Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska A Good Clean Caribou Hunt- Pictures Added

Riley and I drew tags this year for Unit 480, the southern and eastern part of Unit 13. Subsistence hunters get a 10 day headstart, but the area is so huge it really does not matter. We were in the unit early Tuesday morning, the opener for our permits. Riley had a week off before starting back to UAA on Monday.

We launched the jet boat in Lake Louise long before noon in a light drizzle. Riley has been running the jet hard this year and blew one engine and knocked a few holes in the old tub. but he found a new power head and swapped them out and welded as many leaks as he could find in the hull. He even welded one I knocked in it a couple weeks ago.

And he modified the bow to stiffen it and seal some major leaks and allow it to be positively attached to the trailer... And welded the toe of the shoe where a large rock had bitten off a couple toes. So he has done some "learning" on the old scow.

But he had no shallow, weedy water experience with it... He does now. The channel between Louise and Susitna was exceptionally low this year and he tagged bottom several times on the way through and required deweeding the jet pump a couple times. That involved him hollering at the old guy in the stern to shake them out. Some species require little more than a good shake, some require digging out, and some just take a little tug.

He was a harsh Master!

Or is that a Marsh Haster?

Anyway, I let him zoom around the lakes a bit just looking. His first Lake Louise trip was en utero and he had many through the years but not for several years and he got a crash course in the shape of the lakes.

He also learned how to run in long gentle turns to lift the jet intake into the wake created by the sideslipping hull. He only had to holler at his deckhand twice to clear the pump on the run from Tyone back to the ramp.

"The Crossing" just a short mile or so down Tyone River was occupied so we turned around and went back between the main bodies of Tyone Lake and set up the campfire approved camouflage rain shelter... a 12' bright blue and green Kelty tripod tent right out in the open. It was the only way out of the steadily increasing rain.

Riley took a little nap because he had driven the whole way and had little sleep the night before. I woke him after a couple hours and started cooking some sausages when I saw him emerge from the tent.

He sat down a little rheumy-eyed and asked if this was really going to work. I explained that we had killed many caribou in this exact place doing exactly what we were doing.

About that time I was asking how many sausages he wanted and how did he want them. And he replied "There's a caribou."
"How many is that?"
"Just one but he's a bull."
"No, these are pork," says I.
"No, that's a caribou bull" says Riley.

About that time I turned off the stove and grabbed the rangefinder.

Riley was down on one knee in a very decent kneeling position; which was required to see over the grass.
"300 yards" I told him, though the rangefinder had actually said 308. The bull was moving slowly away, almost broadside, facing right.
"Okay, when he stops I'll do him"

Several years ago I offered him a SS 700 action with the lightest possible SS Pac-Nor Super Match barrel in 25-06. All he had to do was restock it. The sneaky kid got with CWH2 and came home with a Ti take-off stock which he quickly bedded to fit the action. Chris and Riley take great joy in slipping that past me...

He bought a Vortex Viper (okay it was my CC) 3-9x40 with their Dead-Hold BDC reticle and leaves it set at 6x, mostly. It is a seriously light rifle and has had a lot of shooting with the Vortex mounted in lightweight Talley lows without a hitch.



Did I mention it is a serious shooter?

At the shot the bull spun and trotted back toward us for a bit. I was not sure I had heard the nice distinctive watermelon thump and read out the new yardage at "280". but the bull was just entering freefall when Riley shot and the bullet just caught the last few inches at the top of the shoulders.

We found him dead in the reeds on the shore, an easy stone's throw to the only rock in the channel... and almost exactly where a cousin killed a similar caribou many years ago, with me doing exactly the same thing... except it was breakfast I was cooking.





We hauled the bull onto the bow and tied him in place so we could haul him back across the river to camp. In spite of the heavy rain every no-see-um in caribou-dom now vacated the recently deceased and moved onto us. As soon as the caribou was dealt with the no-see-ums stopped, BTW, a typical experience with the fierce little nasties.



It continued to pour while Riley worked the bull into manageable pieces and we bagged the quarters and assorted parts.



The autopsy report shows the heart (caribou hearts are huge for an animal their size, BTW) with a hole big enough to stick a fist completely through. I absolutely love the TTSX 257 80 grainer... though it is the only X bullet I have ever recovered (a caribou bull neck last October at 20 feet) and have a 25-284 planned to shoot just that bullet.



A very good friend gave me a special knife he had collected at least 20 years ago and it had been a safe queen ever since. I believe knives are for cutting stuff... even bloody stuff... even in the rain... Turned out the knife stayed extremely sharp for the entire process, including boning the neck and backstraps, a tough thing on a knife, especially if the operator is a little new to keeping the knife off the bone.

[img]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a146/24quarts/riley%2013%20caribou/knife.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a146/24quarts/riley%2013%20caribou/knife2.jpg[/img]

As soon as Riley sends them to me I will post some photos.

So we then sat in the rain waiting for a bull for my tag. We had a gyrfalcon, harriers, eagles, and merlins keeping us company while we both hunted. We were shamelessly sedentary while they streaked, glided, hovered, or perched all around us. Camp robbers worked the scraps over tirelessly while ravens just kept their distance and called us names.

We could not get the meat to dry, even hanging under a tarp, and on the third day decided we better head home or risk losing the bull.

This evening we cut and vacuum sealed one hind quarter, backstraps, and the tenderloins. I have always done the cutting and this evening Riley joined me without a word, just a knife and a very good attitude.

He started eyeing the tenderloins early on and so in a defensive maneuver I cut a bunch of backstrap into small chunks and added a shot of cider vinegar, soy sauce, Worchestershire sauce, some garlic, and a bit of Montreal Steak Seasoning (not much as it is salty!) and let it sit for a short while. There was a pound and a half or so of meat.

I fried it in a half-stick of butter on high. When the meat was removed I added a scoop of flour and stirred it into the butter to cook. The I added a bunch of water and a teaspoon of "Better Than Bullion" (beef) to make a good thick gravy.

With some good "almost sourdough" bread to sop up the gravy it was very good. Three quarters and trimmings to cut tomorrow, a bit of burger grinding, and the hunt will be complete.

We hope to kill a bull moose on Sunday just to keep from getting rusty...

Sitka Deer;
Thanks for the great hunt report Art, I appreciate you sharing it with us and hope this finds you and yours well.

For me it's always cool to read about how fellow 'Fire members hunt as some things like jet boats are foreign to my hunting experience though friends in the Yukon use them. Ditto on the caribou too.

The fact that you've had a great hunt with your son makes it doubly cool too of course. Please send him hearty congratulations from me on the bull.

Anyway I look forward to any photos you'd care to share, thanks again and all the best to you and your family Art. Good luck on the rest of your hunts this fall as well.

Dwayne

Thank you Dwayne! Will get some photos up soon, but the rain really reduced the number of pictures just because it was never a great time to haul the cameras out... But Riley just whipped out his smart phone and it does a very decent job...
art

Art;
Thanks for the reply.

We got the girls smart phones this past Christmas and yes, I'm amazed at the photos those goofy things will take.

Some of this new technology isn't all that bad.

Well I've got to go work on the eldest's car for a bit so I'll check in later.

Thanks again Art and all the best to you and yours.

Dwayne

Congrats to you both Art!! Hopefully we will have a similar report within the next week. Good shooting to on Riley's part too!!

I suspect you will need a big stick to keep all the monster bulls at bay.

Dwayne
We were a long way from the nearest tower yet Riley had reception if he stood in exactly one place right behind the caribou. Three feet away and higher did not cut it! And we had to be 20 miles from the closest tower.

Caribou is almost completely cut up, just the grinding and hock canning left. The front hocks are in the crock pot right now turning into osso bucco. It smells good!
art

cool...I plan my lake trout/monster grayling fishing around the 1st day of the opener, = I get the whole lake to myself! ...great pic's u have 2! it stomps a mud hole in the usual TV show about "mountain boo" hunting!!

Looks like a great time. Chasing archery elk here today but no luck. Saw about 200 hd in the center of big chunk of private ground. They ain't stupid.

great write up and pix Art, tell Riley congrats from us!

skinny water in the Interior this year, gonna try and haul some materials tomorrow. Does he travel with that welding rig? (grin)

You know how easy it is to poke a hole... Always have a little wood, a little epoxy, and a lotta ingenuity...

BTW, Cut the front quarter shanks (bone-in) into 2" thick chunks and made a batch of osso bucco while cutting meat and made a batch of pasta to soak up the extra gravy. It did not suck!

Sitka deer;
Thanks for adding the photos Art, they are indeed not bad at all - coming from a phone that I couldn't have dreamed of existing when I was a kid.

I'm glad to see the 80gr TTSX work on "larger than deer" animals so well - that's cool.

The heart photo made me smile as the one 80gr TTSX that we've been able to recover from our youngest daughter's .250AI had a similar result.


The little bullet has resulted in lots of "readjusting" for me in what I thought I knew to be true regarding tissue damage and bullet weight.

My goodness Riley looks to be all grown now too Art - I mean I know that's supposed to happen and all - but where exactly does the time go?

Thanks again for the photos and write up, all the best to you and yours and good luck on the rest of your hunts this fall.

Dwayne

You drive past GREAT laker fishing to go to Lake Louise???

Dwayne
For some reason pictures like that make me smile...

Knowing the 80grainer did it makes the smile stick a bit longer.
art

Great write up of another grand experience, Sitka. (My only quibble would be that the pictures look just a bit different than what was painted in my mind. Then again, considering the fact that the canvas of my mind has never been exposed to where you were, you did a pretty good job of writing in my language anyway. )

BTW, stop boning the 'straps' and cut the rib-less section forward of the pelvis with the bone in. Slighty frozen (or all the way), a bone saw can easily slab out steaks to rival any meat. Fresh caribou is mighty fine eating regardless the cut however.

I have a hard time freezing bone... Yeah, I know the old "Closer to the bone, the sweeter..." and you may be right, but man that adds bulk and storing bulk gets harder every year.

Funny how perceptions are so different from the intended perception... Too bad we have to ruin the literally painted perception with graphic proof like photos. The images drawn by poets back before the camera probably had more stability than today...

But then, they wrote well.

I wouldn't have been teasing you if you didn't do a pretty darned effective job of painting a rather similar picture in my mind. My memory just lacks anything like your hunting area here in Alaska. (Says something about how much I get around, I guess.) And I hear you on the bulk part. But I tell you, that loin/steak area is worth saving that way, even if you simply bring it home and grill steaks right away. ('Sides, the tongue - and heart/liver perhaps- are generally first meal fare in our camps.)

Nice one, Art. Congrats to the Grayling.

awesome job! Good on him.