Salmonchaser
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2019
- Messages
- 2,433
I had a few clients get blisters every year but that my friend takes the cake, and five miles in. Wow.
Alaska Caribou
- Thread starter SC Living Outdoors
- Start date
Carl 9.3x62
Well-known member
Dang, not a fun start to your hunt.
SC Living Outdoors
Well-known member
I took 3 ibeprofen, an amoxicillin, and wrapped the wound. The previous night before going to bed I’d seen a group of 7 caribou feed over the hill but no bulls were with the group. When I went out to dunk my foot in the creek I saw the same group of caribou, but down close to the creek. As I came out of the tent to gingerly put my boots on I looked at the group of caribou. There were significantly more caribou and a good many bulls. Including some shooters! All the bulls must have been down in the wide creek bottom that wasn’t visible a little earlier. I told Wayne “We’re going to want to go after these bulls”. He was game.
We’d decided the day before that he who sees them first gets first right of refusal. There was one in the group that I thought looked pretty solid. We began to move in on the group that continued to grow in number the closer we got. I’m not sure how big the group was but it must’ve been 30+. They were slowly moving west. We dropped our packs and we flanked them moving up a slow rise to try to get some elevation to shoot. The 5 or so biggest bulls were all in one group. The biggest bull was in the lead and I had my sights set on him. I really wanted to lay down to shoot but that wasn’t an option. I kept ranging and sitting down on the tussock to shoot but the elevation wasn’t quite enough to see his vitals. The plan was for me to kill my bull then hand the rifle to Wayne and he would should the next best bull because there were a few that he liked. Finally the elevation worked out. I ranged 305 and sat down on the tussocks. I asked Wayne if he was ready and rested my elbows on my knees. The bull briefly paused and I hit him hard 6” behind his shoulder popping both his lungs. He trotted a little to his left stumbled a little bit and down he went. I had my bou.
At the shot and my bull going down the bulls didn’t bolt but they did change their attitude a little bit. One of the bigger bulls split off and went away from us but a group of 4 continued to left at a quicker pace. I handed the gun to Wayne and we took off after them continuing to gain elevation. Wayne picked out the bull he liked best and I set down the tripod for him to lean on. I ranged the bull at 460 and dialed the scope I called the wind and told him where to hold. The bull cleared and he fired. Miss. He worked the bolt the bulls moved a little bit and we did too. I called the same shot. Boom. Hit!!! The bull moved to the left and we moved up on him then he bedded. We thought he was done but then he stood back up and we snuck into 120 and Wayne hammered him with a frontal shot. We had 2 dead bulls. As we were looking a Wayne’s bull I found a great shed right close by.
We were both happy with our bulls. My bull had perfectly symmetrical tops with a cool tine kicking back on both sides, great fronts and a really nice defined shovel. We began breaking down the bulls and shuttling the meat towards a creek where we put it in contractors bags and set it in the cold running water. While breaking down Wayne’s bull 3 bulls walked right by us one of which was really nice but there was no disappointment from either of us. They were just cool to see. We didn’t get both bulls broken down and in the creek until that night and we headed back to the tent for some rest and to begin the packout the next day.
The next morning came with the plan to get Wayne’s bulll to the truck then come back to go to sleep with mine the following day. It was heavy and took us about 7.5hrs to go the 6 miles to the truck. When we got to the truck I was drained but I knew I needed to get back to the tent for the next day. After a 45 minute break I headed back. I don’t know if it was something with my foot, or not enough water, not enough food, something else or a combination of all of it but I started to feel really really bad with about 2 miles to go. I basically collapsed by the tent at 11pm. I told Wayne how horrible I felt. I said I don’t know if I can do that again tomorrow. Both of us felt like I needed some rest. I drank some water slowly and tried to eat. My appetite was non existent. I couldn’t sleep either. Finally after laying there for a couple hours I drifted off. Sometime later I woke up with a start. I was sick. This isn’t good. I began to vomit but knowing I was in a tent I swollowed it back down ripping open the teepee zipper. It came up again and again. Almost all liquid. I laid back down. Another hour later the same thing happened again. Now I was pretty sure every liquid I had to drink since 5th grade was outside our tent and I felt terrible and, oh yeah, my foot felt like it was getting amputated.
We woke up around 8 and I told Wayne I had to take a rest day. There was no way I could go that day. He told me he was going to man handle all 4 quarters of my bull to the truck and spend the night at the truck. The next morning he would pack in empty and we would take the remainder of my bull, antlers, and camp out in the final load. I told him he didn’t have to do that but he was insistent that he could do it and he did! Full beast mode for 7hrs. While I laid in the tent trying to get better. I was able to get a bunch of fluids and electrolytes down along with a couple granola bars. I was still weak but the next morning I knew all I had to do was get one heavy load 6 miles. It was one of my toughest days in the field I’d ever had but I did it. Wayne went out in front of me and knocked it out like a champ, but finally I made it to the truck. My energy level was nonexistent. I was running on 3 days next to no food.
We headed out back towards Fairbanks. We slept in the truck that night right at the base of the mountains with the truck running all night because the temps had dropped down to 30 but that night sitting in the heat and drinking plenty of water my appetite finally began to return. The next morning in Coldfoot I ate a bunch of great food and drank a 1/2 gallon of Powerade.
I can’t thank Wayne enough for being there for me. I’ve never had a hunt where I was hit that hard with multiple things and it would have been super tough without his help.
Carry a legit med kit with drugs. I took all my ibeprofen in 3 days. All my amoxicillin and took a tordall otw out. Mine was very very important on this hunt and I’m planning on restocking it as soon as I get home.
Im going to get my foot looked at tomorrow. My whole foot and ankle is swollen. I’ve been changing the dressing and doing my best to take care of it. It needs to be healed in 34 days bc elk don’t kill themselves.
This was a trip I won’t forget but I hope I never have another one like it.
My bull in the lead.
My bull going down.
Wayne putting the finishing shot in his bull.
We’d decided the day before that he who sees them first gets first right of refusal. There was one in the group that I thought looked pretty solid. We began to move in on the group that continued to grow in number the closer we got. I’m not sure how big the group was but it must’ve been 30+. They were slowly moving west. We dropped our packs and we flanked them moving up a slow rise to try to get some elevation to shoot. The 5 or so biggest bulls were all in one group. The biggest bull was in the lead and I had my sights set on him. I really wanted to lay down to shoot but that wasn’t an option. I kept ranging and sitting down on the tussock to shoot but the elevation wasn’t quite enough to see his vitals. The plan was for me to kill my bull then hand the rifle to Wayne and he would should the next best bull because there were a few that he liked. Finally the elevation worked out. I ranged 305 and sat down on the tussocks. I asked Wayne if he was ready and rested my elbows on my knees. The bull briefly paused and I hit him hard 6” behind his shoulder popping both his lungs. He trotted a little to his left stumbled a little bit and down he went. I had my bou.
At the shot and my bull going down the bulls didn’t bolt but they did change their attitude a little bit. One of the bigger bulls split off and went away from us but a group of 4 continued to left at a quicker pace. I handed the gun to Wayne and we took off after them continuing to gain elevation. Wayne picked out the bull he liked best and I set down the tripod for him to lean on. I ranged the bull at 460 and dialed the scope I called the wind and told him where to hold. The bull cleared and he fired. Miss. He worked the bolt the bulls moved a little bit and we did too. I called the same shot. Boom. Hit!!! The bull moved to the left and we moved up on him then he bedded. We thought he was done but then he stood back up and we snuck into 120 and Wayne hammered him with a frontal shot. We had 2 dead bulls. As we were looking a Wayne’s bull I found a great shed right close by.
We were both happy with our bulls. My bull had perfectly symmetrical tops with a cool tine kicking back on both sides, great fronts and a really nice defined shovel. We began breaking down the bulls and shuttling the meat towards a creek where we put it in contractors bags and set it in the cold running water. While breaking down Wayne’s bull 3 bulls walked right by us one of which was really nice but there was no disappointment from either of us. They were just cool to see. We didn’t get both bulls broken down and in the creek until that night and we headed back to the tent for some rest and to begin the packout the next day.
The next morning came with the plan to get Wayne’s bulll to the truck then come back to go to sleep with mine the following day. It was heavy and took us about 7.5hrs to go the 6 miles to the truck. When we got to the truck I was drained but I knew I needed to get back to the tent for the next day. After a 45 minute break I headed back. I don’t know if it was something with my foot, or not enough water, not enough food, something else or a combination of all of it but I started to feel really really bad with about 2 miles to go. I basically collapsed by the tent at 11pm. I told Wayne how horrible I felt. I said I don’t know if I can do that again tomorrow. Both of us felt like I needed some rest. I drank some water slowly and tried to eat. My appetite was non existent. I couldn’t sleep either. Finally after laying there for a couple hours I drifted off. Sometime later I woke up with a start. I was sick. This isn’t good. I began to vomit but knowing I was in a tent I swollowed it back down ripping open the teepee zipper. It came up again and again. Almost all liquid. I laid back down. Another hour later the same thing happened again. Now I was pretty sure every liquid I had to drink since 5th grade was outside our tent and I felt terrible and, oh yeah, my foot felt like it was getting amputated.
We woke up around 8 and I told Wayne I had to take a rest day. There was no way I could go that day. He told me he was going to man handle all 4 quarters of my bull to the truck and spend the night at the truck. The next morning he would pack in empty and we would take the remainder of my bull, antlers, and camp out in the final load. I told him he didn’t have to do that but he was insistent that he could do it and he did! Full beast mode for 7hrs. While I laid in the tent trying to get better. I was able to get a bunch of fluids and electrolytes down along with a couple granola bars. I was still weak but the next morning I knew all I had to do was get one heavy load 6 miles. It was one of my toughest days in the field I’d ever had but I did it. Wayne went out in front of me and knocked it out like a champ, but finally I made it to the truck. My energy level was nonexistent. I was running on 3 days next to no food.
We headed out back towards Fairbanks. We slept in the truck that night right at the base of the mountains with the truck running all night because the temps had dropped down to 30 but that night sitting in the heat and drinking plenty of water my appetite finally began to return. The next morning in Coldfoot I ate a bunch of great food and drank a 1/2 gallon of Powerade.
I can’t thank Wayne enough for being there for me. I’ve never had a hunt where I was hit that hard with multiple things and it would have been super tough without his help.
Carry a legit med kit with drugs. I took all my ibeprofen in 3 days. All my amoxicillin and took a tordall otw out. Mine was very very important on this hunt and I’m planning on restocking it as soon as I get home.
Im going to get my foot looked at tomorrow. My whole foot and ankle is swollen. I’ve been changing the dressing and doing my best to take care of it. It needs to be healed in 34 days bc elk don’t kill themselves.
This was a trip I won’t forget but I hope I never have another one like it.
My bull in the lead.
My bull going down.
Wayne putting the finishing shot in his bull.
SC Living Outdoors
Well-known member
I’m not made of money. I download a bunch of stuff before a go and watch tv on my phone a sleep.
CPAjeff
Well-known member
Great stuff - congrats on the bull! Hope your foot heals quickly!
Man Wayne is a stud to do all that work. Good on you for recognizing your condition and taking a rest day instead of trying to tough it out and really getting into trouble. Congrats to you both on your success in more ways that one! Always entertaining to follow along in your adventures.
seeth07
Well-known member
I wonder how long the waitlist is to be a hunting buddy of @SCliving Outdoors ?
Congrats man, well done and there is nothing sweeter than success after pain and suffering of which it appears you got to the max.
Congrats man, well done and there is nothing sweeter than success after pain and suffering of which it appears you got to the max.
SC Living Outdoors
Well-known member
He was a big help. He’s a great friend.
Valley1320
Well-known member
Great bulls and great story! Hope your foot heals quickly I can't imagine how painful that was!
AlpineAssassin907
Active member
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2022
- Messages
- 139
Excellent work fellas!
D-Mac
Well-known member
Way to tough it out! I’ve never had a burn that bad, but I’ve been around folks who have and there’s no way they are rucking that far like that. Good work.
I don’t know man, he’d probably crop dust you in your tent before the sun comes up. Would make for a miserable day!
Bowmannate2000
Well-known member
Thanks for sharing the hunt with us! Wayne sounds like a great guy. Good luck with the foot.
brownbear932008
Well-known member
Congrats your one tough cookie! After your burn incident were you able to wrap it someway while walking or how did you handle that? That North slope is some of the coolest country I've ever gotten to experience. I'd love to go back someday.
SC Living Outdoors
Well-known member
I carry a good medical kit. I’ve wrapped it up and changed the dressing every day.
Salmonchaser
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2019
- Messages
- 2,433
Great looking Bulls, great story.
npaden
Well-known member
Congrats! Probably the best 2 haul road bulls I’ve seen.
Amazing to burn your foot like that and stick it out as long as you did. Hopefully you can get it sorted out and healthy again soon.
Amazing to burn your foot like that and stick it out as long as you did. Hopefully you can get it sorted out and healthy again soon.
glass eye
Well-known member
Congrats
What do you think got you sick ?
I’m a real wus when it comes to vomiting. Some guys puke and then they’re fine, but not me, I’m on my deathbed.
What do you think got you sick ?
I’m a real wus when it comes to vomiting. Some guys puke and then they’re fine, but not me, I’m on my deathbed.
