Success..My first caribou..first big game with a bow.
11-03-2003, 11:21 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 259
Success..My first caribou..first big game with a bow.
I spent the last 4 days caribou hunting. 1300 miles of driving. Very little sleep.
Lots and lots of running in full winter gear and impossible stalks in crusty snow added up to a very challenging hunt. The weather was amazingly warm, right at 30*F and windy the whole time.
We hunted further north on the other side of the Brooks Range on Saturday. My buddy Curtis and I managed to split a small herd up on the road and used the fact they kept trying to hook back up against them. This area requires hunting a minimum of 1/4 mile off the road and the darn caribou kept moving parellel to the road at 200 yards for most of the day. Finally we got out in front of them in an area we could shoot them. We hid in a field of boulders and waited for them to arrive. They arrived and nearly ran me over. I couldn' t make a move and had to come to my knees and draw in full view of them. The bull I wanted looked to be at 50 yards. He stopped and I shot. My arrow sailed 3 inches over his back. After running nearly two miles through the day to get that shot I was severely disapointed. I shot my range finder to a rock near where he had been and it read 25 yds. Man did I blow it. It was a totally alien world to me up there. Featureless snow and HUGE wide open country definately fooled me.
The next day we decided to hunt in a forested area we had seen some tracks about 120 miles to the south. Plus, it was headed in the right direction getting us closer to home. We were also hunting for wolves, foxes and wolverines so we stopped at likely places along the road to varmint call. One of the places was an old mining road that went way off the highway. On our way in we spooked a herd of about 20 caribou...the hunt was on again. Unfortunately the crunchy snow that had plagued us all weekend was WORSE here. Nothing we could do would put us closer than 100 yards of this group. After a half dozen failed stalks, and fruitless attempts at driving them to my friend..and vice versa, the herd disappeared. We broke for lunch at the truck and I spyed them about 2 miles out. I glassed them and noticed they were headed right at us. Curtis decided that they were going to cross the mining trail about a half mile from us and took off running. I set up behind a stump pile and waited patiently. My decision paid off and I spotted the lead cow heading my way about 15 minutes later. The wind was just right and the sun was right behind me. Quickly I ranged the nearest trees and mentally marked them at 15, 25, 35 and 50 yards. As luck would have it they held up out at 50 yards. The funny thing about caribou is they never quit moving...they walk and eat faster than I can run. As luck would have it, the lead cow chose a path where they had to step down into a creek. That stopped the whole line of 8 animals. Their attention was on the obstical as I rose to my knees and put the 50 yard pin on the only animal that wasn' t obscured at that point. All those hours of practice paid off. The release was subconscious and I kept my eye right on the spot I shot at the whole time. At that range, though, I couldn' t see the arrow path, nor the hit. The sound was unmistakeable though ...shhhhunk... A HIT!!! He turned and kind of jogged off as the rest of the animals milled around trying to figure out where that sound came from. I hunkered down behind my cover and glassed the bull until he disappeared. He showed no signs of being hit, and at that range I could see no signs of blood. I was starting to worry. After about 10 minutes I could see them 400 yards off, but couldn' t identify my bull in the group. I made my way over to where he was originally standing and looked for my arrow. It was definately lost in the snow and there was no blood. Dejected I started off following their tracks. Suddenly after 20 yards I saw blood that looked like someone had spilled a quart of red paint. I marked the spot and moved forward about 20 more yards following the blood which was trailing off. I was getting worried again when I spied him behind a spruce tree 20 ft away, dead as a door nail. He died just like the photo below. I double lunged him perfectly right where I had aimed.
This is my first big game animal with a bow. I' ve been shooting archery for a long time, but this year I had really gotten serious about bowhunting. Through the years I have killed many rabbits, squirrels and grouse. I just couldn' t connect on something bigger. Countless days of bear and moose hunting were fruitless. I was really beginning to doubt my abilities as a hunter. This bull may not be a giant, but he will always be cherished. He was the product of a great long weekend hunting with a childhood buddy that I haven' t spent much time with in 10 years and an incredible amount of physical exercise and sneakiness to obtain. I' m still all smiles.
I was shooting a GT7595 tipped with a Magnus 100 grain two blade. Complete pass through, broke one rib...arrow never recovered.
BTW Whisker Bisquits are deadly way beyond 20 yards..LOL... Special thanks to Probow1 and Fastpassthrough for building a fantastic bow...the Newberry B1
Lots and lots of running in full winter gear and impossible stalks in crusty snow added up to a very challenging hunt. The weather was amazingly warm, right at 30*F and windy the whole time.
We hunted further north on the other side of the Brooks Range on Saturday. My buddy Curtis and I managed to split a small herd up on the road and used the fact they kept trying to hook back up against them. This area requires hunting a minimum of 1/4 mile off the road and the darn caribou kept moving parellel to the road at 200 yards for most of the day. Finally we got out in front of them in an area we could shoot them. We hid in a field of boulders and waited for them to arrive. They arrived and nearly ran me over. I couldn' t make a move and had to come to my knees and draw in full view of them. The bull I wanted looked to be at 50 yards. He stopped and I shot. My arrow sailed 3 inches over his back. After running nearly two miles through the day to get that shot I was severely disapointed. I shot my range finder to a rock near where he had been and it read 25 yds. Man did I blow it. It was a totally alien world to me up there. Featureless snow and HUGE wide open country definately fooled me.
The next day we decided to hunt in a forested area we had seen some tracks about 120 miles to the south. Plus, it was headed in the right direction getting us closer to home. We were also hunting for wolves, foxes and wolverines so we stopped at likely places along the road to varmint call. One of the places was an old mining road that went way off the highway. On our way in we spooked a herd of about 20 caribou...the hunt was on again. Unfortunately the crunchy snow that had plagued us all weekend was WORSE here. Nothing we could do would put us closer than 100 yards of this group. After a half dozen failed stalks, and fruitless attempts at driving them to my friend..and vice versa, the herd disappeared. We broke for lunch at the truck and I spyed them about 2 miles out. I glassed them and noticed they were headed right at us. Curtis decided that they were going to cross the mining trail about a half mile from us and took off running. I set up behind a stump pile and waited patiently. My decision paid off and I spotted the lead cow heading my way about 15 minutes later. The wind was just right and the sun was right behind me. Quickly I ranged the nearest trees and mentally marked them at 15, 25, 35 and 50 yards. As luck would have it they held up out at 50 yards. The funny thing about caribou is they never quit moving...they walk and eat faster than I can run. As luck would have it, the lead cow chose a path where they had to step down into a creek. That stopped the whole line of 8 animals. Their attention was on the obstical as I rose to my knees and put the 50 yard pin on the only animal that wasn' t obscured at that point. All those hours of practice paid off. The release was subconscious and I kept my eye right on the spot I shot at the whole time. At that range, though, I couldn' t see the arrow path, nor the hit. The sound was unmistakeable though ...shhhhunk... A HIT!!! He turned and kind of jogged off as the rest of the animals milled around trying to figure out where that sound came from. I hunkered down behind my cover and glassed the bull until he disappeared. He showed no signs of being hit, and at that range I could see no signs of blood. I was starting to worry. After about 10 minutes I could see them 400 yards off, but couldn' t identify my bull in the group. I made my way over to where he was originally standing and looked for my arrow. It was definately lost in the snow and there was no blood. Dejected I started off following their tracks. Suddenly after 20 yards I saw blood that looked like someone had spilled a quart of red paint. I marked the spot and moved forward about 20 more yards following the blood which was trailing off. I was getting worried again when I spied him behind a spruce tree 20 ft away, dead as a door nail. He died just like the photo below. I double lunged him perfectly right where I had aimed.
This is my first big game animal with a bow. I' ve been shooting archery for a long time, but this year I had really gotten serious about bowhunting. Through the years I have killed many rabbits, squirrels and grouse. I just couldn' t connect on something bigger. Countless days of bear and moose hunting were fruitless. I was really beginning to doubt my abilities as a hunter. This bull may not be a giant, but he will always be cherished. He was the product of a great long weekend hunting with a childhood buddy that I haven' t spent much time with in 10 years and an incredible amount of physical exercise and sneakiness to obtain. I' m still all smiles.
I was shooting a GT7595 tipped with a Magnus 100 grain two blade. Complete pass through, broke one rib...arrow never recovered.
BTW Whisker Bisquits are deadly way beyond 20 yards..LOL... Special thanks to Probow1 and Fastpassthrough for building a fantastic bow...the Newberry B1
11-03-2003, 11:49 AM
#3
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Omaha NE USA
Posts: 261
RE: Success..My first caribou..first big game with a bow.
Congrats on a real trophy. I lived in AK for 16 years and did only gun hunting for bear, moose and caribou. I picked up bowhunting once I relocated to WI and would love to go back and get another bear, caribou or moose with a bow.
I truly envy your accomplishment because of its difficulty compared to my whitetail hunting from a tree stand.
I truly envy your accomplishment because of its difficulty compared to my whitetail hunting from a tree stand.
11-03-2003, 06:00 PM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
Posts: 1,665
RE: Success..My first caribou..first big game with a bow.
Congrats Doug! I didn' t realize you were up here. I' ve been in Deadhorse all week, did you make it this far north?
Good looking bull! That crunchy snow made it tough, but I managed to get my one and only stalk to work out, just was in the right place at the right time. Nothing like good old luck on your side.
Couldn' t of asked for better weather for the week too. Was it clear down there? I was hoping to get a better look at the northern lights this week, but it got cloudy north of pump 2 over the weekend.
What do you think of the 1/4 mile?
Good looking bull! That crunchy snow made it tough, but I managed to get my one and only stalk to work out, just was in the right place at the right time. Nothing like good old luck on your side.
Couldn' t of asked for better weather for the week too. Was it clear down there? I was hoping to get a better look at the northern lights this week, but it got cloudy north of pump 2 over the weekend.
What do you think of the 1/4 mile?
11-03-2003, 06:19 PM
#7
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 259
RE: Success..My first caribou..first big game with a bow.
I think that the 1/4 mile rule after Oct 1st SUCKS...LOL
I much preferred hunting on the south side where there were trees. It was sunny all day Sunday which made it really nice. I also like the fact that the 1/4 mile rule isn' t in effect in Unit 25.
I made it as far north as mile 295 but it was getting dark and we headed back south to spend the night at Coldfoot.
Hopefully someday we will meet. I will be back hunting the Grayling lake area next year in Nov. most likely for 9 days this time.
I much preferred hunting on the south side where there were trees. It was sunny all day Sunday which made it really nice. I also like the fact that the 1/4 mile rule isn' t in effect in Unit 25.
I made it as far north as mile 295 but it was getting dark and we headed back south to spend the night at Coldfoot.
Hopefully someday we will meet. I will be back hunting the Grayling lake area next year in Nov. most likely for 9 days this time.
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