My Army kid is stationed in Alaska now and his first hunt up there was in August after the "40 Mile" herd northeast of Fairbanks. The critters weren't there so next year he will be eligible for more units and types of critters. He ended up getting a nice black bear boar half way up a mountain southeast of Anchorage and a pretty drake harlequin sea duck. One of his NCO buds got a mountain goat southeast of Anchorage so in 2023 Army kid's goals are a mt goat and a caribou.

I know moose and caribou are sort of the "beef" of Alaska so I suspect that most tman guys in AK or in Canada were caribou are located hunt them. Just curious about the experiences...

The woodland caribou here are protected,only FN can hunt them.
Caught one in a wolf snare on a beaver dam way back in the day and released him-that was a rodeo.snared by one antler.Must have been crossing the dam with his nose to the ground.
They are pretty good to eat but moose is better in my opinion.

per the most recent caribou count for the 40 mile herd it's now at 40,000 so yes about half of the herd " weren't there " compared to just a few short years ago.

Boco, by "FN" do you mean First Nation, IE Native Americans?

Yes.

Check with Sue

She'll put you on them

Caribou are our primary quarry, so I can speak with modest expertise. They roam huge, remote areas. When they get close to a road, in season, they attract a lot of road hunters. He can gamble, so to speak, on a road accessible hunt, such as 40mile herd near Steele or Taylor Highway, or Nelchina herd along Denali Highway. He might see more hunters than caribou, or maybe not. Let's call it a 50-50 chance at seeing 'bou. This is definitely the cheapest option.

He could drive up the Haul Road and hunt within 5 miles either side of it (the Dalton Hwy Corridor), but he'll see others and he's limited to Archery gear. He could hike across the corridor then hunt outside it with a rifle, but now he's got to get his camp and meat back to the road. This is doable, but a tough haul. If he's a soldier, he's probably in shape to do this, (motorized land vehicles aren't allowed in the corridor).

Similarly, it he got a tag for unit 13, he could hike/pack off the Denali Hwy into the Clearwater Controlled Use Area, and get away from lots of hunters. I think the application period for 2023 unit 13 caribou tags may have passed, but I'm not sure. Perhaps this is a 2024 option.

He could also get dropped off in a remote spot via airplane. This isn't cheap, but gets you away from road hunters. There are charter operators that do drop hunts out of Tok for the 40mile herd, and Deadhorse and Happy Valley for Arctic herds. I'd guess that there are charter operators that drop hunt SW Alaskan herds from Anchorage, perhaps McGrath, Bethel, or King Salmon, but I'm not certain.

His fitness is probably his strongest asset here. Most hunters aren't willing to walk very far from their truck/boat/4wheeler, and less willing to pack meat back. A fit adult can pack a boned out caribou in 1 or 2 loads, depending on terrain. I can't do it anymore, but I have done it many times before.

Hope this helps

Caribou are fun to hunt. Generally if you get into a bunch of them you will see many different types of antler conformation; it's fun trying to find the one you like. When I shot the caribou in this picture several years ago I was having a hard time making up my mind whether to shoot this one, or one of about five others. I was happy with this one.

Thanks guys!

Yeah, he's in good shape and willing to walk. The couple of miles down and then up again with his bear on that low mountain would have literally killed me. The down side is time. Most of his and fellow NCO hunts would probably be a week or less in length so that he'd still have leave to come home for Christmas or this summer for a good friend's wedding. I'll pass along the info...

Santa ain't gonna be happy with y'all talking about killing reindeer on Christmas, lol.

We have wild reindeer north of us they hunt, We used to have a herd here they couldn't keep the wolves off them though and they disappeared, possibly the ones up north.

Was good times when the Western Arctic herd came down close enough for us to get to them. The limit was 5 per day in those days. They are smaller about the size of a deer. I would shoot my 5 and go home sometimes we got 30 or more on a trip. My partners and I would eat the warm raw livers cut up on the skin and salted while we butcher at -20. I love caribou meat and eat it until I run out then go back to eating moose.

I have hunted the killibuck Kuskoquim herd out of Bethel they are bigger like Wagglers and hunted out of Kalskag. Its a long cold snowmachine ride from the Yukon.

Caribou are my favorite meat, with whitetail and blacktail a close second. Like Jeff says, there aren't any around here, I shot two near Bethel the last year it was legal, but that's it for me. Always grateful when church members drop some off.

I hunted caribou in northern Canada east of Hudson bay back in2006 I believe it was a good hunt ,but like boco said can't hunt them anymore, just fn people its was some of the best eating wild meat I ever ate

Beautiful Caribou Mark