State of the Alaskan Caribou

[bigbassfish]

Considering planning my first trip to Alaska for a caribou hunt. What is the health of the herd like these days? I've heard it has slowly been recovering and it would be great to make it out there for 2025, but that would likely mean not going to Montana in the spring for bear.

What are the chances things, regulatory or otherwise, make this hunt more difficult in the coming years if i were to plan on 2026 instead?

 

[fatbacks]

I would just call Alaska Department of Fish and game in Fairbanks and ask to speak with a Caribou biologist

According to the last thing I can find online the area biologist for the central Arctic heard is Beth Lenart
[email protected], (907) 459-7206

You will probably get more solid information than here on the forums


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[bigbassfish]

Thanks! I wasn’t even thinking about that, too busy trying to figure out how to squeeze in enough vacation to make both trips in 2025 lol

 

[bigbassfish]

Is there a timeline for purchasing non res tags for unit X? From what I can tell, it sounds like they can be purchased at any time before the hunt.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

The Central Arctic Herd rebounded from its lowest point starting about three seasons ago. Bag limits readjusted in 2024 for everyone and the herd in general is doing better and is still growing annually.

GMU 26 has slightly trickier harvest tag availability. It's a registration hunt for the Western Arctic Herd bou in 23/26A. Unit 26B and east/south is over the counter still. If you buy online, make sure you get the metal locking tag which sometimes does not get mailed for whatever reason.

 

[bigbassfish]

We would be hunting Unit X, if i'm understanding correctly, if i were to purchase online, i would then be able to print my harvest ticket, and then the metal locking tag would be mailed? Would it be preferable to purchase the harvest ticket and locking tag in person so its not stuck in the mail if this is a last minute decision?

There's still a lot of uncertainty on the timing of this, 10 months out feels like plenty of time and not enough all at once lol. This would be by far the biggest trip I've planned and there's lots of ducks to get in a row.

Lets talk broadheads, the only ones I've ever shot are the QAD Exodus 125gr. My 2023 black bear was a complete pass through at 30 yards, ran about 10 yards and dropped, I couldn't be happier with the way they performed, but i had a hell of a time trying to tune them to hit with my FPs.

Granted, I had only just started shooting seriously for about a year prior, but over the summer I had gotten to where I was confident in my FP out to 60, i could never get the QAD to group well further than 50 or so. Even at 20 yards I was struggling to get them to group together.

Should i start messing around with mechanicals? I really like the simplicity of a fixed head and having one less thing to go wrong, but it sounds like wind and distance are the two biggest challenges bowhunting the tundra. Currently shooting Hoyt Ventum 33 30"DL 65lb, arrows are 465gr Gold Tip Hunter Pros, but I think I want to try micro diameter.

 

[fatbacks]

A lot of the area up there is calf high brush and can be difficult to get within archery range of the caribou. The further you can comfortably shoot with you bow, the higher your odds of killing a caribou. I cannot recommend mechanical vs fixed blade, but I would use something that will fly really well and groups out to 80.

 

[bigbassfish]

I need to look into become a known shipper, from what i can tell Alaska Air Cargo would probably be the cheapest way to get meat and antlers home. I would consider flying meat home on the plane but there's some logistical headaches there too.

 

[bigbassfish]

Ideally we'd like velvet, but i know if you go too early, you can miss the migration all together. August into September sounds like a happy medium atleast as far as the migration and bad weather goes. Is there any recommendations on timing something like this? Would a 10 day rental give us enough time for decent opportunity?

 

[Larry Bartlett]

velvet starts to slip on big bulls around the third week of August. Young to medium bulls 20-30 Aug you're probably safe...if preserved velvet antlers is the goal. Timing on the migration is far from predictable, but that window is pretty close to target. Maybe extend that window into the first few days of September for higher predictability of numbers. But that's just a good guess based on previous experience in that corridor.

 

[AKBorn]

We would be hunting 26B, if i'm understanding correctly, if i were to purchase online, i would then be able to print my harvest ticket, and then the metal locking tag would be mailed? Would it be preferable to purchase the harvest ticket and locking tag in person so its not stuck in the mail if this is a last minute decision?

There's still a lot of uncertainty on the timing of this, 10 months out feels like plenty of time and not enough all at once lol. This would be by far the biggest trip I've planned and there's lots of ducks to get in a row.

I always bought my license and locking tags online, and never had any problems getting the locking tags in the mail. I had heard a few guys did have a problem there, so I always bought my license and tags a month before I headed up to Alaska, to make sure I got everything well in advance. I think the new regulatory year in AK starts on July 1, so I always bought my license and tags in mid July after the new regs were published.

If it were me, I would buy the license and tags online in July, IF you were certain by then that you guys were coming up for the hunt. If a tag doesnt come in the mail, you can stop by Fish and Game and get that straightened out when you fly up to Fairbanks, rent your U Haul, and pick up your groceries/etc in town.

 

[butcherboy]

Can’t give you any advice with the hunt but the problem with your tuning isn’t the broadheads you’re using. I think you have something off with your bow or it’s a form
Issue. I shoot exodus swept and can just screw them on an arrow and shoot 80 yds no problem. If everything is tuned correctly you should be able to shoot pretty much any quality fixed broadhead. Going with a mechanical is only putting a bandaid on the problem. I keep my set up as simple as possible. 340 Easton fmj cut to 27”. 50 grain brass insert, 100 grain exodus broadhead, blazer vanes with a right helical, regular nock. I’ve shot 5 different broadheads over the last 10 years without having to do any extra tuning.

 

[bigbassfish]

Yeah I figure form is the majority of my issue, going to go back to square one and really dialing it in. It's been on my to do list to build some new arrows, all I've used are the Gold Tip Hunter Pros, but I would really like to go to a 5mm or a micro diameter shaft for wind resistance.

 

[Mvaughan]

I’m sure you’ll get as many opinions on arrow setup as people answer, but I’ll throw my two cents in……

On the tundra up there I’m going to want an arrow with minimized wind drift, as longer range shots and wind are going to most likely be involved with your shot. With that being said I went with the 0.166 diameter Altra Centrum Premier shafts (10.5 gr/in for 300 spine), AAE Pro Max vanes (lower profile, 4 vane configuration), Rage NC in 125 gr, 1.75” cut (the smaller vanes can still stabilize the mechanical head).

 

[butcherboy]

Yeah I figure form is the majority of my issue, going to go back to square one and really dialing it in. It's been on my to do list to build some new arrows, all I've used are the Gold Tip Hunter Pros, but I would really like to go to a 5mm or a micro diameter shaft for wind resistance.

I recommend keeping it as simple as possible. My favorite arrows are Easton and they have good options in 4mm, 5mm, and 6.5mm. Plus, they are American made.

 

[bigbassfish]

I'm leaning towards 5mm for a little bit more durability and a lower profile 4 vane fletch. I would really like to keep using the Exodus so I might have to give the swept blades a shot and add some offset to the fletching. What degree of offset would i be looking for to stabilize a fixed blade without adding too much drag?

 

[FAAFO]

I wish everyone would stop herd burnin’

 

[kwackkillncrew]

Don't matter to them, they don't live up here. See people all the time talking about a specific area up here I am not sure why it's ok to say haul road, but you can't talk about a specific unit in the lower 48. Seems to be the same to me.

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[bigbassfish]

Sorry, I will go back and edit this post, not the intention! Seems to be a popular area and I've not seen much concern of spot talkin.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Don't matter to them, they don't live up here. See people all the time talking about a specific area up here I am not sure why it's ok to say haul road, but you can't talk about a specific unit in the lower 48. Seems to be the same to me.

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The haul road is a secret now?