Yukon Dream fulfilled, in pictures.

[Big Fin]

As I've written on the forum before, my hunting dreams involve landscapes, more so than species. I started saving money 29 years ago to make my hunting dreams a reality, pending health allowing me to do such.

The four locations on that list were:

• Cassiars of northern British Columbia (2019)
• Wrangells of Alasks (2018)
• Yukon (What this story is about)
• MacKenzie Mountains (hopefully in 2024)

In addition to the landscapes, who I get to share these hunts with is also very important. For this Yukon hunt, I wanted to be joined by someone I know would be as intrigued and fascinated as I would be. That person, a person who has grown to be one of the people I most admire and respect, is Marcus Hockett.

Last winter, at Sheep Show, Dustin Roe told me he was buying a territory in the Yukon. I had told Dustin of my dreams to hunt in the Yukon and he, being a keen business man, remembered that. He told me he might have a cancellation of the last Mountain Caribou hunt of the season, a great hunt that is very weather dependent. I told him I wanted to be first in line if there was cancellation.

Well, the hunters cancelled and I sent Dustin the deposits for two Mountain Caribou hunts in October, 2023. It was to be a ten day hunt, but due to my commitment to help a RMEF sweepstakes winner in Kentucky, it was at best an eight day hunt, and likely a six or seven day hunt. The Kentucky hunt wrapped up on a Wednesday. I flew home that night, showered, washed clothes, and at 5am Thursday morning, Marcus, Michael, and I were on the road to Watson Lake.

Marcus and Michael took some amazing images. I will let those tell the story and I will answer any questions that might come up.

Dustin's Base camp in Watson Lake:


Camp Ruth, base camp for our Mountain Caribou hunt, about 180 miles north of Watson Lake:


Grant, my guide:



Drae, Marcus' guide:

 

[Dsnow9]

Looking forward to this!

 

[Big Fin]

Every night was a world class display of the northern lights.



They are called Mountain Caribou for a reason; the places they will take you. Day 1 had us up above the valley, searching through snow and rain.


I planned on steep slopes, but at this point I was waiting for some sheep to spook.


Not sure how, but that big palmed-out bull and his cows somehow eluded us. Stalks here are all day affairs, so you better make sure it's a good one before you leave the Argo and lean your shoulder into the mountain. Marcus' was in his element and it was obvious he was the best choice for a partner on this hunt.

When you know this might be your only chance to experience this place, sometimes just resting and taking it all in is a worthwhile use of time.

 

[utah400elk]

An Alaskan/yukon moose hunt is my dream hunt. I am anxiously waiting for more. Definitely a bucket list location/hunt for me.

 

[WNC2500]

@Big Fin Only a few pictures in, and these are stunning. Landscapes definitely tell the story of "this ain't gonna be an easy hunt".

 

[MT_elk]

Beautiful pics. Love the Northern lights picture. Looking forward to seeing the rest.

 

[Big Fin]

More of the amazing northern lights. Enough that you almost faked a reason to go out and pee in the middle of the night.


Day 2 it was back to the same mountain in pursuit of that big bull. It was about a 15 minute drive from Camp Ruth to the trailhead where we would jump on Argos for an hour-long drive.


Another hike to gain a different vantage point to where we lost them yesterday.


After about a half hour, the guys had them located.


It was decided Marcus and Drae would drop off this mountain, climb the next mountain, and Michael, Grant, and I would stay here and film from afar with our Ollin digiscoping systems. This was one of the most impressive stalks I've ever witnessed. The terrain gathered, in such a short time, through such thick brush. At 60 yards, Marcus was not going to miss.



What an amazing animal, taken on an incredible stalk, in terrain that is inspiring. We waited until dark before Marcus and Drae met us at the Argos, having the bull quartered and removed from the carcass and part of it packed down into the valley and hung for the night. Tomorrow they would be packing meat all day while Grant, Michael, and I looked for another bull that neared the quality of Marcus' bull.

 

[FishN4Eyes]

Great pictures!

I was up there hunting sheep with Dustin in August and surely wished I had a mountain caribou tag in my pocket.

Looking forward to the conclusion of this hunt, it sounded like it was a good one!

 

[Rackmastr]

This is awesome so far!!!! Love it!!!

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

faked a reason to go out and pee in the middle of the night.

LOL!

 

[Big Fin]

We slept in a bit the morning of Day 3. For the first time, we saw the sun. Marcus and Drae took their Argo to go retrieve meat, cape, and antlers. A better feel for the size of Marcus' bull and the terrain these things live in.


Michael, Grant, and I headed out not too long behind them, hoping to explore a drainage that seemed really intriguing and not yet hunted this season. The second caribou I located was two miles away. Wow, we better get a closer look.


By the time we got closer, the sun had him napping with his head on the ground.


Grant assured me that my excitement was well spent. This was a true whopper of a bull. Let's get going. Another long stalk that took most of the afternoon had me at 264 yards, waiting for his cows to clear as I rested on the pack. Thank God for the extra time to get my pulse and breathing under control. He was quartering towards us, trying to make out what we were. He hesitated a bit too long as his cows filed over the ridge. One shot from the Howa Superlite .308 sent a 165 grain Nosler Partition through him, starting a cartwheel down the steep slope that would take off part of him main beam and four of his points.




Having taken Marcus' bull back to camp, when Marcus heard we were going on a stalk, he was asking for coordinates. I sent him an inReach message and he tried to get there before the shooting. They were too late, but it was a great help to have him and Drae arrive in time to help with the extraction. Marcus offered to carry the antlers, which with this grabbing brush as our obstacle, I was happy to oblige.

 

[Irrelevant]

For this Yukon hunt, I wanted to be joined by someone I know would be as intrigued and fascinated as I would be. That person, a person who has grown to be one of the people I most admire and respect, is Marcus Hockett.

I cannot think of a better compliment.

My hats off on an amazing experience in an incredible landscape. I hope you keep adding hunts to that bucket list as fast as you're checking them off.

 

[BAKPAKR]

Congrats to you and Marcus for a couple of awesome bulls!

 

[Big Fin]

With 8 days to hunt, we were tagged out after Day 3. Lots of meat and capes to take care of and plot some attacks on the local grouse infestation. Grant was kind enough to loan me his .410 and a few rounds of #5s.




I was happy to spend the next five days just exploring, maybe finding some ptarmigan, and being away from any semblance of a cell connection or email. Amazing country that was exceeding all of my expectations.

 

[WapitiBob]

congrats, memories for a lifetime

 

[Big Fin]

That afternoon Dustin had driven up and dropped off another hunter who was on standby, in the event Marcus and I filled out early. Dan, has hunted with Dustin a lot and is purely an archer. He was hoping to find a decent Mountain Caribou, given his hunt earlier in the season resulted in a lot of "Close, but not close enough." Along with him came Bethany, a videographer who films a lot of stuff at Dustin's operation.

We didn't connect with Dustin, as we were out pounding grouse. While out there, Grant asked me what I thought about Yukon moose. I told him Dustin had offered me a moose hunt as part of this, but due to budgets, I had declined. Dustin had told me the day we arrived at Watson Lake that he might have an open moose tag and if so, I could have it. I thanked him and explained the budget constraints that came with my MacKenzie trip next year.

Well, little did I know, Dustin and Grant were conspiring without my full awareness. Dustin did have an open moose tag. And he was holding it for me, in the event we tagged out early. When I got back to the cabin, there was a moose tag on the table with my name on it. And when I turned on my inReach to message Mrs. Fin there was a nice note from Dustin, "Thanks for all you've done for us. You've sent so many hunters our way. The least I can do is add the moose hunt at no cost. This one is on me."

Gulp. Holy smokes. I surely didn't expect that. I have always paid full freight, not wanting to be "one of those guys." I asked Grant if this is all for real. He laughed and told us to get our gear ready for five days of moose hunting. He knew what the gig was, but didn't want to tell me. Marcus and Michael were as excited as I was dumbfounded.

I fell asleep that night with a belly full of caribou backstraps, listening to the guys tell and retell stories with Dan and Bethany, and my last waking thought being how much is right in this world if you put yourself in the mental state and the geography that soothes your soul. Even as I type this, with a couple weeks to think about it, I don't have words to explain the feelings of that evening, in such an amazing place, with great people, where every dream I had was being surpassed.

 

[rjthehunter]

Breathtaking! Keep it rolling, we're loving this.

 

[Big Fin]

Grant warned us that the moose rut was really winding down. There was a drainage where they had seen some nice moose in August, but when the rut is on, the bulls moved down to the big rivers where the cows like to hang out in September. The moose tag is good for specific areas, so we'd be somewhat confined to that area. Regardless of those constraints and the tail end of the rut, with five days to burn, what could give me a better reason to be bouncing around in an Argo and trying to find a bull moose.

Grant told us the strategy wasn't overly complex. Ride the Argos on an old trail up the valley, following a river, calling from high spots as we ascended.


I quickly got the feeling that Grant loved hunting moose. He called enthusiastically. The results weren't what we hoped for, so he suggested we get high above the valley, overlooking a huge flowage, maybe start a fire, and spend the entire day calling from one spot. OK by me.


Grant explained that often times is takes 2-3 hours for a bull to come in. A fire would take the chill off this damp day. We could take turns napping while he called.

 

[noharleyyet]

What an awesome thread...

 

[Big Fin]

By 3pm, everyone had gotten some nap time. Michael and I moved off to do an interview to fill out our story lines. We came back and Michael grabbed Marcus to do more of the same.

I looked at Grant and explained to him how lucky I felt to be standing right there, at that moment, with these people. He smiled big and nodded in agreement, thinking profoundly about something. As I turned to see where the guys had set up for the interview, Grant asked, "You hear that? I think I heard a bull."

I'm pretty good at knowing when I'm being jacked around and he seemed completely serious. A minute later, I heard it, "Wha, Wha." I raced up the ridge to find Marcus and Michael setting up for the interview. I motioned dramatically with my best, "Get your asses down here, a bull is right below us."

At first they smiled and looked at each other, thinking it was a prank. When I turned and ran back to Grant, I suspect their opinions changed, as they got to the glassing perch about thirty seconds after I did.

Grant was cow calling and getting responses. The bull was in some thick timber far across the valley. We couldn't find him. Finally, Marcus spotted him and this is the only image we got before things started to get crazy.


If given permission, I'm shooting. The bull is 800 yards away, looking to see where this cow is located.

Grant gives the bull more cow calls. The bull can't believe he found a receptive cow this late in October. Not being the kind of moose to let an opportunity pass, he starts trotting to us, grunting loudly the entire way.

We're filming, digiscoping, and chuckling. We never expected this. And we surely didn't expect an arduous bull to want to join us by the fire. Grant started doing the calculus out loud...."Four more days left, a nice bull, great setup, possible warm front making moose less active, Randy seems excited, it's a free moose hunt."

He looks to me and states, "He's a nice bull. Given all the factors, if you want him, feel free to take him."

I'm chuckling as I watch in the spotter, "Hell yeah, I'd be super happy with that bull. Wonder if he'll give us a shot."

Michael snaps me to attention by proclaiming, "You better get your rifle. This guy's coming here fast. He's already in range."

As I pull away from the spotter I realized why he looked big. He was barely more than 300 yards out. "Damn, better grab my rifle."