I just signed the wife and I up for an Alaskan caribou hunt in 09' for our 5th anniversary. I covered every detail from transportation, to outfitter, and even alittle fishing. Then she turned to me and asked well what rifles are we gonna bring with us or the bows? Well I'm spending to much money to lose a caribou cuz of a wind gust so bows are out, and so that leaves the rifles. I have no idea what caliber for us to bring. I've done some reading in Alaskan forums and up there they're using .22lr and .223, that just seems retarded, if your one of them than no offense, but your retarded. Anyway, what caliber/round should we bring for a HUMANE kill that would lead to a fast death to save meat, trophy, and the need for a second shot to end the sufferin??
what caliber for caribou
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janobles14
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any popular deer caliber will work. caribou are kinda wussy! 
i would exclude a .243 just cuz its a little light in the butt. but anything from 7mm-08 (short range with controlled expansion bullets) to a .338 mag will do fine.
my father in law goes every year to shoot caribou (but does he take me? why, no! but im not bitter!) and uses either a .30-06 or a 300 winny depending upon how far he is hunting. his partners both use .270's and none have lost an animal yet. they all use nosler partitions.
i would exclude a .243 just cuz its a little light in the butt. but anything from 7mm-08 (short range with controlled expansion bullets) to a .338 mag will do fine. my father in law goes every year to shoot caribou (but does he take me? why, no! but im not bitter!
) and uses either a .30-06 or a 300 winny depending upon how far he is hunting. his partners both use .270's and none have lost an animal yet. they all use nosler partitions.
caribou
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Guess "Retarded" is like beauty, depnds on whos looking at what.
Since I know what Im talking about ,and I hunt for a living in Arctic Alaska, on those very Caribou you wish to take a shot at, I'll fill you in.
Leave the .22LR to the locals for a "Humane" kill. We harvest Caribou as a resource, because EVERYTHING is expensive, so why buy food when you can hunt it?450,000 Caribou around all year 'round, and you can never tire of eating Caribou.
Gas in Bush Alaska is 7.85$ a gallon on average, 10 lbs of potatoes is 30$ and with very few jobs around we keep busey hauling wood, fish and hunt for a living.
Using .22LR is restricted to hunting Caribou from a boat.Minimizes richocets and bullets passing through to other animals.
In the Fall and Spring, Caribou gather and migrate in herds of thousands. We harvest a few months worth of food for ourselfs and others during these migrations.
You pick the one you want, drive up and pith it with a single shot between th ears.
Dead right there.
The fattest bulls have Huge antlers, like forrests in the river when a few hundered decide to cross.
Hunting like this is far more "Humane" than most methods....and they dont even take seconds to die, least of all run off to feed Ravens a few days later......no wounded, no sick, none getaway and you get what you looked at up close. Caribou float and we take them to the side of the river with grass, so we keep sand off the meat. My household alone eats a Caribou a week, easily.We give about half of our meat away of trade for "Stuffs" we need to keep hunting.
This is subsistance hunting, for meat, not "sport", and saving the meat and hides is what were up to. Cut out the tounge, cut off the head and toss it.Take the rest home, including the organs, and feed your kids.
You can get very close to Caribou, they are not hard to hunt, but they sure aint stupid , either. A .223 is the most common Eskimo round outthere, with head and neck shots being the name of the game. Blasting Brains or busting a neck is routine when you hunt for a living, feeding your kids, saving meat, and hide.......and when you have a rifle that shoots where you know, you are going to carve your name in it and git 'er done, properly (Cause every bodyin the village is looking).
Good to 200 yards, easily and if they are farther than that, you just get closer.
.243W is Very popular, I mean Very popular here, in the Arctic.Flat, fast and devastaing, with very little recoil.
Then, so is 30-06, the "All Alaska" round with 180 grain.
As the old saying go's "If you cant kill it with an '06, you should hide"
.
I use a 7.62X54R Mosin Nagant M-39 with Czech LPS. Plenty good for Bears, Moose Muskox, Caribou, ect. it's done them all.
The M-39 is about the best milsurp in price and the fact that Finlands feild conditions are equal to Alaskas woodlands, tundra, Arctic and all. Totally reliable, accurate and easy to carry all day long.
Shoot what your comfortable enough to shoot well with, I mean raelly practise.Could be 50 Browning, or .22Hornet...what ever you can hit with. Thats all that matters. Then you "might" make a humane sudden death, no follow up, died befor it hit the ground shot, but I doubt it. You will get to see when the time comes. No caliber makes up for bad markmanship.
Sometimes the best hunters go home with nothing.
If you wife is small in statur, a Remington modle7 in .243w with 100grn. soft points is the trick. Real popular lady and youth rifle around here.
If you still have misconceptions about caliber and "Humane kill" remeber; It dosnt matter "What" you shoot them, all that matters is "Where" you hit them.
That rule is absolute.
Everytime.
All "Pith'd" before lunch.
Nothing Retarded about that.
Good luck to both of you.
Since I know what Im talking about ,and I hunt for a living in Arctic Alaska, on those very Caribou you wish to take a shot at, I'll fill you in.
Leave the .22LR to the locals for a "Humane" kill. We harvest Caribou as a resource, because EVERYTHING is expensive, so why buy food when you can hunt it?450,000 Caribou around all year 'round, and you can never tire of eating Caribou.
Gas in Bush Alaska is 7.85$ a gallon on average, 10 lbs of potatoes is 30$ and with very few jobs around we keep busey hauling wood, fish and hunt for a living.
Using .22LR is restricted to hunting Caribou from a boat.Minimizes richocets and bullets passing through to other animals.
In the Fall and Spring, Caribou gather and migrate in herds of thousands. We harvest a few months worth of food for ourselfs and others during these migrations.
You pick the one you want, drive up and pith it with a single shot between th ears.
Dead right there.
The fattest bulls have Huge antlers, like forrests in the river when a few hundered decide to cross.
Hunting like this is far more "Humane" than most methods....and they dont even take seconds to die, least of all run off to feed Ravens a few days later......no wounded, no sick, none getaway and you get what you looked at up close. Caribou float and we take them to the side of the river with grass, so we keep sand off the meat. My household alone eats a Caribou a week, easily.We give about half of our meat away of trade for "Stuffs" we need to keep hunting.
This is subsistance hunting, for meat, not "sport", and saving the meat and hides is what were up to. Cut out the tounge, cut off the head and toss it.Take the rest home, including the organs, and feed your kids.
You can get very close to Caribou, they are not hard to hunt, but they sure aint stupid , either. A .223 is the most common Eskimo round outthere, with head and neck shots being the name of the game. Blasting Brains or busting a neck is routine when you hunt for a living, feeding your kids, saving meat, and hide.......and when you have a rifle that shoots where you know, you are going to carve your name in it and git 'er done, properly (Cause every bodyin the village is looking).
Good to 200 yards, easily and if they are farther than that, you just get closer.
.243W is Very popular, I mean Very popular here, in the Arctic.Flat, fast and devastaing, with very little recoil.
Then, so is 30-06, the "All Alaska" round with 180 grain.
As the old saying go's "If you cant kill it with an '06, you should hide"
.
I use a 7.62X54R Mosin Nagant M-39 with Czech LPS. Plenty good for Bears, Moose Muskox, Caribou, ect. it's done them all.
The M-39 is about the best milsurp in price and the fact that Finlands feild conditions are equal to Alaskas woodlands, tundra, Arctic and all. Totally reliable, accurate and easy to carry all day long.
Shoot what your comfortable enough to shoot well with, I mean raelly practise.Could be 50 Browning, or .22Hornet...what ever you can hit with. Thats all that matters. Then you "might" make a humane sudden death, no follow up, died befor it hit the ground shot, but I doubt it. You will get to see when the time comes. No caliber makes up for bad markmanship.
Sometimes the best hunters go home with nothing.
If you wife is small in statur, a Remington modle7 in .243w with 100grn. soft points is the trick. Real popular lady and youth rifle around here.
If you still have misconceptions about caliber and "Humane kill" remeber; It dosnt matter "What" you shoot them, all that matters is "Where" you hit them.
That rule is absolute.
Everytime.
All "Pith'd" before lunch.
Nothing Retarded about that.
Good luck to both of you.
Last edited:
janobles14
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being a .30-06 junkie i LOVE this statement! i think i may have it put on a towel or pillow or something!
caribou, you are seriously running with rcmodel, premiumsauces, reloaderfred, and ants as one of my gurus!
SwearNoAllegiance
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When I was in the Northwest Territories, the natives I knew hunted caribou with .22LR. I was surprised too, but the influx of caribou never stopped. Darn tasty meat too.
Are you kidding me, do you hunt in Utah? Do you have this much problem trying to decide what caliber to use on deer? I suggest you just take whatever you use on deer, go out and practice as it is not so much the caliber but how well you shoot how close you plan to get and where the bullet goes. I might also suggest getting in good to great physical shape to hike, stalk and get close enough to your game to make a one shot kill and then to pack out your meat.
Shawnee
member
+1 for what AKCOP said.
Make sure you are physically up to the hunting/shooting and any rifle you shoot well will be just fine.
Cool pic, Caribou !
Make sure you are physically up to the hunting/shooting and any rifle you shoot well will be just fine.
Cool pic, Caribou !
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