Of Wolves, Brownbear and Arctic travels

[caribou]

At the risk of being repititious, and certainly not to brag, the last two weeks went quite well, bringing a nice FAT Browngrizz back on the 15th, a few inches short of 8 feet (plywood sheet length ~LOL!~), enough Wolves to make a blanket and sheets set, and then things just went from there.....
With a gas trip to a small ocean side village, we stayed a night with our oldest son at his new house, bought gas and effected repairs to my clutch, I visited old friends and prepared to leave......My old friend Gibson M being quite nice (which was kinda unusall), and we parted with smiles after a couple hours of visiting, his brother called me over and but 2 hours later was quite dead. I confirmed that, called the troopers and we spent the next 5 days digging and preparing.....

Anyway, after was all said and shovled, we returned to our mountain hosenda and moved our gear to our Spring area, to which we shall return soon.....though we almost stayed anyway when my RMK's power valve snapped off and went into my piston, seizing my engine.......soooooooooooo, to make a long story short, we tore down and rebuilt that engine, in awsome sunshine, right on the trail, 75 miles from anyone........and it got us home.......

Caught this one howling from the rocks above


The wife skinning inside the "White house" cabin.

Skinning a few more in Deering, as we hunted our way there, quite sucessfully.

To have Bear Paw soup, one must first catch a Bear....




Most of our adventures are on vid, which Im desperatly trying to download, with some excellent Wolfing shots and a sweet double head shot at 400 yards on my breakfast steak



Done for the day





The top of a "Caribou Corral" which oldtimers used to funnel herds of Caribou into sets of snares and such, with a hundred others as a giant "V", the 'Supermarket" of its day


Ther herds of Caribou are gathering and it was almost crazy with too many running around, making tracking a real "job" ~LOL!~
Yu have to enlarge the photo, and you'll get an idea of just how big and open the Tundra is, and how hard that can make stalking, so were often tricky, walking up slow, just like some ol' Caribou yerself....

Oddly, we only saw (and caught) grey and white Wolves, not a single Black one.........



One of a dozen or so Fox I caught as well. Fox in the late season are often Cherry with a touch of yellow, a cool color varient to skin sewing woman.


Heres something I do well at.....

And something I dont do so well at........

my attempt at "Eskimo style" skinning, open belly, not cased, and the wife wouldnt stand to watch me do one, least the four there that night..........~~LOL!!~~ but she sews 'em, so one must do as told or step aside..........


A night made for Howling and drawing them in close so I could track them at first light.........


Some years I do much better than this, some years I take pictures and watch them do their thang.........It mostly depends on the wife, what she wants or what she needs, and if she is indeed sewing, as she took about two years off, and only this last year picked her needle up and went back to it.
As for posting pictures, its the best I can do. My internet needs to be upgraded from what we have now (it WAS soooooo much better till Dec.) Dial up would be an upgrade now......Ive got a Bear shooting downloading on 'Facebook' and a two minute vid is looking at 14-18 hours to download, so I'll sleep on that ~~LOL!!~~ but all else 'times out' so Im screwed.......

Breakfast steaks....


Me trying to be unbrokendown.....on a beautifull day.......actually "At home" as its smak in the midddle of ourt Summer/Spring Hunting grounds..Id be perfectly content to break completely down there nad stay.......


Nothing like a powervalve stopping the show.

Pinched the top of the cup to the rings, so recrafting the widend piston top a shave smaller and in 'round at the top.... that with a pocket knife and a needle file were the order of the day, AFTER stripping down to the crank to remove the 'small things".........but were home, repaired and rolling........just gotta love having a sone who can put 9 hours nto your engine and undercarriage....heck, sometimes I think he might have listend to me....it's running like a dream now.


The Bear hunt was spontanious and unplanned, but teh oportunity arose, and we didnt pass 'em up for long, he kind came up and looked at us....... kina was funny , actually, as the wife was sure she had her eyes on 3 or more "Wolves" ("No"...."Yes they are"....."No, No they arn't" "Yes, yes they are") took us moving up the mountain, so we were trying to get into a position above them on the mountain, among the rocks to await them and call 'em in and use a small creek to do so that the "Woves" wouldnt spook.... but bumped into Mr. Browngrizz, about 1/4 of a mile distant, we stopped awhile for a good look. We sized him up as food Grade "AAA", but h'es easy to track and so, since he ranked low on our Hunting scale, cause we were hunting Wolves We wanted fur, as its being a much lighter load than a Bear, but that Fat,dark n lonley Boar was doable, just gas burning heavy. I turned around went back down the draw at the base of the ridge and took a course up along the military crest behind the ridge spine, with said "Wolves now being 2 ridges to the south, and blasted up that to the point up the slop where all three converge.......but eveidently mr.Browngrizz had heard us and was a running up the ridge too, as we were ascending, so the wife started a vid and were trying to get it fotobuketized.....anyhoo, since he was fat, and the "Wolves" she was sure of were the Caribou(!!) I was sure of, and so being Meats and not Fur, something I can find more redily, I turned my attentions to Mr.Browngrizz. Brown bears are only "tatsy" in Spring, Caribou all year round, 'cept rut on Bulls...... anyway, Mr. Bear, who by then had turned around, made the 400 or so yards to where he felt safe enough to look back and walk met his demise that way when I put the slide on the m-39 on "4", and that Mosins sight even with but 1/3 of a Bear ahead (he was walking) putting ond through his head and sent him a flippen', 'cause thats what he did, like a head stand. I put a second one in the same place and he just rattled and shook right there.
Now I did take a long shot, but his head was a large target, I did size him up and look him over for quite awhile and Im a confidinte shhoter with the rifle/ammo combo I have, so I did it right the first shot.
As well, most shots on Fur are "long", but I look over fur when I shoot it, not before. Its extreamly rare to find sick fur, though often the animal may have horrific scars, apon skinning, but Bears are both skin and meats, like Caribou.......since his meat was load enough, no Caribou were hurt in the making of this hunt~~LOL!!~~

Im going to Kotzebue soon and will download the vids to here inna few days, maby the 12 or so, the best I can do .


This Hunt was made possible by M-39 and Czeck 7.62X54R

 

[Cob]

thanks for posting. if you are successful at gettting link for bear video, i'd love to see it.

 

[caribou]

Here we go sent it to Town via snowgo and a download with some real internet speed got 'er done

 

[Cob]

Nice Bear

I never heard the shot, maybe the video scramlbled the sound? nice bear.

 

[jbkebert]

Same here I can here the bolt cycle. seems I could here the hammer strike the firing pin. You can even see the muzzle blast yet no report of the shot. Strange.

Thank was a pretty fair distant shot and a what looked like a very quick clean kill. As always great story. I know many folks here envy you in many ways. I have always dreamed of a first rate wolf hunt and I must that I am more than a little jealous.

 

[janobles14]

if his camera is like mine it has a noise shutoff for sounds over a certain decible level. the immediate report would be filtered.

nice shots! how far was that anyway? i know the camera can seemingly add distance but it still looked a good way.

 

[caribou]

yep, the camera does that to big noise, must be to protect it.
Also does that to big light, and you have to give the camera a moment or 3 to get adjusted.
More than the shot, you can hear the impact and the rifle cycle.

I didnt pace it off, but I estemated and held for 400meters, and hit dead on.......also took 30 or so seconds to ride on down.

All that snow makes it exceeding ly hard to guestemate range, but since I pulled up while he was still 100 or so yards away, he was fairly easy to judge in range.

 

[Cob]

Are you hunting with a Mosin?

edit{ forget that, i read 7.62 x 54 above, saw the pic, but missed the post}

 

[caribou]

I use an M-39 made by Sako in 1942. I use Czeck light ball "Silvertip" with it, and you can see how accurate it is.
Indeed, Ive burned about 5 cases through it in the last 10 or so years, and its a bit more accurate now, as were old pals and know what to expect, and where to expect. Often, I shoot just because I can and I want to foul the bore for a hunt, and each trail out of town had my own adhoc "Target" that I try my luck at on nearly each outting, a small game I play for myself.
The Sako is my constant companion on almost all travles.

Still not gettting anywhere with the Shooting end of a couple good shots, but this got through..........so I will keep trying.



We crested the ridge and he was comming in our general direction, but he saw us too, same time , and promptly gave us the "Tail". I stood on firm snow and put the sights to 'em, Running fast and hard, but in a straight line, (unless their trying to keep an eye on ya,some do) this guy came to a lopeing gait and I had him, and slow swung through like a shotgun on a Goose but at 300 yards and moving away.
The bullet hit his low mid neck, buzzed through the lower side of his skull, came out his backjaw/nech, and blew the rear teeth out with the bone. Pretty much Sudden Death, and definitly thick and clean Fur for next winters use.




This guy we tracked a long way before catching up and making the shot. He had heard us comming but ran down a creek bed, which we circled and got above him, then waited till he caught sight of us agin (the hillside was blocking us from seeing each other )and when he came into view tryed running up and out, to his demise.

 

[GWARGHOUL]

Hows the Wolf population doing up there?

 

[caribou]

400,000 Caribou in our local Northwest Arctic Caribou Herd (WACH), and they have been stable for about 25 years now, give or take 50,000 in fluctiations and dye offfs due to mid winter rains in the last 10 or so years.
Unlike the southern 49, our Wolves have never been erradicated , nor our herds fenced off or have the human population take their grazing grounds. Loss of habitat hasnt ahppend here at all, so we have vast herds of grazers and carnavoirs.
Fact is in our Northwest Arctic Borough, we have more square miles than the state of Indiana, 7,000 men, woman and children in 11 villages and NO Roads or fences of consequense , reallyless than 280 miles of roads total, most to mine sites.
Our Predator/Prey population has never been knocked outta wack, so we dont have any lack of either. Our Wolf catch is unlimited, our Caribou are limited to 5 per day. Not every hunter is a "Wolfer", but Im a Caribou Hunter so I Hunt Wolves as well. Some are Ocean Ice Hunters and get different animals, Walrus, Whales, Polar Bears and Seals... and some are a bit of both when they can.
The Wolves and Caribou are always on the move, never resting long. They are streaming North now in huge bands of Cows and yearlings, with bulls slowly comming along their trails, walking huge swaths in the snow, eating on the move, its quite a view.when they are close, their are alot, when they are gone, they are GONE.
This winter we had to travle 250 miles r/t to get to Caribou, today they are passing by the pound and by the ton some right through town
Its a great time to get lean meat to dry before the flys come outta hybernation.

 

[GWARGHOUL]

I see. I just see no reason, nor could I ever shoot something that looks a lot like my best friend! At least your wife makes good use of the fur.

But otherwise, this looks like quite the hunt. A lot of endurance involved there eh? 250 miles..wow.

 

[H&Hhunter]

Caribou,

That was a nice shot in the video on that bear. It looks like you are real nice and cozy with that rifle. Good work.

As you know I used to live up in Kotzebue and hunt bou's and the occasional moose and bears. I never was able to put one in on a wolf. I would have liked to but I just never could get it done.

It amazes me that a guy from St Louis has an opinion on hunting wolves in the arctic. Unless you've lived up there you have no concept of what it's like and the huge populations of game including wolves. It is simply impossible for city dwelling indoor living people to comprehend that there are people who still hunt for a living full time.

 

[GWARGHOUL]

It amazes me how you assume that I

1. Live in a city. (quite the contrary)
2. Live IN Saint Louis (Sorry, but not everybody knows where my small rural town is, so I say "around Saint Louis")
3. Have no concept of "what its like"
4. Never lived in Alaska.

Just FYI.. Missouri is very much an outdoors state, with a lot of game. I assume you also live indoors, as we humans tend to have a liking for shelter of some sort.



It also amazes me that I ASKED questions, because I wanted to LEARN and somehow you seemed to feel the need to call me out in an insulting manner?

Completely inappropriate. Not your place, even if I was being facetious (which I was not by any means).

 

[caribou]

Wolves can stir up some heated arguments, but with understanding, all is well.

I will tell you this on Humans and Wolves, from an Alaskan point of view ;

We have no lackk of Wolves at all. (That is good) We do not have compition for resources here in AK with Wolves , either. Some may blame Wolves for down population trends, but that is just nature doing its thang.....funny, they are at a loss when game populations grow, even though Wolf numbers were never touched, so its funny to hear the blame set against Wolves.
Wolves get the old, weak and sick....sometimes its the Biggest antlerd ol' Caribou bull , spent and ehausted from his rut,(Moose Bulls too) but without the 3 inches of reserve fat that he had prerut, so some would say they get "Healthy" animals (they sometimes do) but in the Arctic with our deep cold, nature has its way of keeping the bull poulation in check, besides men, who hunt ONLY The healthies, strongest Animals n prime. Post Rut bull Moose and Caribou are no longer healthy and strong, they are slow and weak, the weeks of darkness here kinda lets them regain themselfs, but eating plants dosent make you strong and fat very fast.

As well, we have practical use that keeps us from freezing to death up here, and thats when we use Wolf Fur as trimming for our Parkas, leggings for Mucklus and the Head as Mittens.
This helps us get through the 4 seasons here, June, July ,August and Winter, with quality clothing and income.

Wolf Fur, like Wolverine and Polar Bear, does NOT allow ice to adhere to it. You can brush off the ice from breath and sweat without ripping off the hairs. As a "Ruff" around the hood, we use them to block the wind and our breath wont buid as ice on the fur. 40 below and a wind can kill you standing.
These water/ice shedding qualitys are why the leggings are desired for boots and mittens as well.
Beautifull and usefull cutomary clothing has been made from Wolves here for thousands of years , and theres no lack of resource.

In Alaska, "Fur" and trapping/hunting is still a valuable income for a great many Bush folks, weather Eskimo or whatever.

Wolves ARE magnificent, beautifull and awsome. There no old Eskimo or Indian storys of Wolf attacks, either, they are no danger at all, and there are LOTS.
I admire them greatly, and we have a set that have a den about 2 miles from our summer camp, we see them every summmer..........but come Winter, Im looking for them ....but they leave for the Caribou and we still see them the next summer, no matter how many Ive caught

You can click on the pix and make them grow.









I might add that some years I do VERY well, and some years I dont shoot at all, I jus watch them and wait till I am 'Needing" one or more. Never , ever do I hunt them just because I can.

 

[GWARGHOUL]

Very cool stuff, and very informative, Caribou.

Lets say if I did not quite "get it" before, I certainly do now. Thank you for elaborating in details.

 

[H&Hhunter]

I see. I just see no reason, nor could I ever shoot something that looks a lot like my best friend! At least your wife makes good use of the fur.

But otherwise, this looks like quite the hunt.

Sorry that came across as typical tree hugging, anti hunting, citified, rhetoric. Wolves are NOT like your dog.

Lets say if I did not quite "get it" before, I certainly do now.

My point exactly..^^^^^^

Living in "Alaska" and living in North Western Arctic of Alaska are two entirely different things. People simply do not understand the vastness and the low human density as compared to the high game numbers. Nothing in lower 48 or anything south of the AK Range even remotely compares.

 

[Cob]

Fact is in our Northwest Arctic Borough, we have more square miles than the state of Indiana, 7,000 men, woman and children in 11 villages and NO Roads or fences of consequense , reallynless than 280 miles of roads total, most to mine sites

That one sentence is enough to make me jealous... Roads are nice, but at the same time a curse... We have more roads in a small North Florida county (440,000 acres) where i now live in than you do in your whole region.

When i get ready to hunt, i often travel out of state.

To give you an idea of difference in land, I performed 48 "Tree Farm" inspections on 13, 840 acres of forest last year. The landscape in this area is so broken and fragmented that it's hard to go a mile without crossing 4 fences, and 1 road... and it's considered "rural"... lot's of Ag fields and pine stands, intermixed... and it's warm year round.

I enjoy seeing the pics of a place so vastly different, & will definitely place Alaska on my radar for a future hunting destination...

 

[wankerjake]

Thanks caribou, I always enjoy your posts more than any others. It's great insight into a different way of life.

I'd love to get way up there someday, not necessarily to hunt but just to see it. Whole different world up there.

 

[Cob]

Oddly, we only saw (and caught) grey and white Wolves, not a single Black one.........

I can imagine the black wolves are easy to spot on the white background. with big bear, snowmobiles, and modern ammunition, the black ones are probably some of the first ones to leave the planet.

sort of like the moths that cling to tree-bark in this area... the ones that are white, and contrast the most to the background, are the absolute first ones eaten by birds, and the more camoflaged ones stick around a while longer, and pass their genes to the next generation... over a series of years, color within a population manages itself...
i like the post about "spot" in the hog sticky at the top of the hunting forum... you can see selection in play in those few photos...

 

[GWARGHOUL]

Sorry that came across as typical tree hugging, anti hunting, citified, rhetoric. Wolves are NOT like your dog.

No, it did not. I would not be here, asking the questions that I have on this board (about hunting bullets, etc)..It is what you make it.

As far as the "not like your dog" nonsense...

In case you have not noticed, I said LOOK LIKE my best friend.
In which, they do.
Also.. seeing as they are in the same
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae

AND GENUS:.... C. lupus

So, again, and all but the same sub-species.. similar physical appearance...hmm. see where I might have made a slight reference yet?

Thats all it was.. a slight reference. So, get your scope off of me.
With all of this being said, perhaps you should sit back and let the interactions be..interesting and informative.. not semi-insulting.

 

[caribou]

Actually, Black ones are fairly common round here, and I usually see 1 for every 2 Grey or White ones. Also depends on where im hunting them, as the black ones dissapear into the Tundra when there no snow, we often freeze at Sept. end, but dont get any real snow till after Xmas, were tecnicly a desert, while the others stick out, but by spring that changes and we usually have 2 - 2 1/2 feet of snow on everything.......andtraps/snares that catch the majority of Wolves for Men, care not for color.
I preferr snares and ambush shooting after howling them in close, but theres the times when a big ol' fellow is running hard and a stedy shot is the only thing that will get 'em
Thats why I use a Mosin .........

 

[IdahoLT1]

Granted you probably have an over abundance of them that will keep costs down, but do you know how much wolf pelts sell for in your area or any other area?

I cant wait to find out our season/limits so I can buy a tag here. I'll never actively hunt for wolf but if I see one, if its in season and I have a tag, its going to push daisies.

I understand where GWARGHOUL is coming from. I like cats so I doubt i'll ever hunt mountain lion or bobcat but as a conservationist, I understand that all non-protected game animals need to be managed to keep a healthy population/ecosystem. I'll also never look down on a hunter or trapper who harvests those animals. Once you put a creatures(for most its wolves) value above others, the philosophy of conservationism goes right out the window. I dont know why people paint wolves as a mystical creature and then gent all bent out of shape when they need managed.

GWARGHOUL, out of curiousity, how do you feel about coyote hunting or hunting fox?

 

[mtnjrm]

Caribou,
I see you kill wolves, bears, and caribou. Do you eat the wolves? I know bear and caribou are good eating. Your diet must be mostly meat in that part of the country. By the way great story too.

 

[buck460XVR]

Thanks caribou, I always enjoy your posts more than any others. It's great insight into a different way of life.

Same here....and your thorough explanations and attention to detail almost makes one feel they are there. Altho most of what you show us is the good, I know its a hard life. I'm sure it helps that you are so good at what you do. You are lucky to have a wife like Agnes beside you. You make the rest of us here just wannabes......