Caribou "D" Day we are off with pics YEEEEHAW

[rabbitman]

Border Bob left his vehicle at my place and CJ and Tim picked him up and headed north at approx. 3PM this afternoon...so those three nimrods should have arrived in Detroit about an hour ago. Sure hope they don't have to pack anything else in that truck as space appeared to be very limited.  Don't know where they're going to put their dead critters for the return trip.

[Danny Rowan]

Well, it is about 0230 over there so the guys should be well up into Canada and maybe all the way to Radison by now. Hope they have a great hunt.

Danny

[BradLantz]

we ( Nokohe, Hill Boy and I ) are an hour out of Indianapolis right now

in short, a heck of an adventure, spectacular country, amazing fishing, great guys to hunt with, good food and a good camp ......... no caribou

and when I say no caribou, I mean there wasnt any caribou within 15-20 miles of us. none

[Minuteman]

Dad burn it! That the sucky-est suck that ever sucked!
 That or yer yanking our chains. I hope you are yanking our chains?!?!? Please be yankin' our chains.......

[BradLantz]

no yanking - great trip, great country, I liked the Tuttulik camp and area, saw northern lights, wolves, howling wolves, great fishing

no caribou


none

not even a fresh track

[Danny Rowan]

I was afraid of that. If you were at Lake Minto,the migration maps look like they will be there this week or next. That is a real bummer,to spend that much time and money on a trip of this magnitude and not even see a bou. I take it on this "budget hunt" they would not move you to where the bou were?

Be safe coming home and spin some stories when ya can cause I know you had fun anyway.

I take it there were no bears around either?

Danny

[BradLantz]

2 bears seen was what I heard

This was the drive up hunt but Nick, the camp guy, said I believe the laws are now that you can't "chase" the caribou - your camp is your camp, bou or no bou


Everything about the hunt was a success except the hunting itsself and lack of any caribou. That was the only negative, everything else was positive

CJ, Bob, Donald, Tim, Ray .......... good gawd what some characters they are !

[Minuteman]

sorry fellers.... :(

[Whip]

Oh man, that's too bad.  I'd bet you had a wonderful trip no matter what, but a guy always hopes all the stars will line up for one like that one.  Still want to read all about it!  

[the Ferret]

That's too bad. Caribou hunting is the most feast or famine hunting that there is IMO. There may be 10,000 caribou one day and non the next.

Glad the camp, company and fishing was good at least.

I would not hunt with someone that wouldn't move me if there were no bou around. If that's the new law, i won't be hunting up there. period.

[paleFace]

like Mickey said it's feast or famine, hunting and not killing.  sounds like a good time was still had by all.  i know someone took some photos and there has to be a story to tell from this hunt.....let's hear it gents!

[Ernie Black]

Not sure about a new law that prohibits being moved but the 2 times I went we were told we would be moved but each time it did not happen.
All there camps were full or there were no caribou at the camps that were not. It's just a crap shoot for sure. I did take one the 2nd time but it sure is hard to hunt hard when you know there are no caribou to be found. I feel for you guys.

[hunt it]

Sorry to hear this guys. This is always a problem with the southern camps. These outfitters have all this money invested in their camps and can not afford to keep moving and building each year. So they continue to keep booking them up and crossing their fingers. The migration changes from year to year based on food and climate. They are still allowed to move you to the herd.The guys in the south will tell you no because they don't do it. Lets look at the situation, they have every camp filled up. the only thing they can do is switch you with another group that wants moved also. The northern camps out of Fort Chimo are much better bet and they do move hunters to herd. They don't move camps but they fly guys to the herd each day by chopper if no caribou in camp. However this comes at a cost $4,000.00 to $6,000.00. Not for everyone.

[Ray Hammond]

they would have moved us...if they had a place to move us to, and we had the pockets to cover it..on the other hand...I would not have done a hunt like Mirage does...flying people out in front of the animals in helicopters and float planes daily..not my cup of tea.

Its not killing, its hunting. Last year, the same week we were there this year, Camp Kat was covered up in 'bou. Two weeks ago they were 70 miles away and headed for us..I would not have switched with anyone based on what we knew at the time we left.

There's a good deal more to a hunt than taking game- being flown up in front of animals ? I'm not sure what that is but it's not the hunting I want to do.

[JC]

Originally posted by Ray Hammond:
There's a good deal more to a hunt than taking game- being flown up in front of animals ? I'm not sure what that is but it's not the hunting I want to do.

Sorry you guys didn't have any bou action and that they couldn't move you to a more favorable area. But I agree with your sentiment above. Sometimes, "being there is good enough."      

[BradLantz]

the cost of the flying around, the not having a vacant camp to put us in, the weather itsself would have stopped any relocating for at least 2 days I imagine and we all knew up front I think that Tuttulik doesn't "chase" the herds, thus their 1/2 price off the next hunt policy if you are 'bou-less like we were

Ray said at one point you can control your comraderie, you can control how well you eat (and we did !) but you cannot control the weather or the animals. Do all you can to make the hunt successful, control what you can control.

[knife river]

Bummer.  You guys all have a great perspective on it, though.  Must be some good pics and great stories...  (hint, hint).    

[Ray Hammond]

The northern lights, seeing/hearing wolves, and catching those fish were worth the price of admission.

give me a couple days to catch up here at work and I will post some pics..as I am sure others will also.

35 hour drive from James Bay to Woodstock, GA..and I still have to ride MARTA to the airport to pick up my truck tonight after work!!

[hill boy]

You guy's stay posted until we get rested up.By the time we get done posting pics and telling stories everyone will wish they were there, bou or no bou.One of the best hunting trips I have ever been on.  :D

[Ray Hammond]

As we were driving down the James Bay Road from Radisson, Quebec to Amos, Quebec (685 kilometers I believe) we had 5 wolves run out and try to cross the road in front of us. Whew- with CJ Pearson driving the speed limit we would have had serious damage done to the rig had the alpha male not spotted us and turned back right away.

2000 miles in 33 hours, with a stop outside Detroit at Cabelas for a bison brat with all the fixins.

Bob Walker had his iPOD loaded up with Escanaba in Da Moonlight and I got to watch that...you need to do yourself a favor and see this movie about the oldest "buckless UP-er gets his buck" story!

Beautiful wild flowers, all kinds of berries on the ground, ptarmigan changing from brown to white, wolves howling, canada geese and ducks, impossibly-beautiful brook trout and lakers in the coldest water I've ever stuck my hand in and so clear you can see 30 feet to the bottom in..what a trip.

Mike aka Hillboy, Brad, Bob, Don, TK RW LD Pearson and the rest of the guys were a real fun group and I enjoyed myself immensely. We even got our camp guy and three compounders all shooting recurves and longbows one night and they had a blast doing it!