*2022 AK Caribou Hunt* DIY Archery

[diamond10x]

A fellow TBHer (Bradley) and myself have returned from hunting caribou a few weeks ago. A first of its kind of hunt, so to speak, for both of us. Hunting a new place and a new species, both of us with bow only in tow. While fishing for rainbow trout one winter day a few years back we learned hunting caribou with a bow was a dream we both shared. Here is part 1 of the video I took and edited. I was having mic issues when I left and the tundra claimed one on that first day but thankfully got everything fixed with my backup.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98KT2ikoX-E"]BOW HUNTING ALASKA | Barren Ground Caribou EP. 1 - YouTube[/ame]


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[diamond10x]

BOW HUNTING ALASKA | Barren Ground Caribou EP. 1 - YouTube


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Hopefully this works for the ones that the video doesn't pop up for

[AntlerCollector]

In for the part 2 kill shot

[James]

In for the part 2 kill shot

X2
Living the dream Man! I’ll be hunting caribou up there next year, can’t wait. Looking forward to next video

[Quackerbox]

Tagged to watch with coffee in the morning

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[slayr]

Awesome video! Like the others I can’t wait for part 2. You’re loving the dream and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous!

I’ve watched countless hours of caribou hunting and hunt preparation videos and read hundreds of pages of articles over the last couple of months. We will be up there next year for a couple of weeks chasing them. If I can land one of the couple of reputable transporters my buddies recommended we will fly in and hunt either the 40-Mile herd or Brooks Range, depending on which one we can get in with (never knew there was such a challenge to get in with some of these folks, the fed land closure has only compounded the issue). If we can’t get it with either of them then we will chasing them along the Dalton Highway like your video. I can’t wait! My black bear hunt up there with my buddy that lives up that way a few months back has me absolutely hooked on Alaska.

[diamond10x]

I figured I'd give a little more in depth run down as you can only put so much in a video. I'll try my best to this similar to the other hunt threads I've done in the past if anybody has followed or read those.

We spent the last year or so planning this hunt out with the last few details being ironed out this summer, as they all depended on if or when I moved to Alaska. We were going no matter what. We had several serious conversations of what we each wanted out of this hunt as you want to make sure everyone is on the same page with the same desires and comfort/adventure level. we wanted this to be a full DIY trip, with the ability if we needed to to stay out there as long as we needed or wanted to. No guides, no outfitters, no transporters, no drop camp, no paying to hunt someone else's spot, just good old fashioned 100% doing it all on our own. Success or failure would rest solely on our shoulders, the way we both wanted.

I picked up Brad early Saturday morning on August the 20th. We ate breakfast in town, filling up on a classic big American breakfast of eggs, sausage, pancakes and the like. After breakfast we stopped by the grocery store to grab the few things we needed/wanted and then pointed the truck north. After a 20 hour drive of incredible scenery of mountains, rivers, lakes, and everything in between, we finally threw in the towel at 2:00am Sunday morning. We just pulled over, wrapped up in our bags, and slept in the cab of the truck. Driving through Denali State and National Parks and the Brooks Range was really cool, but the greatest and most awe inspiring sight was crossing the Yukon River at sunset. I can't even begin to put into words how truly beautiful it is. It was one heck of a welcoming sight to start the trip off with. We woke up Sunday about 7:30am to get our gear ready, change clothes, and shoot our bows. We were in caribou country and could possibly be setting out to go get on some at any moment along the drive at this point. Both our bows were still spot on after getting tossed around in the bed of the truck for 20 hours straight. We grabbed our food for the day and got back on the road, but now keeping our eyes on the surrounding terrain for the quarry we had travelled so far for.

[jerp]

What an adventure - following!

[32drawlength]

I love the diy caribou hunts!
Did this hunt successfully back in 2010 on Haul rd just south of Deadhorse

Tagged

[ByronB]

Great trip!!!! Looking forward to the next video.

[diamond10x]

We didn’t get but 30 miles down the road and already starting to see caribou. Every couple miles we’d see a new group. We were seeing a cow and calf here, a small bull there, a couple of cows there, a group of bulls over here. With every mile further into the arctic circle the more frequent the sightings became. Soon it seemed every mile we’d see a couple vehicles pulled over glassing a group of bulls and a guy or two heading out to try and get on them. It wasn’t long and we found our first group that we were the only ones to spot. We pulled down the road grabbed our packs, cameras, and bows and set out. We had located a group of several bulls bedded with one in the bunch that was pretty good. We soon realized and learned stalking and just hiking alone in the tundra was going to be a chore. We ended up blowing the stalk, or I did at least, at about 175 yards. We got picked off by one of the small bulls up feeding, he caught us in sort of no man’s land. Back to the road to do some more glassing and learning the layout of the 3000+ sq mile area of bowhunting only we had before us. We glassed up several hundred caribou for the day while also trying to find a place to base camp out of. We finally chose a spot on the river to get out of the wind, allow us easy access to fish, raft across, and glass some different habitat. That night we were so tired from the drive through the night, the beating we took from the drive, already working on trying to fill tags, we put our sleeping bags in the bed of the truck to sleep. With the rain coming down and it being 11:30 and still needing to eat dinner we made the plan to make camp in the morning and get that all squared away before we set out to try and get on some more caribou.

Day two we slept in and got camp squared away by about 10:00am and set out on foot from there. We chose to hike up a small creek that led up into some hills and a few lakes. It seemed like it could be a small obscure spot away from any other hunting pressure. We hadn’t made it a half mile and we came upon our first ptarmigan. We each decided to stick one with our bows to have for dinner that night. Here we learned our first big lesson. Bring cheap extra arrows with big heads as the tundra will swallow arrows. After the excitement we get back to our main focus of caribou as we’re now surrounded by cows and small bulls anywhere from 75-150 yards. We can see some good bulls up on the hill to our left about 800 yards away. They’re headed down the hill at a steady pace so we decide we’ll crest the ridge in front of us to try and get in front of them and hold tight to see what happens. We move up and are quickly surprised by 3 or 4 other hunters down around the lake, chasing caribou. We hit the tundra real quick and just figure we’ll lay here and let this play out so we’re not spooking anything and maybe we’ll have some spook right into us. Well it all played out like a circus.

[diamond10x]

X2
Living the dream Man! I’ll be hunting caribou up there next year, can’t wait. Looking forward to next video

Good luck and hopefully if you’re using a transporter you’ve gotten on their list and everything. Nuts how it’s become so popular with wait times.

[diamond10x]

Awesome video! Like the others I can’t wait for part 2. You’re loving the dream and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous!

I’ve watched countless hours of caribou hunting and hunt preparation videos and read hundreds of pages of articles over the last couple of months. We will be up there next year for a couple of weeks chasing them. If I can land one of the couple of reputable transporters my buddies recommended we will fly in and hunt either the 40-Mile herd or Brooks Range, depending on which one we can get in with (never knew there was such a challenge to get in with some of these folks, the fed land closure has only compounded the issue). If we can’t get it with either of them then we will chasing them along the Dalton Highway like your video. I can’t wait! My black bear hunt up there with my buddy that lives up that way a few months back has me absolutely hooked on Alaska.

Once it gets in your blood you can’t get it out.

You hunted with Andy didn’t you?

I love the diy caribou hunts!
Did this hunt successfully back in 2010 on Haul rd just south of Deadhorse

Tagged

Nice! Well hopefully this story doesn’t disappoint sounds like you set the bar high

[slayr]

Once it gets in your blood you can’t get it out.

You hunted with Andy didn’t you?

For sure…and I’ve only had a very small taste!

Yep, hunted with Andy. Sure wished I’d have started these adventures several years back with him.

[diamond10x]

Just before we laid down in the tundra there was a new group of bulls that crested the hill right behind the first ones we saw. There is some good ones in it and we should be right in their path. The original group of bulls skirts us at about 180 yards just meandering around on their way. Being on the tundra, 180 yards looks about 60 yards as there is nothing to help judge distance. It is completely barren out there, hence the name barren-ground caribou. We watch the 6 or 8 bulls and about a dozen cows feed on by 100 yards out of range. Nothing we can do but just watch. While watching, I put my head down to reach for my gloves in my pocket. That’s when I see some antlers out of the corner of my eye. I whisper to Brad we have some more coming in and I think it’s that second group. Sure enough it is. There’s 10 or so bulls and 8 of them are really nice. Brad is ranging for me so I can focus on trying to get a shot. The wind is blowing directly to them, just great, and they’re sort of behind us as we are focused on the watching the other group at the moment. All we can do is try to be still and hope they stay the course. Nerves get the best of me and I got tunnel vision on whichever bull is gonna give me a shot. I sit up real quick and guess 65-70 yards. The caribou scatter a bit and finally the straggler at the back stops and gives me a shot. I’m not sure I used the right pin, things were pretty fuzzy in the heat of everything. I shot way under and Brad later confirmed it was 63 yards or so.

After that miss we follow the groups of caribou up to a knob that seems to be in the path of most of the caribou. We decide we will sit up there and glass the rest of the day, that way we can be in position for any shooter bulls that come through this drainage/bowl. Not long after lunch time movement seems to come to a halt. We aren’t seeing anything but just a few cows feeding around the lake and that’s it. The action is definitely slowing down compared to what it was yesterday and this morning.

To be continued…


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