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Am sure it will all get chalked up to global warming/climate change......

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Originally Posted by TimZ
Am sure it will all get chalked up to global warming/climate change......

That might not be far off the mark, or at least partially responsible. My friend Seth Kantner, who was born on the Kobuk River and has spent his entire life in the Kotzebue area, notes that at his (once his parents) cabin site where he was born and raised, what was once a bare tussock-tundra flat out in front of the cabin, is now 10' spruce.

It's big country tho, so some habitat change might not affect the caribou numbers much, unless it widely affects the forage species as well.


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Originally Posted by Hudge
Originally Posted by 358Norma_fan
When we first opened Sportsman's in Anchorage I had an older Native man come in and was talking with him. He told me that he didn't like AR15's because "by the time you run out of ammo, there's too many caribou floating down river and you can't round them all up"
I just shook my head.

Oh come on now, the natives are the true conservationists…

Shoot like you drink - until it's gone. Yeah, that does go on. I think it partly goes back to the old days subsistence mind set: Survival often depended on killing as much as you could, any time and way you could. The rest is technology improvements, without a corresponding change in habits, and of course, just dumb-[bleep].

On the other hand, I've spent about 15 years over time living with those folks. They have a wicked sense of humor, and will pull the white-guy's leg with a stone face. So who knows?

Last edited by las; 11/14/22.

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I was in Seliwick in April of ‘96 visiting my neighbor’s brother who was a school teacher there. At that time, there were about 800,000 animals in that herd and they were increasing at about 8% a year. A biologist told me they were fearful of a crash. Sounds like it happened.

But there were LOTS of caribou and we harvested quite a few in our 7 day visit. The legal limit was 5 per day.

A very interesting place.

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Originally Posted by 358Norma_fan
When we first opened Sportsman's in Anchorage I had an older Native man come in and was talking with him. He told me that he didn't like AR15's because "by the time you run out of ammo, there's too many caribou floating down river and you can't round them all up"
I just shook my head.



Reminds me of school.

We were studying the Indians and the teacher was telling how great
and resourceful they were. How the respected the land and animals,
only taking what they could use and using it all.

When she got to the part of driving buffalo off cliffs...I put my hand up.


"They were really smart to do that. But how did they figure out exactly how
many they needed? And how did they keep from killing one more than they could smoke and keep from spoiling?"



Yeah, she didn't like me after that.


Parents who say they have good kids..Usually don't!
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Topic drift here, but I can't help myself. About 55 years ago, I was working for an old logger in Happy Camp Calif (Injun country for sure). An old bent over Injun was walking up the road, the boss says here's old Albert, we gotta give him a lift, you'll like him, he hunts for all the old people around town. We get going again and the boss asks Albert, "Well Albert, how's the huntin' been goin'?" Albert, "Oh Dick, iss been pooty damn slow, yup, yup, you know, some days on'y gets one...mebbe two. Choo guys better get some now 'fore da season opens, yup, yup." Conservation lesson for me.


Well this is a fine pickle we're in, should'a listened to Joe McCarthy and George Orwell I guess.
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My Nevada brother tells of the day he was talking to his Indian friend (yup- named John), and John was telling of the big muley he'd gotten a day or two before. Season was not open at the time.

"Was that on Indian land?"

John waved his hand from horizon to horizon and in his best Tonto voice said, "Dis aaaaaaalllll 'Injun land' "


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So, the WACH is down, the Mulchatna herd is down. Where do you go to hunt 'bou? The 40 mile herd? Which herd? What area?


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Originally Posted by KC
So, the WACH is down, the Mulchatna herd is down. Where do you go to hunt 'bou? The 40 mile herd? Which herd? What area?
40 mile is down too. Limits have steadily decreased over the last 4-5 years.


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Jeez, let me finish.


Nelchina.... is also down.

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NWACH looks like it's taking another hit. Low 30 temps and rain from Nome to Barrow is gonna ice up the forage and bloody up the hocks.

40 mile herd you have about 4 choices: Fly -in, boat from Eagle or Circle to and up the 70-mile or maybe some other streams, Taylor or Steese Hwy, and maybe Chena Hot Springs road.

Depends on where the caribou are - I had 3 good years up the Steese, this year didn't see an animal. They were all in the most inaccessible area between the Steese and Taylor. I could have gone back on the winter hunt, however, when there were some animals along the Steese, but didn't.

Last edited by las; 12/03/22.

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The McComb herd also took a hit last winter. Although it's not a huge herd it was a popular registration hunt.

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Any numbers on the Kenai Herd...?? There is often (on average) about sixteen or twenty behind my cabin. They mostly live in Bear Creek & Palmer Creek drainage.


ALASKA is a "HARD COUNTRY for OLDMEN". (But if you live it wide'ass open, balls'to the wall, the pedal floored, full throttle, it is a delightful place, to finally just sit-back and savor those memories while sipping Tequila).
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Originally Posted by AGL4now
Any numbers on the Kenai Herd...?? There is often (on average) about sixteen or twenty behind my cabin. They mostly live in Bear Creek & Palmer Creek drainage.
If the Kenai Mountains herd is down, it Shirley ain’t from over hunting.


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It's those damned subsistence hunters, with those dedicated permits.... smile

Wolves don't help any..


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