My 2025 Alaska Caribou Hunt

[Silas_Norris]

Absolutely fantastic story. Thanks for posting!

Grayling hand over fist on the tenkara us the kind of gravy I like

Yeah! The pilot advised we should not bring rods and so we almost didnt! I was standing outside the plane and he said we would be too high and the fish wont be there. I thought about it for a second and then thought, well we made weight so why not just bring them? I did mispeak on the rod set up! I brought a tenkara but my buddy had a small little ultralight spinning real! It did not matter what you threw at these fish, they wanted it all and were not afraid of your shadow or you walking right up next to them! I have never experienced that before! I compare them to trout fishing in these small streams but the difference was that trout are normally fearful if you get to close and they can see you! These fish really were not scared! You could catch a fish pretty much every cast. It almost got boring after a hour of that at at time so we really started targeting the largest ones we could find! I would of seriously regretted not having my tenkara.

That said, if weight is a concern for someone the tenkara is perfect. Mine weighs in at 4 ounces I believe. Some line and a half dozen flies only adds another ounce or so.

If even that much weight was a concern I would just bring some line and some flies. You could of taken a branch and made a rod that would of worked enough to catch some fish! At one point I grabbed the end of my line with my hand and just dropped it in the stream right below me and caught a couple! So, it did not take much to catch them! I am not sure if the grayling are always to friendly and hungry but they were for us.

I feel like they may have been trapped in the creek to some extent. It was very shallow and as we walked it it appeared that it may of trapped some of the fish in certain pools. Not sure though.

 

[medvedyt]

if there is no fishing pressure fish tend to no worry about what they do not know like birds (grouse) or even moose or caribou and even bear. if they do not know what you can do they tend to be curious ...

 

[kwackkillncrew]

Hey there! I think you might of private messaged me but in case anyone else is reading this I wanted to reply publicly as well. The area we hunted required a RCXXX form/tag (forgive me if I am using the wrong language here). This is a over the counter unit (Unit 69B is where we hunted).

lets not blast units, also fixed it for you.

 

[Silas_Norris]

lets not blast units, also fixed it for you.

Sorry. I edited that out

 

[Silas_Norris]

if there is no fishing pressure fish tend to no worry about what they do not know like birds (grouse) or even moose or caribou and even bear. if they do not know what you can do they tend to be curious ...

You can see the fish in the stream! Kinda cool!

 

[COCowboy]

Hey there! I think you might of private messaged me but in case anyone else is reading this I wanted to reply publicly as well. This is an over the counter unit. This unit has a quota of I believe 100 bull caribou and was filled sometime by the end of the first week of September if i recall correctly. Usually when you book with a outfitter or pilot they will try to make sure you are flying in prior to when the quota is likely going to be hit in that area but that may be something you also want to research independently.
We originally planned to go in September. I prefer hard horned animals and also knew that meat care would be easier in the cooler temps! I also did not want to deal with as many bugs etc. Because we believed the quota may not last much into September we decided that the end of August would be best for us. This was sort of a "in between" time. Some bulls were shedding while we were there and had their winter coats while others appeared to show no signs of shedding or winter coats. It was overall a great time to hunt and I would hunt the end of August again! Because some were completely shed and others completely not shed, it would also be a great time if you had some people that had different preferences. While you may not be able to be TOO picky depending on how many caribou are around, it would not of been to hard to find a bull that was shed or one that was not depending on what you are looking for. That was not a deal breaker for us at all but I know that people have their preferences. If you end up booking I am happy to jump on a call or exchange private messages with anyone to offer any advice I can!

There was a few guys on here that really really helped me for planning my trip! Dexter Grayson is on this forum and he happily answered all my dumb questions for several weeks! He has hunted Alaska for many years and was a great resource for me! He also has a few youtube videos out there to watch some of his hunts.

Thanks for getting back to me with such great info @Silas_Norris !
I definitely have more questions but I think I have to wait for my 7 days before I can PM (haven’t tried yet). I’d like to post them here too for others to learn from, but am also sensitive to not publishing too much specific info in a public forum. Between road hunters and antler hunters in my area, I’ve seen what a negative impact this can have on habitat and hunts.
I have lots to learn, but my understanding so far is the only guaranteed tags are draw tags. Obviously, the odds of drawing are on the order of winning PowerBall, but I’m going to put in (and donate to AK F&G) while I continue to learn about other options when I inevitably fail to draw.
I look forward to following up with you soon!

 

[Silas_Norris]

Thanks for getting back to me with such great info @Silas_Norris !
I definitely have more questions but I think I have to wait for my 7 days before I can PM (haven’t tried yet). I’d like to post them here too for others to learn from, but am also sensitive to not publishing too much specific info in a public forum. Between road hunters and antler hunters in my area, I’ve seen what a negative impact this can have on habitat and hunts.
My understanding is that the “registration” hunts can be paused or cancelled at any time based on the biologists understanding of herd health, location, vulnerability etc. Is the registration tag what you’re calling an OTC or is that a third option? Perhaps one that has a little more certainty (assuming you get there before quota is met) than the registration hunt?
I have lots to learn, but my understanding so far is the only guaranteed tags are draw tags. Obviously, the odds of drawing are on the order of winning PowerBall, but I’m going to put in (and donate to AK F&G) while I continue to learn about other options when I inevitably fail to draw.
I look forward to following up with you soon!

I will PM you more info

 

[RepCity_BK]

Sounds like an awesome trip, thanks for sharing.

 

[FLS]

Congrats on an awesome trip.

 

[Braaap]

Great write up!

 

[Dwnw/theAltitudesickness]

Cool hunt story.

 

[7mm-08]

Thanks for taking the time to author such a wonderful account of your adventure. Excellent write-up and photos.

 

[LarryB]

Excellent information. Thank you!

 

[Krazyhunter]

All great and helpful info, much appreciated. My son, my brother and I are in the planning stages for 2026. Not yet sure if we are doing a fly in or going off the Dalton.

 

[TimberHunter]

All great and helpful info, much appreciated. My son, my brother and I are in the planning stages for 2026. Not yet sure if we are doing a fly in or going off the Dalton.

If you’re just now planning a fly in/drop off 2026, you may be behind the eight ball. I was looking into 2026 heavily in Nov 2025 and most of what I found was 2027 availability with some questionable 2026 options


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[BigHunterification]

Congratulations on two awesome bulls! Enjoyed the story.

 

[Clay Thompson]

Great writeup! I can't help but admire that your brought a .45-70 lever gun up there with you.

 

[Tmoore19]

Awesome trip. I hope that I am as successful.

 

[Gingerbeard13]

Appreciate the information and story!

 

[DJLinoki]

To finish out the story.
We got the meat all back to camp and it was about as hard of a hunting day as I have ever had! The distance was not the issue but walking through thick willow thickets and uneven terrain and bogs made it feel like it was 4 times as far as it was! There was no straight line walking that could happen! We took our time and got all the meat taken care of back at camp! The next day we made meat poles and got the meat hung up and covered. I sprayed it with citric acid a couple of times and thankfully we had some colder nights and colder weather come in within 24 hours after our kills to help cool the meat.

Ended up being very thankful that we both shot our bulls on the first day. We saw hundreds of caribou between day 1 and 2 (day 2 being the first day we could legally hunt) and after that the caribou moved on with the colder weather. I think we saw around 6 to 7 caribou a day for the remainder of our week long trip. The faucet certainly did turn off. We did however see one more nice bull on our last day of hunting. I think we could of stalked within shooting range of him but he was pretty far away following some cows and I am not sure if we could of gotten to him in time if I am honest. We did manage to take some great pictures of him. They are attached.

We also saw a grizzly on day two or 3. There was grizzly sign near us but we did not see any close. We were camped within 100 yards of a creek and there were fresh grizzle tracks in the creek. There was also fresh grizzly sign in several areas surrounding camp but we only saw the one grizzly and he was focused on berried about 1 mile away. The first time we saw him we decided that we wanted him to get our scent. The wind was blowing right to him and I figured if we got a bit closer (within 700 yards or so) we could make sure he gets our wind. I would rather have a encounter with him now then have him come into camp while we are sleeping. I am not sure what the bears reaction means but once we got to around 700 yards the bear could clearly smell us. He turned towards us and turned around and faced us. He then put his nose in the air and waved it back and forth for a couple minutes. After that, he went back to eating berries and paid no attention to us. On one hand he didnt seem interested in us, but, he also didnt fear us! Was not sure if that was a good sign or not! Pics attached.

The stream appeared to be too small for fishing but we quickly learned that was far from the truth! The small creek was absolutely filled with Artic Grayling and we caught and ate our limit on a couple ocassions. I am super glad I brought a couple tenkara fishing rods (similar to a fly rod without the reel). They only weigh around 5 ounces. I also brought some fish seasoning which came in clutch! We could catch Artic Grayling on almost every single cast! It was so good it almost got boring after about an hour! It was like catching bluegill in a stocked pond! They hit immediately! The fishing was worth the trip on its own and I was really grateful that we sacrificed other gear to bring these rods along! Would of really regretted not having them!

We managed to kill one Ptarmagin and it was delicious! We also ate caribou in camp and that also taste great with a little steak seasoning.

We saw some wolf tracks but never saw a wolf.

On the gear side of things here are a couple notes:
1. Not sure how guys manage without a hot tent. You can cook on it, keeps you warm at night, dry boots and clothes out quickly. Boosts moral and gives you something to do. Not sure how guys go without this style of tent. Its such a no brainer to me! We did have some 40 MPH winds and some crazy snow and rain and the seek outside redlcliff did great. We did put rocks down onto the stakes and made sure to bring a few larger stakes for the main stake out points (MSR Cyclones).
2. We brought a couple DST tarps. These are a great lightweight option and I would not go without a couple extra tarps. We used them to keep gear dry and to keep out meat dry. The pilot actually also gave us a tarp to use which is ultiamtely the one we used for the meat. He said many guys forget to bring one so he gives one to all of his hunters. It was not necessary but we did put the 3rd tarp to use.
3. Fishing gear - pilot said he thought we would be to high and too far north for good fishing. He also said there would likely not be any wood to burn. He was being honeest, but I will say that I am glad we did not listen to either of these things. The fishing was good and we managed to find plenty of wood to burn but admit we did have to walk aa ways to find some.
3. Brought the Garmin in reach but the sattelite messaging worked just perfect on our phones. Not sure you really need the Garmin anymore but to each their own.
4. We used a solar panel to charge battery banks. This is a no brainer as we managed to have aa few hours of sun on most days and that is all it takes to charge up a phone and a couple battery banks,. I uploaded several movies onto my phone and we looked forward to watching a movie every night as we fell asleep! I brought some playing cards as well but just having a few shows/movies downloaded is really all we needed for entertainment. I think having some entertainment is nice as we had 30 hours of bad weather where we were stuck in the tent. It was nice to have some movies and shows to keep us entertained.
5. I used the zenbivy sleep system (10 degree). I am a big believer in this. I actually wake up sometimes and am confused as to where I am because I feel like im in my bed!
6. For food I mostly ate peak refuel meals but I also brought plenty of kind bars to snack on during the day. I also do not usually care too much about nutrition on a hunting trip (just want calories). For cheap calories I often bring the following: I put a can of pringles in a bag and squash them up to crumbs. Still taste great! I brought some cinnamin toast crunch in a ziplok bag (lightweight and tasty treat). I also brought some hot chocolate mix, coffee, and some gushers!
7. I brought my 45/70 with some bear defense rounds I casted and loaded myself. I also brought some long distance rounds (hornady 250 grain) bullets to use if we had a issue with my buddies 7 mag and had to revert to some longer shots with my 45/70. The goal was to both use my buddies 7 mag as we both literally have the same gun and scope set up (seekins PH2 with leupold scope etc). He brought his 9mm with hard cast rounds for bear defense. I think if I could do it all again I would find a way to bring my 10mm or at least some bear spray). Carrying around the 45/70 was not easy when we were going in to pack out our bulls. It could of come in VERY handy but I think having the sidearm makes more sense. I also noticed while fishing I would normally set it down and as I walked down the stream the 45/70 was no longer even near me! Having a better gun in the fight is great, if you have it on you! So, I think if I did it again I would try to find a way to make weight and bring the 10mm.
8. Helinox chair 0 - I brought one and this is a game changer. My buddy did not have one and i actually bought him one right before the trip as it was going to be his birthday on the hunting trip! He said several times that this might be the best birthday gift ever! Sitting in a chair with a back rest is really nice!
9. Instead of a tripod we brought a adapter that allows you to convert your trekking poles into a tripod. I think this is the way to go for weight savings and it works fine.
10. Mostly wore layers of sitka gear. Having some good puffy gear is wise as the weather changes often.
11. Steak seasoning, olive oil packets, and fish seasoning came in clutch. My buddy is still thanking me for bringing that stuff!
12. Cooked on MSR stove and took the hot tent stove outside and cooked right on that! Worked great.

If you have any other gear questions I am happy to send anyone my spreadsheet with weights if helpful!

Pilot was very impressed when we weighed in and actually made weight. He said that rarely happens. I put together a detailed spreadsheet with every single item we brought along with the actual weights of everything (I weighed everything out myself to get real weights on everything).

Sounds like you had an awesome trip!!! My buddy and I plus a couple other guys went to Adak in Oct 2025, 5 days in the field and didn't even see one caribou. That was my first Caribou hunt but not my buddy who hunted the Range before and did good. I am planning our next trip in 2027 and will look into the area you went as it sounds interesting.

I would really like to see your spread sheet on your equipment if you don't mind.

Thanks Dan