My First Caribou Hunt 2011

Knowing just enough about these Wily animals I have so nicknamed the Ghosts of the Tundra, we decided to head north towards my second home Prudhoe Bay Alaska to hunt them on the Arctic tundra.

So let me start from day one as we begin our long journey up the James W. Dalton Hwy or more affectionately known as the Haul Road.

Our first stop on the four hundred mile or so journey actually starts eighty or so miles north of Fairbanks which is the start of the haul road which we did a touristy thing and took our photo underneath the sign. My hunting group consisted of (left to Right) Tim R., Dave F. and myself.

Most people believe the ice road is actually all gravel in the summer which is not true. It is actually partially paved asphalt. Normally this would be a blessing after driving a hundred miles on a bumpy, pot-holed gravel road. It is worse when you hit the pavement. The pavement is lifted by frost heaves and blows many a tire on these sections. We were blessed as to only blow one tire on this road and that was after we reached Prudhoe Bay to refuel.

Our second stop was just across the Yukon River to grab an over priced soda and to refuel. It's funny how we complain about paying a dollar more for a cold beverage but when fuel is a buck more a gallon and you are heading out for Caribou you hardly notice.

From the Yukon River we continued our journey north until we reached the Arctic circle. This was my third time up the haul road and every time I stop at the sign because someone I am with has never been there before. I really don't mind as I have nearly traveled around the world east to west and am working on the north and south thing. It seems to me I keep heading farther north every time.

The next stop is a quaint little truck stop known as Coldfoot Alaska. Once again we refueled and then head out on the dusty trail north. This is a very beautiful area with streams as clear as anything I have every seen. The water in the streams had began to freeze and to no surprise to anyone who knows me, I shoved my hand in to see how long I could hold it. I lasted all of thirty seconds before it became numb and I was unable to move it.

This area slightly north of Coldfoot is also known as Grizzly country. As you can see by all the mountains and Spruce trees it does seem like it would be bear heaven. It is also home to Dahl sheep, Mountain goats, Moose and Wolves.

Once you get through Atigun pass, you come to the last Spruce tree on the Dalton Highway. The question was asked "How do they know it is the last tree?" and a simple answer sufficed "Do you see another?" As I said before, there are a few touristy things you have to do and see and this was one of the last ones if you don't include the Arctic tundra or Prudhoe Bay. From this point on, the terrain changes pretty dramatically. All of the mountains fade away and you began to see the real frozen tundra, not the Green Bay Packers football field.

You really cannot get lost as there is only one road in the area and the pipeline guides you north.

So as you can see the snow flies early here. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to tell how cold it is outside. Just step out of your tent or camp trailer and take a nice deep breath... your lungs begin to burn at 15 degrees in the early morning dawn in September on the North Slope.

The wildlife is plentiful in this extreme environment from the small rodents to the Grizzly bear. Each able to survive in it's own special way. One of my favorites is the mountain goat. High on the mountain tops of Atigun Pass these animals have the best view and few predators other than man.

Our first morning brought hopes of taking a Caribou with a bow as the animals grazed a half mile or so off the haul road. Since there are no trees here, you have to use the limited elevation and leafless willows along frozen creek beds for cover. The three of us spread out along the road and headed towards our prey.

Walking onto the frozen tundra for the first time, I realized that just moving a short distance was instantly tiring. The ground has small mounds of frozen grass that resemble bowling balls wearing a toupe. I first tried to walk between them and realized that the effort was futile and changed tactics quickly.

I found it was easier to walk on the clumps of grass and take my time which was less strenuous, but slower and allowing the Caribou that were grazing to pass with out me noticing. I looked down on the GPS and had realized I was a mile off the road. Normally this would not be an issue, but since the animals had left the area it was a long walk back without seeing a Caribou at least within a hundred yards.

We drove along the haul road continually moving north with our eyes looking into the distant horizon for the movement of animals or horns protruding from the hillsides like small cellular towers indicating the bulls had beded down for the early morning.

Our second stalk would produce exactly the opprotunity I was looking for an up close and personnal view of the "Bou". Tim & Dave walked in from the south and I headed up the haul road about one mile and headed onto the tundra once more.

I picked a hillside that produced easier walking as it was strewn with rocky outcrops. I headed up the hillside taking it nice and slow as I found tasty Bluberries still on the vine. I picked a handfull and ate them before once again moving up the hillside. Almost to the top I could see the antlers sticking up and I dropped down onto the ground and began to low crawl towards the Bou.

I could barly see the ears flicking and I stopped moving in order to view the animals through my binoculars. I was still outside of a hundred yards from them as they beded down, but the wind was in my favor. I slowly crawled forward about five yards at a time and then stop to make sure the wind was still blowing into my face and then hit the one visible Caribou with my range finder.

As I cleared the top of the hillside I realized these were not the goofey animals I witnessed in the summer galavanting on the roads. They act like Elk and have the cows pulling sentry guards for the bulls. I stopped moving and waited for the animals to put their heads down before I moved again.

I could see my partners hiding to the south of me and they were signaling for me to look to the north. Before I could react, I had a her of fifty Bou moving towards the herd that was currently beded down about two hundred yards away. I had crawled as far as I could and knew that I had two options; either sneak forward until I was within shooting range which was at best fifty yards or slip back down the hill for cover and wait for the animals to pass or bed down.

I chose the latter and slid down the hill until I realized there were now animals below me as well. I got up on my knees and ranged the small bull behind me at seventy yards. I was caught between the merging herds and all at once my cover was blown and the animals began to run in all directions.

We use to have a saying in the Army... "We practice chaos because war is chaos." I have now applied this to Caribou hunting as well. Animals ran in every direction and I was left with no shot, but it was amazing to watch the animals bolt in every direction. It is incredible how quick these animals really are on this uneven ground. When you scare them they head west farther from the road and once they feel safe stop, look back and I swear one of them was laughing at me.

This was a regular routine for my hunting party. We would get close enough to count the tines on their horns but something would happen such as the wind would change or they would just move further away from us.

The only opprotunity for a shot came by trying a different tactic spot, stalk & talk. Tim went in and I quided him by walkie talkie. It was actually by chance that the herd turned and headed towards him. A bull was chasing a cow into the creek bed and produced one opprotunity at sixty yards which Tim missed low and to the right.

After four days of chasing the Caribou we decided to take a break and fish the Sag River. We walked along the clear waters locating the deep pools and quickly discovered that the Arctic Grayling were hungry and ready to eat whatever we casted in front of their faces. After a couple hours of catching these beautiful fish we drove back to camp and built a fire and sipped whiskey until it was time to retire for the evening.

Although the Caribou escaped my freezer this year, I did manage to learn a great deal about these animals and the terrain they live on. I could have walked five miles outside of the restricted corridor and shot one with the rifle, but It was all or nothing with my bow.

I will be back up there next year doing the same thing and am hoping I have the pleasure of my father joining me to live out his life long dream of hunting Caribou on the North Slope with his recurve bow.

We

Below Zero

Well we hit the negative temperatures today on Halloween. When I took the dogs out this morning at 10:00, it was -5. Made my nose hairs freeze instantly. LOL It was a bit of a shock because it was in the 20's yesterday. I guess we'd better get used to it since it's only going to get colder.


Here are some pictures of our snow covered backyard. Most of the trees you see are on the lot behind the property that our house sits on. We just bought that lot a few weeks ago. We have almost 2.5 acres between the two pieces of land. Now we know our view will remain as beautiful.



This is the front of our house. Looks different from when we first moved in. We won't be seeing the grass for quite some time.

I love having a heated garage to park in. My truck is nice and warm when I leave for work and I don't have to brush snow off or scrape windows. SCORE!!!!








This is our front driveway looking out toward the street.










We have moose that pass through our yard but the only thing we've seen so far is their prints. I am hopeful that I will see one soon.












This is my snow boot in comparison to a moose track. And yes, that is my flannel pj bottoms that you see. LOL
















Here is the trail the moose have been making along our treeline in the back yard. I told Deven I want to put some treats out for them and see if I can get a picture of one that way. The dogs know something is out there in the woods. Some mornings or nights when we go out their hackles go up and they head off toward the trees in search of what they sense. Wonder what they'd do if they actually saw one of those huge creatures? Probably tuck tail and run back to the garage. Our dogs are such wimps. But we love them.





We had to get the dogs some snow booties. Caddis got his first because he was gimping around out in the snow first. He didn't like how the snow packed in between his pads. He loves them. Runs and bounces all over the place. Here is Maggie trying them on. Makes it look like they have duck feet. It cracks me up to watch. They don't really fuss at them. I was surprised.

The Prudhoe Bay Experience

This is my second stint in Prudhoe Bay & I must say that it is better the second time around. Although, I am only spending one week a month up here, it is considered short compared to people working three weeks on and three weeks off. I actually have an employee that works six weeks on three weeks off!

As you can tell by the weather, it has been amazing. I know that soon enough everything will be frozen and white as cotton sheets hanging on a clothes line. The Dalton Highway is half gravel and half rough asphalt! Speed limit is 50 mph. I would not want to go faster, you will be off the road.

This sign is the first thing you see at the end of the Dalton Highway. Basic directions, but it will get you to a hotel or restaurant.

There is plenty of water around for the migrating birds, but be aware that if they decide to walk across the gravel road, you have to give them the right of way. In fact, all animals get the right of way and at any momment Caribou, Musk Ox or birds will cross or stop in the street. That is funny to see all the big rigs waiting for a herd of Caribou to cross.

Most people believe these animals are related to the Buffalo or Ox, but that is not true. They are most closely related to Sheep or goats. Musk Ox grow to a height of 4' and can weigh in excess of 700lbs.

The Musk Ox was almost hunted to extinction and since, have been managed to protect their highly prized fur which is soft, long and a great insulator.

As you can see in this photo, Caribou roam all over the Prudhoe Bay Area. From what people tell me, the only difference between a Reindeer and a Caribou is the Reindeer is domesticated for fur, milk, meat and "Santa Clause". I have tried a Caribou sausage and it was delicious. Both the male and female Caribou have antlers only the male grow them to massive size.

It is not uncommon to see them daily running across the road or deciding to stop and look at you for an hour or so.

This project you see in this photo is of the Liberty Pad oil rig which is the largest land based oil rig in the world. Currently it is being built and should be up and running by June or July 2011. This oil pad actually sits on the Arctic Ocean, but a gravel road was built out to the project because of the amount of material and equipment needed to build it year round. When you travel to the project, you actually drive across the Arctic Ocean which is amazing.

The last photo is our ride back from Liberty Pad to the Dead Horse area.

Soon the weather will change and all of this will be frozen over and trucks will drive across the frozen ocean to some of the island oil rigs. I will keep you posted and show some pictures when this happens.

More to follow!

One morning I convinced Nichole to take a ride with me up the Dalton Highway A.K.A. "The Ice Road". Although, there is no ice yet, it is still a dangerous road as the tractor/trailers fly down this road at 70 mph. The road is half gravel and the other half asphalt. I would rather it be all gravel as the asphalt is worn out and frost heaves can launch your rig into the air at any moment.

Our first stop provided little fishing opportunity, but we did manage to catch a Bald Eagle sitting atop a Spruce tree looking for dinner.

As you can see forest fires are common up here and they burn everything. I will say though that Alaska seems to allow for quick growth of the vegetation and the animals do come back quickly.

We picked a perfect day to explore this highway although, we made it to the Arctic Circle before we had to turn around and head home. It will actually take about twelve hours to drive from Fairbanks to Dead Horse Alaska. We made it sixty miles south of Cold Foot Alaska!

One day we will drive all the way and spend the night in a Dead Horse hotel which are actually not too bad for a small room.

My friend Darrell Carter convinced me that we needed to float the Chena River in his raft. Now as a kid, a raft was one of those Sevlor inflatable rafts that your parents bought for you at Bi-Mart or K-Mart. When I arrived at Darrell's house his raft was one of those white water river runners that you see guides using on the Mckenzie River in Oregon. This is the only way to float if you do not have a drift boat folks!

The Chena River was low and clear so we expected to catch the Grayling and were surprised to see the River full of Salmon too. The Kings were bright red and the Chum Salmon were in their full "Urban Cammo" colors coming up the river.

Darrell found this spectacular fish while chasing down the Arctic Grayling. It was immediately released, back to the river to finish spawning.

We floated about three miles of river and it took all day as the fishing was exceptional and we really did not want to leave the river.

Darrell has lived in Alaska his entire life and knows where the best honey holes for fishing are as well as the best areas to hunt.

After Tim Pritchard arrived up here, I managed to take him down the Alaska Highway to attempt some fly fishing. I would say that for someone who has never done this type of

fishing before he preformed admirably as you will see by the photos I have posted.

The sky was especially blue on this trip and the sun was shining, so at least we had the weather in our favor. There has not been many days that the sky has cooperated on the weekend.

Tim has really taken to fly fishing and these Arctic Grayling fight like wild Rainbows back home. They are amazing creatures and the blue colors on their bodies really shows well. Their dorsal fins stick up high in the water like a sharks fin and these fish sky out of the water when hooked. It is quite common to catch as many as twenty in one deep fishing hole.

Arctic Grayling are not too picky when it comes to the flies they will take. I have caught them on size #10 Royal Trude's all the way down to a size #20 Hare's Ear Nymph. I really think that the movement of the fly and whether or not the fish are feeding on top or on the bottom more than color and size does. The great thing about these fish are that on most of the rivers they are catch and release so they grow to above average sizes of 16" to 20" fish.

This is another Arctic Grayling that Tim caught and as you can see the size of the fish compared to the fly rod.

I will say that we caught our fair share of smaller fish too, but no one ever shows those photos! It is always the bigger fish as it makes a better picture to share.

There are many rivers to fish in Alaska and all one has to do is get off the road and explore. I walked up the Chitna River to explore the Arctic Grayling fishing and found the water to look just like blue Gatorade. Incredible places like this are rarely explored because there is ample fishing along side the road. But to really view Alaska you have to either walk in, fly in, or ride in. So far I have walked, but I have really only been here two months so I have plenty of time for the other! I also wanted a pistol or shotgun with me as it makes Nichole feel better about me fishing Alaska.

More to come!

Denali National Park & Surrounding Area

Saturday we dropped Mitch off at the airport and then headed south towards Denali Park. The weather was the typical July Alaska weather with rain showers and dark clouds holding over us.

The park is about a two hour drive, but I felt it was neccessary to drive a little farther to the town of Cantwell to explore a few of the small mountain run off streams I found on a map.

As we drove through the town of Cantwell, the storm clouds dropped over us and a few showers poured down upon us. I had all of my cold weather gear, but I would have fished anyways. The streams were running high, cold and clear. After a few casts I managed to land one of several Graylings. All of them were fairly larger fish around 15" one or two were exceptional at 18". I fished for about two hours and then we decided to eat lunch in the truck to avoid the rain and watch the river flow by.

After lunch, we drove up the Parks Highway to the enterance to the Denali National Park. This is one of the places I have always wanted to go to, but I always thought it would happen after I retired. The park is clean & busy but the roads were nice and few people driving as you can actually go farther into the park if you ride one of the tour buses. Since this was just a day trip we chose to ride into the park in our truck up to the turn around area at Savage River.

The only downside is the long drives. Most of the things I want to see are a few hundred miles away. If we are doing day drives you only spend a few hours where you want to be. But let's face it, the drive is usually faster going there than comming back. I know when we get the house I will not be able to do these things so it is better I get to do them now.

My First Trip to the Kenai River

As you can imagine, I cannot wait for the weekends to explore the great state of Alaska. I was invited down to a fishing tournament that the Anchorage, Wasilla & Soldotna branches of United Rentals puts on every year. I jumped on a plane and flew down with my boss and try my luck for some Big kenai River Kings.

The tournament is set up so each sales rep or branch manager has three of his clients on the boat with a guide. Our guide has been fishing the Kenai area for 25 years. I felt pretty good about our luck but as we started to line up to get on our assigned boats we got hit by heavy rain storms and high winds. Not a good start to the day but were wearing rain gear and had a thermos of hot coffee.

After traveling a few miles down river we started to fish and the water was high and off color. There were Bald Eagles everywhere and that was worth the trip alone. But as you well know I want to fish! As luck would have it, I spent eight hours in a boat and never touched a fish. I enjoyed the day, but wished we would have found some fish.

After the tournament, we went back to the lodge and ate steak and shrimp. I managed to talk to the only people who caught fish and it was strange that five people on the boat all caught fish. There were twenty five boats and one boat caught fish! I headed home instead of staying one more night to go Halibut fishing. I would have stayed, but I had things that needed done so I drove the nine hours back to Fairbanks. I will not be doing that again anytime soon! I left the Kenai River at 5:00 p.m. and arrived to our RV park at 2:00 a.m. I had been up for twenty two hours that day and it was too much.

As I was going to say I really wasn't going to miss much, I was wrong.......

My boss sent me the photos of his fish this afternoon he caught on the Kenai River today & I feel obligated to include them on this post as these are truly the fish we have dreams about on a nightly basis.

Tim did release this fish and as you can tell what an animal!

Our First Fourth of July Weekend

On Saturday we all woke up early, loaded up the cooler and headed out at 6am for our day trip adventure. We headed south so the boys could fish the Gulkana River.

We saw 7 moose in the first hour and a half. They are so strange looking. They have these super long skinny legs and these big 'ole bodies and heads. We saw most of them in the area of Eilson Air Force Base so we couldn't take pictures. The zone around the base is a no stopping or picture taking area for security reasons. A little further up the road we saw 2 bull moose fighting over a territory. Deven was able to snap this picture before they ran off into the hills......

You Lookin at Me????

Between Summit Lake and Paxson Lake, we stopped at a rest area. They had a viewing platform that hung over the little stream that ran by. When we went over there to check it out, there were hundreds of salmon in the stream. They were getting ready to spawn and just hanging out. It was amazing to see that in real life. The were turning the beautiful red color. (It's hard to see in this pic but they are there....)

As we headed further south, we ran into rain showers. By the time we got to the fishing spot of choice it was about 11:00. And the bummer was that the rain had blown the river out. It was not fit to fish that day :o( The boys were good sports and just happy to be out of the RV for a bit. We decided we'd try to find an area to fish on our way back home. We found a little gravel road that led to a great fishing stream. The water was clear so out came the fishing gear. They all fly fished and were catching Arctic Graylings.






A little after 2:00, we loaded back into the truck for the 4 hour trip back. We had to get home to the doggies who can go about 12 hours without needing a potty break. The scenery was totally different on the way home. We got to see a glacier......

The middle section is the frozen glacier.


It was a fun day. All together we saw 11 moose, about 30 rabbits and a bald eagle. Along with some great scenery and good fishing. Who could ask for more???