2022 Kotzebue Caribou hunt booked

[IDHUNTNFISH]

Well after going and my AK moose back in 2019, I'm headed back next year to get a caribou. These are the two AK animal I have dreamed of getting for as long as I can remember. It's going to be a long wait....

 

[LCH]

Exciting stuff! Best of luck with your preparations.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Very cool! Yeah gonna be an excruciating wait lol

 

[Cogreeny]

Who is your transporter or outfitter?

 

[SoCalhunt88]

I’ve been out there. Great experience

 

[IDHUNTNFISH]

Who is your transporter or outfitter?

I'm going with Artic Air. I booked them through Outdoors International.

 

[CPAjeff]

Congrats, I hope you have an experience of a lifetime!

 

[LCH]

I'm going with Artic Air. I booked them through Outdoors International.

Do they require partners or group up individual clients?

My biggest hurdle with doing a hunt like this is finding serious partners.

 

[Cogreeny]

Awe

I'm going with Artic Air. I booked them through Outdoors International.

Awesome! I’ll be waiting to see how it goes. Kodiak AK blacktail got nuked last winter I guess so just fishing this year for me up there.

 

[IDHUNTNFISH]

Do they require partners or group up individual clients?

My biggest hurdle with doing a hunt like this is finding serious partners.

There is a 2 person minimum. There will be 4 of us going in my group. My brother and two buddies. Yes sometimes reliable friends can be hard to come by. lol

 

[160andup]

Awesome. On my short list, for sure.

 

[mdhunter61]

Do they require partners or group up individual clients?

My biggest hurdle with doing a hunt like this is finding serious partners.

I've been doing AK flyout hunts since back in 2002, my last one was a caribou hunt in 2019 with an old high school baseball teammate. For the years that I couldn't find someone I already knew to go, I found great hunt partners on here, the Alaska Outdoors Directory, and Rokslide.

Sure, you get a bunch of responses when you first post a thread on "Looking for a Remote Alaska DIY Hunt Partner." Once you mention that it will take about 2 weeks of time all told including flying to and from AK, and will cost between $5k and $8k when all is said and done (NOT including any taxidermy costs), you separate those who like the idea, from those who really want to do it.

My current AK transporter of choice makes their reservations for the next season in December, so I would post the initial "looking for a hunt partner" threads in October to give me time to collect responses, sift through and trade emails to find the real contenders, and select a hunt partner for the next year. Having to drop the deposit in December REALLY separated the pretenders from the guys who were committed to doing it.

Give it a try, you might be pleasantly surprised. Can't hurt.

 

[BackofBeyond]

Looks like we'll but up there around the same time, doing the same thing. My buddy and I booked with Golden Eagle for Aug. 2022.

Since you're local to me, and have done similar trips, mind if I (and my buddy) bounce questions off you?

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Do they require partners or group up individual clients?

My biggest hurdle with doing a hunt like this is finding serious partners.

I've found 2, hunts with them trump everything else. Like you said finding serious partners is really tough.

 

[Wally Dog]

My son in law and his brothers did that very hunt... must have been august before last. Holler I can hook you up for info.

 

[Cowboynjco]

Finding a serious partner is tough

 

[BBHPRO]

That is great good luck to you!
I just finished up a trip with Golden Eagle out of Kotzebue. Had a great time, but still have my tag unfortunately.

 

[Bambistew]

I'm going with Artic Air. I booked them through Outdoors International.

Have you heard the latest drama with AA? Might want to reconsider. They canceled a whole bunch of hunts, and guys stranded in the field for 5 or more days. A one man show is a rough one when weather gets you backed up.

 

[mdhunter61]

I'm going with Artic Air. I booked them through Outdoors International.

What Bambistew said. Sounds like they might have hey fu#$%ed a whole bunch of caribou hunters this year who also booked through an Expediter.

Check the Caribou forum over on Rokslide and check the Unit 23 Reports thread, most of the stories are there.

 

[BackofBeyond]

That is great good luck to you!
I just finished up a trip with Golden Eagle out of Kotzebue. Had a great time, but still have my tag unfortunately.

What was your experience with GE like? I'm booked with them for next year.