mullis56

Just got back from the FAR NORTH....3-4 feet of snow and only 1 day above O degrees Farheight.....as low as -23 Farheight on my truck!!!! Drifts of snow 5-7 feet. Quite a few Caribou......a LOT of racks ALREADY GONE. My dad got a good bull w/rack still about 3 feet wide and 3 feet tall. Has 27 points, only a single shovel. Got our limit with cows.

Had to get into bush a long way to get on animals, as they are (biggest groups) already south of 381 and as far as Matagmi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also a side note and most important NOTE: Donat Asslin a.ka. Northern Caribou Adventures was great to my dad and I. My dad who will be 60 years young, on Dec/24th fell in mid-November 18 feet out of a tree stand that had gotten lose and shifted around the tree hunted with me on this trip. Jack from NCA, gave my dad a ride about 1.5-2 miles into the bush EVERYDAY and dragged animals out of the deep snow all day long for everyone.....even people from the Mirage that didn't have a sled!!!!!!! I tagged out before my dad did and Jack kept coming out of the bush with animals and giving me updates on my dad who is really hurting from his fall and from walking in the deep snow. They were great to us and allowed my dad to get a nice animal, I don't think we could have done this hunt if it weren't for Jack being so nice and helpful. We'd have been stuck road hunting.......Jack wouldn't even take a tip.

As far as the wardens and police: pain in the ass they are making money off of us that go on this trip. They were giving tickets for not parking in the pull-offs, parking the wrong way in the pull-offs, your driving and pull into a pull-off on the left of the road you HAVE TO TURN AROUND or you'll get a ticket, you have to be totally inside the pull-off, wardens nailing people on snow machines on the road still, wardens going into the bush with snow machines and checking licenses, etc., police giving tickets for people pissing inside their truck doors in the pull-offs, for not closing up trailers or leaving ramps out while in the bush, leaving animals laying in pull-offs (not in trailers or trucks), anything you could image they were giving tickets......BEWARE. I didn't get one, but I sat in my truck 1 full day and watched the wardens and cops steal over $1000 in fines from us, Americans.......

Another note: WE HAD A GREAT TIME......and THE ONLY THING I WOULD SAY ISN'T TRUE IS THAT YOU DO NEED A SNOW MACHINE FOR SURE. ALSO I WOULD SAY HUNTING WHITETAILS WHERE WE DO IN INDIANA YOU'D NEED A 4-WHEELER FOR SURE TO DRAG, ETC. NO DIFFERENT ON THIS TRIP JUST A SNOW MACHINE. I ALSO WOULDN'T TAKE OLDER TRUCKS ON THIS TRIP I SAW OLDER ONES THAT WOULDN'T START EVERYDAY.....TAKE ALL NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS TO ENSURE YOU VECHICLE IS READY FOR THIS SEVERE ENVIRONMENT.

GOOD NIGHT>>TAKING DAD'S ANIMAL TO TAXIDERMIST THIS WEEK AND GETTING MEAT BACK NEXT WEEK...UUMMMMM

caionneach

Congratulations on the successful hunt, mullis56, and especially for your Dad. That was a lot of great information, especially on how ANAL the Canadian police and game wardens are.

Did you notice anyone using a muzzleloader?

Kenneth Smith
Monroe, Louisiana

TN_Hunter

Glad to hear you had a good trip! Whats a Tennessee boy to do? I dont need a snowmoblie here, but up there they are worth their weight in gold.
Might check into renting one before next year's trip. We have been lucky the last 2 years and found plenty of animals close enough to the road to walk to, but I know that sooner or later, luck runs out.

liquidorange

making money from cheeso violations is just what i want to hear. dont worry the word will get out . your experience with donat wasnt what i got 2 years in a row!. he treated his quebec clients much better if you ask me. if you notice when you got to camp the americans trailers are on the left of camp for what reason i dont know. better cabins? it was like that when i went. he also gave his quebec clients snowmobile help while i had to ask for this service.when donats helper guide dragged my bou off the hill it was like i was pulling teeth or something! he probably saw a big fat tip coming at the end of your trip with your dad. sounds like they finally got some helpful guides though. if the shi-nanigens continue up there surely we can take our money elsewhere. we could also fly out of montreal and use different caribou outfitters in the warmer months where we wont have to deal with DO=NUT or the money hungry game wardens[:@] if you start adding fees up for the hunt and gas and tickets that may be not much more in price by the trime your done.

TN_Hunter

Have you ALWAYS been this bitter, or is it something that comes with old age? Ive been with them the last 2 years. Last year we had a room on the left of the office, this year we had a room on the right. One had a central heat unit, the other had a gas unit. BOTH were WARM, DRY, and COMFORTABLE. I could go into detail and tell you about how one of my party had a near fatal emergency come up at home, how HELPFUL the ENTIRE staff at NCA was, and just how much of an ******* the entire staff at Mirage was when we explained the situation to them and they STILL wouldnt fly my partner to Radisson to catch a plane. MONEY WAS NO OBJECT, they FLAT REFUSED to fly him out. I had to drive him out at 2am thru a blinding blizzard to Radisson that night and lost a complete day of hunting because of it. ALL DUE TO MIRAGE NOT FLYING HIM OUT IN A LIFE OR DEATH SITUATION. But then again, that would be WHINING and folks might confuse me with you.

TN_Hunter

And by the way, Jack IS NOT A NEW GUIDE. He was there this year, he was there last year, and for several years prior the way I hear. He ran the roads both years looking for hunters that needed help and came to the cabins each night to see how the day went and if anyone needed anything. Could it be that through years of experience, they have learned to spot the problem clients and avoid them?

TerryM

It sounds like the wardens and cops up there have been given some insane marching orders. When we were up if anything they were incredibly helpful. Never heard anything about tickets and we could park anywhere as long as it was safe and did not hinder truck traffic. Obviously no longer the case.
As for the flyin hunt that is a totally different ball game. I have done it once and we all got skunked. It happens . The flyin is definitely a much nicer experience but totally different. The fishing is fantastic but the caribou meat is not as good that time of year. The trophies are much higher quality as the biggest bulls all have antlers. Weather is warm but the flies can be brutal. Cost will run you around $3500.00 USD for a good outfitter. Definitely worth doing, if you thought the winter hunt was remote then when you fly out of the trees onto the tundra in an Otter float plane you won't believe the view. I highly recommend it at least once.

TerryM

I never used Asselin but visited the cabins and they looked perfectly fine to me. I also have 8 buddies who used them and they had no complaints at all. Its a hunting camp at the edge of the tree line, not a holiday Inn. I find you get treated pretty well the same way you treat people. Things can get pretty busy up there at times and I guess you need to be a little patient sometimes. No outfitter can control the way the wardens and cops operate. But if they are that anal and cracking down so much its because of all the A**holes who abuse the place. We saw lots of animals left to rot by people who are too stupid to track what they shoot at or realize that the racks were not perfect and move on. We also saw people gutting animals on the road and throwing carcasses all over the place. It sounds like it might be a little irritating now but I can see why it happened.

mullis56

Hi Terry,

What/who would you recommend or not recommend for a fly-in trip for caribou?

What about a anelope hunt?

What about an elk hunt?

Thanks.

TerryM

Mullis56,
For a flyin caribou hunt an outfit called " ExploSylva" has always had a great reputation. I will find you a website. As for antelope I have only been once as a guest on private property in Wyoming and can say that Iwould not bother with an outfitter. Contact local chambers of commerce in a zone that interests you and they will send you a list of landowners who have tresspas style hunts which are usually quite reaonable, I would stick to Wyoming. Very easy to do via th net.As for elk, never done that yet but its definitely on the must do list for me also.