How many of you have hunted white tail and caribou?

Which one is tougher and why?

The Tazman aka Martin Price
Proud father of a Devil Dog

Taz, I've never hunted whitetails, but been after axis deer and mule deer now. I've also read quite a bit about whitetails, marginal shots, their speed, resiliance and stealthiness. I would say that a whitetail, on the ground, would be harder than caribou. When you put feeders and treestands in the equation, I would say caribou are harder to hunt because you have to hunt them one on one (or one on 1,000) on the ground, and you have to put your skills to the test as far as stalking, judging yardage on the spot and being able to get into a position to shoot while not being detected drawing or moving.

Caribou are definately not as leary as whitetails, but they do have comfort zones, and they won't stick around if you make movement or get smelt. <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

As far as their basic mass and strength, I would have to give my vote to the caribou. They walk incredible distances, keep on the move for their entire lives, and the conditions that they have to endure are incredible. The caribou herd that I hunt for instance lives north of the arctic circle, in some of the worlds harshest, coldest and deadliest weather. Toss in wolves chasing them constintly, grizzly bears, wolverine, hunters, and worst of all, the flies and mosquitoes. They are generally larger than the average whitetail, but in some areas, whitetails do get as big as the caribou we have on the north slope. Live body weights of 200-300 pounds is not uncommon on caribou, and some big bulls in the southern herds of Alaska have tipped the scales up and around 700 pounds.

The skin and ribs on a bou aren't thick at all. Probably a tad bit more than on a whitetail, but not difficult to penitrate. I've shot 4 caribou in the last three years, one with cabelas super lazer pro mag, two with muzzy 3 blades and one with a shockwave mechanical. All were full pass throughs and distances from 10-40 yards. I have had a marginal hit on a bou, he ran 350 yards before expiring. A little easier to track when you can watch them for miles upon miles.

Lilhunter has taken a bou and a couple of whitetails with his stickbow. I'm sure he could give you more insight on this as well. Nimrod has taken caribou also, and has tried for whitetail too.
ArcticBowMan's Hunting Photo's