WoW Jeff..... you are quite the writer my friend.... feel like being a fly on the wall reading your report...its the next best thing to being there...
this was more enjoyable reading than watching some of those "hoaky" ones you might catch on the TV, some Saturday or Sunday morning...
the trip must have cost an arm and a leg, but I bet it was worth every penny...
And thanks for the pictures.... having been up there a couple of times, Alaska's scenery is so wonderful... all one really needs to do is to know how to focus the camera...
Those pics really embellished and added to the story...
Glad you gents had a good time, and even moreso.. glad you boys took the time to share it with the rest of the campfire....
one of the best reads or threads I've seen on the campfire in quite a while.
just awesome....
cheers and best regards guys
You know, it didn't cost that much (on the scale of Alaska hunting trips for the non-resident). We had lots of help in that regard. First, my sister lives there, and we stayed with her while in Anchorage. Also, there was no guide requirement for this specie. We didn't have to rent a truck, thanks to our "spare" jeep in Anchorage. Because of my property up there, and plans to build a cabin, investing a little in a local vehicle was a good idea, and I'm not factoring that cost into the hunt. Rental vehicles right now are insane. We limited our meat to 70 lbs each of boned, frozen, vacuum packed boxes. I run an AlaskaAirlines credit card year round, and those points build up fast for reducing airfare. We opted not to hire a SuperCub for the final leg of the hunt, which saved a lot. Our transport cost via jet boat for the first part of the hunt was minimal. We cooked a lot of our own food and traveled pretty light. We stayed a few nights in Lodges, but that was limited availability and off-season, so not too bad there either.
Neither of us wanted much taxidermy for our caribou, so that's a big savings. I had my hide tanned in Anchorage, and the skull cleaned for a euro-style mount I do myself. That can be a major expense otherwise. Bob kindly gave his caribou hide to my sister; she's having it tanned. I expect that to go about $350 per hide.
The only hardware I bought specifically for this hunt was a ZOLEO satellite comm and a good cot to use at my sisters, plus some rinky dink stuff. Of course, we paid baggage fees to transport our gear. All things considered, AA's baggage fees are not that much. I must also thank DennisinAZ, as he dropped off some stuff for us in Anchorage when he drove up this spring for his Kodiak job.
The reason we didn't hire a guide is solely due to the wealth of great info from friends in Alaska. We hunted Unit 13, which is gigantic. Without good info, we wouldn't know how to approach this hunt. Caribou hunting is NOT like whitetail hunting, that's for sure. It's also not like elk hunting.
Our real costs were airfare, some lodging, gas/food, tags, and a few supplies. AK big game tags are not cheap, but are worth it IMO. A guided antelope hunt here in my home state of AZ would have cost more than this hunt, I imagine. Thank God and good friends, we enjoyed a bucket list hunt without a bucket list price tag.
