Caribou Hunt

blast and cast · 12-03-2003, 12:40 PM

I am begining to think about doing a drop camp caribou hunt in the future. I am looking for any drop camp experiences- good or bad. Locations, companies, costs etc.

Joey

Grantspastor · 12-03-2003, 12:59 PM

Illiamna Air Taxi in Alaska could put you in a good location. The ONE thing I recommend after shooting many caribou is that you spend a lot of time looking at pictures, and learning how to judge Caribou Racks. To the inexperienced eye, all bulls look big. In a good area you should be able to hold out for a trophy bull. A drop-off Caribou hunt in Alaska is very do-able without a lot of experience. Take good equipment and do your homework. I would think cost should run about $2000/person. That should cover all flights, bush planes, tags and licenses. It would not include the cost to ship your meat and racks back to the lower 48. Groups of three are usually best because you can fit yourselves and all your gear into a DeHavilland Beaver on floats. Tim LaPorte at Illiamna Air Taxi has always been a straight-up guy with me in many past trips.

Rusty · 12-03-2003, 01:23 PM

Grantspastor has made some excellent points and I can't add too much more except that I do have another option regarding a drop camp air service.

I have used Alaska Air West out of Kenai (907) 776-5147 for my drop camps on Caribou and Moose. The Brewer Brothers are TOP NOTCH guys with a long family history of Alaskan Bush Plane experience.

I did extremely well using their experience and services and would recommend them to anyone. Although I hunted a number of years ago using their drop camp services, I think the price has not not changed that much if Grantspastor's price is correct.

My $.02 worth!

Rusty

[ 12-03-2003, 05:54 PM: Message edited by: Rusty ]

bassin · 12-03-2003, 01:37 PM

Oh boy that sounds fun. I would love to do a trip like that and will be watching the replys on this one.
I shoot Black powder, and would like a moose and caribou hunt.

Grantspastor · 12-03-2003, 01:46 PM

If you do a Moose trip (more expensivebecause of the tag) I'll show you how to build and use a sure-fire coffee can/shoestring Moose call.

MountainLion84 · 12-03-2003, 03:25 PM

These guys are usually at the sportmans show. I do not know if they are the same outfit that Grantspastor was referring too. I am kind of thinking about a trip myself someday.
http://www.airguides.com/

Gun Rod Bow · 12-03-2003, 03:48 PM

Illiamna Air Taxi and Illiamna Air Guides are two different outfits. I've used Mark Kneen at Illiamna Air guides and would deffinitely recomend him.

REEL HANDEL · 12-03-2003, 03:52 PM

I have been to the nw territorys in 94 to hunt caribou full guided hunt with outfitter Fred Webb. very good hunt 1st class. My hunting parture and I both got BC class caribou.I would recommend Fred any day for this hunt. It was about 3500 at that time 2 caribou. great hunt.

willametteriveroutlaw · 12-04-2003, 02:04 PM

If your going to an area with a 2 caribou limit, I would reccomend getting a Moose tag and Caribout tag, because you can always fill the moose tag with a second caribou. Bring extra supplies, a 5 day hunt can easily turn into an 7 or 8 day hunt if inclement weather shows up. Look at alot of bulls, don't shoot a single bull because without another animal to compare it too, your bull will get ground shrinkage, and then camp shrinkage again. Learn how to bone caribou and plan for meat storage.. It can be quite warm in August, early september.. Putting your meat in meat bags and then the meat bags in thick black trach bags and in a cold stream will go along way. (meat will still age and be rather tasty) The bulls are generally best eating in late august before they shed their velvet, when they start rutting they taste like ________. If you have anymore questions feel free to email me.

reeldick · 12-04-2003, 02:38 PM

Instead of accross the inlet, you could check out hunting the "Forty-Mile" herd out of TOK. There are also some large moose in that area. Call Forty-Mile Air Service in TOK, Alaska. There are three brothers that run it. They fly you in to the top of one of the mountains in two seater cubs. They can land those things anywhere. It's amazing. You are limited to the weight of your gear but that shouldn't be a problem. The Forty-Mile herd has been growing and it could be an easy hunt.

FISHNAKED · 12-04-2003, 03:31 PM

my recomendation is Van Hartly Branch-River air.
4 of us went in sept 92' all of us killed verry good bulls. they fly out of king salmon. we wern't just flown out. the piolet flew until we started seeing some quality bulls. then landed about a day ahead of them. if you want to see the quality of the bulls look at fishermans marine in oregon city, mine is the one closest to the window behind the fish finders,

and mine was the smallest one we shot. :grin: got out of bed the first morning,and shot him almost from the tent.in the future i think i'll wait at least till the next day.

Bubzilla · 12-04-2003, 04:03 PM

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game puts out a free booklet titled "Hunt Alaska" that is very helpful. In addition to providing some really basic information on fly out, guided and unguided hunting, as well as costs and what to prepare for, it has quite a few contact numbers and such. If I remember correctly they send the booklet along with their synoposis; which should be one of the first things you get at any rate--preferably before you even begin calling guides or air taxis.

Also, there are some really in-depth books on do-it-yourself Alaska hunts available. You might want to look into them as well. Some are mentioned in the booklet provided by Alaska Fish and Game.

As far as costs are concerned, you have to remember that you have certain fixed costs, i.e., tags and licenses, and other costs which you can shop around for the best deal, e.g., airfare, air taxi fees, etc. Tags are not cheap--I think they were 350.00 each last time I checked (2001). On top of that, you have license costs--just under $100.00 I think. And, airfare is generally going to run in the neighborhood of $350.00 PDX to Anchorage only. Right there would be $1150.00. So it pays to shop around for as much as you can.

Remember too that not all air taxis are the same in what they offer or how they calculate their fee. That is, you can book flights by the hour or for the whole trip. You may have to pay extra for them to "check-up" on you during your hunt. They may offer ground landing capability, or water landings only. Some permit quite a lot of additional poundage per hunter--for gear and such--while many have very small limits. All of these things are important in determing where and how you'll hunt, and also how much it will cost.

Also, some units do not permit non-residents to bone-out their kills. The rule has resulted from waste in these units--which are among the most popular for caribou. So you'll have to check about that in your chosen unit as well. Being in a place where you have to pack back quarters, and then arrange for their flight back to civilization is an issue you'll have to be prepared for in some units. At least that's how it was the last time I checked.

Here's the link for the Alask Department of Fish and Game.

Alaska

Good luck!

Grantspastor · 12-04-2003, 05:11 PM

Bubzilla makes a good point about air taxi operators. Some charge by the hour...some charge a fee for a hunt. As a general rule, you'll be better off paying for a bush plane by the hour.
You'll notice that none of the air taxi operators listed are in Anchorage...rather they are closer to the final hunting destination. It will always be cheaper to fly via commercial airlines to the airport closest to your hunting destination...then fly the rest of the way via bush plane.