Want to go caribou hunting someday before I die!

[CMF]

Curious if there's a split for Bow Hunters and Rifle Hikers...

I would imagine there is considering how open the terrain is.
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I'd like to do this with my wife and kids within the next 5 years or so. I think this would be the route we'll have to go. I won't be able to afford drop-in flights for 5 of us. I'll be bringing the bow.

I looked into getting dropped by boat and it was as much as a flight. Not sure that's always the case, since I just looked into one.

I saw a haul road video where they saw Musk Ox and there was no snow on the ground. is there any way to hunt them from the haul road? I've only ever heard of flying into somewhere where it's super cold.

 

[kwackkillncrew]

I know they had what I believe was the first draw for them but pretty sure its resident only

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[crrakcrrak]

A friend and his buddy did a transport hunt a couple of years ago. The transporter picked the location. The cost was $3500 and included flying out the caribou if they were successful. They didn't even see a track. He offered to fly them to a different location the next year. Friend had a heart attack and chose not to go.

 

[Bambistew]

Curious if there's a split for Bow Hunters and Rifle Hikers...

You could request the harvest information from ADFG. They don't split it out by weapon type on their website. I just looked at the transpiration mode vs success. By highway vehicle was about 50%, by boat (including transporter) was about 30%. Air was about 70%.

I would venture to guess that 75% of the harvest is with a bow, the rest was with a rifle. I would guess rifle success is much higher, and far fewer participants. Most people do not walk out 5 miles and shoot one.

There is nothing the same price as it was in 2017. Almost every flight and service I've looked at recently is almost 2x what is was 5 years ago. We went to Kodiak last March and it was almost 2x as much as it was just a few years ago.

Sure you can do it cheap if you plan it out, but cheap and good usually don't go hand in hand. You can go on a cheap moose hunt too, and might not even see a moose, let alone a legal one.

IMO, I'd pack a rifle into the mountains off the haul road 5 miles and pick a good spot to set up and hunt a week. I think it would be a heck of a lot more fun than road hunting caribou with a bow and camping in the swamplands on the side of the road.

 

[blazingangel09]

My wife and I had a great trip to Adak Island last year for caribou. Adak is a super unique place and it was an unbelievably fun hunt. We booked through Adak Lodge and Outfitters and Chris went above and beyond to help us be successful and have a good time. I can't recommend it enough.

 

[Bambistew]

A friend and his buddy did a transport hunt a couple of years ago. The transporter picked the location. The cost was $3500 and included flying out the caribou if they were successful. They didn't even see a track. He offered to fly them to a different location the next year. Friend had a heart attack and chose not to go.

I couldn't imagine being a transporter for caribou and the pressure you're under to make sure guys have a good hunt. Some of the stories I've heard of guys complaining about a hunt are amazing.

Caribou are notoriously unpredictable. Yet, guys expect to show up for a specific week for a hunt they planned a year or more in advance, and expect to be covered up with a migration. I hunt an area near the road for bou some years and I can't tell you how many times I've talked to guys that had been in the same general spot (near the road) for days, that hadn't so much as seen an animal. I sit in the same spot and glass up dozen in a couple hours. They complain there is nothing around. Its hunting, sometimes it sucks, sometimes its amazing. One thing for sure, there is no guarantee.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

Same as you OP, I've been wanting to do a Caribou since I was a young boy and the clock's ticking. My problem is I hate flying, so trying to find a way to take a cruise out there and kill a 'bou and cruise back home. LOL

 

[bowuntr]

I'm doing my last caribou hunt this year... it will never be cheaper. Just do it... Ed F

 

[HoneyDew]

I guess my biggest hurdle to rifle hunting the corridor is how do you decide where to hike in? You’re not glassing animals from the road then making the push in. So is it just escouting obstacles like waterways and then pure luck? Do guys just pull off the highway and going for it? Are they basing their hike in based on where they can reasonably park far enough off so their vehicle isn’t a hazard or damaged by other vehicles? Do talking with other guys and workers on the road give that much insight given the 5 mile hike requirement?

 

[CMF]

Are any other tags worth having in your pocket if doing the hunt from the road?

 

[sndmn11]

My wife and I had a great trip to Adak Island last year for caribou. Adak is a super unique place and it was an unbelievably fun hunt. We booked through Adak Lodge and Outfitters and Chris went above and beyond to help us be successful and have a good time. I can't recommend it enough.

What does this cost?

 

[blazingangel09]

What does this cost?

$5k per person is what we paid but I think he offers some group discounts.

 

[Mojave]

There are guided hunts in Greenland for $5000-7500.

 

[LongWayAround]

In my research, it seems that you really are not saving that much by driving the haul road versus being transported, especially if you are solo. Splitting costs it is probably cheaper. The overall experience seems less to me in general.

I don't love driving for hundreds of miles on shitty roads or dealing with extra logistics. It seems that I have read several reports of people who booked a U-Haul rental only to show up and get told they didn't have a vehicle.

To burn half of your trip driving around is just a non-starter for me. I've been trying to line up a caribou hunt since 2020 or 2021 and all signs seem to show that I'm finally going this year. After a couple consecutive year of nut kicks, I am cautiously optimistic. I definitely didn't spend all of that time and money to drive around and figure it out.

If you are planning for two years out, it's plenty of time to start calling transporters and find someone to get you out there.

 

[VernAK]

Cost is a factor for most of us but time has a cost also. Although I know caribou hunting areas that are accessible by road ad ATV, the number of other hunters in the area is also an undesirable "cost" IMO.

Having the benefit of decades hunting remote Alaska, I prefer to hunt a few choice areas that are devoid of other human activity even though the herds may not be in that area at that time. There's something to be said for the pleasures of a wilderness experience.

 

[AKDoc]

Cost is a factor for most of us but time has a cost also. Although I know caribou hunting areas that are accessible by road ad ATV, the number of other hunters in the area is also an undesirable "cost" IMO.

Having the benefit of decades hunting remote Alaska, I prefer to hunt a few choice areas that are devoid of other human activity even though the herds may not be in that area at that time. There's something to be said for the pleasures of a wilderness experience.

Very well said Vern...I agree wholeheartedly. Remote solitude in the wilderness world of the animal that I'm hunting is what I have always sought and prioritized.

 

[charliebravo77]

If you have a little bit of time before you want to go, set up an Ally or other HYSA account (currently getting 3.75% in interest) and auto-deposit to it every paycheck. I have $150 going into a "caribou" bucket in my account that happens without me thinking about it with the intent of going on a hunt when I turn 40 in 3 years. ~6 months before the hunt I'll have at least $5k in the account if I don't up the contribution any.

 

[CMF]

In my research, it seems that you really are not saving that much by driving the haul road versus being transported, especially if you are solo. Splitting costs it is probably cheaper. The overall experience seems less to me in general.

I don't love driving for hundreds of miles on shitty roads or dealing with extra logistics. It seems that I have read several reports of people who booked a U-Haul rental only to show up and get told they didn't have a vehicle.

To burn half of your trip driving around is just a non-starter for me. I've been trying to line up a caribou hunt since 2020 or 2021 and all signs seem to show that I'm finally going this year. After a couple consecutive year of nut kicks, I am cautiously optimistic. I definitely didn't spend all of that time and money to drive around and figure it out.

If you are planning for two years out, it's plenty of time to start calling transporters and find someone to get you out there.

If I go solo or just with the wife, I'd do a fly-in and plan to some day for the experience. But with 3 kids, 5 flights is going to be expensive. I figure getting back several animals would be difficult as well. I figure if we drive it we'll make it long trip and sight see along the way.