I was going through withdrawls, I finally went hunting last night.
04-07-2003, 12:47 PM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
Posts: 1,665
I was going through withdrawls, I finally went hunting last night.
Caribou season comes to a close at the end of this month, so I figure I' d better get out there and try to fill my last tag. 
We busted out of work early because the herd is about 130 miles south of here. We started seeing caribou around 6pm and got our first stalk in. Because of the new restricition of having to be 1/4 mile from the road, it was a bit difficult to get to where we spotted the bou about 1/2 mile out. The snow was about knee deep, and in some places waist deep. It was about 24 below out, and we started breaking a sweat, so we took a break so we wouldn' t get wet and have to sit in wait to ambush and freeze our butts off. We got to the base of a hill side where a bunch of caribou were standing on the steep side. They looked like sheep up there. Some would come down, and a few were right out in the open, so it messed up any chance we had to stay unseen to get to the base of the hill and start stalking in on them. We gave it a go anyway since we were a good 3 or 400 yards from them, but they spotted us, got skittish and took off. We followed the river back to the road even though it took us away from the truck, but the walking was so much easier, so it was worth it.
We got two more stalks in like that one, but the snow was too noisy to stalk in on them, and they were just grazing around so we couldn' t pattern them for an ambush. I managed to snake along on some hard packed snow for about 150 yards and got within 60 yards of a bou, but it was wide open between us from the point so I tried to wait him out and see if he would come my way. Nope.
My buddy spotted some ptarmigan however and I managed to get in range of a couple birds. I picked one out and nailed him from about 20 yards.
We probably saw upwards of 300 caribou and a few fox and the flock of ptarmigan. Not bad for the middle of nowhere in 20 below temps. We stayed plenty warm at least, and got a good work out and some tiny little ptarmigan steaks that I' m going to grill up tonight. It was just nice to get out again!
We busted out of work early because the herd is about 130 miles south of here. We started seeing caribou around 6pm and got our first stalk in. Because of the new restricition of having to be 1/4 mile from the road, it was a bit difficult to get to where we spotted the bou about 1/2 mile out. The snow was about knee deep, and in some places waist deep. It was about 24 below out, and we started breaking a sweat, so we took a break so we wouldn' t get wet and have to sit in wait to ambush and freeze our butts off. We got to the base of a hill side where a bunch of caribou were standing on the steep side. They looked like sheep up there. Some would come down, and a few were right out in the open, so it messed up any chance we had to stay unseen to get to the base of the hill and start stalking in on them. We gave it a go anyway since we were a good 3 or 400 yards from them, but they spotted us, got skittish and took off. We followed the river back to the road even though it took us away from the truck, but the walking was so much easier, so it was worth it.We got two more stalks in like that one, but the snow was too noisy to stalk in on them, and they were just grazing around so we couldn' t pattern them for an ambush. I managed to snake along on some hard packed snow for about 150 yards and got within 60 yards of a bou, but it was wide open between us from the point so I tried to wait him out and see if he would come my way. Nope.
My buddy spotted some ptarmigan however and I managed to get in range of a couple birds. I picked one out and nailed him from about 20 yards.
We probably saw upwards of 300 caribou and a few fox and the flock of ptarmigan. Not bad for the middle of nowhere in 20 below temps. We stayed plenty warm at least, and got a good work out and some tiny little ptarmigan steaks that I' m going to grill up tonight. It was just nice to get out again!
04-07-2003, 12:51 PM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 2,568
RE: I was going through withdrawls, I finally went hunting last night.
Sounds like a great evening.
ABM, I turned down the job that was going to bring me to Alaska. I only regret it when I read hunting stories.
ABM, I turned down the job that was going to bring me to Alaska. I only regret it when I read hunting stories.
04-07-2003, 03:43 PM
#3
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Phoenixville, PA USA
Posts: 5,541
RE: I was going through withdrawls, I finally went hunting last night.
ABM, you make me so jealous. Hunting caribou in April, what a life. Although, you do have to put up with that -24 temp. BRRRRR! Good luck tagging another. I' ll be chasing longbeards in about a week.
04-07-2003, 09:32 PM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
Posts: 1,665
RE: I was going through withdrawls, I finally went hunting last night.
rocky, should of taken the offer. 
Bry, the cold isn' t bad if you dress right for it. The problem is staying dry. I had on four layers for pants and 4 layers for coat/top, a full head and face cloth with an ear band and wind proof liner gloves inside of a thicker outer glove. I had silk liner socks with thick poly socks over those, and regular hunting boots, but my feet stayed plenty warm. Hopefully if I go out next weekend I can get rid of one of those layers.
IL_BOW, I posted this thinking of you buddy. I should have some pictures of the ptarmigan in a month or so. I still have yet to get a digital camera.[&o]
Bry, the cold isn' t bad if you dress right for it. The problem is staying dry. I had on four layers for pants and 4 layers for coat/top, a full head and face cloth with an ear band and wind proof liner gloves inside of a thicker outer glove. I had silk liner socks with thick poly socks over those, and regular hunting boots, but my feet stayed plenty warm. Hopefully if I go out next weekend I can get rid of one of those layers.
IL_BOW, I posted this thinking of you buddy.
I should have some pictures of the ptarmigan in a month or so. I still have yet to get a digital camera.[&o]
04-08-2003, 10:41 AM
#7
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: North East Illinois
Posts: 140
RE: I was going through withdrawls, I finally went hunting last night.
C' mon guys. I dont do turkeys so I got 176 days to go til it opens here. 
[:-]
Maybe shave off about 15 of those if I get me a WI tag this year.
[:-]Maybe shave off about 15 of those if I get me a WI tag this year.
04-08-2003, 10:57 AM
#8
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Chatsworth IL USA
Posts: 5,012
RE: I was going through withdrawls, I finally went hunting last night.
I think you need to spend some of that moldy money on a cheap digital camera. Grab one on ebay or something. Don' t have to be the greatest, just something to post us some pictures.
04-08-2003, 02:47 PM
#9
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Blossvale, New York
Posts: 21,199
RE: I was going through withdrawls, I finally went hunting last night.
Rather than a camera... why don' t you invest in some snowshoes? Man, it' s so much easier navigating thigh high snow with some big feet on.
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