your situation. I feel you about not wanting to go on a guided hunt, though. Seems like it would take most of the adventure and hunting out of the experience.

That said, I’d recommend just giving her her dream hunt, 100% however she wants it. Tag along, enjoy her enjoyment, soak up the place, and shoot a caribou if you feel like it. Don’t try to split the baby by doing things partially her way and partially yours. I’d be willing to bet she remembers and reciprocates the next time around.

 

[bmrfish]

As my brother says “my wife and I held a vote. It was tied 1 to 1 so I lost.”


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[Nick Muche]

Maybe she will change her tune when you look at the cost of a guided CARIBOU hunt. This is a very simple hunt to do on your own, and save a considerable amount of money in the process.

 

[Greyinggrayling]

If you don’t see any caribou….and a grizzly is spotted nearby on day 2 of a 7 day hunt…whose fault do you want it to be? And how does she deal with stress and adversity?

The caribou in my avatar I took on a diy caribou hunt. It was a little bull, but it was my first, and it was fun as hell.
My husband and I were dropped off in the mountains for a 9 day caribou hunt. We didn’t see anything but cows for days. This lone little bull came out about day 6, I saw it from the tent and Elmer Fudd’d it in my crocs about 200 yards from the tent. That meant a gut pile was 200 yards…from the tent…yeah.

The next few days were devoted to meat care. While my husband and I were whittling away on meat and hide, I looked up and saw a grizz heading toward the gut pile about 50 yards away. About the time I saw it and said “oh sh!t a bear,” the bear looked at me and said “oh sh!t a human” and turned to haul ass. I grabbed my .300 WSM and started a gun battle that my husband joined in with his .30-.06. We just couldn’t have the bear that close to camp.

After dispatching the bear and heading back to the tent, we inspected the perimeter closer and noticed piles of bear poop really close to the tent. The bear had been closer to us since I killed the caribou than we had known, likely marking his area. Who knows how aggressive he may have become over the next couple of nights.

Drop camps are fun. And I would do it again in a heartbeat without a guide. But you have to live with your bride in that tent for several days, and once those supercubs take off and it’s just you and the missus, you will either have a great time with adversity, or a really really sucky time with adversity.

Get a bear fence at a minimum.

 

[The Guide]

If you don’t see any caribou….and a grizzly is spotted nearby on day 2 of a 7 day hunt…whose fault do you want it to be? And how does she deal with stress and adversity?

The caribou in my avatar I took on a diy caribou hunt. It was a little bull, but it was my first, and it was fun as hell.
My husband and I were dropped off in the mountains for a 9 day caribou hunt. We didn’t see anything but cows for days. This lone little bull came out about day 6, I saw it from the tent and Elmer Fudd’d it in my crocs about 200 yards from the tent. That meant a gut pile was 200 yards…from the tent…yeah.

The next few days were devoted to meat care. While my husband and I were whittling away on meat and hide, I looked up and saw a grizz heading toward the gut pile about 50 yards away. About the time I saw it and said “oh sh!t a bear,” the bear looked at me and said “oh sh!t a human” and turned to haul ass. I grabbed my .300 WSM and started a gun battle that my husband joined in with his .30-.06. We just couldn’t have the bear that close to camp.

After dispatching the bear and heading back to the tent, we inspected the perimeter closer and noticed piles of bear poop really close to the tent. The bear had been closer to us since I killed the caribou than we had known, likely marking his area. Who knows how aggressive he may have become over the next couple of nights.

Drop camps are fun. And I would do it again in a heartbeat without a guide. But you have to live with your bride in that tent for several days, and once those supercubs take off and it’s just you and the missus, you will either have a great time with adversity, or a really really sucky time with adversity.

Get a bear fence at a minimum.


View attachment 602759

Awesome story. I hunt with my wife and kids. I hope that we would handle the situation as well as you and yours did.

Jay

 

[z987k]

If you don’t see any caribou….and a grizzly is spotted nearby on day 2 of a 7 day hunt…whose fault do you want it to be? And how does she deal with stress and adversity?

The caribou in my avatar I took on a diy caribou hunt. It was a little bull, but it was my first, and it was fun as hell.
My husband and I were dropped off in the mountains for a 9 day caribou hunt. We didn’t see anything but cows for days. This lone little bull came out about day 6, I saw it from the tent and Elmer Fudd’d it in my crocs about 200 yards from the tent. That meant a gut pile was 200 yards…from the tent…yeah.

The next few days were devoted to meat care. While my husband and I were whittling away on meat and hide, I looked up and saw a grizz heading toward the gut pile about 50 yards away. About the time I saw it and said “oh sh!t a bear,” the bear looked at me and said “oh sh!t a human” and turned to haul ass. I grabbed my .300 WSM and started a gun battle that my husband joined in with his .30-.06. We just couldn’t have the bear that close to camp.

After dispatching the bear and heading back to the tent, we inspected the perimeter closer and noticed piles of bear poop really close to the tent. The bear had been closer to us since I killed the caribou than we had known, likely marking his area. Who knows how aggressive he may have become over the next couple of nights.

Drop camps are fun. And I would do it again in a heartbeat without a guide. But you have to live with your bride in that tent for several days, and once those supercubs take off and it’s just you and the missus, you will either have a great time with adversity, or a really really sucky time with adversity.

Get a bear fence at a minimum.


View attachment 602759

This is how you deal with bears in camp.

 

[strousek]

If you don’t see any caribou….and a grizzly is spotted nearby on day 2 of a 7 day hunt…whose fault do you want it to be? And how does she deal with stress and adversity?

The caribou in my avatar I took on a diy caribou hunt. It was a little bull, but it was my first, and it was fun as hell.
My husband and I were dropped off in the mountains for a 9 day caribou hunt. We didn’t see anything but cows for days. This lone little bull came out about day 6, I saw it from the tent and Elmer Fudd’d it in my crocs about 200 yards from the tent. That meant a gut pile was 200 yards…from the tent…yeah.

The next few days were devoted to meat care. While my husband and I were whittling away on meat and hide, I looked up and saw a grizz heading toward the gut pile about 50 yards away. About the time I saw it and said “oh sh!t a bear,” the bear looked at me and said “oh sh!t a human” and turned to haul ass. I grabbed my .300 WSM and started a gun battle that my husband joined in with his .30-.06. We just couldn’t have the bear that close to camp.

After dispatching the bear and heading back to the tent, we inspected the perimeter closer and noticed piles of bear poop really close to the tent. The bear had been closer to us since I killed the caribou than we had known, likely marking his area. Who knows how aggressive he may have become over the next couple of nights.

Drop camps are fun. And I would do it again in a heartbeat without a guide. But you have to live with your bride in that tent for several days, and once those supercubs take off and it’s just you and the missus, you will either have a great time with adversity, or a really really sucky time with adversity.

Get a bear fence at a minimum.


View attachment 602759

Thank you for sharing your story. Good work on both the caribou and the bear. How did your Sawtooth tent hold up in the tundra?

 

[strousek]

Thank you everyone for the advice. I feel like the vast majority of you guys are in the same boat as me and very used to getting second place when it comes to resolving disagreements with the old lady.

Anybody have any first or second hand experience with some guides/outfitters to start my searches?

 

[Greyinggrayling]

Thank you for sharing your story. Good work on both the caribou and the bear. How did your Sawtooth tent hold up in the tundra?

The night before we flew out a storm came through that rock and rolled us all night. The winds were so strong the tent’s sidewalls were pushing down on us in our sleeping bags. I put my regular clothes back on and gathered the most important stuff into my sleeping bag expecting any minute for the tent to take off flying. The storm lasted all night. The tent held up beautifully. Not even a peg loosened.
Pics are from the next morning. Went from beautiful sunny fall day to an overnight snowstorm. Luckily the planes were still able to land later that afternoon.
For the OP: guides are great, but a guide will not stop bears, will not create caribou, and will not stop storms We place unrealistic expectations on guides then get angry if they can’t deliver. Caribou are very mobile and difficult to pattern.

 

[OLE1021]

MY WIFE AND I DID A DIY OUT OF KOTZ. WITH ARCTIC AIR IN 2020. HAD A BLAST. A GUIDE WOULD HAVE BEEN ODD TO HAVE WITH US. YOU GUYS LOOK LIKE YOU CAN EASILY HANDLE IT. WE HAD A GRIZZLY IN THE AREA BUT WITH OUR CARIBOU MEAT OUT OF CAMP A WAYS WE NEVER GOT NERVOUS. MY OPINION IS NO GUIDE NEEDED. FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT WITH ANY QUESTIONS.

 

[IdahoSwede]

To me it’s really about who is right. I’m sure you would be fine either way. In my humble opinion I would hire a guide just to make sure your wife (who seems cool) has a good hunt and feels safe. It’s her present as well

 

[Alaska2025]

I'm not in your shoes (my wife doesn't hunt), but if I was.... You might be able to convince her that for the extra money spent on the guide, you could easily finance another trip for that kind of money. IE, a tropical one with a beach. You could celebrate your anniversary twice.

 

[Alaskan89]

I think you're fully capable to pull of this hunt but we all know who wins this battle and I think you do too.

Now with that being said, if you go guided and do run into a grizz, you'll be able to shoot it since you're being guided. That's the only plus I see going on a guided caribou hunt,

 

[7mm-08]

I'm a conservative spender and I'd wager more than a few dollars that many of the married male hunters who have read your post are jealous as hell of your situation with such a wonderful hunting partner. This isn't a battle of wills - she has obviously expressed that she has a fear of bears and that is something to which you should pay attention. If the use of an outfitter/guide alleviates those fears, roll with it and savor your good fortune. Sending you a PM.

 

[Elkangle]

Go guided in Yukon or greenland

 

[Tod osier]

I read this post when it first came out and kinda wondered about it.

After sitting on responding and reading the responses that popped up, my take is that if bears are such a concern for her that maybe the trip won't be all that fun even with a guide along because as was wisely said that a guide isn't going to do much more than you can do to protect yourself. They certainly aren't going to kill or scare away every bear around to eliminate any risk.

I'm not one to hire a guide, but a caribou trip is the last trip I'd want a guide on - the animals are easy to manage when down, they move randomly across the landscape and there isn't any legality associated with field judging them. A guide isn't going to magically going to be in the right place at the right time to protect her if there is a problem. If there is a real problem, AK law exists to allow you to defend yourself. This isn't a dig, but do you really want to be in a position where she needs another man to protect her from something that is so unlikely (and pay handsomely for that emasculation)?

We all have concerns, like her fear of bears, that dictate what we choose to do. If this really is about her fear of bears, think about doing something different.

 

[AKBorn]

there isn't any legality associated with field judging them.

Just a small clarification here Tod - there is a bit of judging required on caribou. Both males and females have antlers, and most units are bulls only for non-residents. In general the females don't grow really large antlers, but there have been years when the big bulls never came by, and we had to glass for a while before shooting to make sure it was a bull.

 

[WRO]

Go guided in Yukon or greenland

You can go to Greenland and kill a musk ox and caribou for the cost of a Yukon or Ak guided caribou hunt, easy choice imho.


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