Tactics for hunting caribou on drop hunt

[Gobbler36]

Got my hunt in August
Do you guys google earth these hunts like you do other hunts, I use it quite a bit for deer and elk?

What are your tactics for a fly in hunt, I am assuming it’s a glassing game and finding good vantage points will be key?

 

[Kevin Dill]

The country you'll be hunting in is big. You and the caribou are very small. You likely won't gain much if any advantage by mapping and plotting things like an elk hunt. Caribou are wanderers and cover miles effortlessly. In all likelihood, you'll be able to make sense of the land and topography....within the reasonable distances you can hunt from camp....very quickly. Still, you might enjoy playing around with maps and plotting. I simply don't see it giving you an advantage compared to the guy who goes in 'cold'. Maybe the answer lies partly in where you end up hunting and whether that exact area is easy to understand. Most hunts are in relatively open country where land features are apparent.

Google Earth is great of course, but most satellite pictures of caribou and moose country in Alaska are relatively low resolution.

Get to a decent place where you have a view and use your binoculars hard. You don't need to automatically go to the top of the highest hill. Just search for those spots where vistas open up . In some cases you may actually need to drop down-hill in order to view what's below you....especially in big hilly country.

 

[Trial153]

I am far from an expert but I have bowhunted Caribou 4 times so I have a little bit of experience to draw from. Kevin hit some good points already.
Dont over think it. Find series of glassing points withing a reasonable distance of camp and glass from each one making some what of circuit the first couple days .This will get you a handle on how they are moving in the area, and if they are moving at all some may be semi static( in caribou terms anyway. If your finding small bands moving through an area pay attention to their general arrival direction on the horizon. While not all will come from that same area, often they loosely follow each other.
G earth each wont be much help expect to give a general idea of the major topography of the area. As far looking for choke points or funnels ....caribou are where they are and do what they do, it wont help nearly as much as few days of direct observations.
The last point more pertains if your bowhunting. Dont try to stalk or move in from behind, dont chase them. No matter how slow they look like they are going it's pretty much a waste of time.
Try to move into postion on an angle that is moving towards their direction of travel but intercepts them way ahead of them.

 

[Thunder head]

A general lay of the land might give you an initial boost in the beginning.

Like stated above. You cannot chase down a bou.

If your seeing lots of them you will see they cross water in the same places. It took me a couple of days to realize that if I was patient. Eventually some would use the crossing that had enough cover to get close with the bow.

Like the guys stated above. Get up where you can see some country and try to work out a general movement pattern.

 

[VernAK]

Do you already know where you're to be dropped off?

 

[Saunch33]

Elevation is the key get to the highest point and glass glass glass!!

 

[OXN939]

Elevation is the key get to the highest point and glass glass glass!!

This. Caribou herds move across the landscape like a bank of fog- there will be nothing visible anywhere all day, then you eat lunch and return to the same spot, and dozens of animals have shown up out of nowhere. Thats exactly what happened in this photo- glassed all morning, saw nothing but a few cows, then came back to our glassing knob to take a panoramic picture... glad I did.

 

[Johnboy]

Thats exactly what happened in this photo- glassed all morning, saw nothing but a few cows, then came back to our glassing knob to take a panoramic picture... glad I did.

This is unacceptable. You can't leave a cliffhanger like that. Forum rules [should] require you to finish this story.

 

[OXN939]

Well, if you fail to fill a rifle tag during an event like that, it's probably time to start working on your golf handicap. Haha.

Shot a nice double shovel bull with my 7mm-08 lightweight long range setup... at 38 yards. One of the rowdiest experiences I've ever had in the outdoors for sure.

 

[Nick Muche]

Setup camp... find best place to glass from closest to there... glass, then go hunt once you find what you're looking for. Chances are you won't know (and either will the pilot) exactly where you'll end up until just before the hunt or you're in the air... Caribou move a lot and if your transporter is worth their salt they'll put you in the best place to be for the exact time of your hunt. Best of luck and have fun!

Who are you going/flying with?

 

[VernAK]

That's why I asked if he already knew where he was being dropped. Studying topo maps months ahead seldom has value.

 

[Gobbler36]

That's why I asked if he already knew where he was being dropped. Studying topo maps months ahead seldom has value.

I don’t yet they gave me a general area, but not exact points

 

[Gobbler36]

Setup camp... find best place to glass from closest to there... glass, then go hunt once you find what you're looking for. Chances are you won't know (and either will the pilot) exactly where you'll end up until just before the hunt or you're in the air... Caribou move a lot and if your transporter is worth their salt they'll put you in the best place to be for the exact time of your hunt. Best of luck and have fun!

Who are you going/flying with?

We are flying with Artic Air

 

[Gobbler36]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Can’t belive it’s just a couple months away.
Kinda what I assumed but wanted to see if there was some tactics I could be overlooking, I think stalking them at an angle getting ahead of them is a great reminder that will stick with me

 

[VernAK]

Most flight services will try to position hunters ahead of herd but it's still beneficial to study topo maps to get a general lay of the land in case you have to walk out.

 

[Chugaglug]

Exciting! We did a drop out of Bettles last Aug. We knew the general area we would be going to so I downloaded in OnX app. We setup camp in a spot where we just had to walk 50 yards to the best glassing spot. Used OnX a bit, was nice to have but not necessary. Flight service put us in a great area, went 4 for 4 in 3 days of hunting. The terrain made it very difficult to cover many miles, we never made it more than 5 miles straight line distance from camp and all our bulls were taken within a mile from camp. Good luck!

 

[CentOregon60]

Good info, thanks!

 

[mattparliament]

Good luck! Me and a buddy are doing the same hunt in September

 

[kpalu]

Curious how your guy's hunts went. Two buddies and myself are headed north in August for a fly out with Artic Air

 

[Jackal7]

We hunted with AA last year. We went three for four, and the fourth guy missed the biggest bull we saw.

Hard hunt, as the warm south wind all week pushed the herd back north of us. But on the last day we had lots of 'bou everywhere. Two of us ended up taking an angle on a herd of six bulls and got set up in front of them. After two miles we shot them at 56 yards. They would have come a lot closer as they had no idea we were there. That was something I will never forget, watching twelve antlers coming over the hill swaying in unison.

Good luck. Bring a bear fence. We had lots of bear activity.