I think most of those heavy into expensive equipment are into toys and have them no matter what. "Hunting" with them is a bonus. I suspect those boys in their 20's and 30's I met are as much into tearing up the countryside all summer long on their ATVs as they are during hunting season.
My 4 loads of backpacked caribou off the mountain sure seemed heavier than 25# .......each...... My wife's 4 loads were not in that weight class either, being only a few lbs lighter than mine. Someone must not be salvaging all the meat? True, I brought out the leg-bones and, against my wishes, the antlers. Now antler is useless weight for the most part! Of the 75 or so caribou I have taken over the years, not one produced only 25# of meat. But then, I don't shoot 3 month old calves, which would undoubtedly be top-notch eating.
Actually, going in with low expectations, I told my wife if the first caribou we had a chance at were a cow and calf, we would take both and call it good. That quickly changed!
As for rutted up caribou, just don't shoot bulls - especially big bulls - in late September thru about Nov 10. Problem solved. August caribou thru mid September, properly taken care of, are excellent eating. Those after the rut are edible, but not nearly so good - which is why Eskimos shoot cows all winter long, for the most part.
Sure it's a zoo up there, but where I was, it was very well self-regulated it seemed. We'll likely do it again if the critters are there. With ATV. 50 years of backpacking meat out of the hills is enough. I bet at 71 I was the oldest one up there, and my wife probably the 2nd. Two of maybe 6 walk-ins.... We still have it!
Looking to get rid of it.........
Costs? Diesel money RT Soldotna to Steese was under $300, for a couple hundred pounds of now processed excellent meat. And a nice trip - what does one get from a "vacation" ?- except bills. Big bills. So if it better bobs your cork, just consider it a cheap 5 day vacation for two (the dogs needed the outing) with a bonus of high quality meat and a little needed exercise.
A bit more money for vacuum bags, and that's it. I already had the equipment, including the 4 wheeler that we didn't take along this time.... but will next time if any. No hunt expense there, except perhaps amortized over years and trips.
Try buying beef for $2/lb!
Not to say that's what those other folks are doing on this "hunt".
But it was a damned good slaughter.!
I'm sure if you struck out we would of never heard/read about it. Been $300 down the tubes.. we went the opposite direction towards boundary, we knew only pockets of caribou. It was worth a shot to avoid the chit show on the Steese. I was into this trip about $400..
Oh, you would have heard bout it..... have you checked my position on GMU23 "pregnant cows only season" , when we were in Kotz?
If there is one thing I am, it's verbose..... and opinionated.
Put a positive spin on it, 79 - It was us and just 5,000 of our closest associates up there.
Day two - 80% or better were gone, on my ridge anyway. There was myself and my wife, two guys on one ATV in the morning, who disappeared, going God knows where, not back when we left in pm, one walk-in in the am that we never saw again, a party of 6 on two Rangers who filled their remaining tag with a cow as we got to them, , and two (one with son) in the late afternoon, who put a cap on our hunt.
While we were at the camper after our first trip down with my wife's caribou, these two guys, with a 7 year old son pulled into the pullout and asked if we minded if they parked there. Polite and diffident! Skipping a bunch of info, turned out the father was a 30 something MP in FBKs born and raised in Alaska, but had never killed a big game animal. He was a bit gimped up with shoulder and foot problems, but his best buddy was along as support. And packer if it came to that. My impression was that neither knew crap about hunting...
We explained what we knew about "our" ridge, that it was a good mile up to alpine, and that their plan to hike up a half mile or so looking for caribou wasn't likely to be successful with 20 yard visibility, despite fresh caribou tracks in the ATV trail when we came down. (We saw one on our way up, later, but no chance for a shot...) As we left for our second trip up the ridge to get the rest of Cheryl's caribou, they were right behind us, carrying only a rifle. I advised them to carry their pack frames as well- light going up, even lighter coming down if unsuccessful, but a real bitch to have to go back and fetch if they made a kill. (Turned out later they only had one pack-frame between them). They turned back to get it, while we went ahead.
We had relayed half the caribou down to timberline from C's kill site, but I'd forgotten to cut out the jawbone, so had to go back and get that, along with the liver, and tongue, for a neighbor who eats guts....
. OK- I ate liver the first two nights home as well. I like it fresh, but not after it is frozen, and a couple times a year is plenty. With onions , biquuits from scratch, and gravy of course. Also the only time i will eat the latter...
Cheryl waited at the cache site with the 5 mo old Wiener, while Honey Half-lab and I went up to the kill site.
Coming down, I saw our MP and his son off trail a couple hundred yards, afew hundred yards above our cache and they waved me over. They had decided to hike to timberline after all. He was ecstatic, having just killed a probably 3 year old bull with double shovels. His friend Cris, who I met just above our cache site, where they had left their frame with Cheryl, was equally hyped.
And I wasn't that far behind them - for them. They were on cloud - well, about 18.
Of course, I didn't have to pack it all out, and I didn't think they were going to make it all in one trip, with just one pack frame, or all that day yet. I don't think they were physically or mentally tough enough to pack out a100# or more load in one trip, but I didn't tell them that, and i'm pretty sure they weren't going to leave anything behind tho, novices tho they were.
There are some things better learned just for yourself, and as I said, that was a real cap to our own trip. Had we not had our own meat to take care of, I'd have helped them out with the dress out and pack out just to be sure they got it right. We were getting a bit gimped ourselves....
i hope the "and now the work starts" didn't cause waste or turn them off to hunting, but I suppose I'll never know.
They were a bit overextended imo, but at their age, when wasn't I ?
