Since hunting sheep in the Crags last year wasn't enough punishment I decided to do a "Haul Road" caribou hunt this year with a rifle. So, I had to hike in across the tundra a minimum of 5 miles to shoot one with my Ruger. I have come up with a new formula for hiking: 5 miles of tundra = 15 miles of hard mountain trail. Tundra was the toughest walking I ever experienced. Imagine a football field covered in 12 inches of foam rubber, flooded and covered with bowling balls 6 inches apart. Throw in a cloud of blackflies getting in your mouth, ears, eyes and down your throat. Best description I could come up with. Day one, 4.5 miles of tundra out and back. Saw nice bou close to road but left bow in truck. Day two, fogged in - drove to Prudhoe bay to fuel up - bowhunted in the PM but it was too crowded on Labor day weekend. 4 guys after every bull near the road. Day three, crossed river in a chinzy little raft to get away from the crowds and headed for the 5 mile limit. Seeing some nice bou ahead got me psyched. At 5.2 miles a decent shooter came over the ridge and was about 500 yards N. of me. Decided a shooter at 5.2 was better than a guess at what was over the ridge 6 miles out. He was feeding and I started stalking him - sort of. I just bent over and slowly angled toward him - there was no cover to hide behind. He was not concerned and bedded down. At 350 he was locked on to me and watching. At 320 he was getting nervous. At about 310 he got up and started to leave so I laid down, got a good rest and waited till he stopped broadside. First shot a little high but he trotted to the left and stopped quartering away. Second shot went through vitals and broke the far shoulder but he was still up. Third shot was low and it gutted him - literally, they were hanging out. He went a few yards, laid down and it was over. Here's some photos.
My two young friends from France. I hunted with a friend from Fairbanks who works for the Forest Service and they were his interns. Great kids.
My two young friends from France. I hunted with a friend from Fairbanks who works for the Forest Service and they were his interns. Great kids.
