Caribou success

mart · September 04, 2016, 09:26:11 PM

My wife recently had shoulder surgery and because I had to be back at work on the north slope, my Mom came up from Washington to stay with her while Etta recuperated. I promised Mom when I got back from the slope I'd take her to a part of Alaska she'd never seen. We loaded up the camper and headed out to the Denali highway from the Paxson side. Mom was excited to do some camping and fishing, try out her new camera and it's huge telephoto lens. Of course I was wanting to get in some caribou hunting as well.

The girls had a ball picking berries and taking pictures. Mom loved it and even caught a nice pair of grayling for us for dinner one night. After a few days we decided to move farther along the highway to some other locations where I could boot hunt from camp and she could fish and take pictures. We hadn't gone fr when I spotted a small group of caribou about a mile off the road in a non motorized area. I decided to make the hike and hopefully put a successful stalk on these caribou and stock our freezer up a little.

I worked around a few little hills and ridges looking for them. The country there was quite broken with lots of pockets and terrain they could disappear into. I finally got on them after hiking around for a couple of miles and made a 200 yard trotting shot on what turned out to be a good sized dry cow. Mom got some good pictures with her zoom lens. The picture of me over looking the lake is over a mile from the road. The pack out ended up being right at 3/4 mile and required two heavy trips. It was worth it though. We grilled up the tenderloin when we got home and my gosh they were good.

Thanks for looking guys.

Headed out for the stalk.

Where did they go?

The group minus one.

Success with the 400 Whelen.

First load almost back to the truck.

First load back.

Almost back with the second load.

The girls with some berries.

Mom with a nice grayling.

Magicman · September 04, 2016, 10:02:59 PM

Many thanks for sharing your successful outing.

clww · September 04, 2016, 11:31:30 PM

Thanks for sharing these great photos and story of your successful trip.

Ken · September 05, 2016, 05:59:15 PM

Thanks for posting those pictures and story. Very nice results

goose63 · September 05, 2016, 06:43:44 PM

Thank's for taking me along mart.

I have a good friend up there one day i would love to get up there for some hunting

thecfarm · September 05, 2016, 08:38:16 PM

I've seen blueberries like that right here at my place. Never seen a caribou or a grayling around here. ;D Nice!!!!

Ron Scott · September 07, 2016, 08:15:55 PM

Well done!

Czech_Made · September 08, 2016, 07:06:02 AM

Living the good life! Thanks for sharing and pictures.

mart · September 08, 2016, 08:22:03 PM

Thanks guys for all the nice remarks. This has to be the friendliest forum on the internet. It's would be hard to stay in a bad mood after a few minutes with the great folks here.

Mom had an awesome time. I had to rein her in a little. She was wearing tennis shoes and wanting to come out and help her son. I had to describe to her what walking on tundra is like. Kind of like trying to walk through a room full of underinflated wet basketballs. She'd never caught grayling before and had a ball. We must of caught and released 50 of them before she got that big one. She got another one just slightly smaller and we had a nice meal that evening. Grayling is best right out of the water.

Peter Drouin · September 09, 2016, 09:26:59 PM

You did good. 8) 8)

Chuck White · September 10, 2016, 06:46:08 AM

Quote from: mart on September 08, 2016, 08:22:03 PM
Thanks guys for all the nice remarks. This has to be the friendliest forum on the internet. It's would be hard to stay in a bad mood after a few minutes with the great folks here.

Mom had an awesome time. I had to rein her in a little. She was wearing tennis shoes and wanting to come out and help her son. I had to describe to her what walking on tundra is like. Kind of like trying to walk through a room full of underinflated wet basketballs. She'd never caught grayling before and had a ball. We must of caught and released 50 of them before she got that big one. She got another one just slightly smaller and we had a nice meal that evening. Grayling is best right out of the water.

Right, for best results, have your fire going, frying pan greased, then go fishing!

The Grayling is a fish that is actually quite delicate and after they are caught, the quality of the meat deteriorates quite quickly, you can actually watch it happen.

They are a really good eatin' fish! digin_2

fishpharmer · September 10, 2016, 01:52:46 PM

Mart, congrats on the succesful hunt and making your family happy. You taught me a little more about Alaska, a place I am determined to visit someday (soon). 8)

mart · September 10, 2016, 07:26:46 PM

Quote from: fishpharmer on September 10, 2016, 01:52:46 PM
Mart, congrats on the succesful hunt and making your family happy. You taught me a little more about Alaska, a place I am determined to visit someday (soon). 8)

Come on up. The coffee's always on and I'll even let you tail the mill. ;D