When did Caribou become a Premier Hunt

[BuzzH]

Ever hunted in Wyoming?

No, but I hear good things.

 

[KHNC]

Because Caribou herds are in steep decline. Quebec's herd seemed to have disappeared over night and herd numbers are plummeting across the north. With global warming and more industrial activity up north. I bet in 15-20 years their won't be any Caribou left.

Global warming? really....

 

[SaskHunter]

Global warming? really....

Climate change is most certainly real and happening right now. The caribou are in tune with their environment, and are parts and parcel of their ecosystem. Global warming, pollution and industrial activity (mines, oil and gas, hydro dams, etc) have had direct impacts on their current state.

 

[Bigjay73]

Global warming is happening and always has. Look how different the fauna of the world is between now and 20000 years ago. We're speeding it up, but it was inevitable. Its hubris to think that we have the power to destroy the earth, in a million years there will be all new species, ecosystems and histories being made. Humans and the current flora/fauna mean nothing to earth and time, they only hold meaning with our selfishness and egos.

 

[SaskHunter]

Global warming is happening and always has. Look how different the fauna of the world is between now and 20000 years ago. We're speeding it up, but it was inevitable. Its hubris to think that we have the power to destroy the earth, in a million years there will be all new species, ecosystems and histories being made. Humans and the current flora/fauna mean nothing to earth and time, they only hold meaning with our selfishness and egos.

Should we simply do nothing because it's inevitable, and just "drill baby, drill"? You are correct, earth will outlast each and everyone of us, but that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about humans and ecosystems that we want to maintain and reduce our impact on.

We're here living it right now. While polluted water tables will still be here 1 million years from now, we still rely on that water to live healthy lives. Selfishness and egos are what's killing us and wildlife. Yes, the earth doesn't care about us or things like air pollutants and microplastics, but we should most definitely care about it ourselves for the limited time we have here. Dollars, not mankind, are driving decision makers, and that's a pretty sad state of affairs. We have limited time on this earth, can we not ruin it for ourselves and future generations?

Humans most definitely have the ability to adapt and create measures to control how we're impacted by climate change, wildlife and ecosystems don't. Hundreds of thousands of caribous are still gone and humans had a huge part in this. The fact that earth will outlast us and be destroyed by the sun millions of years from now doesn't mean we need to stop caring about it. To say that mankind's impact on earth is irrelevant is complete hubris.

 

[idelkslayer]

Caribou- I am noticing the amount of guys pumped for a Caribou only hunt. I have spent quite a bit of time in Caribou country and hunted Caribou. Both Canada and Alaska. I always considered them the easy better then nothing, enjoying the region, kill and put meat in the freezer. Just my perception over the last 30 years. In Newfoundland I have walked close enough to almost touch them. In Alaska many times they have walked thru camp even between my lawn chair and tent as I sat there. We have screwed around acting dumb with our hands above our heads making dumb noises and they came closer to investigate. I often joked it was like shooting your neighbors cow. If they are there they are there. I get a bow stalk would add some complexity especially in open tundra. As numbers seam to have dwindled and cost of hunts sky rocketed I see this now considered a premier hunt. I have buddies from work that are super excited about hunting them. More so then moose which I offered to take them with me on. Instead focusing on Caribou. I revised my typical moose hunt to stay most of the time in Caribou country this year. Its Alaska so either way looking forward to going. But when did this transition happen to it becoming more of a targeted species then meat in the freezer or the side hustle of another hunt. Maybe just me but its what I perceive to have developed. Still will be a great time

I read this when you originally posted it but didn't have an answer then. Seeing the post come back up gave me a thought.

I think western big game used to be more accessible. As the cost of NR tags went up there were probably a lot of people think that for the price of a NR elk tag and gas they were already pretty close to a caribou hunt. Add in the difficulty of getting a tag as opposed to OTC caribou tags and the added cost of a caribou hunt was suddenly worth it to a lot of people who previously would have been content with a mule deer or elk hunt in the west.

 

[BuzzH]

Global warming? really....

100%

Caribou are specialists where they live and how they survive. Some species can handle climate/habitat change better than others. Having freeze/thaw cycles, more bugs, decline in lichens...all of which happen when the climate changes, can have devastating impacts.

The more specialized a species is, the less adaptable they are to change. Same reason that mule deer are in the shit, while elk are doing just fine. Mule deer are much more specialized in their habitat requirements. Elk, not so much. They can survive in all sorts of changing conditions. Caribou are the canary in the coal mine of big-game and are suffering the impacts first.

Live in denial all you want, mainly because it flies in the face of your narrow political agenda, but the science is what it is. If you don't think that climate change is negatively impacting caribou populations, you're also probably pretty convinced the world if flat.