Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game AK Caribou - AZ Guys Do Good

When SU35 (AKA Bob) and I drew tags for the Nelchina Caribou hunt as non-residents, we had no idea what the odds were. Turns out they were long indeed, but the guys from the desert did well

Very well considering we almost bagged the hunt before it started. More on that later. First, some highlights, as well as a huge Thank You to some friends that made the hunt happen. Foremost is my sister, who has lived in Anchorage for a few years and hosted many an adventure, and occasionally a misadventure, as a lifetime dream was fulfilled when I started visiting the Last Great Place a lot. Mad thanks also to Sitka Deer and his close relative, CWH2 and KKAlaska, and a bunch of locals that were always helpful. When you get a tag in Alaska, it seems like everyone wants you to score.

We allowed a few days before and after the hunt to take care of incidentals, and it was a very wise move. Our flight arrived at 2 AM and we made it to bed by 4. The next day SU35 got a call from a buddy in Wasilla, and we headed over for dinner at his house. We hadn't been there 15 minutes when his phone rang:

"Yeah, I can help you. It may have to be tomorrow though. We have guests for dinner." Covers phone with hand and says to Bob "He's got a grizzly down and wants help skinning it." Bob looks at me. I look at Bob. "We're going to skin that bear now," we said together. We had a nice dinner and did just that. The caller had pushed the bear off a moose gut pile that he didn't know was there, and whacked it good with an 8MM Rem. Mag, which did a very nice job.



The boar had beautiful fur and we guessed him at 400 lbs. I'm no good with square feet, but the bear looked big to a black bear hunter like me.

15 hours after landing in Anchorage, we had our hands in a grizzly (or brown bear, who's counting), and were back home again at 4 AM. We needed to sleep in the next morning and did so.

My dear sister had acquired a 98 Jeep Cherokee. After a couple trips to the shop, it turned out to be a keeper, needing mainly a new water pump and serpentine belt, which were installed. The rig only lacked a solid field test, and Bob and I provided - for the next 12 days. It never faltered.

Bob and I knew our hunt was all about migrating animals, but really had no idea how that would play out. Our first tactic was to get off the road system, which we did by having a guy with a jet boat deliver us 6 miles across a remote lake. The spot was a pinch point for ungulates wishing to minimize swimming. The place had been successfully hunted for decades by the odd hunter with access to a boat and deep knowledge of the area. We thought the strategy was great and enjoyed several days of very nice weather, not counting the gale winds that almost flattened Bob's REI rental tent, but didn't. The winds had the main lake white capping with 2-3 foot waves, and we were very glad boating across was not our job.







I apologize for some poor photos. We were just too played out hunting to invest much energy in photography.

We saw one caribou there. It was dead. A hunter had shot it about 250 yards from our camp. Beside it was a skull from a couple years ago which another hunter had left. The moose hunting turned out pretty good though.

One morning we were glassing and Bob said "There's a moose swimming up the lake." I hoped he was wrong and it was a group of caribou, but he was right. The moose had completely ignored the logistics of swimming across a like at the narrowest point and walked himself into the middle and started swimming. He emerged 450 yards from us and we ranged him and counted coup several times. At that time we did not know if he was legal. We were soon to find out that he was.

It would be cool to say we dissected him with our high-dollar optics and discerned 4 brow tines on one side, but that's not true. We found out because the bull wanted to fight our plastic tote.

Bob was taking the lid of one of those black-and-yellow Costco totes and it made a 'thunk' sound. I was a few yards away and heard a bull grunting, so I went over to Bob and said "There's a bull grunting." Of course we grabbed the tote lid and started raking brush like mad. Bob left me the lid and went for his camera. The goofy bull obliged by thrashing trees 30 yards from us, moving around us in a circle.

He was heading for our wind, and I figured he'd blow out as soon as he smelled us. He did not. The bull went directly through our scent at 30 yards and did not care a whit. I never had any game animal with a nose ignore me like that, but the bull did. He continued to rake for another 15 minutes, mostly hidden in spruces. We had about 20 opportunities to shoot him, which we did not take, because we had no tags. It was the best kind of moose hunting. Bob got a couple pics.

Here's a terrible one of the moose climbing out after his swim:



Money shot -- he's got 4 tines:



It was great fun. The next morning we saw another moose just where this one had emerged from the water, and figured it was the same bull. Optics showed it was not -- it was a much bigger bull. We watched him feed off and had fun judging whether or not he'd make 50 inches. I think he would. The best kind.

I mentioned gear that worked, and one piece that did is a Eureka Marine Contract surplus 2-man tent. I had been planning to buy one, but my wife found an excellent one complete at GoodWill for 18$. I put it up and turned the hose on it, as I do all gear that's supposed to be waterproof. It was. I hauled it to Alaska. This tent is excellent and plenty for one person. It would be crowded with two. It's very robust and didn't budge in the wind. It has good aluminum poles and a patch kit. A slight rain didn't phase it. It was also the warmest tent I've been in relative to the temperature outside, a quality I had not ever noticed in a tent. I used a Therm-a-Rest backpacking cot inside, and the floor did not scar.

The tent adds to my small collection of milsurp gear that works really well. This includes Goretex rain gear, the 3-piece sleeping bag system, an ILBE pack, and Danner Reckoning boots (not used on this trip). This gear is great for the money, robust, and somewhat bulkier that top-rated commercial gear, but with a fraction of the price tag. Plus, all of this gear is made in America to military specs. Military spec gear with zippers always has good, big zippers that zip and do not stop zipping. Military spec gear with velcro has velcro that sticks and does not stop sticking. Military spec gear with snaps does not stop snapping. And 24H readers everywhere nod Yes, some wishfully.