Porcupine caribou herd

prarierocket · Apr 11, 2007

Could anyone tell me if they have heard any good, accurate information regarding the current trophy quality of the caribou in the Brooks Range? I have a DIY drop hunt tentativly reserved for 2009, but I've been hearing some rumors/info that the heard is dwindling and behaving different than they typically do. Any help or advice if this trip is going to be worth doing or not, would be greatly appreciated.

nochawk · Apr 12, 2007

I hunted with an outfitter last spring who dropped all his carabou hunts due to low numbers, said that the last 3 or 4 years numbers have dropped so they were going to give up offering hunts until numbers rebounded. talked to 3 other outfitters and got the same story.

You may want to consider a NWT hunt instead.

prarierocket · Apr 12, 2007

Thanks, nochawk. Thats not exactly what I was hoping to hear, but I guess I need to hear it if I am going to make an educated decision about this trip. Was the outfitter you went with normally hunting the porcupine herd? I've heard terible reports about the numbers of the Mulchatna herd being way down, with no trophy opportunity. Do you have any tips about outfitters in NWT that would offer a good opportunity at a B&C 'bou?

PR

RamDreamer · Apr 12, 2007

I was reading the 2006 hunting report of a Yukon outfitter today that hunts the Procupine herd on the Yukon side. The herd was so late in coming last year that they cancelled the season/hunts. The caribou finally actually did arrive... about mid-November!

prarierocket · Apr 12, 2007

Thanks Ramdreamer

This is going from bad to worse. A mid november arrival isn't going to help me for a late august booking(tentativly). That would have me sitting on the bank of the Colleen river for the worlds most expensive week of flyfishing for greyling, rather than packing out meat and horns. I'm glad if I have to cancel at this point, I'm only out $250 deposit thus far.

nochawk · Apr 13, 2007

Like I mentioned, I was black bear hunting in the spring and was considering booking a carabou hunt for the fall but went with moose instead. The Mulchatna herd was worst off than the porcupine herd, but they were not going to do any carabou hunts, letting the residents who had more time go after them for the subsistance hunts as they had more time. Im not really up on the outfitters in NWT but Im sure someone here is..

Sorry to rain on your plans but it is important to know to make a good decision. My suggestion is find an outfitter who will move you to where the herd is instead of waiting for a migration..

Good Luck
Nate

TBinKodiak · Apr 14, 2007

The Western Alaska Caribou Herd (WACH) is another option. It numbers 600,000, I believe, and has been having a population explosion the last few years. Most hunters fly out of Kotzebue.

GHOSTINTHEWOODS · Apr 14, 2007

prarierocket, I'm going to the northwest territories this year it's not a drop hunt but I looked for months and finally decided to go with the couragous lake camps. give em a look.

prarierocket · Apr 14, 2007

Thanks guys,
At least there is some good info for a change, I just wish it was for the hunt I had planned. But, oh well, I guess we can't control the animals whims. This is all going to help me make an informed decision about who and where I will ultimatly go. I'm very curious about the WACH, is there a site that I can get a bunch of info from? I'd also love to hear about the end result of this Couragous Lakes trip. Is that hunt for this season, or later next?

prarierocket · Apr 14, 2007

OK ghostinthewoods, I guess I should learn how to read. Obviously you are headed there this year. Please keep me informed of how this outfitter does for you. I would like to get all the info I can. I picked up a bunch at the last ISE show, but I didn't hear many good remarks about caribou herds in AK, just NWT.

Bob

bigbull1 · Apr 16, 2007

You might check with Kelly Hougen with Arctic Red River in the NWT. I had a great hunt last year with them in the late season.

http://www.arcticred-nwt.com/

Ed