northwestalaska
New member
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2006
- Messages
- 104
Hi Guys:
I fell off of the earth this summer but I wanted to give you the report on the WACH and what we are seeing out of Kotzebue.
We have had a very cold wet summer, which resulted in early caribou movement on the Slope down to our side of the Brooks. About 2 weeks ago there was a large group of Bou spotted swimming the Noatak River just above the upper Canyon, which is about 1.5 air hours north of Kotz. They appear to be migration animals, as we don’t see local groups that large. Last week the same group was seen headed into the Cuttler River which will put them down into the Kobuk River soon and most likely they will end up around Onion Portage near Ambler Alaska which is the norm.
Not all good new as the temps have popped back up into mid summer range with daily averages 60-68 degrees. This is bad because caribou move only when they need to escape weather, bugs or predators. The warm temps will slow movement and unless we start to see temps on the North Slope down in the teens and soon they will just stay up there and not move down into NW Alaska (unit 23) anytime soon.
I am sure most of you know enough about caribou that you may be saying this guy is full of hot air because caribou are not very predictable which is right on. The great know factor about Bou is the weather. Cold weather makes hunting more difficult but the animals move for sure.
I have my first hunting group of the season coming up late next week and we are sending them way up on the Noatak very near unit 26 (N.Slope). I usually don’t encourage groups coming up any earlier than Sept 5-6 or so and always plan on 7-10 days to do it right. My early groups have scheduling conflicts back home and early is the only option and they understand the risk of being here too early and that flights are costly when we have to head up near unit 26.
I will up date the WACH report about every 7 days as the season nears and look for mor info about Sept. 1 or so. In closing make sure your hunting plan is in place, talk to your pilot and know where you are hunting. Don’t hop into a plane and expect the pilot to put you down in the Bou. This is a sure way to get dumped and your hunting trip may suffer because you did poor planning. Any good pilot will tell you where he expects to drop you and always insist on a quick once around the block so you can see what the country looks like and if there are any animals in the areas. Don’t accept getting dumped in a desert! If there are other camps close to where he is planning to drop you don’t accept it as camps too close will result in more noise and pressure. If you are paying the bill insist on good service.
Let me know if you need anything to make your hunt out Kotzebue better and if your planning a 09 hunt let’s get started!
Walt
Northwest Alaska Back Country Rentals
33 miles north of the Arctic Circle
www.northwestalaska.com
Kotzebue Alaska
I fell off of the earth this summer but I wanted to give you the report on the WACH and what we are seeing out of Kotzebue.
We have had a very cold wet summer, which resulted in early caribou movement on the Slope down to our side of the Brooks. About 2 weeks ago there was a large group of Bou spotted swimming the Noatak River just above the upper Canyon, which is about 1.5 air hours north of Kotz. They appear to be migration animals, as we don’t see local groups that large. Last week the same group was seen headed into the Cuttler River which will put them down into the Kobuk River soon and most likely they will end up around Onion Portage near Ambler Alaska which is the norm.
Not all good new as the temps have popped back up into mid summer range with daily averages 60-68 degrees. This is bad because caribou move only when they need to escape weather, bugs or predators. The warm temps will slow movement and unless we start to see temps on the North Slope down in the teens and soon they will just stay up there and not move down into NW Alaska (unit 23) anytime soon.
I am sure most of you know enough about caribou that you may be saying this guy is full of hot air because caribou are not very predictable which is right on. The great know factor about Bou is the weather. Cold weather makes hunting more difficult but the animals move for sure.
I have my first hunting group of the season coming up late next week and we are sending them way up on the Noatak very near unit 26 (N.Slope). I usually don’t encourage groups coming up any earlier than Sept 5-6 or so and always plan on 7-10 days to do it right. My early groups have scheduling conflicts back home and early is the only option and they understand the risk of being here too early and that flights are costly when we have to head up near unit 26.
I will up date the WACH report about every 7 days as the season nears and look for mor info about Sept. 1 or so. In closing make sure your hunting plan is in place, talk to your pilot and know where you are hunting. Don’t hop into a plane and expect the pilot to put you down in the Bou. This is a sure way to get dumped and your hunting trip may suffer because you did poor planning. Any good pilot will tell you where he expects to drop you and always insist on a quick once around the block so you can see what the country looks like and if there are any animals in the areas. Don’t accept getting dumped in a desert! If there are other camps close to where he is planning to drop you don’t accept it as camps too close will result in more noise and pressure. If you are paying the bill insist on good service.
Let me know if you need anything to make your hunt out Kotzebue better and if your planning a 09 hunt let’s get started!
Walt
Northwest Alaska Back Country Rentals
33 miles north of the Arctic Circle
www.northwestalaska.com
Kotzebue Alaska
