Jordan
Member
Earlier This year I put in for a Kenai peninsula caribou. It's a lottery draw type thing on a small herd south of Anchorage. A friend of mine and I both put in thinking that between us we might get lucky... Funny, we BOTH drew the damn things!
I don't recall how many tags they issue every fall.. but I heard that, historically, less than 50% of the "hunters" who draw even get off their butt and go! The problem is logistics. It's state park land.. no motorized vehicles allowed and nowhere to land a plane. So right away, most guys who thought this sounded like a good hunt are reconsidering big-time.... "you mean I gotta' WALK!!??"
Of those "less-than-50%'ers"... I read only 11% bring home an animal.
It's a tough hunt.
Earlier this summer we did some half-assed scouting of the area, looked for anecdotes on Alaskan hunting forums, and talked to a few people.
When asking where the herd could be found, the usual response was a laugh... I gathered that where it was one day might be 20+ miles from where is was the next... hmm. So we'll need to get into the high country and do a lot of glassing.
We also decided to ride mountain bikes in the first 5 miles or so to where we'd leave the established trail into the area. Even slow mountain biking is much faster than any hiking. Plus, on the way out, we could "Ho Chi Mihn trail" our backpacks onto our bicycles and wheel them along.. a lot better than on our backs. That proved to be a very, very good idea.
The first full day in we gained the high country loaded down heavily with water.. no water up there. Progress was especially slow as the blueberries were just right .
That afternoon we were combing a ridge and just cresting a saddle that we wanted to glass over. I suddenly dropped into a squat and my partner followed suit. Just over the ridge, not 40yds off, were 3 cows and a yearling calf. We had decided that, even though this is an area known for trophy sized bulls, we were on a meat hunt and a cow... especially less than 24hrs into the venture.. suited us fine!
We both crept forward towards the ridge looking for a shooting position.
Well, that shot was set up perfectly. Plenty of time, a good rest, a sure bet.
You know how your line of sight and your bore line are two very different things? The puff of disintegrated rock and dirt a few yards ahead told us that shot was a miss. The cows were busy beating feet. We both took a few shots more in desperation... but it was a soup sandwich.
We were mightily disappointed. From where we stood we could have butchered the animal, got out to the truck, and been home in bed with our wives that night. Now the unknown was ahead of us again and bad weather was moving it.
See Part II
I don't recall how many tags they issue every fall.. but I heard that, historically, less than 50% of the "hunters" who draw even get off their butt and go! The problem is logistics. It's state park land.. no motorized vehicles allowed and nowhere to land a plane. So right away, most guys who thought this sounded like a good hunt are reconsidering big-time.... "you mean I gotta' WALK!!??"
Of those "less-than-50%'ers"... I read only 11% bring home an animal.
It's a tough hunt.
Earlier this summer we did some half-assed scouting of the area, looked for anecdotes on Alaskan hunting forums, and talked to a few people.
When asking where the herd could be found, the usual response was a laugh... I gathered that where it was one day might be 20+ miles from where is was the next... hmm. So we'll need to get into the high country and do a lot of glassing.
We also decided to ride mountain bikes in the first 5 miles or so to where we'd leave the established trail into the area. Even slow mountain biking is much faster than any hiking. Plus, on the way out, we could "Ho Chi Mihn trail" our backpacks onto our bicycles and wheel them along.. a lot better than on our backs. That proved to be a very, very good idea.
The first full day in we gained the high country loaded down heavily with water.. no water up there. Progress was especially slow as the blueberries were just right .
That afternoon we were combing a ridge and just cresting a saddle that we wanted to glass over. I suddenly dropped into a squat and my partner followed suit. Just over the ridge, not 40yds off, were 3 cows and a yearling calf. We had decided that, even though this is an area known for trophy sized bulls, we were on a meat hunt and a cow... especially less than 24hrs into the venture.. suited us fine!
We both crept forward towards the ridge looking for a shooting position.
Well, that shot was set up perfectly. Plenty of time, a good rest, a sure bet.
You know how your line of sight and your bore line are two very different things? The puff of disintegrated rock and dirt a few yards ahead told us that shot was a miss. The cows were busy beating feet. We both took a few shots more in desperation... but it was a soup sandwich.
We were mightily disappointed. From where we stood we could have butchered the animal, got out to the truck, and been home in bed with our wives that night. Now the unknown was ahead of us again and bad weather was moving it.
See Part II
