Spent a week chasing caribou on the Alaskan peninsula with R&R Guide service. Man what an amazing time and place. I was unsuccessful finding a big one last year so they had me back and we got it done on day 1.
The morning started off in fog and rain. Around 11am we spotted 5 bulls 2.5 miles away as the crow flies the first day. We took off to get a better look but we knew there was a group of 5 good bulls in the area.
After an hour walking the tundra, which sucks, we see they bedded down and get the spotter out. Oh yea, several are shooters. Another hour hike and we are closer and they are still bedded. Man this stalk might work.
Another 45 minutes or so and we are close but in the open. They are up and there are at least 3 shooters in the group. Unfortunately they are feeding away from us and our chances in my mind diminish greatly as you can’t catch bou going away from ya.
Once they feed over a ridge we make a plan to try to cut them off. We get to the ridge they fed over and peek over to see them bedded down again. Man what luck and this might just work after all.
We back off and drop our packs. I grab my gun, shooting sticks and range finder and we start to crawl. We get to the edge where we can just see them and see that 4 out of the 5 are really nice with one being the largest. He also looks the oldest. I get set up on the tripod and range them at 250 yards.
They are all bedded and Wes, my guide, asks if I’m ok shooting him in his bed. I said I’d prefer to get them to stand naturally and so we wait. My legs start to cramp as I’m about out of water and the bull I want to shoot goes to sleep. His head is down and he’s out with no shot opportunity with they way his horns are covering his vitals. The others stand watch and after 20 minutes or so I say go ahead and let’s get them to stand.
Wes stands up and gets their attention but they don’t move. Then he yells and all but the bull I want stands up. Then he yells some more and the 4 move to the right of the bull I want and bunch up but my bull is still bedded just looking at us. I tell Wes I’m taking the shot as I’m afraid he will bunch up with the others and not give me a shot.
My new 7MM Allen Mag fires at its first animal unexpectedly just like it should and I see the impact thru the scope. He stands up and tips right over. The others stand there a good minute or two waiting for their fallen friend who isn’t getting up and my dream bou is on the ground.
We take pictures and I make 2 meat runs that are .3 miles away to drop meat at a lake where they can be picked up by a float plane. We are finally done and heading back at 8:45pm.
headlamps come on at some point and we successfully manage the 2.5 mile back as the crow flies to camp arriving at 1AM. We ran out of water 7 hrs ago and I was hurting. We drank and had some dinner. The shaking and cramping started but that’s to be expected. We got picked up by the float plane in the am and have been enjoying the lodge ever since. Man what a trip and what a great outfit.
The morning started off in fog and rain. Around 11am we spotted 5 bulls 2.5 miles away as the crow flies the first day. We took off to get a better look but we knew there was a group of 5 good bulls in the area.
After an hour walking the tundra, which sucks, we see they bedded down and get the spotter out. Oh yea, several are shooters. Another hour hike and we are closer and they are still bedded. Man this stalk might work.
Another 45 minutes or so and we are close but in the open. They are up and there are at least 3 shooters in the group. Unfortunately they are feeding away from us and our chances in my mind diminish greatly as you can’t catch bou going away from ya.
Once they feed over a ridge we make a plan to try to cut them off. We get to the ridge they fed over and peek over to see them bedded down again. Man what luck and this might just work after all.
We back off and drop our packs. I grab my gun, shooting sticks and range finder and we start to crawl. We get to the edge where we can just see them and see that 4 out of the 5 are really nice with one being the largest. He also looks the oldest. I get set up on the tripod and range them at 250 yards.
They are all bedded and Wes, my guide, asks if I’m ok shooting him in his bed. I said I’d prefer to get them to stand naturally and so we wait. My legs start to cramp as I’m about out of water and the bull I want to shoot goes to sleep. His head is down and he’s out with no shot opportunity with they way his horns are covering his vitals. The others stand watch and after 20 minutes or so I say go ahead and let’s get them to stand.
Wes stands up and gets their attention but they don’t move. Then he yells and all but the bull I want stands up. Then he yells some more and the 4 move to the right of the bull I want and bunch up but my bull is still bedded just looking at us. I tell Wes I’m taking the shot as I’m afraid he will bunch up with the others and not give me a shot.
My new 7MM Allen Mag fires at its first animal unexpectedly just like it should and I see the impact thru the scope. He stands up and tips right over. The others stand there a good minute or two waiting for their fallen friend who isn’t getting up and my dream bou is on the ground.
We take pictures and I make 2 meat runs that are .3 miles away to drop meat at a lake where they can be picked up by a float plane. We are finally done and heading back at 8:45pm.
headlamps come on at some point and we successfully manage the 2.5 mile back as the crow flies to camp arriving at 1AM. We ran out of water 7 hrs ago and I was hurting. We drank and had some dinner. The shaking and cramping started but that’s to be expected. We got picked up by the float plane in the am and have been enjoying the lodge ever since. Man what a trip and what a great outfit.
