It's Me vs. The Wife... you guys tell me who wins

[strousek]

My wife and I have been hunting together for a very long time. Her dream hunt has always been Alaska Caribou so we have said for our 40th birthdays we will treat each other to an Alaska Caribou hunt. Turns out 40 is only 3 years away so we need to book this thing now but here comes the problem... I am an avid DIY hunter and fisherman. I have zero intention on hiring a guide for any of my hunts and find the challenge of a DIY hunt the thrill more than a kill. I have drawn some pretty coveted tags in CO including moose and mountain goat and scouted extensively to ensure that I was successful on a mature animal. I have no doubt that a fly in drop camp hunt is 100% up my alley.

Now comes the wife's idea of the hunt. She is slightly if not moderately worried about grizzly in camp and there only being the two of us. She would greatly like the added assistance of a guide for that aspect. She also has done some research and heard horror stories of drop camp hunts going consecutive days without seeing a caribou. I think she fears having to listen to my bitching in the tent after not seeing a caribou 5 days into a hunt. She wants 100% to go with a guide. Not needing the whole lodge sleep in a bed package but just having a guide on the ground with us.

I have a freeze drier at home and make all my own meals. I have twice the amount of gear needed for this hunt and have no fear myself of using a bear fence for grizzly deterrent. Money is obviously a factor in that from my research a drop camp is about half the price of a fully guided hunt.

So I assume the majority of you can probably tell me she will most likely win but I would like input from you guys who have gone DIY and guided and as to if you would go that route again or change things up. Any guide recommendations are greatly appreciated as well. Picture for attention I guess of us scouting for goats a couple years back.

 

[LoggerDan]

Well, you ain’t been married too long if you’re asking us! Haha! The woman is mostly right!
May not be exactly what you want, but if it gives her piece of mind, go for it. Always nice to have another set of working hands around an AK camp.

 

[The Guide]

The problem you have is a good one to have! My wife is also my outdoors adventure partner. We love doing things together. Our trip decision is between a week long mothership fishing/black bear/blacktail trip or a moose hunt. Enjoy you trip with your partner!

Jay

 

[ScreamingPotato]

IME if the wife is willing and wanting to spend the extra money on hunting it's usually best to oblige.

 

[strousek]

Well I think we all know she will ultimately win unless I can get a ton of evidence that supports DIY being far better. More so looking for guide suggestions and where to start on that research. I have researched all the transporters I could and found some great info but not sure where to start with looking for a guide. So any advice on guides good or bad is greatly appreciated.

 

[Steve O]

Book a 2x1 hunt and send the guide with her. Everybody is happy.

 

[Fowl Play]

Ask her if an electric fence around the tent at night would help ease her concerns. If not, happy wife, happy life prevails.

 

[mcseal2]

I had my big write up on doing it DIY. I'd prefer that way like you, but sometimes you have to pick your battles. I have a buddy who was worried about bears on Kodiak and we got around his fears by building a souped-up bear fence. Our group was all farm boys and 2 of us still run cattle. We brought a solar fencer with over double the joules of the D battery ones. We built our own 2 piece posts and had the ribbon already.

 

[AKBorn]

Not sure the info I share here will have you leaning one way or the other, but here it is to use as you will....

I've done 10+ drop camp caribou or moose/caribou hunts in Alaska. Some notes about the drop camp AK hunts:

- There WILL be days where you see no caribou on many DIY hunts, even on guided hunts. Caribou go where they go, when they want to. Almost impossible to predict their future movement. I've been on 6 day drop camp hunts where we saw 150+ caribou per day, and have also been on hunts where we only saw about 50-75 caribou total in the span of 6 days.

- I had a bear fence that I recently sold (due to just completing my final DIY AK hunt). Some years I put it up, and some years I didn't. Just be aware that a bear fence may stop a curious bear; it will NOT stop a bear that is determined to get to whatever is inside the fence.

- A lot of caribou hunting is done at elevations where there is VERY limited visibility in bad weather. This year, we were camped at 3800 feet; when the weather was bad, it was often difficult to see the cook tent that was 30 yards from our sleep tent. Be prepared to spend a lot of downtime in the tent on bad weather days; hard to hunt when you can't see.

- Did I mention the weather? In our 6 day hunt this year, we got rain or snow every day except the day we flew out of the field. We got 3" of snow in our area one day; another group of guys got 8" of snow from the same storm. I could see a mountain about 5 miles away that was higher than ours, than didn't get a single flake.

If you are wanting to do a DIY hunt, maybe you can link up with an experienced AK DIY hunter and get the benefits of experience and knowledge (and another set of eyes and another gun to watch for bears), without having the cost or limitations of hunting with a guide. I linked up with several hunters here and on Hunttalk for my remote AK DIY hunts, and had a great experience every time. If you are planning three years out, there's time to seek out potential partners on these forums.

Good luck, whatever you decide, to you and your wife!

Michael (AKBorn)

 

[strousek]

Not sure the info I share here will have you leaning one way or the other, but here it is to use as you will....

I've done 10+ drop camp caribou or moose/caribou hunts in Alaska. Some notes about the drop camp AK hunts:

- There WILL be days where you see no caribou on many DIY hunts, even on guided hunts. Caribou go where they go, when they want to. Almost impossible to predict their future movement. I've been on 6 day drop camp hunts where we saw 150+ caribou per day, and have also been on hunts where we only saw about 50-75 caribou total in the span of 6 days.

- I had a bear fence that I recently sold (due to just completing my final DIY AK hunt). Some years I put it up, and some years I didn't. Just be aware that a bear fence may stop a curious bear; it will NOT stop a bear that is determined to get to whatever is inside the fence.

- A lot of caribou hunting is done at elevations where there is VERY limited visibility in bad weather. This year, we were camped at 3800 feet; when the weather was bad, it was often difficult to see the cook tent that was 30 yards from our sleep tent. Be prepared to spend a lot of downtime in the tent on bad weather days; hard to hunt when you can't see.

- Did I mention the weather? In our 6 day hunt this year, we got rain or snow every day except the day we flew out of the field. We got 3" of snow in our area one day; another group of guys got 8" of snow from the same storm. I could see a mountain about 5 miles away that was higher than ours, than didn't get a single flake.

If you are wanting to do a DIY hunt, maybe you can link up with an experienced AK DIY hunter and get the benefits of experience and knowledge (and another set of eyes and another gun to watch for bears), without having the cost or limitations of hunting with a guide. I linked up with several hunters here and on Hunttalk for my remote AK DIY hunts, and had a great experience every time. If you are planning three years out, there's time to seek out potential partners on these forums.

Good luck, whatever you decide, to you and your wife!

Michael (AKBorn)

Very much appreciate what you have said here. All great points.

 

[Cameron.25]

If it were me, id feel like its her bday so she should get to go guided if thats what she wants and you guys can afford it

 

[5MilesBack]

The wife always wins......even when she doesn't. IF you want to stay married.

 

[mcseal2]

A friend has a saying about marriage. You can be right or you can be happy but you can’t be both.

No wrong answer this time, but its still a good saying.

 

[87TT]

There are two ways to argue with a woman and neither of them work.

 

[D S 319]

Happy wife happy life sounds fitting here.

 

[Dexter Grayson]

If you can afford guided, go guided.

 

[jimh406]

The wife is right. Go with the bigger chance of success.

 

[medvedyt]

@AKBorn is leading you to a different than guiding per say but still a very good leading hunting actions.

i guided in northern quebec and as he wrote a guide cannot bring you caribou if they re not there ... pretty sure she trust yo so a good local guy or gal will do it as well.

enjoy the preparation of the hunt.

 

[wildwilderness]

No way would I bring a guide for a drop caribou hunt, especially in AK.

Now if it includes a lodge and some exclusive access like say in Canada or on Atka I’d consider it.

I have no idea why anyone is scared of Grizz

The best caribou hunts are for Mtn Caribou in NWT, That would be worth the trip and you have to go guided in Canada.

 

[medvedyt]

No way would I bring a guide for a drop caribou hunt, especially in AK.

Now if it includes a lodge and some exclusive access like say in Canada or on Atka I’d consider it.

I have no idea why anyone is scared of Grizz

The best caribou hunts are for Mtn Caribou in NWT, That would be worth the trip and you have to go guided in Canada.

i will say as of today the yukon is offering the best caribou hunting but you cannot use of course helicopter here.
mountain caribou is a name made for books there is woodland or barrenground in the taxinomy.