Thebear_78
Handloader
- Sep 30, 2004
- 3,047
- 669
I took a couple days off work this weekend to get in a last shot at caribou and moose this year.
My earlier hunt this year was plagued by weather and bears and scattered bou. The caribou herds were scattered, high, and far from the road in my normal areas.
I went to a cabin on Denali highway with a couple buddies. Unfortunately the herds were still scattered and distant, but small bands had been moving thru the area so there was some hope.
The first day found us covering a lot of ground, getting up high and glassing large valleys and hillsides. While the weather was good and we were overlooking some of the most beautiful country in the world, it was also empty. A few ravens and little brown birds were all we saw that first day.
The second day started out as much of the same but we spotted a lone cow across a large valley. We watched the cow for the better part of the hour. My buddies were holding out for a big bull but the meat hunter in me just couldn't resist taking a shot at meat in the freezer.
I had a good avenue of approach in a mostly dry wash that would bring me up to a small rise that should put me in range. I hoofed it the 3/4 mile across the valley floor and crept up the small rise peeked over the top to see the caribou laying 311 yards away on another small rise.
I settled in on a small sandy hump of a parka squirrel den, it made for a great prone shooting position with my bipod sinking into the soft sand giving my the most solid shooting position I have ever had in the field.
She never got out of her bed, the Berger 168 classic hunter did as advertised, punched in behind the shoulder and broke the offside leg at the elbow.
It was the first time hunting with the suppressor and I must say it was amazing. Zero recoil, easily watched the impact, about as much noise as a 22lr and a more noticeable thump of bullet impact.
I walked over and started dressing the caribou expecting my buddies to have heard the shot and bring the wheelers over. Apparently they never heard the shot and they didn't show up until I was nearly finished.
As we were loading up the cow a small bull appeared over the edge of a hill hobbling badly on its front leg. My friends little brother decided to go get it and asked to borrow my rifle. It was pretty cool watching him sneak up to a shooting position. He looked to be fumbling for a minute, then took his shot. Watching from several hundred yards away it was really neat. I saw the caribou buck and stumble a few yards and drop before I heard the sonic crack echoing off the mountain behind him. It made for quite the delay. He hit it right thru the heart. Being his first caribou we told him he had to take a bite out of the heart.
He didn't follow thru!
Today I was going to hunt in the morning hoping for a chance at s moose and then head home to process this cow before work on Monday morning.
First thing out of the gate I spotted a pair of big bull caribou about 800 yards away on a sloping hill over a river. I grabbed my buddy and we got set up at 409 yards, it was farther than he felt comfortable. I wanted to move up 80 yards to a small knoll that would give us 300-320 yard shot. It would have been perfect, we had the wind and they were unaware. Had I not tagged out the day before I would have been punching my ticket right there.
My buddy wanted to try to get in front of them and let them walk right to us. We gave it a shot but they busted us before we could get in position and high tailed it out of the area. We tried to chase them down, to get above a natural escape route hoping to catch them there. A wise old hunter once told me "you can't catch a caribou", he was right again! Not all was lost, I got some much needed exercise. Running around in that boggy tundra is tiring as hell!
Now I've got my meat hanging in my shed with a fan on it and will have a full day of cutting, grinding, and bagging tomorrow.
As the great Fred bear once said...
" A hunt based only on trophies taken falls far short of what the ultimate goal should be. "
Beautiful country, decent weather, and great company. I think I squeezed about as much out of that weekend as you can!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
My earlier hunt this year was plagued by weather and bears and scattered bou. The caribou herds were scattered, high, and far from the road in my normal areas.
I went to a cabin on Denali highway with a couple buddies. Unfortunately the herds were still scattered and distant, but small bands had been moving thru the area so there was some hope.
The first day found us covering a lot of ground, getting up high and glassing large valleys and hillsides. While the weather was good and we were overlooking some of the most beautiful country in the world, it was also empty. A few ravens and little brown birds were all we saw that first day.
The second day started out as much of the same but we spotted a lone cow across a large valley. We watched the cow for the better part of the hour. My buddies were holding out for a big bull but the meat hunter in me just couldn't resist taking a shot at meat in the freezer.
I had a good avenue of approach in a mostly dry wash that would bring me up to a small rise that should put me in range. I hoofed it the 3/4 mile across the valley floor and crept up the small rise peeked over the top to see the caribou laying 311 yards away on another small rise.
I settled in on a small sandy hump of a parka squirrel den, it made for a great prone shooting position with my bipod sinking into the soft sand giving my the most solid shooting position I have ever had in the field.
She never got out of her bed, the Berger 168 classic hunter did as advertised, punched in behind the shoulder and broke the offside leg at the elbow.
It was the first time hunting with the suppressor and I must say it was amazing. Zero recoil, easily watched the impact, about as much noise as a 22lr and a more noticeable thump of bullet impact.
I walked over and started dressing the caribou expecting my buddies to have heard the shot and bring the wheelers over. Apparently they never heard the shot and they didn't show up until I was nearly finished.
As we were loading up the cow a small bull appeared over the edge of a hill hobbling badly on its front leg. My friends little brother decided to go get it and asked to borrow my rifle. It was pretty cool watching him sneak up to a shooting position. He looked to be fumbling for a minute, then took his shot. Watching from several hundred yards away it was really neat. I saw the caribou buck and stumble a few yards and drop before I heard the sonic crack echoing off the mountain behind him. It made for quite the delay. He hit it right thru the heart. Being his first caribou we told him he had to take a bite out of the heart.
He didn't follow thru!
Today I was going to hunt in the morning hoping for a chance at s moose and then head home to process this cow before work on Monday morning.
First thing out of the gate I spotted a pair of big bull caribou about 800 yards away on a sloping hill over a river. I grabbed my buddy and we got set up at 409 yards, it was farther than he felt comfortable. I wanted to move up 80 yards to a small knoll that would give us 300-320 yard shot. It would have been perfect, we had the wind and they were unaware. Had I not tagged out the day before I would have been punching my ticket right there.
My buddy wanted to try to get in front of them and let them walk right to us. We gave it a shot but they busted us before we could get in position and high tailed it out of the area. We tried to chase them down, to get above a natural escape route hoping to catch them there. A wise old hunter once told me "you can't catch a caribou", he was right again! Not all was lost, I got some much needed exercise. Running around in that boggy tundra is tiring as hell!
Now I've got my meat hanging in my shed with a fan on it and will have a full day of cutting, grinding, and bagging tomorrow.
As the great Fred bear once said...
" A hunt based only on trophies taken falls far short of what the ultimate goal should be. "
Beautiful country, decent weather, and great company. I think I squeezed about as much out of that weekend as you can!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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