Caribou Rifles..

Thankful Otter I have read where the Population has increased in the Yukon from 30,400 in 2000 to roughly 38,000 in 2017. Has this been part of it and is Poaching a problem ?
I also know when I went to Salmon ID Elk hunting and in the area around Yellowstone People are none to happy with the Wolf situation and what they have done to the game populations. They even have a Resturant in Salmon that says shoot a wolf get a free pizza.
You will never wipe out Predators by hunting but trapping and poison did and I'm not advocating that. But I do believe limiting predators numbers can and do have a substantial effect on game populations and it has shown in the U.S. that predator management can help restore game populations faster.
Sad news all the things you describe is what is happening in the lower 48 states. In the year 1900 the U.S population was 100 million by the year 2000 300 million what it will be in the next 50 to 100 years I don't know but I do believe that is what will bring a end to hunting as we know it today.

Dr Mike, Gerry, Gil a little assist here please

A year or two ago I remember reading a study about declining herds in B.C. and the theory was that if you wanted to increase Caribou herds, you needed to hunt more moose. Apparently, as Cheyenne mentioned because of logging, etc, the forest and the vegetation in the forest changed bringing more Moose which left less food for the Caribou. The wolves followed the moose herds and suddenly the Caribou were faced with less food and more predators.

Mike, not only was your article well written but it has started a separate conversation that might be of interest to some.

I have not been in the far northern part of The Yukon, but have been in the Mackenzie mountains in N.W. territories and in the area where Gerry lives and both places are, in fact, Gods country ( Cheyennes description ).

Mike, I think if I was still hunting I would be tempted to use a 257 Weatherby, which might be a bit light. Have you or any of yours friends attempted to bow hunt Caribou ?

That 257 would be perfectly adequate for even the biggest bull caribou. Loaded with a good bullet like the 110gr AccuBond, 120gr Partition, or one of the 100gr mono metal bullets it would work wonders.

I have several friends who hunt caribou on the 5 mile bow only corridor of the haul rd. It can be challenging or remarkably easy depending on the caribou. I swear some must have a death wish!


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My buddies daughter has gotten two caribou now. She uses a 270 Winchester. A light weight 21” barreled rifle.




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I also have two, both with 300 WM, with my standard load of 72 gr. H-4350, behind a 180 gr Nosler Partition.

Very good Hodgeman. I always enjoy hunting articles in general, and that was well written and informative.

Europe":5n3dlgh4 said:

Dr Mike, Gerry, Gil a little assist here please

A year or two ago I remember reading a study about declining herds in B.C. and the theory was that if you wanted to increase Caribou herds, you needed to hunt more moose. Apparently, as Cheyenne mentioned because of logging, etc, the forest and the vegetation in the forest changed bringing more Moose which left less food for the Caribou. The wolves followed the moose herds and suddenly the Caribou were faced with less food and more predators.

Mike, not only was your article well written but it has started a separate conversation that might be of interest to some.

I have not been in the far northern part of The Yukon, but have been in the Mackenzie mountains in N.W. territories and in the area where Gerry lives and both places are, in fact, Gods country ( Cheyennes description

Mike, I think if I was still hunting I would be tempted to use a 257 Weatherby, which might be a bit light. Have you or any of yours friends attempted to bow hunt Caribou ?

Click to expand...

April,
I have heard some make similar statements about hunting moose in the past.

We are actually in the 4th year of a maternal caribou penning program where we put about a dozen pregnant caribou in a pen for the late winter to early summer so that they can calve in protection and then release them in July when the calves are strong enough to escape most predators. It is the only successful program of its kind in BC. To date we have only lost 2 or 3 caribou calves to predators after release (wolves and grizzly).

We are actually in the third year of a moose study looking into the decline of our region's moose herd as well.

Predation is a big problem and we have done two years of wolf culling (trapping hunting and aerial culling) to help thin down the wolf population in the region. We do not just get large packs here in the winter, but super packs numbering up to 300 individuals! They will clean out a valley in a week and then move on to the next one.

It is true that the wolves here tend to follow and focus mostly on the moose, but when they are in areas with caribou, they will target them as they are easier to catch in the deep snow. With the local moose and caribou numbers in such decline, we are seeing the wolves move more into the agricultural zone and focusing on the deer and elk.

Used to be I could hunt the entire Peace River region from August to December and maybe come across 2 or 3 sets of wolf tracks (30 years ago). For the past 10 years, it is the rare back country road where I cannot find wolf sign. Seeing wolves happens on a fairly frequent basis each year now during hunting season.

Industrial activity (forestry, oil & gas, mining, wind energy and electrical transmission activities) has opened up the backcountry considerably and exposed otherwise undisturbed populations of moose and caribou to hunting and predation pressures that they were not exposed to before, and has also contributed to the declines.

Another big factor not being recognized by our game department is the 30,000 resident hunters from other areas of BC that come here during the last two weeks of August and all of September to hunt moose! This is on top of the local residents in the area that hunt moose during the same time frame. That is a lot of pressure! And we do not have a cow or calf moose season...it has been many years since the last of those draws were available. This puts our bull/cow ratio into a serious predicament; especially when the the early August moose season is "any bull"!

Gil.

thank you, an excellent report. It is easy to see why you and Cheyenne are not happy with the Industrial activity and the roads created into the back country to support these activities.

Congratulations on your "penning program" Well done Gil.

Excellent post Gil. And congratulations on the success of the maternal penning program, well done!

I feel you and Dr Mikes pain in regards to the roads and industrial growth. The roads and industrial complexes do not just disrupt nature but allows far more hunters into areas they were unable to reach in the past, and also disrupt migration routes and calving areas. That is why I focus on roads and industrial growth when complaining instead of predators, as predators can be somewhat controlled. We have eliminated hundreds of wolves, but the industrial sites and roads just keep coming . Wolves, Bears, Eagles, Wolverines --all enemies off the Caribou, but IMHO, not the reason for the decline in Caribou herds.

Mike, I am so sorry this thread has gotten away from your article, as it is a very well written article and I suggest those who are just going this thread, to return to the first post made by Mike and read his article

I should clarify...

When I say "we", I mean my First Nations community that is conducting these activities; Saulteau First Nations.
We are partnered with West Moberly First Nations on the caribou penning program.

Two of the herds had dwindled down to single animals; a cow and a bull. They were penned and relocated to other herds to preserve and protect them, and have stayed with their new herds since.

Am glad that you have taken up the task of preserving the caribou! They are pretty incredible.

I need to get back up north and see them again.

Guy

Sorry for coming in so late but I have been not online very much for the last month or so.
Here in Saskatchewan our northern Moose population has really taken a licking mainly because of 2 problems one is the road net work that has been made in the Northeast portion of the province and the other is the ban on Moose hunting in a large portion of area in Northwest Manitoba which borders NE Saskatchewan.
Another lesser problem is the fact that the Wolf population has increased to point where there is actually a wolf season in the area I hunt Moose & Elk.
Last fall I went Moose hunting and in week personally seen at least a dozen cow Moose during the call and did not even get a glimpse of a Bull which is now becoming the norm.
However the southern Moose population is exploding because there is only a limited draw season and they have no predators other than a car or truck.

Blessings,
Dan

Well it’s scheduled, I put in the mail today a check for a DIY drop hunt with Arrowhead Outfitters is who my Brother picked as it was his year to plan next years hunt. I will be going next year in late August for 10 days.
I am taking Mikes advice about a all weather rifle which is as you know a .264 Win Mag. with cerakote on it.
Now should I picked up some 140gr Nosler AB just in case I bump into a misbehaving bear or just use the 130gr AB Nosler’s I had bought for Mule Deer.

I’d be fine with the 130’s. If they shoot to your satisfaction I can’t see 10 grains making a difference.

Congrats on booking the hunt!

Either bullet will be fine. Caribou are bigger than mule deer but not really that hard to put down. There are a lot of bigger bears up there and it definitely wouldn’t hurt to bring a solidly constructed bullet.


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Gotta love the 264! My favorite. I'd personally lean toward the 140 AccuBond but don't see any reason why the 130 wouldn't work just as well. I've just seen how far those 140's will penetrate on tough angles and like them. Good luck on the hunt.

My buddy scored on a nice little Bull this weekend. Looks like the 375 H&H works on caribou too.



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Wow! Great shooting on your buddies part Bear!

Too darned cool. Congrats.

The .375 works very well...albeit a bit bigger that required. The really nice thing about the .375 is that the amount of blood shot meat is minimal unlike higher speed rounds like the .270!