Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska 40 mile caribou herd

Any info on location Steese vs Taylor. F&G ain't answering (yesterday), and we are ready to head out. Somewhere.

Don't need no stinking table in the camper anyway..... If my lights work.. Damn... that was a project. Not pretty but hell for stout. As of 2 am this morning....

Everything almost fit, few left over parts, and if silicon doesn't fix it, it makes it waterproof. Some of it pretty half-assed, but it beats the hell out of original construction and previous "professional" fix.

I'm with Tom Bodett..Success in Alaska means warm and dry.....and nothing falling off in the road behind one......

Got me a rednecker for sure! Now if the old red and blue 90 one-tonner Chev was equipped for it, I'd really make an impression.....

I'm no help in the 40 mile caribou dept., but good luck on your hunt!

Bulk of the herd is on or near the Steese hwy. they are in eastern portions of zone 1 and 2. That what the hotline said. We are headed up to the Taylor I would/do not want to be anywhere near the Steese on Sunday morning.

Steese Highway and wear your hunter orange.

Expect Emergency Closure very quickly.

Is there any way of knowing where the Porcupine caribou herd is at any given time? I am heading to the Brooks in 10 days.

JUMPER??!!

I'm willing to bet majority of that herd is up by crazy sue's place up on the Kavik River..

Good luck! I thought about trying to go out, but I got a tentative offer for a GS position on JBER. I had a drug test yesterday, and now a physical scheduled for Monday. I also started my VA disability claim Monday, so up util today, the only time I've sat down was to eat or drive somewhere. I've been home a week today, and have yet to pick up a fishing rod or make it to the range. The neighbor's dad is here to salmon fish from the East Coast, and I've already cancelled on him twice to go out fishing with him. I am doing my best to get stuff together for moose season though.

A physical,to get a job?

I just helped the neighbor load up his wheelers, going out caribou hunting. Forget what tag. There are no less than 10 straps on each wheeler and all of them are not over the axles. Good luck bud. I gave my input but they decided to just put more straps on it.

Early season Tier hunters starts on the 10 August

That one is gonna go quick

No, they cut back the number of permits and then opened it wide open to any caribou... because of the mild winter there were 17k calves in the count... way above expectations.

Yeah, wouldn't that be sumtin? . Put different tires on, doesn't jump any more, yet. King pins are still needing replacement tho. After the starter gets fixed.

Yeah, its gonna be crazy, but as my brother says' "Anotha fuggin scouting trip." In my 50 year plus here, I have never been up the Steese- so we are figuring it as less a hunting trip and more like sight-seeing / on and off road camping. We can always resupply Fbks , head to the Taylor after a couple days if necessary. I got a 4-wheel drive camper, we are retired can go anywhere! That sounds like it might be open more than a couple days - if not, we won't. Plenty to keep me busy at home anyway, and moose season to get ready for.

I imagine I'm gonna see more ATV's than I wish, and I'm not taking mine. We'll hike in a few miles, wherever the map looks good. Going it blind, as it were.

I know right where I want to go on the Taylor, with a 6 mile hike back in to a natural funnel with good camping. No flippin ATVs either. It was a toss-up until this morning, and we decided to see the Steese country. $40 in maps was a bit steep, but maybe we'll go back.

On draw permits they cutback, but tier tags whoever applied got them.. the state being short sighted again should of left it bull only.. no telling what this upcoming winter will be like.

I just watched my new neighbor tie down a wheeler with no less than 12 straps. none over the axles

That sort of thinking is what caused the caribou to run to Canada. The caribou do much better when herd numbers are kept on the low side. Allowing a big jump in growth one year without an equal harvest response followed by a second easy winter could put them back in the realm of too many for the range already. 45k is a very reasonable herd size.

Steese is going to be extremely dangerous. The FTWW boys are still here and haven't deployed. We ran out of orange clothing yesterday. If you do it. Leave your wheeler on the trailer and go back pack over the 12 mile summit and hit that backside. There is no caribou backstrap that is worth a bullet. Troopers will be out there but its going to be a real circus.

Sue found a wealthy American sugar daddy in Cabo last winter. She lost about 40 lbs and is dolled up like a movie star. Life below Zero is going to be interesting this season.

Or be back in the situation they were in last year.. 34k and everyone goes into panic mode.

I want F&G to manage mosquitoes, noseeums, and other bat chow.

Now you are just being silly

Am I?

Iron, what's the difference between noseeums and white socks. I asked my boss, when I lived in Alaska, if you can't see the noseeums, how do you know they have white socks. Yeah, I got the Chris details for a few days.

Not an entomologist so can’t say w absolute certainty. I call umall [bleep] bastids.

See if this heps ya.

https://dec.alaska.gov/media/6056/10-alaska-mosquito-manual.pdf

Yep, it's a requirement for all Civil Service jobs. My wife had to have one for the VA, and my neighbors that are WG on base had to get them as well. It's so they know what "concessions" they have to make for you, (ex. ergonomic chairs, etc.). They cannot use it against you, as that is a violation of ADA.

Went out to the Maud Rd range this morning, well that was a mistake. I took my .338 WM, .30-06, and new AR15 build I did last week, along with my pistol. I walked up the hill, saw the crowd at the 100 yard range, so I went to the 25 ayrd range and just shot the AR and pistol. Only myself and three other gentlemen there for about the 75 minutes I was there. I a couple of guys coming in with their rigs that were on their way to the Denali to hunt, and I passed three more loaded with trailers coming in on the way out. I pretty sure they were going caribou hunting and needed to sight their rifles in, as they were loaded down with meat wagons, gas, fire wood etc. I have never seen that much equipment for people just going ATVing out there.

That kind of thinking is what got them in a mess for years... the numbers were way too high and they NEVER reached a reasonable kill based on their own definitions of what they needed to kill. As the herd grew they got gutsier about "warehousing" resources. And then the Canadians got a huge shot of our caribou; they decided the accent is better. A?

That makes sense. It’s just pain in the a$$ to keep up
With their management

ADF&G Management puts the moron in oxymoron...

I work on JBER, if you don't mind me asking, what squadron are you hiring on with?

[quoteI work on JBER, if you don't mind me asking, what squadron are you hiring on with?
[/quote]

I just sent you a PM.

Well, we stopped at Winter Summit, and Eagle Summit both, the day before season. talked to folks both places, and in a couple others. Big camps not our piece of cake- some of those guys had been camped up there for 5 days already.

Curiously enough, everyone suggested a different place than their own plans for us walk-in hunters. Imagine that.

We had our own plan and stuck to it. Found a vacant pullout off the end of a spur ridge about 2 pm and settled in. Figured the ATV's back on the main plateau would be pushing caribou down to us on the end. By 9 there were 7 or 8 other rigs there in the pull-out, all with ATV's - maybe 16 or 17 in all. Disheartening, but not unexpected. They did an excellent job of arranging the parking so no one was blocked in in that confined space. No conflicts at all.

Next morning, starting about 4 am engines firing up, about half crossed the creek and went up the other-side ridge, half up our side. When we got hiked up on top, about a mile and half, there were ATV's - a dozen or more - parked all along the ridge as far as the eye could see. Some of them had come some little distance from up or down the road from our pullout. But again, they did an excellent job of spacing themselves out. For ATV [bleep], they were a friendly, considerate, polite bunch. Well, actually for any bunch. We picked a lookout spot midway between two of the ATV parties.

A bit later the action started when the caribou started getting pushed around. I shot a modest bull about 11 am, by 8 pm we had our gear and the meat all down to the truck, two trips each. A mile and half pack, every step downhill except for 250 yards at the road, which was level. Our lungs were happy- our legs not so much. Our rig was the only one left when we got down with our first load - everyone with their ATVs had limited out and had left by 2 pm or so. Had two other parties spent that night there, with 3 ATV hunters on 2 rigs.

We got started up the ridge next morning about 3 hours after light, in no hurry, a bit gimped up, and with a lot less company, only 2 ATVs up on top - the traffic going home had not stopped all night long, much like the night before season opened. Crazy! Danged near bumper to bumper both nights.

My wife had another modest bull, slightly bigger than mine, down by 9, just 4oo yards away from my gut pile, around the curve of the slope, and 20 feet higher in elevation. Repeat of the day before - all finished up & down to the truck by 6 p m
.
Drove on into Fairbanks, arriving at our son's place about 10:30, put a tarp on the ground for the meat, took it out of our camper, and covered it with another tarp. Hard rain that night. Slept in and drove home today, again in rain most of the way, getting in about 10:30 pm.

For another fugging scouting trip, it wasn't so bad.

Wife is talking 2nd ATV, we have one, and trailers to haul it (or them) with......... I guess she liked the circus!

I'm getting too old (71 in a couple weeks) for this backpacking crap, especially after 10 years of not doing any, hunting off my ass on a snowmachine or ATV during our time in Kotzebue instead. Too busy this summer to condition, or even to properly prepare for this trip. Murphy didn't come along, but he sent his Polish, Mongol, Vietnamese buddy instead. You know the guy - Clous Tur [bleep].

Going to bed- maybe post more details (some embarrassing) and pics in a few days- I got meat to process!

Oh yeah, hardly any parts fell off my repaired camper that ate my lunch for the last 3 months...

Laffin...Good story and hunt....Way to persevere! 😎

PS

Listen to the wife and snag another atv. Grins

Great stuff, looking forward to the humor & embarrassing stuff !

I promise I'll laugh with you, not at you.

Get the second ATV and trailer, you will not regret it. I bought a Ranger in May 2016 and a used trailer off an old friend. There's a reason I say old friend, and it's not his age, we don't have a lot to do with each other anymore. Anyways, I quickly found out the trailer was too small for the Ranger and my 4 wheeler. I kept it until last July when I left to work overseas. Plan was to buy a new one as soon as I got home, well I don't have one yet. I'm waiting on either my firm offer, or my wife to get a promotion, which ever comes first. I can tell you from experience, hauling caribou and a four wheeler in the bed of a truck sucks. It's funny, as I've been home 2 weeks today, and the wife has been asked multiple times by some of her co-workers when she's buying me a trailer so we can all go riding together. So, after Monday, she said, "As soon as you get a firm offer and start date, or I get the promotion I am interviewing for soon, go buy a trailer". I hope my firm offer comes in this week, as she won't be interviewing for at least another week. Fingers crossed though.

Word on the street they are going to offer you $9.99 an hour and 2 15 minute coffee breaks.

My son, Josh, his friend, Kevin, and I ended up hunting from the Mt Prindle campground off the Steese. The day before we investigated 12 Mile Summit but it was an absolute zoo. Probably close to 100 vehicles with ATVs there. With us being backpack only, there was just no way we were going to be able to compete, so went back to the Mt. Prindle campground, which was no ATV access. Opening morning we climbed up and hunted the basin south of the campground. It was pretty busy, apparently pushing out most of the Caribou out of the basin. But by about 2 PM, they started filtering back in. Kevin made the first kill, a small bull. While we were dressing and quartering his bull, another small herd came in from the northeast containing a couple of ok bulls. Josh and I started across the basin to try and intercept them. Josh actually ran across the last 1/2 mile to get in position. Things worked out and Josh shot the largest bull. The rest of the heard circled around behind me and I was able to take the next best bull. Then the work started...

1st Caribou hunt and I enjoyed it immensely. The immensity and grandeur of that country cannot be overstated. Simply magnificent.

Josh and his bull.



Me and my bull.

Congrats man!

👍🏻

Disappointed to hear that caribou season in Alaska has turn into the Pa. deer hunting season, where you can't even find a place to hunt.

Last time I hunted caribou (2003) in Manitoba there were 200 permits available for the 400,000 Central Barren Ground Caribou herd.

Soon there won't be anyplace or any corner of the earth to go that you don't have to fight with another hunter for game. Glad I won't be here to see it.

That’s awesome!!! Congratulations!

Hondo, glad you had a good time and were able to find some bulls. Pics look like a good time!

99,

Alaska still has some great caribou hunting that is a remote, wilderness experience but when you have a major herd with road access and proximity to a human population center, it gets crazy.

This Schitt Show is brief but popular also because the kids have an opportunity to hunt before school starts.

I did hear of one firearm accident but haven't heard further details.

wife took most of our pics on her iphone, which we can't get to transfer to mine or my computer.nWhen I get time, I'll post a couple using her computer, but here are some off mine.

Thatthing in the lower right is our 5 month (on 13th) Dachshund pup, humping along in his too-big warm up coat, which belonged to his predecessor who left us about 12 years ago. Looked lke a skunk- funny as hell!

Approaching my kill.





mine



hers

That's just my luck. Actually still no firm offer, but AF civilian HR called me Friday and asked me what day I wanted to start, they gave me three and I took the earliest. Tired of hearing the wife saying I'm spending too much money.

Nice bulls Hondo and las.

My son and his buddy are pack rafting the Middle Fork huntin' for 'bou right now.

Nothing on the ground yet.

Sounds like western Washington rifle elk season...

Oh it’s a big goat ph uck most of us don’t want to be part of.. they send a truckload or troopers up there to ensure those idiots don’t kill each other..

Maybe they should make it archery/muzzleloader only?? I Dunno what’s the big deal about 50 lbs of caribou meat mean when you make more $$ than most, and most folks biitch about caribou meat anyways?? Guess I’m confused?? Btw, I like caribou meat..

Man we need 2 cases of beer and all night night to explain the thought process by fish and game. But I will give you the 2 beer version, up until last year the Steese hwy was off limits except for a youth hunt. Last spring/summer fish and game did survey of the herd it’s was at 70k plus way over carrying capacity. If I remember 50k is there goal. So last yr they moved the opener to August 12 and let the slaughter commence. This year it wasn’t as bad as last year. Far as archery good luck one would have to write a proposal present it to the unit 20 advisory committee. Then if they support it. it goes before the board of game for approval or disapproval. I will tell you now it would fail. I agree caribou is pretty good eating. I love Alaska but we have to many user groups fighting amongst themselves. I also detest anchorage I’m not a fan, so can’t blame you for having a bad taste in your mouth about ak after experiencing anchorage.

Not a bad taste at all, just trying to figure out a solution.... As a non resident that loves to hunt, it doesn't sound attractive at all.... It's good, guess folks will be lined up to "hunt"...

For sure on the money and stuff here is so cheap, we are WAY ahead of the game getting all this pay and cheap food, fuel, housing, power, water etc.

He does bring up good point on money and caribou hunting. I/you see the trucks headed North $20k worth of wheelers sometimes a lot more to go get them their caribou if not they are going to starve to death. It only gets worse during moose season, we need about 300k people leave this state lol..

For sure... I laugh when I hear about "Art" talk about "tough" moose hunting, when I had 4 buddies flown in with quads, drive up and shoot 4 moose the next day.... Grin

I know where Art hunts moose, I been in that country few times and that trail is a ph ucking nightmare. To the point I don't even go back there anymore. I broke a transmission in my 6x6 in their one yr, another yr guy hunting with me blew his motor in his 6x6 we are 30 miles back. On the flip side But I know of guys chartering a cargo plane fly there wheelers into farewell burn and whack-'em and stack-'em.

That's what they did, cargo plane, drop quads, killed a day or 2 in.... Moose just stood like dummys , pretty much drive within a couple hundred yards and done..

It's all about how much money you want to spend.. been a few times I could of bought half a beef on what I spend to go hunting up here lol..

I like my caribou hunts. My jetboat is my only transportation so that's what I use. The family prefers caribou meat over moose so it's a good excuse to focus on them. It's a relatively easy trip with my kids, I see few people, and it's just plain fun. I just can't partake in schitshows!

Copy that, think it was $10,000 or so for the flight... Had a great\easy hunt... I'll postpaid tomorrow if anyone is interested... Guess it was like stupid easy...

very nice... Love caribou meat...

that's with everything man!!! Got a couple invites for halibut fishing this year, saved $$$ and time and bought some from you guys.... Halibut fishing s the dumbest waste of energy \resources I've ever seen..... For "sport fishing"......

I've heard the horror stories about rutted up bou, but I've yet to experience it and don't plan to either. Man I love slicing up some backstrap, add some Johnnys, and fry up in some butter when in camp. Everything taste better when camping I guess, but that's just hard to beat for me!

👍👍

How'd the trip to back east pard?? Hope everything worked out...

As good as it could. Brought back a new deer dragger to train! Haha!

Your a good sumbitch ptarmigan!!! Good on you and you will be rewarded!! Good man....

Damn! I wish it was that cheap!!!

Btw, I'm a sumbitch too, don't take it personal... Grin

Hope it works out well!!!

It’s all good, I don’t take much personal these days! I figure most folks that bitch at each other one time or another on here would get along just fine around a campfire sharing drinks!

The amazing part its cheap and happens like that all over the state. LOL.

Sounds like killing and not hunting to me.

For the most part I'm ok with ATVs to get to an area, but once there, unless its age or handicap, then park em and get off your azz. Lazy SOBs.

For the record the above is simply my opinion.
And I do agree about folks leaving the state. I will not. LOL

And cost of our moose hunts so far, a bit of fuel, and we would eat whatever we might be doing so the fuel, usually about 4 or 5 cans, and OLD Atvs, and call it good plus tag cost. The folks that fly their stuff in, thats cool, cause I've flown and would again if I could afford it, they could buy beef cheaper, but its not the point. I do know an area up north, that had good bulls and they started this fly the ATVs in and from the air there are almost no good bulls left.... I"m not sure what that means though... but I do know that power this or that can ruin things. And I say that as I hop in a jet boat once or twice a day to take folks fishing.

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 mounain 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 legbones 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 amortised 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 agree, not the "Alaskan" experience I'd want either. .. They were happy, all killed nice bulls, rode the quads right too em, if they're that's all that matters..

Correction: My wife's rack is slightly bigger with more mass than mine.

Ditto the caribou antler pics on which I reversed the captions.....

If F&G wants to knock that herd down or slow the growth (and piss everyone off) why, just make it a cows only season. Limit of two, or maybe 3.
Won't happen - "game management" is at least 50% people/political management, and hang what's good for the game.

The other thing they need to do is change that bullchit regulation about bringing the jawbone out in case "we ask for it at a check station. If we don't ask, we don't want it".

Either they do or they don't - no "maybe we do, maybe we don't - we can't decide...." If they want it, I'm happy to oblige.


There were a (surprising to me) number of people who hauled ass out of there with gutted, unskinned whole animals opening afternoon, a hot day in high 60's maybe low 70"s. Only a few hours back to Fairbanks. But still... I calculated that there was little chance of getting that skin off within 6 hours of the kill, minimum- probably more.

F&G didn't want to look at his (or any) kill already in the game bags. Wonder what they were checking for?

Simple enough to put a yea or nay on their hotline (last updated 9 days before opener) info on the jawbone thing. If they CAN make up their mind.

Killed some nice bulls
upload pictures anonymously

Managing caribou is difficult at best and F&G puts a lot of effort and money into the 40 Mile Herd. Unfortunately, it is an international agreement with Canada;s Yukon Territory and there's a pile of arbitration goes on. The only thing more difficult to manage is the hunter.

and thats the exact type of thing that can ruin a whole area for a time period, the game is not able to handle that pressure. Fly a few folks in, they hike around, know they have to pack it back to the tiny strip etc...

Ruined a NCIE area in 25 I think it was... used to know the number I applied for every fall to draw... but someone with cash flew a few similar loads in and buddy has not seen a plus 50 in a few years now.

The old Jack O'Conner thing. Write up "what a great area" then 5 years later bitch about how it had been ruined....

exactly how delta area got ruined. Some idiot in the ANC paper.... thanks dude. But in this day and age, its going to happen.

My sister in law is worlds worst about asking where.... go find a place for yourself. Do the work. The footwork etc...

And as much help as ATVs are, I have a few rules in my mind that would make me much happier. But thats trying to legislate common sense. And I"m not saying I have a lick of that but that others seem to have less.... and then for the younger folks like ourselves at 54 and younger, a bit of leg work aint' going to hurt, and might even help with health overall and the pleasant experience of manual labor and peace and quiet.

OTOH I get the folks doing this just for a meat run, in and done. Not sure how you mix the two really.

Agreed....

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..

I don’t expect it to be a popular position - and not specific to the 40 mile heard - but I would like to see more non motorized areas in the state. The amount of traffic/trails/impact in many of the motorized areas, as rost alluded to, is disheartening ...

That will only make other areas more crowded. ADF&G have long held they should not do things that move people around beyond tightening regs in harder-hit areas.

Hmm, then the folks that like to drive around looking at each other HOPING for a dumb moose, can all congregate in the same area. And leave at least a few for peace and quiet. CO does well with wilderness areas like that. Lets each group have their area so to speak. But its only an opinion.

actually if they would just stick to marked trails I'd be happy. Exempt disabled or over X years old. Good with that. Recovery of game? How about 10 am to 3pm or so and a direct route?

I mean driving over trees and brush in a mule looking for a bull to stand still. I guess it happens. But I've also seen folks drive in with a 4 wheeler to get off and sit, where it took us MAYBE a 15 minute walk? To get there before they did. I mean if you are that lazy, hunting moose would be easier down the main trails and just hope. The further someone pushes a new trail, the further folks go, to try to tie to other trails. Eventually its like a checker board thats nuts.

Pretty much describes a bunch of the the area south of the Denali Highway ... and also to the north of the Glenn!

Same ADF&G that manages the Kenai kings? Keeps extending the escapement count dates and dropping the escapement goals and won’t make the minimum this year; yet kept the river open to catch and kill all July? I’ll take their long held position with a grain of salt - I suspect you do as well.

Long held and honored are absolutely two different things...

There actually is a huge difference between salmon and mammal management. The commercial component in fishing has all of the marbles... not so much in hunting.

Get me started on kings and I spin up tight and fast. I still want to see that board controlling mosquitos... inside a generation they would be gone!

^

Oh, I know. Just poorly illustrating a point.

TFF on the mosquitoes ... and sadly, damn true!

I hunt/well used to hunt in the alphabets.. clear over by keg lake.. you know how far that is from the Denali hwy? Last yr I hunted over by the savage river and the Teklanika you know how far that is from the parks hwy? Point being know one is walking that far and packing out a moose..