rrules

Terry, did you have to apply for tags for Antelope in Wyoming or can you just buy a license when you arrive?

TerryM

You have to apply for tags. Buck tags were $225.00 and doe tags were $60.00. You can sometimes buy left over doe tags over the counter but you have to draw a buck tag. Draw deadlines are all in the Wyoming DNR website. Seems it was March for antelope.

liquidorange

TN_HUNTER im just calling it how me and my family got treated JUST LIKE YOU by northern caribou adventures and DO-NUT 2 years in a row! im 38 years old and taking my experience to the masses.im sorry to hear about your friends emergency but you said yourself there was a blizzard and unless your buddy personally was in a life and death situation i would not blame the MIRAGE for not flying.WHY DIDNT DO-NUT DRIVE YOUR BUDDY TO RADISSON? from the fancy vehicle i saw him driving he seemed to have a decked out rig for getting somewhere more quickly someplace in a bad weather situation. the only guy i delt with was some guy ron and he was no help.im aware that many have had a great time using this outfitter but that seems to be only when the times are good and the caribou are in the area. i didnt see any of there guides on the road helping out.i understand there are many hunters up there so i guess i loose. i didnt pay for a guide so im not gonna complain about that. there roadside trailers are fine but unless you come up there with your own big group they will shove you in with 8 other guys . now you have to worry about keeping an eye on your gear and the 2 or 3 guys who stay up all night partying,smoking up a storm, and getting into arguments not to mention the HEADACHE SMELL OF THE OIL HEATERS.THERE ARE NO WALLS OR ROOMS OR PRIVACY AT ALL! JUST ONE BIG ROOM THAT ALL 12 HUNTERS SLEEP AND SNORE IN. i made myself a promise when i got back from hunting with northern caribou adventures and DO-NUT i would tell my story and give the thumbs down. i didnt intend to make this a MIRAGE versus northern caribou. i never stayed at the mirage.I WILL BE LOOKING INTO AFFORDABLE CARIBOU ADVENTURES. THEY SENT ME A TAPE A COUPLE YEARS AGO. THEY HAVE A TRAILER ADVERTISMENT OUTSIDE CABELAS STORE IN HAMBURG P.A. so im gonna look them up again. i think ive made my point. i feel that some of the posters that debated me on this type hunt didnt experience the ugly side of the hunting up there and think they know it all. its funny how i told all that if the caribou arrived early it could be tough hunting later in december. all i heard was re-lax its there winter home area. I TOLD YOU SO

TerryM

I answered as many questions as I could based on my experience up there and at least 36 other trips from close friends over the last 5 years. Most people seem to appreciate my info and it seems tend to enjoy thier trips. You seem frustrated that you went up there and did not hit the migration bang on. It happens and it happened to me and also to my brother in law. I would guess you took the lack of game out on Donat and he likely wrote you off as the type of guy who just can't be pleased. Its fair chase hunting and they are a migratory animal. Why would they offer hunts into March if the caribou were gone by December? And yes that area is a winter yard area and once they arrive there they are in for the winter. They get harder to see as they stay in the thick bush and it becomes a deep hunt on snowmobiles. I never claimed that Mirage was not the nicest outfit, but he is almost twice as expensive as his competition. I would rather go twice than have a pool table and cafeteria. So far nobody got skunked to the best of my knowledge and if you read my posts i emphasized last week of Nov and first of December.
You are an unhappy person. Relax

TerryM

Try explosylva.com
They have an excellent reputation and have been in business for many years.

TN_Hunter

Here is the deal: It was the 16th of Nov. and the caribou were just STARTING to get there. Mirage has THREE choppers and they were WEARING THEM OUT flying hunters out to the north east to kill caribou. It DID snow 6" that night, cant blame em for that, BUT we told them we would wait till the weather broke and THEN pay them whatever they wanted to fly him to Radisson. NO DEAL, NO WAY. I figure they thought they were making more money flying hunters out than we would have paid. WRONG AGAIN. The caribou got there that night and the choppers sat idle for the remainder of our time up there. I like to think the good Lord had something to do with that. As I drove out I stopped at one of the Quebec Hydro airports along the transtiaga rd. and asked if it was possible to fly him out of there. This was the one about 125 km back the rd, next to the village of Sakami. The guy there told us if we would go to the village and get the nurse there to write it as an emergency, he could fly out of there NO PROBLEM. The village was only 10km, but we quickly decided that it would be just about as quick to go on to Radisson and fly out on a commercial flight there. Let me add that EVERYONE UP THERE WITH THE EXCEPTION OF MIRAGE bent over backwards to help. We got to the airport at Radisson and when I walked up to the desk there a guy whose english was marginal said that all flights were booked but wait and talk to another person. he returned with an ABSOLUTE DOLL to help us! Im telling you I have no idea what this young lady was doing there, I would have PROUDLY brought her home with me, but my wife would surely object! Anyway, when I explained the situation to her she made some calls and the next thing I knew he was leaving there on the next flight which was in 30 minutes!
The whole point is that we all have had bad experiences. Tell em once and unless someone asks, let it go. Not getting a husband out to his dying wife is a little bit different than not dragging a caribou DOWNHILL to the road IMHO.

BTBowhunter

Just got back last night empty handed.
We arrived late Saturday afternoon and ran for the hunting zone only to get there about dark. We saw hundreds of Caribou on our way in from 381 all the way to the LG-4 airport. For the next three days, all we saw were three running across Laforge dam in the no hunting zone. The only hunters who brought any decent animals into Nouchimi were either Quebec residents hunting 22B or guys that took snowmobiles WAY in.

We would have rented two from mirage (our borrowed one broke) but we also wound up losing most of our second day to an alternator that crapped out KM 460 or so on our first day. Happily the dealer in Radisson had one shipped in and we were able to get the truck fixed for the ride home.

Even though we stayed at Nouchimi, the folks at Mirage were great to us.
The snowmobile rental guy actually scrounged up two batteries to loan to us so we could get my buddies truck out to Radisson. We left them with the dealer so he could pick them up on his next trip to town. He wouldnt charge us anything. The mechanic at Cray construction company 20 or so miles from Nouchimi was great too. He load tested and recharged our batteries (2 cause its a diesel) and sold us a used one (all he had)for a reasonable price. We wound up driving out on just the batteries with no alternator. Having the loaners was a huge relief.

We just hit the timing a bit wrong. I think the herd got hammered in 2B anywhere near the roads and simply moved on due to the heavy pressure.



Hunting is hunting and we just hit it unlucky. I will not go back to Nouchimi though for a few reasons:

The rooms were fine and the food was great but it ended there.

Most of the staff was ok but the owner spoke to us only when spoken to. I didnt expect to be guided or baby sat but in the evening of our second day after dinner, I walked into the main lobby where the owner was huddled with some of his French customers talking about where someone had spotted a new herd of around 300 that had moved in. When he saw us coming he lowered his head, lowered his voice and started speaking French. Luckily, one of those customers showed us the spot on the map after the owner left the room. We headed there the next day only to find out that every one had gone way back in on snowmobiles after that herd and there wasnt enough time to go rent them to get to the caribou.

Even without that little slap in the face by the owner, I wont stay an hour from the edge of the zone again either.

Nouchimi also failed to tell several groups, including us, that we had to check in at 381 with the game wardens BEFORE coming in. It was just dumb luck that we parked at 381 close enough to the building that a warden walked out and told us we had to check in before going on up.

The folks at Mirage were very cheerful, freindly and helpful and even gave us suggestions on where to maybe find some stragglers since the main herd was gone. I suspect they take more than a few customers from Nouchimi and some of the others that way.

With Mirage right at the zone, I'll be staying there next time. I believe that we'll go a bit earlier in the year as well.

AS far as any and all the information I got here, it was a huge help. We had no problems with my truck because I took all your warnings seriously. Some of the other various pointers I got here made kept a merely disappointing hunt from being an all out disaster!

Oh BTW our lowest temp was -11f and highest while hunting was +4f.
The day we left it was a balmy +12f in the morning. The snow was about thigh deep and the snowshoes were lifesavers.

A new herd is expected to be in 22B sometime Saturday or Sunday according to Mirages daily flights to locate the caribou for their hunters

TerryM

BT,
I feel bad for ya buddy thats a long frustrating haul. It happened to me and also to my brother in law 4 years ago.The difference is Nouchimi offered them to return 10 days later when the bou were in for free. They took them up on it and all limited on the second trip. You should ask them about that deal but it sounds like its going downhill fast at Nouchimi. We didn't have to check in at 381 when I went, that is new. If you search back to my early posts you will see I warned you that they supply you a room thats it, not to expect anything else from those lazy indians.

liquidorange

TERRY M you can say what you want but i was right about the problems of the migration arriving early. i only expect what i payed for . you make it seem like the MIRAGE is a country club. it looks certainly nicer but bottom line they have shown to treat there customers and people who inquire about there hunts with respect compared to the others. i even called and got emails back from them a couple weeks ago in the peak season because i wanted to go next year or possibly this year . they surley didnt have to drum up any more business but kept in touch and got right back in touch with me. i have gone on many trips and stayed in run down logger cabins in MAINE and old fish camp shacks in northern ONTARIO and mouse houses in MONTANA. your not the only guy that can rough it so i dont know why you keep bringing up the MIRAGE thing.AGAIN IN MY FIRST YEAR UP THERE I DIDNT GET A CHANCE TO SEE A CARIBOU AND HAD NO CHANCE IN THE 3 DAYS. THEY COULD HAVE ANSWERED THE PHONE TO GIVE ME AN OPTION.IF you want to be a sucker and not take charge of you money and your hunt then good luck to you when simple things dont add up that means the outfitter might be taking advantage of you. its up to you to sort things out. in my case in my opinion its a hunter volume thing they could care less about the hunter or the hunt at northern caribou. I JUST DIDNT GET THAT FEELING FROM DEALING WITH THE MIRAGE.

TerryM

I really don't think any camp up there is "roughing it". Anytime you have a heated cabin of any type thats far from roughing it. Look I am not dumping on Mirage, never have. Anybody who has seen the place knows its the nicest up there. What I am saying is when you compare the prices its almost twice the money. I also said that when you go to Nouchimi outpost camps (which is what we did) the only time you see an Nouchimi employee is when you pay your money on the way in and register your bou on the way out. As for the herd being gone through what you are not realizing is that its not necessarily a continuous non stop flow. I have family that got skunked and returned 10 days later to Mecca when another herd moved in. They are migratory and there are hundreds of different herds that come in to this area. Most camps don't accept reservations until the end of March when the season closes. Any way none of this matters to me as from what I read here it sounds like this area is getting too commercial and crowded and the law is extorting money from non residents. Nothing like it was only 2 years ago last time I was up there. Hell the wardens were down right pleasant and steered us to the herds last time I was up. I even saw a game warden warn a guy who shot right from the road, no ticket just a warning. Obviously no longer the case. One day we were pulled over to the side of the road heating up some coffee on a propane stove on the tailgate of the truck and they stopped and shot the breeze with us , had a coffee and moved on. Doubt if I will be back there for a while. Its a shame because we had a blast up there.