Caribou on the Move!

[northwestalaska]

The caribou are grouping up for the big trip over the Brooks Range. My neighbor went down to Buckland Alaska, which is about 80 sno-go miles south of Kotzebue this past weekend and dropped 6 animals for spring meat. Please keep in mind that up here the locals hunt for extended families and shooting 6 or more animals in a weekend is not wasteful, as all will be eaten in the coming months. There were between 5-7,000 animals in one large herd and over 1,000 in a smaller group close to Selawik Alaska.

We normally see the bou bunch up in Late April just as the snow leaves and the Ice begins to break up. They will beat it over the Brooks just in time to drop claves on the costal plane up near Barrow.

I read a federal Fish and Wildlife survey that is studying the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, know as WACH. They are looking at calf mortality and forage plots. The reindeer moss that the caribou feed on all winter in about 2/3 lower in population density on the 2 study plots and calf mortality rates are up when compared to trends from the past 10 years. What does all of this mean? Well to me the untrained observer I think it points to the population heading towards a down ward direction. The last big crash was back in the late 70’s when the population crashed some where below 100,000 animals. Keep in mind that we are currently at or near 650,000 animals.

Many of the Alaska Caribou herds have already crashed and I am sure that WACH will see a decline soon but I hope that is will be a correction rather than a true crash.

We are loosing most of our snow on the tundra but the ocean and rivers still have well over 5 feet of ice on them.

Take care

Walt
Northwest Alaska Back Country Rentals
Kotzebue, Alaska
Your best bet in camp, equipment and raft rentals in all of NW Alaska!
www.northwestalaska.com

 

[AkBearHunter]

This will become the new "Mulchatna" hunt, thousands of hunters will be up there looking for their trophy caribou and in a few years it will be just like the Mulchatna, at least thats my theory. Hopefully the Mulchatna herd will rebound and draw some of the hunters back to that area.

 

[northwestalaska]

Wach

Bearhunter:

I don’t disagree with you on this at all. We have seen more hunters up here in the past 3 years for sure. The funny thing is the State of AK tells us that there has been no significant increase in hunting numbers in the past 10 years.

I hope that because we have such a large herd that we will not a crash like other herds across the state but only time will tell. I do know that the hunting pressure will not cause the herd to crash because the number of animals killed each year by hunters in really a drop in the bucket when compared to natural causes of death like wolves, bears and starvation. Hunters have a much better chance of seeing good numbers and trophy caribou up here than in any other unit in the state. We just have huge numbers period!

2 years ago I sat on a bluff over looking the Noatak river and watched 2 herds of over 600 animals merge together and form a sea of animals. The choice of big Bulls in the group were staggering! I waited until the next morning and took 2 B & C quality animals in a smaller group. The crazy thing was that the 2 bulls were shot at less than 45 yards! Iwas stalking a group of 200 animals when out of nowhere a small band of bulls about 25 in number walked right behind us and we were swimming in quality animals. This type of story is the norm up here and that is not the case any where else in the whole state of Alaska.

Enough is enough! We have very good hunting and will have for many years to come. 650,000 caribou cant be wrong!

Take care and drop me a line at [email protected] if you have any questions.

Walt
Northwest Alaska Back Country Rentals
Kotzebue Alaska
33 miles North of the Arctic Circle
www.northwestalaska.com

 

[AkBearHunter]

Is Unit 26 part of that herd or is that the Porcupine herd? I am hunting that unit with 9 other guys, we are doing a float on a river that flows into the Colville River and is suppose to be about a 190 mile float. I haven't hunted caribou in over 14 years and i'm pretty excited to be able to get out and try and find a huge bull for the freezer and wall.

 

[Muley Crazy]

Hey!!! AKbearhunter you will be floating past me on that trip, you guys are putting in on the 25 and we are flying in on 27th but we are only going to float 100 miles. You will have to give me a shout out when you float by. Larry said you guys will be putting the miles on when you get to us. Leave some Grizzly bears for me!!

 

[northwestalaska]

Unit 26

I think the animals in the Coleville Drainage are from the Porcupine Herd but some must cross over from WACH. Just don’t shot any that are headed my way, as it may be the trophy that I am looking for!

Living up here I get to chase big animals every year and it never gets old!

Walt
Northwest Alaska Back Country Rentals

 

[AkBearHunter]

Muley Crazy, are you floating the same river as us? From what Larry told me this river has not been floated from the lake and could be a tough go for 10 guys. Hell, if I see you there it will be because I shot Walts caribou and we can toast to a good hunt with some Beam!! Sorry Walt Otherwise we will be slamming and jamming trying to cover all that water in a short amount of time. If I don't shoot a brown bear this spring i'll be looking for a grizz on that hunt too, so if you see a bear carcass along the river, it's my fault! This is going to be an interesting hunt!! MC, I sent you a pm.

Walt, I wish I could promise you I won't shoot your big bull but I haven't shot a 'bou in over 13-14 years, so the first big one that crosses my path will be taking a dirt nap real quick!! hump

 

[northwestalaska]

A dirt Nap??

Man that’s harsh! Good luck on your hunt and I hope you take the big boy! What have you been doing for the past 14 years? I can’t imagine waiting that long! I have been very lucky over the past 8 years. I have bagged between 2-5 bulls a year every year except one when I about killed myself packing out a monster Bull Moose and decided that a Bou was just too much work. A local guy I know told me that I should never shoot a moose unless I can see the boat from the kill sight, he know what he talks about! 1,400 pounds of Moose is a real pain in the ass to pack very far. The last load was the head and it weighed over 100 pounds all by its self. Can you say Suck!

It’s a good thing I am such a tough old fart and so dam good looking!

Walt

 

[AkBearHunter]

Hahaha, good looks and a cup coffee won't get you very far, but i'm sure you know that already!! The reason I haven't hunted caribou is because I've been busy hunting other animals plus I was out of state for 4 years with the Air Force. I am really looking forward to hunting them again. Your friend has offered you some good advice about the moose, the farthest i've ever had to pack a moose is 100 yards to the 4 wheeler and thats because we shot him in a swamp and couldn't get them any closer. Good luck to you this year, I hope the animals are plentiful and your freezer is overflowing!