26B(Dalton Highway) April hunt

[Huntinbouwbow]

A little back story, did a 5 day hunt in august in 26B and had a huge learning curve. Was very unsuccessful, not because of the lack of Bou but because of experience. Learned a lot and have gotten the correct gear and done a lot more research. Tried going back up there last November was was caught in Fairbanks in a nasty storm and we opted to not hunt and go back. We are trying to go back up the first two weeks of April to bow hunt. I understand weather could range from 30s to negative 10, iv been told snow shoes are a life saver of course and bring a sled to tot gear and or the animal out. Not asking for where the Bou will be, I'm praying I catch them outside of the pass but they could be anywhere moving down the mountain range from my understand. I'm realistically trying to see if anyone has ever hunted up there in April and what are some lessons learned. I appreciate all the feed back.

 

[Nick Muche]

I have and it's pretty fun when the sun is shining on the snow covered mountains. Be sure if you shoot at one that it's a bull. No real advice beyond just going and seeing for yourself. Wish I could go this April, but I am out of tags for unit 26 where I'd guess you'll find them

Good luck!!

 

[Huntinbouwbow]

That is amazing, good looking animal. When you say our of tag? I'm assuming you have got you limit of 4? how far did you have to walk for that bad boy?

 

[Nick Muche]

Didn't have to walk far, maybe a mile or so and snow shoes were not required. Much of the country was wind swept and easy walking.

 

[Huntinbouwbow]

Thanks for the feedback

 

[Sheepdog]

Snow is usually packed and windswept at that time like Nick said. I’d ditch the snow shoes and bring skis as you’ll be able to move a little quicker and if you run into soft stuff you won’t be post holing. Up there has always been feast or famine for me it seems. Of course there’s always a few small groups that winter over and are always around the pass. They just take a little more leg work and effort to get on.

 

[Huntinbouwbow]

Yea, I have only been up there in the fall and I saw a few around toolik but had to drive to like mile marker 300 or so to find the herd. So it would be nice if I found some near the pass but its hunting not shooting so really all I want is the wind to not be 30mph and the temp to be above 20 degrees haha. Yea I'm hoping this winter didn't take a toll on the herd, it was -74 with Windchill in Prudhoe Bay last week. I know its a tad warmer near the brooks range but still that's cold

 

[Nick Muche]

Two observations to comment on...

1) There isn't really a set location to find "the herd" as there are many small herds of caribou and they come through in pulses. Yeah, you can see thousands, I have, but it's not the norm.

2) If cold weather killed caribou, there'd be no caribou left.

 

[Huntinbouwbow]

Makes sense, hell if I see one caribou id be smiling from ear to ear. Its all about the simple things. Thanks again on the insight.

 

[Cheechako]

Does anyone have any thoughts on how approachable caribou are in March/ April when they’re all herded up?
I’m thinking of giving it a try on skiis with my bow and am trying to gauge the best approach. I was thinking wearing whites and moving slowly at kind of an oblique angle towards any herds.

 

[Huntinbouwbow]

I know Nick Muche will comment, since he probably has the most experience out there. and I have only done summer and fall hunts there. With that being said, the best approach I have had is watching a herd, spotting a bull/ all the bulls, and waiting for one to either linger back or move on his own. I also will go where I think they will be since I am bow hunting and have had zero luck trying to sneak up on them, its to open with no cover. As far as wearing whites, I personally don't think it matters but that's up to you. I have been told skis are ehh because the snow is all blown away and that snow shoes would be best but again have not been, ill let you know this April haha. But again everyone has their own style and almost everyone will tell you trial by error. also what worked today may not work tomorrow.

 

[kwackkillncrew]

ever think of using one of those foldable caribou decoys to help sneak up on them? few videos on the youtube of people using them up there.

 

[Huntinbouwbow]

I have seen people using them for elk hunting, but no I have never looked into it. I have also heard people using turkey blinds, was going to give that a try since I already own one. but for me any day out of the office is a good day for me. haha

 

[Huntinbouwbow]

Update on the hunt:

Everything here is what either worked or did not work, and is just to help fellow hunters.

Went up to the Dalton on APR 9th, it was cold as can be. This was a blessing because the winds stay very mild and made shooting a BOU a lot easier. The roads were actually really good, i had winter tires(no studs) and i had no issues. The drive was longer as expected because of the roads, our first issue we encountered was our Hot Tent. At negative 20 it was tough keeping the stove stoked and maintaining a above freezing temp. Also staking down the tent..... is impossible so we found ice and used ice screws. I think the issues was the style of stove and tent, it was not mine so i am not sure what it was. I took a Big Agnes -20 sleeping bag with me and slept like a baby in my boxers while my buddy froze in his army sleeping bag.
We spotted Bou early into the hunt in unit 25A and then again in 26B. We drove all the way to pump station 3 but could not get a good stalk on them due to the deep snow and open layout. We Opted to go back to 25A and use the terrain to help us get closer in the deep snow. It worked out, I shot mine at 60 yards clean lung shot. Was a amazing hunt, the Caribou are smaller, makes sense they just went through a pretty nasty winter. Did see a Wolf take down a Caribou so that was cool.
As far as gear, I used the Sitka Gortex gloves as my outer layer and just normal wool gloves underneath. Hands never got cold in -20. I wore a base layer, army issued stuff. over that i wore a Sitka mid layer and the Sitka Wind protector and that was it for up top. As far as pants all i wore was the Stone Glacier down pants. Best pants ever and you would never know it was cold. down side is they are fragile and i ripped mine in a few spots and was told the only fix is using gorilla tap over it. Kind of a crappy solution for such a expensive product. kept me warm but i am sad about the tears. I wore my bunny boots, honestly anything less then that and you are fighting cold feet in my opinion. My feet never got cold even after waiting hours for the herd to move past us. As far as head gear i wore just a normal Beanie.
Overall the hunt was amazing, it is a different type of beautiful up there in the winter. Will i ever do it again? I am not sure, it was fun but its one heck of a drive, and the meat return is less then a fall caribou. or maybe i shot a tiny caribou. If you have any questions about bow setup or anything shoot me a PM. Again it was a blast and our only competition was the wolves so that was nice and very rare in Alaska.