Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska 40-mile Steese caribou hunt

Skunked. Didn't even see one in 4 days of hunting where the last 3 years were good. Cold and windy day one, then really nice weather, getting into the 70's I think.. Good times, meatless not-withstanding.

Ironbender caught something tho.

I have 5 theories:

1. bugs were down this year, so they spread out, rather than mob-fighting the insects.
2. forage was good everywhere, so they didn't have to mob up in the good spots
3. forage was bad, so they had to spread out enough to find enough for everyone
4. they vaguely remembered past stressful times "over there", rather than specifically "we got out ass shot off over there the last few years!"
5. they are caribou (most likely theory)

I do believe F&G played the public, tho it didn't really matter to us. We had a couple things to attend to in Fbks, so our hunt time/place was pretty much set in stone. We have a freezer full of fish and last year's caribou, and I am almost guaranteed at least half a moose later in September- I'll have to buy another freezer... No pressure is nice!

Of course, free information/advice is worth about what one pays for....so some interpretation/judgement is called for.

Knowing what I know now, Taylor Hwy will be a strong option in future years under similar conditions. I have a dynamite "funnel" camp/stand site there - only about 3 miles off the road in a walk-in only area. Good trail, old backpacks... and old back-packers.... If the caribou are there. The animals will be pushed right to us from the road side. My wife is talking wheelers to compete with the other wheelers somewhere else there. She's gotten spoiled - likes that campe vs tent and wheeler meat transport, for some odd reason. I know nothing of the wheeler allowable areas there. Guess we could learn, with Plan B as a hike in option.

F&G hotline first report said the caribou were in the central and eastern portions, but were "widely distributed" throughout the range. Translation- "there ain't any if you are hunting the western part".

A week later the next report was that the herd was still "widely distributed", with the bulk in the central and WESTERN (their emphasize) areas. I strongly believe they were trying to steer people away from the Taylor Hwy as an abattoir, and a shorter season (The hell with the people that may only have 3 or 4 days to make meat and must make the right choice the first time - not my situation - just an observation).

Day one we heard a half dozen shots only. Day two 8-10 shots across the valley, both instances way far away, and back in. No shots days 3 and 4 at all. We were done "hunting", so had gone 50 miles up the road those days, exploring new trails on the wheelers, but packing along fire-power anyway. No different up there. And more people. Almost got to search for a 16 year old on our 4th day - instead of reporting back to camp at 11 am the 3rd morning as arranged, he had joined up with friends he met, and without notifying his own party, gone with them. He showed up about 9 pm after the troopers had been notified. His older (30's?) cousin that he was hunting with was a bit put out, to say the least. Ben kept saying "He's not MY kid!"

In talking to dozens of other vacationers , troopers, and given the number of shots heard, and the lack of dead caribou being transported, I'd estimate the entire take along the Steese to be under 30 for the first 4 days, for 500 to 1,000 hunters.

Talking to others on day 4, in touch with friends via In-Reach over on the Taylor, they were doing much better, tho the bulk of the herd wasn't there yet.

I was told that the third hot-line message on Aug 8 (I was putting in a 14 hour day constructing a shed roof over the entrance to an old-lady's trailer entrance that had collapsed from snow last year, so didn't catch it myself) said the bulk of the herd was in the central and western (oops-late edit here - mistake - that should have read eastern) areas ( but still "widely distributed thru all 3 areas"), and was moving east.

If you are heading out, that's where I would go - I haven't hit the hot-line myself yet today - not that it matters other than interest.

I have a fuggin porcupine to find and kill. Got home to a totally wrecked raspberry and strawberry crop despite what I thought (and has been) a secure fence - I have no solid idea how it's getting in. Last year it got hit with rock and a pass. If I can find it, this year it's a bullet, no pass.

Seeing the number of $100K-$200K equipped parties up there, makes one wonder..."Just how big are these animals that provide "free meat', anyway?

I think it’s a mixture of 3 and 5, but maybe I’m wrong. I was up on the Denali Highway, yes I know it’s not the Steese, over the 4th of July weekend atving and grayling fishing. We always see some caribou, but this year we did not. The lichen we saw was dried up and crunchy like a bag of potato chips. I have never seen it that dry up there, mud holes that were usually there previous years, many were dried up.

While it does seem like more caribou are getting shot from the Nelchina herd, I’m still surprised it’s not been closed yet.

I have seen a fair number of Nelchina caribou this year.

I do think “fewer” than in the past but enough to not have me terribly worried about the population. Yesterday while sheep hunting I saw 30 or so, all in groups of 1-4. Some were in the highest ridges around, above the sheep.

Number 5 all the way!

No one has figured out why caribou do some of the things they do.

Well, I could not have been far off in my SWAG. As of today's hotline, 47 bulls have been taken, cumulatively, in zones 1 and 4.


Seems they are hanging tough in-accessible in zone 2, between the road systems.

Let’s go run Sneer up the Goodpastor to them!

Approaching Chicken Ridge.

Had 2 buddies go out last weekend and they both knocked done a bou each, hopefully he brings some of that to moose camp in a couple of weeks.

If I wasn’t out of state I would like to have been hunting this past weekend. Oh well, always next season.