DARKSIDE55

Well all indications are that it should be good for you. If the main herd will just turn a little west and then break up, you should see hundreds if not thousands of caribou. Kind of like it use to be. But there are a lot of variables that come into play. But I believe yes, you should have a very good hunt.

DARKSIDE55

I forgot this and a lot of people will disagree but that's the way it goes. The main herds have mixed..George and Leaf River. From the reports I've heard, they're estimated at several hundred thousand and that's more than you need BK. LOL.

And I read several other posts about the amount of caribou that can be seen and yes that does vary from year to year. But I was fortunate enough to be there one year not to long ago when the main herd did come through. And it was a site to behold. One lake that we were at was about 4 or 5 miles long and maybe half a mile wide or more. And it was covered in caribou from one end to the other and almost the whole width too. And this migration went on for 3 days. You could see them coming down the hillsides on to the lake. Big pods were laying down and others were going on down the lake. At the other end they were breaking up into smaller groups and caribou were 'everywhere'. You had to be careful when you fired that you didn't exceed your limit with one shot...literally. And the travel went on day and night. It never stopped. There were also signs along the road and at the lodges that said, "Ice not safe, do not go out on the lakes". Now I had to laugh!!! There were thousands of caribou on it. And most of them were pretty concentrated. I felt like I worked for National Geographic because that's where they film too. And if anybody doubts this, I have the video tape to back it up!!! I feel like this was probably a once in a lifetime deal. I've never seen it before or since. But it was a site you'd never forget.

As one final note, we had tagged out obviously, we were just driving around filming. We came to a lake, it was also full of caribou. What really upset me was...all the caribou on that lake except for a very few, were all big bulls. I've never seen so many sets of hornsin one place at one time, and not be able to shoot. They were horsing around on the lake, play fighting or whatever and there were some big racks out there. And yes I got that on tape too!! I've never been one for breaking game laws, I lean more on the side of enforcing them. But man, that day, I really gave it some thought. LOL.

drawbow

Hello and Thank you to everyone who post. It has educated myself for my first time. I am leaving on Friday and start hunting Monday the 19th. Can any of the vetern hunters or knowledgable hunters tell me what the predictions may be for the second hunt! The last map I read looked very good but now I hear the lakes are not frozen, will this hold them up? I would also like to find out how everyone handles there hides, Salt? or bag and let them freeze?

Again thanks for all the help. I have 3 in my group and I am a video and picture nut. I will post all I can. I am sure I will have more questions before I go. Any first time advice is helpful.

caribou_sniper

drawbow,
The best predictions anyone can give are that there are caribou in the area and there should still be caribou in the area when you are scheduled to hunt. No one can predict exactly when the big groups will come through or where they will come through. I don't want to sound like a pessimist, just a realist. A realistic expectation for these hunts; is to fill all of your tags. we all hope to bring home big racks, but alot of the time that will not be realistic. It's a hunt, there is no certainty. That being said, I'm in agreement with some of Darkside's comments about this being a good pattern. We should have a good season for the first couple of weeks. We all need to hope that the herd disperses some and shifts to the west some. I would expect the fact that the large resivours are not frozen should stall the southward movements some.

As for hides, I always bring back my animals whole. I haveprocessed hides and capes after I've skinned them here at home and have not had any issues with hair slipping.

My last bit of advice I would give to anyone and everyone; leave your trailers at home!!!!

JR

caribou_sniper

It may have been NORD QC's predictions I was thinking of.

Nord QC Bouman

Hmmm....

Well - that being said - I will see you all on the other side in the spring.

caribou_sniper

Nord,

You planning to go into hibernation?

dream_hunter

i just talked to fire3517 he said that it has been snowing since they arrived and now they have nearly 3ft of snow on the ground. He saw only about 30 carribou today and saw some nice sized bulls. The ptarmigan are all over the place.

drawbow

Thank you sniper. It is good to hear the first couple of weeksshould be good.

caribou_sniper

Here's a link that should initiate a few dreams.

http://www.boone-crockett.org/bgRecords/WorldRecordsDetail.asp?area=bgRecords&type=CAR IBOU