Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska DIY drop camp Brooks Range August 2017

Hi, first time poster here so be gentle with me.

My brother and I are heading to the Brooks Range on a DIY caribou hunt in mid to late August this summer. We're going to be dropped off around the Inyorurak Lakes in GMU26A. We're pretty well set on gear and gear advice and "loaded for bear" in the more literal sense. We're not thinking that the caribou migration is going to be in full swing yet and are figuring we're going to have to hike to go find them. We're kind of both committed to holding out for bulls until day 6 and if we're still empty handed, then we'll take a cow if one comes our way.

Has anyone here hunted this area that can share some specific info on what we should expect? We're wondering things like:

How much difficulty we'll have finding firewood?
What kind of fishing tackle should we bring?
What kind of fish can we expect to catch? (It looks like mostly land locked lakes and a few rivers in the area.)
What is the deal on requirements to have exposed rib cages on your carcasses in this area?
If we have the extra weight, is a packable raft worthwhile?
Are the odds for moose great enough in this area that we should pay the extra $150 for moose tags just in case?
Is it worthwhile to get a wolf tag and if you harvest a wolf do you keep the meat?

Any and all advice appreciated. Thanks!

Oh also, how well do Thermacells work in Alaska?

Thermocells work great!

I wish you good luck on your hunt. I've never hunted west of the Dalton Highway that far north but it wouldn't surprise me from what I've heard of the area for you to find caribou in the time frame you specified.

ADF&G has a fairly easy to use web site with the regulations for each area. There are no non-resident moose tags in unit 26 according to the 2016 regs. I checked and didn't find any requirement for bringing out bone-in meat or rib cages from 26. There is no requirement to salvage wolf meat. Whether to get a tag or not is your call. August wolves are not as nicely furred as they will be in later months.

Many areas of northwestern Alaska have sheefish but I am not familiar with them enough to say if your area will have them. Plan on grayling and char, they should both be in the area. Light tackle either fly or spinning will provide much fun. Grayling are best eaten fresh, they don't seem to hold up well to freezing or being on ice for long.

A packable raft maybe be fun and useful for fishing and ferrying meat across a lake.

Having never been in the area I can't say on the firewood. The area I hunt east of the Dalton and a similar latitude has zero firewood other than some small scrub willow.

ADF&G

Thanks for the feedback. We are really looking forward to it. We're flying in with Brooks Range Aviation and they say 38 of the 40 hunters they flew into unit 26A last year got bulls, so we like those odds.

I wouldn't eat a wolf, but I would shoot any I saw if you have the tag.

I do not see any trees on google earth in that area. But check with someone who has hunted the area for wood.

If you want firewood, you better fly it in. It would be a rather sporty hike to the closest tree

welcome to the 'fire, by the way.

Maybe there's a coal seam nearby.

Check out Silvertip Aviation as they offer both guided and unguided trips

Welcome to the fire, keep posting, you will learn a lot from the members here. There is a tremendous amount of information that you will learn.

My guess Is that you will see a few thousand caribou. Good to hold out for a good bull-you'll know them when you see them! Be prepared to see small clumps of bulls together, say three to several at a time.

Very good fishing in most of those lakes for Lake Trout. Take an outfit good for fish from a pound or two up to 8 or 10 pounds. #2 or 3 spinners and or 3/8th ounce spoons will work fine.

The only wood for burning will be around the lake shores and it will be small diameter (dead brush.) There will be enough for a couple of small fires.

Do get a tag for wolf...you will see several. IIRC the season for wolf starts on the 10th but check that out in the regs. Their white color will be what to key in on.

A packable raft may very well come in handy to cross a lake to get ahead of the small herds. You will get the idea after a day or so how the movement will be going, how much lead time will be needed for starting out to get ahead etc. A raft may very well make things happen by saving lots of time.

Thermocells work but do not forget head nets. They are light and inexpensive but not having a couple for each of you could really screw things up in a hurry, particularly when you are processing your game.

I would be surprised if you saw a moose there. Better chance of seeing a rogue Musk Ox I think...

None better eating than fat August caribou! Take moderately heavy to heavy, dense woven game bags, pepper, and/or acetic acid/vinegar for meat care. An extra set of bags is not amiss for change out of bloody, torn, or wet ones. Several light weight/ cheap poly tarps 8x10 are very handy for ground sheets, dressing out, rain collection/protection, etc. You should take a high performance cooking burner of some sort. Even if wood is available it may well be wet, or inconvenient/ slow to use. Water filter of course- not needed if boiling, or catching rain off tent or tarp. Another thing I like to have is a good thermos, not only on the stalk but just to have quick hot water first thing in morn or return to camp especially in bad weather. A little " luxury" goes a long way. Good luck.

Striker Overly is a guide near there. They charge a set amount for the first trophy bull caribou, then they charge almost the same amount for the second trophy bull caribou and then again for the final third. Look and find out what is the different between a truly once in a lifetime champ trophy bull and a keyboard commando lesser bull.

Got to disagree...

Most do not recognize a truly good bull until they are dressing a dink and the big one walks by. Everyone wants to kill the first "16 pointer" they see.

Pull a hard copy of this advice and do it... all of it.

Oh yeah, beerhunter is dead on for the rest.

Caribou will be in velvet. If you are planning to strip it before mounting, do it ASAP. Take a bottle of peroxide to wipe the blood off the bone, or leave it on to stain/darken for character, but later dying may turn out spotty. The antlers can later be dyed (they are already died... first spelling ) I used KIWI shoe polish on one of mine, for OK "browning", but spotty.

I haven't actually used peroxide myself, but thought of it later. Just a thought. Have no idea if it would work better or not. Might be a difference in bone density... Too?

"Most do not recognize a truly good bull until they are dressing a dink and the big one walks by. Everyone wants to kill the first "16 pointer" they see."

HEY! Good thing I'm primarily a meat hunter or I might have been pissed after killing that 3 year old.

The really funny part was the Dachshund nose-tracking that big bull for nearly a half mile ahead of us while we were packing meat. Uphill. He never did see the bull, never over 300 yards off, sometimes at about 100. Sometimes trotting a bit, then stopping, sometimes just walking. (How did he know the tag was already punched????) The bull kept looking back with this funny look....As if to say, " I've been trailed by bears, and chased by wolves, but WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?"

We got up to the ridge-top trail, with the bull standing in the trail about 200 yards away, and my 15 year old son said "You know, Dad - We might have done this all wrong." Smart kid.

A few days later when I was up retrieving camp ( 8 miles pack in), I took a dozen pictures of that bull at about 50 yards. With no film in the old Pentax SLR/200 mm telephoto. Grrrr!

For getting it wrong, I invent new stuff all the time!