Update on Happy Valley Caribou

[Gznokes]

Just a quick update on the caribou hunt I've been corresponding with a few of you about. We got a call tonight from Mike at 70 North saying they are having a hard time finding caribou right now and they don't recommend that we come.

He said in all his years he has seen it a few times where the herd and migration doesn't materialize. His theory is that the big herds mix down in the coast and the central artic herd dissipates out w the others.

Our plan was to leave this Saturday . . . So we are somewhere between bummed and scrambling about what to do. Anyway, I was just wondering if any of you had any perspective on this situation. I'm curious what others are hearing from the haul road or other fly outs so far this fall. I'd also be in interested in what you'd do.

Thanks

 

[kaboku68]

I think that they the Caribou are East this year and I think that they will move fine with the weather pattern that is moving through. It is snowing up there as we speak.

 

[realunlucky]

Sorry to hear this. We haven't heard anything about possible problems and we leave in two weeks. Hoping for the best for both our groups

 

[colonel00]

Check out the AOD forum (sorry to cross post another forum but I feel it's appropriate)

This link should be some help as well as others.

http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/showthread.php/146131-2015-Haul-Road-Hunt-Report

Also, I'm kinda surprised that he'd tell you to not even come. Are your flights refundable? Are you getting a full refund from 70 North? Depending on where you were flying into, there are still plenty of other things to do if you can't get a refund on the flights.

 

[KimberMontana]

If its snowing now, I'd plan on going on the trip. When we flew in last year no one had seen any and the harvest had been scarce and that was end of August. On our flight in we saw zero animals. We killed 8 the first day we hunted and then saw an enormous herd 2-3000 after it snowed twice. You planned the trip, you should go. You may not hit a giant migration, but there are Caribou around.

An option would be to see how far east 70 North will fly you. You may have to pay a little more, but getting into another river corridor to the east might yield higher success rates.

 

[Gznokes]

Thanks to all for the replies, ideas, and the perspective. We are just scrambling to see if we can go up a little later and to evaluate our options. All your input is very helpful. Mike at 70 North offered to refund our deposits. He also offered to take us out. He just said he thought it might be a bit of a camping trip compared to a hunting trip.

 

[Craig Van Arsdale]

Man id be going for sure! you NEVER know what is going to happen out there but you are guaranteed not to kill bou if you don't go! Ill be up there in two weeks regaurdless...

 

[Gznokes]

This has certainly been a difficult decision because we already have time and money tied up in flights, tags, and shipping stuff up there. I will say that we appreciate Mike giving us his opinion about the status of how things are going because he knows our goal is to have a productive hunt where we see lots of animals than to do something that turns out to be more of a camping trip. I think there are a lot of transporters who would just take our money and drop us off regardless of their personal opinion about the chances for success. He has offered to stay in touch with us and let us know as things pick up and we are hopeful we will be able to get back up there in September. So at this point, we are just trying to be a little patient. I would really appreciate hearing back from a few of you as you do your trips to hear how it turns out. As a side note, I did some independent research about how the hunting has been so far and most of the reports I got were that it has been slow or at best very spotty. I did go to the Deltana Facebook page and they appear to be filling up without problems. One last note, we did talk about about flying further afield (East) and Mike said that at some point the logistics get to be problematic with fuel and safety and other hunters schedules. Anyway, that is where it stands now.

 

[realunlucky]

We'll still be going on the 29th. I'll give you a call after our return

 

[colonel00]

If you check that AOD link, a guy just replied that he pulled a decent bull this week.

Gznokes, I don't think you ever stated but what about your airline tickets and how are you getting to Happy Valley from where ever you fly into? Also, are you archery hunting or just taking rifles?

 

[Gznokes]

colonel100 it is great to hear a positive report from another hunter. thanks for that. We had booked our airline tickets to Prudhoe Bay way in advance with frequent flier points so we just canceled the flight and paid $150 to have the points redeposited. We had a shuttle booked to come from the airport to Happy Valley. If we are able to get back up there we will be paying a lot for a last minute flight--if we can even get one.

 

[realunlucky]

Sounds like my partner's are wanting to jump ship til next year on this. Damn I planned my whole fall around this trip

 

[colonel00]

No guarantees that next year will be any better. Last year they have some freak snows early if I recall and it pushed the bou into the hills early. I was up there with my dad mid September and still saw quite a few and had a couple good stalks. I guess that is part of the reason I like the DIY hunt is I can control a little more and just doing the drive is cool in itself. I fully understand that a flyout is a lot more money on the line but it sure is sad that they are calling people off so early.

 

[realunlucky]

He doesn't want to take us out. That scares me since I'm depending on his experience to place in possibly productive spot. I asked him about fishing and he stated it wasn't worth the risk. Huh? I'm not sure what s going on but he said he was going to try and cancel his season. If your booked with 70 North this year you better give Mike a call

 

[tipsntails7]

Sounds like my partner's are wanting to jump ship til next year on this. Damn I planned my whole fall around this trip

What are the dates your going?

 

[colonel00]

That's really too bad. Without more info from up on the slope then it's really hard to say. I've never flown with Mike but everything I've read and testimonies from people lead me to believe he runs a great operation. If he's really willing to call the season and of course cost himself a lot of money too then that really is a bad situation.

If anyone has to use their flights but doesn't have anything to do, I'll be up there on the 1st through the 12th doing some fishing and chasing a bear for my dad.

 

[tipsntails7]

That's really too bad. Without more info from up on the slope then it's really hard to say. I've never flown with Mike but everything I've read and testimonies from people lead me to believe he runs a great operation. If he's really willing to call the season and of course cost himself a lot of money too then that really is a bad situation.

If anyone has to use their flights but doesn't have anything to do, I'll be up there on the 1st through the 12th doing some fishing and chasing a bear for my dad.

I don't know dick about caribou, but is it not a little early to put the kibosh on the entire season?

 

[realunlucky]

What are the dates your going?

29 th to the 7 th was the plan. Scrambling for an elk tag now. Might have to hunt a damn spike now

 

[tipsntails7]

29 th to the 7 th was the plan. Scrambling for an elk tag now. Might have to hunt a damn spike now

Crazy that he would call it that early. Like I said I'm not up on caribou, but that seems like a lot of time for something to change.

 

[realunlucky]

I don't know dick about caribou, but is it not a little early to put the kibosh on the entire season?

Well he did say maybe towards the end of September migration would start and maybe he would take people out. My business requires more of a plan than that for vacation days.