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Hunt trophy barren ground caribou in the Brooks Range of northern Alaska |
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Consider hunting caribou in the western Brooks Range about 100 miles above the Arctic Circle. Hunter success is usually high, especially for guided hunters, and you also can add a moose. There is no extra charge if you take a black bear or wolf. The caribou come from the largest herd in Alaska, the 545,000-animal Western Arctic herd. About 4% are harvested per year, meaning many bulls have a chance to get old and grow large antlers, occasionally big enough to make the Boone and Crockett Club record book. Fishing is excellent for Arctic char, grayling and salmon, depending on your hunting dates. The outfitter has guided for abgout 25 years. We've worked with him since 1987. He runs the operation with his sons, who were born and raised in the area. He hunts country so remote that it is accessibly only by airplane. You usually hunt on foot quite close to your camp, and the outfitter has four-wheelers that he has flown in to retrieve game meat. Hunting is by spot-and-stalk, calling or rattling.
Rich LaRocco of Hunts.Net took this photo during his hunt. "I passed on a lot of good bulls," Rich said. "I could have shot a lot bigger animal than I ended up with because I was too picky until the end."
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Note: The guided hunt is well worth the extra cost because you'll hae a four-wheeler that will enable you to cover a lot of country. On the dry river beds in this area you can explore up to 20 miles from the main camp, both up and down the river. This hunt was a 95% success hunt until migration patterns changed six or seven years ago, and we even stopped booking it for a couple of years. The last couple of years have been back to normal, and the state has even reinstated a two-caribou limit. This underscores our recommendation to upgrade to the guided hunt; mobility can be extremely important because caribou are so unpredictable. When caribou migrate through in high numbers, semi-guided customers hunting on foot have done well with 90 percent or more taking bulls, but if you're hunting during a period of low numbers, you'll appreciate having an ATV and the ability to cover more territory.  Rich LaRocco of Hunts.Net with his bull. He passed on much bigger bulls earlier in the hunt.
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