Caribou, are you a TV star?

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MCgunner

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Saw a show on Discovery last night about folks that live in the Alaskan wilderness and live off the land. They went fishing (gill net) with an Eskimo family, guy married to an Eskimo lady. They even looked like their village was very near where Caribou is located on the upper west coast of Alaska. I couldn't help, but wonder....:D

One kid they followed was a hunting guide up there, looked to be maybe in his 30s, call him a kid because he look younger than that. He was out hunting for food with, of all things, an AR15.:barf: Now, whether you like ARs or like me, you don't, you gotta admit this is a strange choice for the arctic. Sure 'nuf, his first shot at game in the piece involved a click and no bang. Firing pin froze and the bolt looked like it was moving in molasses, required the forward assist to get it to close. I'd rather use ond of Caribou's Moisins, myself, seems like a more proper choice, though I have hunting rifles. He had an optic, too. I know Caribou shuns such modern devices. :D I'd have to have a scope if I hoped to survive, though, what with my failing eyes. I'd die pretty quick up there, though, I reckon. I have enough problems with my creaky knees as it is. LOL Survival of the fittest and I am anything, but fit. :rolleyes:
 
He was out hunting for food with, of all things, an AR15.
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That would be awesome.

I wish I could see the show; eventually will.

America needs to see such uses of what the media brands 'assault weapons'.
 
America needs to see such uses of what the media brands 'assault weapons'.
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Well, on Animal Planet just now, they were using an AR for hogs in Texas, something about teenage mutant ninja hogs. The show was stupid, talked about unprovoked attacks of hogs on joggers and fishermen and such that never happens, maybe a rabid hog?

I probably watch too much TV. :rolleyes:
 
guy didn't use cold weather lube and didn't have it running wet enough. 223 is the caliber of choice for the natives for polar bear believe it or not, you just have to know how to use it. I would be willing to wager a guess that a fair number of those 223s are AR15s.
 
Was thinkin' about Caribou yesterday when I heard the ice break up this year was leading to severe flooding in many parts of Alaska. Hope he and his family was spared.
 
AR's, Mini-14, and the 223 round are very common among Alaskan natives for hunting. I even say one show where they were tracking a problem polar bear with an AR. Unlike many farther south they have found the 223 round to work quite well.
 
So, why do they make anything bigger than .223 if it's the perfect polar bear round? :rolleyes: Everyone should be hunting all North American game with the .223, seems to me, if it's that great.

Old man in our gun club, probably passed on now as I no longer belong, was an "Indian agent" in Alaska after WW2. The single most common rifle for the natives back then was .30-30, a step up from .223, but not exactly what I'd take on a polar bear with. But, they managed with it. It was the easiest ammo to get up there and I reckon that had a lot to do with the choice. If I were to move up there, far as my gun goes, I'd go big or go home. :D .338 might be about right, though a BLR in .325 Winchester might be a handy rifle. Purely for protection, though, I could do worse than a Marlin Guide Gun in .450 or .45-70, but I don't know about ammo availability in the sticks up there for any of that. .223 is probably available cheap, but then, so is 7.54x54R on the net. :D
 
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It may have to do with what ammo is available there and how cheap it is.

When my brother went to college in Montana, he went elk hunting with a friend on the Flathead reservation. The native Americans used AR-15s and drove around in pickups and shot at and wounded several elk. They recovered one.
Using an AR or .223 doesn't necessarily mean it's the best tool for the job.
 
Yes, that was us :D I'm glad you fellas like the show. Both episodes can be found on Youtube, and a new episode is on Sunday on the Nat Geo channel.

The only Natives around here that use an AR-15 platform do not usually hunt with them, as you saw with the show, below Zero is not nice on Ar's. They buy high , find out their limits and give or sell them cheap....Ive seen the same AR's circle the village till sold out of town ~~LOL!!~~

The 5th Scout battalion still issued M-14 to the Guard guys in Kotzebue, as the range and nessessary reliability are most needed out on the frozen Tundra.
Inside story on the AR in the show is that it was Brand new, and only tested inside........and it did the fella no good at all outside......Fireing pin was still coverd in cosmo

Fact is Mini-14's are the do all carbines in use up this Arctic way, though shots past 150 yards are possible, most guys here have skill enough to get close and place the shot, and the vast majority still use bolt rifles.
Every Eskimo I know that hunts competently (young men are learning) knows that shot placement is everything, despite caliber.
Every Inupiaq I know carrys a Rifle as a "Bear Pistol", only women carry pistols mostly, as they cut fish and meats and work over the berry patche's where they have their hands busy and are moving around quite a bit. Instead of shooting a Bear in self defence, they shoot them for noise. Everyone here practices 'Bear proofing" by pissing a fence around their meat racks, tents and such, leave dogs loose, cut the bushes back from the work areas, and play the radio, so theres no suprize of either the Bear or the person. and theres never been a Bear attack on a Native that I know of , here in this region of 3 colors of Bear.... with the exception of one running over a fellow a couple years back escaping from being backed into a high sided river bank by a sudden turn in the narrow channel brought the boat and Bear into a suprize situation. The guy was bit as the Bear ran over him (he was pushing the back of the boat, looking down and didn't even know what happened) and he still camped for 3 more days before returning to his village. It happened so fast, the other guys in the boat didn't see the Bear until it was leaping over the back of the boat from the bushes along the bank in its bid to escape.

My Father inlaw used a Winchester 92 in 25-35 to Hunt Polar Bears on the North Slope in the 1920's and got 15$ a foot and 75-100$ for each white Arctic Fox. He would flay a seal out, drag it in a 30 mile circle and steak it to the ice by his tent aways, and turn his best dogs loose. Polar Bears would arrive and the dogs kept 'em busy while Koksiinaq "Joe' placed his shot in the Bears temple, between the ear and eye, and it worked like a charm.

Later, in the late 1930's he bought a Winchester M-70 in 30-06 and never used the 25-35 again......

When WWII came, 'Joe' musterd up with local Militia, then, when the Army came around, went into the Alaska Territorial Guard 'ATG', until discharged in 1945, when all Militia and ATG went home with their rifles, and kept them.......something our modern warriors should still do apon discharge.......


I'm glad you fellas like the show, and Im glad I peek'd at the Hunting forum :D
 
I was woundering the same thing as MC Gunner. I was thinking it the whole time.
I loved the show and it I get to see it again I will watch it again.

As I've said before to you, beautiful family.

take care and keep you AR' s thawed out.
 
Have seem lots of AR 15 type weapons being used on those types of shows. I guess when your looking for food to feed your family ...more is better.
 
More is better? Could always use an M1A if that's the case. :D Going bang is more important, I would think, than having a 20 round mag. But, the M1A has the firepower, too, if that's important. I'm not all THAT convinced it is, though, even on herds of caribou.

I can see wanting firepower on some game like hogs, though. I guess if you had a caribou herd out there, you could put down more if you didn't have to take the time to work a bolt....maybe, I don't know. I'm not a subsistence hunter, not to THAT degree. :D There's an HEB supermarket 20 miles down a paved road from me.
 
Ive seen the thriller weeks ago and thing that caught my eye was the M 39 rifle in deep show. Anyway , i havent seen it. ANyone have the youtube link ?
 
This show is due to air this week on this side of the pond. Looking forward to it - I'll be watching out for Caribou :D

Phil
 
caribou

How do you get internet service where you live there??

Inquiring minds want to know!

rc
 
Caribou:

Awesome show. I like that, "...going to that happy hunting ground..." It made me think about my "Shootist's Prayer" (below). I wrote that back when I used the screen name Doc2005.

I need to move the Hades out of Michigan, and up to Alaska. 8^) Keep safe.

Geno
 
We have satalite dishes and 90$ a month internet. costs less than 11 gallons of gas in my village, You can get internet anywhere on the planet now, just ask AlGore.......:cuss:

Used a satalite phone today, no kidding.

Drones are coming as well as autonomous Robots, so theres nowhere, nowhere to hide, or not get yer text messages. Adds new dimensions to the future of hunting....

outside of this computer, a local call phone and a Marine VHF, I do not own a cell phone or electronic devices or rely on such. I still carry a small belt knife and compass, and Its gotten me this far.
 
Caught the episode tonight, GREAT STUFF! :D Were chasing caribou and the wife was doin' the shootin'. She missed a couple, but hell, I missed a squirrel with a shotgun yesterday. I'm so embarrassed. :eek: Shootin' THAT far, like she was doing and off hand, I'd HAVE to have optics. My old eyes just won't do it anymore. :banghead: She tagged the one, though, danged good shot. Was tellin' my wife all about the Nagant rifle, too, had some good shots of it when Caribou's wife was shooting.

Biggest thing that happened around here lately is I shot a rat snake in my hog trap. :rolleyes: Neat watching the wilderness and folks doing what they do. It STILL looks cold up there. We had a "cold" front come through today, rained pretty good. It only got up to 90. :D Weather guy called it a "not so hot front", probably a better description. I've been here all my life, don't know if I could acclimate to the "life below zero" thing. I'm a wuss.
 
You tube seems to have it all.
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If it wasnt for that I wouldnt have been able to see it. I watched the first two episodes last night.. Right now I am in the polar opposite of Alaska stuck in Saudi Arabia on business...

How long ago was the show filmed?

Ive been to every state except Alaska and Maine... Alaska is on my bucket list and will venture up there one day.
 
Caribou,

I knew that was you as soon as I saw it. Your kind of ugly don't just grow on trees!:D
 
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