dropoff caribou hunt

[ARCAT]

A buddy and I are trying to plan a dropoff unguided caribou hunt. We can't afford a guide, and it doesn't sound like we need one for a wily reindeer anyway. Has anyone been on one of these hunts? We need to know if it is a good hunt or not. The hunts advertise for around 1500-2000 including the camp, but the hidden costs are enormous. Charter flights from anchorage, costs to fly the Bou out of the woods and back to anchorage, pepper and salt, hotels, strippers etc. The costs are going to be more than a good guided elk hunt here in the 48 and sound like will be in the $5000 neighborhood, which is alot for a caribou. What are your thoughts, and suggestions?

 

[MarvB]

ARCAT, I've got a budd who posts here (Pygmy) thats done this many a time. I'll PM you his email addy when I get home as I'm sure he can help you with some details....Marv

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

I think you need to compile all of you info, who, what, when ect. Go on your hunt with the info from the forum members and if it is a success you need to list all of this info for the other members to follow your lead. Now if it craps out, find a good joke and post it under "Jokes" Good Luck!!!!!!!

 

[ARCAT]

Thanks, I've gotten some good info from a couple guys on here who have done it. Its starting to sound better all the time, and more possible. We've been talking about this for a couple years, but when you set out to plan it and get er done, it almost becomes work. thanks for all the help and keep the suggestions coming.

 

[RockyDog]

ARCAT, where the hell is my invite???? Really if you want a third wheel i may be interested. Ive got tickets booked for the first 2 weeks in September, but they are moveable. I cant hike, shoot, pack meat, cook or wash dishes but i am the best bonesaw man in the pacific northwest, i can saw the skull plate off an animal in no time flat. Consider it.

 

[ARCAT]

Rocky, You Are More Than Welcome

Most of the places require that you have 4-5 guys and so far we have 2. you should jump on board. its going to be fun. i think....Can you cape and turn ears?

 

[RockyDog]

Im real interested. Im kind of swamped right now, but id sure like to find out more about your plans. I can cape, but ive never turned anyones ears.

 

[Steiny]

I've hunted AK three times, always guided. Got another species or two to knock off, then I will try the unguided stuff.

If you want a dang near, sure deal for a good bull, go with an outfitter that does drop hunts for bou as well as guided. On the drop hunts some furnish gear, grub, tents, and everything just like you were guided .... except no guide. You do your own knife work & packing.

Will run around $2500-3000. On top of this, you'll have your commercial flight from the lower 48, a $6-800 bush flight, cost of care and shipment of trophies, and any other motel and travel arrangements. Your $5000 figure isn't far off.

No doubt you could save $1000 going thru a flying service. The difference here is, you'll likely get a nice bou, which makes it worthwhile. Get a black bear and wolf tag too, and you might get lucky on one of those. I got all three on 2002 hunt.

 

[KC]

ARCAT:

I tried this last Fall, in connection with two other hunts. The 'bou hunt was the last hunt and it was a flop. We hunted out of Dillingham, in the Southwest interior, and when it was time to fly out to the caribou hunting grounds, the pilot told us that they couldn't find the animals. It was warm for late September and the caribou hadn't started moving yet or herding up. I was very dissappointed in our pilot. One of our guys flew all the way from New Jersey to spend 5 days in a Dillingham hotel and then go home. You can imagine how dissappointed he was. :BLEEP:

I will do another caribou hunt but I will do things differently next time.

I will book just a caribou hunt and not try to combine it with any other hunt.

I will book with a reputable pilot who will GUARANTEE that they can find caribou and put us down near them.

I will book with a pilot who has small planes with tundra tires as well as float planes. Our pilot last Fall had only float planes.

I will still go unguided. We don't need a guide if the pilot puts us in the right place.

I don't need a drop camp. I do need the drop but not the camp, because I have all my own gear and I would rather plan and provide my own food and gear. I can do it better than they can.

I will make sure that we have determined the price in advance for services including the following;

A place to camp in Illiamna while waiting to fly out,
Three flights from Illiamna to hunting grounds;
- the drop-off flight (guaranteed to be where there are caribou),
- one flight to pickup animals or to relocate our camp,
- the last flight to pick us up, including more animals,
cape preparation and freezing,
freezer space rental for meat,
a place to camp in Illiamna while waiting to fly back to Anchorage.

I will hunt the Mulchatna herd, North of Illiamna.

Some different strategies for getting there.

First Strategy: Fly Penn Air to Illiamna. Meet our pilot there and fly to hunting grounds from Illiamna. This is probably less expensive if we can make arrangements with a reliable pilot.

Second Strategy: Fly out of Lake Hood or Soldotna directly to the hunting grounds. This will cost more for the bush pilot but may be the best way to get where we want to go.

KC

 

[ARCAT]

This Is Why I Asked.

I knew there were some stories out there. Were trying to weed them out and some up with a place and strategery that we can make work. Thanks for the info. Rocky what do you think?

 

[RockyDog]

Hey ArcCat, i will email you.

 

[DavidAk]

The Mulchatna herd has been tough the last couple years. If you end up flying out of Soldotna, you should talk to Talon Air or High Adventure Air. Talon is my first choice, but I'm more of a meat hunter and not too concernead about antlers. Last year, 3 of us got 14 caribou, 11 the year before. Nice trophy bulls are getting harder to find out there, and your best chances will be with pilots of small planes...more flexibility.

In addition, there's a lot of other hunters out there, and lots of game cops. Make sure you salvage every scrap of meat...

Enjoy yourselves, you'll have a blast....don't forget a small spinfishing outfit for those fresh grayling...

dave

 

[Tom]

I got one with KC on his first leg. The same pilot that couldn't find them weeks later had found them on the first leg, but only a few. When we got on the float plane, he said, "If I had known you wanted to hunt caribou now, I would have told you to stay home." KC had a plan for us to canoe rivers and lakes after we got a caribou, that was a great plan! It worked out.

I had another friend from New York go a couple of years ago with his bow. They knew where some caribou were, but a storm was coming in in a few days. After he got to Alaska from New York, the bush pilot told him. Paraphrased, "Maybe somebody else will take you over the mountain to the caribou, but I won't. I want to be able to get you back and I won't with this storm coming. You may live, you may not, I'm not taking you over the mountain." They went were there were way less caribou and he didn't get one, but he got back just fine and on time. Take a satelite phone!

 

[elkfarmer]

it would be a great time, guys from work went 2 yrs ago and saw a ton of caribou. it was guided but they only drove about 18 hrs from here to get there. how much would it cost to do a self guided hunt? i am putting in for elk taggs this year but i wouldn't mind scrapping that and heading north..

 

[Pygmy]

Arcat... I've done five drops in the Mulchatna drainage, but the last one was in '02...

Hunting was getting tougher there then and as I understand it the last couple of years it has got tougher yet.. Last year in particular a lot of operators were having problems getting their hunters on animals... Good bulls were especially hard to find...

I don't know if this phenomenon is the result of a serious reduction in numbers of caribou or if the migrations have just been screwy the last couple of years due to weather or some other factor.... The non res limit for caribou has been dropped from two to one in unit 17, which covers a lot of the Mulchatna drainage...That might indicate that the state feels the population is down...I'm sure some of the local game biologists in Dillingham could answer that question for you... In any case, when couple of friends asked me for advice on a caribou drop camp for 2005, I suggested that they check out operators in the area around Kotzebue...

That's not saying that the Mulchatna herd no longer offer good hunting...It's just that it may be tougher to find the animals there than it was say, 4 or 5 years ago... I did a supercub drop out of Dillingham in '99 and saw over a thousand animals a day, including lots of trophy bulls...

Many of the previous posters offered good advice, most of which I agree with... I think that a wheelplane drop via supercub is the way to go, because
it is much easier to get close to where the animals are... I also think if I were to hunt the Mulchatna herd in the next I would look into flying out of Illiamna or possibly Port Alsworth.. In 2002 I flew with Lake Clark Air out of Port Alsworth... I did an unguided, fully outfitted drop and they did a great job... Feel free to email me to discuss your hunt...

 

[SJ]

Arcat you've got mail.