tschaef

There were plenty of animals 1 week ago today, but that was my 1st time up there so I guess things can change quicky.We had to drive the icy road to above LA1, but that wasabreeze after the long trip up there.
I was amazed at the number of guys telling me they got skunked and advising me to take what I could get, we saw lots of animals (from singles to groups of hundreds), I'm tempted to think the guys that got skunked just drove up and down the roads hoping for something to cross in front of them, and they didn't really hunt. In all honesty I doubt I'll ever go back, I'm glad I did it once and got to see some amazing things, but it wasn't really challenging, more like shooting than hunting.

I also have real concerns about safety up there, I think accidents are more common than the outfitters would like to admit. I only know a few people that have done the trip, but have heard a few horror stories. My group had to sprint off the ice when some shooting started in our direction, and a group from PA told us about standing around talking to another group when a guy took one in the arm! If you go wear lots of orange!

BKMSTR

Darkside55 - Yours was the post I was looking for today. In light of this information, I believe we are going to call Kisk... tomorrow to see what options they have for us. We were suppose to leave on Sunday for a hunt next Tue, Wed, & Thur. The way it sounds, we stand a good chance of getting skunked on those dates.

Thanks for the info!

big or small kill em all

Hey BKMSTR, I am leaving in 1/2 hour. I talked to Kisk earlier and they said that no one got any Monday but they had shot some on Tuesday morning. They said that there were small "pockets" of caribou to the south. He said you will not be road hunting you will have to get in the bush. At this point I am going for it.

Nord QC Bouman

There are still animals northwest of LA1. Much of the heard is moving south west and we should begin to see a swing back east as they start running out of food. The herd is still big - estimated at 680K animals - think about the space they take up. Standing 2 feet apart they would cover 380 square miles and many break off into pods and roam around. The pilots report there are still large pockets north but they have not moved much - you can see this by the couple of markers static.Weather is beginning to turn and hopefully some of these pods will move south along Laforge. I recommend hunting south if the taiga road up to area 22A. 2002 there were many crossings just at the no hunt zone and several of us got animals there on the last day.

DARKSIDE55

You never did answer my question. Do you live in Radisson or on the Trans-taiga? You say you drove up this morning. Well I'm pretty close and that's more of a drive than I want to do to check things out. Tell me where you are and I'll stop in and say hello. I'm in that area all the time.



kingbariton....I answered your private message but I'll answer you here also. Yes you can see trails and larger numbers of caribou from the air. As far as going low enough to count them and check the size, no you can't. And it's not my aircraft. It belongs to a buddy and I don't know what it is for sure. They have 6 of them. But if it's important I can find out for you. And we didn't fly from Ontario. We flew out of Shefferville, Quebec and I just got home a couple of hours ago by Air Canada. I was in Labrador on business. I hope that's a good enough explanation for you if you are a pilot because I'm not.


BKMSTR...You're going to need a snowmobile or snowshoes unless you get extremely lucky.


Nord QC Bouman....Things may have changed but there was hardly nothing in the non-resident zone.Unless you want to go 100 km or more one way. And those are moving Southwest with the main herd. Like you say, they could turn but I don't believe it will be anytime soon. But there are always a few stragglers or breakaway groups.

Nord QC Bouman

We are basically prepared for a suedo 2004 hunt - similar migration and I worked hard to get 2. The main difference is the weather - 2004 was real cold and 2006 has been much warmer - this is certainly a mystery, but thats life in the bou migration. Hope I can post some picks or next weeks hunt - I know you are even later and I hope you have some luck as well.

How are land prices in your area - I feel the need to become a resident!

BKMSTR

I spoke with Kisk.. this afternoon. They were very honest and willing to work with us. He explained that what I'm hearing from everyone is correct. 99% of the herd is un-huntable right now as they have crossed into resident only area and below. He heard reports of some bou showing up in matigami already. He said there are still a few pockets of animals around kisk and above. Monday they got nothing, but tuesday one group found a good size pocket about 30km in and all tagged out. Today, they found another small pocket above the camp and another group tagged out. The small pockets are less and less each day. There success rate right now is 94% and the 6% that went home empty handed would not settle for a cow and wanted big rack bulls only. He said the bulls are very hard to find right now. Since we are traveling from such a distance, his advice was to call back on Friday and see if things are any better or the same. He feels that the herd will turn around and many of the animals in the resident area will head toward the non-resident area. This happened last year according to him. But he doesn't want us to get skunked so he said it was up to us. Our options were to wait and come up later or just wait till next year and they would put the money toward that hunt. We would have to pay any differences if they had a price increase. He also said that if we come up, there is a good chance we will have to head into the bush on snow machines to find any caribou. You will not find them along the road anywhere. So far, I'm very pleased that they are being so honest and giving us these options. I guess we'll call Friday and check with them again. I really don't want to drive 1500miles to look at snow covered tundra!! Oh, they have 2' of snow at the camps, but he said there is only about 6" where the bou are now. If it snows more south of them, this will slow the bou down and send them back to the northeast.

Darkside55 - We have snow shoes packed & are willing to rent snowmobiles if needed. But neither of those may be of any help...

DARKSIDE55

Nord QC Bouman.....Well the weather's changed. It's now anywhere from -15 to -25C. There's a line just south of the Trans-taiga as far as snowfall. North has lots, south has hardly nothing. But it's cold both places now. To be politically correctthere's been a Native caution on land sales around here for 30 years. What that means is No new land for sale. Only existing property can be bought and sold. There isn't much of that and what there is is pretty high. But we'd love to have you if you want to migrate. LOL As you know we go up the last of December. I sure hope they turn. If they don't by the middle of December, and they're still in the resident zone, I'm hooking up with a couple of my Quebec friends.


BKMSTR.....Your post sounds ditto to what I've been saying and saw. Glad Kisk was honest with you. Some of the others aren't so honest. Like I said before, right now you're going to have to work really hard and travel far to get them or get extremely lucky. Since they gave you the choice, and this is just my personal opinion, I would go later or transfer it to next year. But when it comes down to it you will have to make your own choice. It's a long drive for you with more money spent just getting there and back. Another thought of mine is, the reason the migration for the last 3 years has been different may have something to do with the predation factor. Caribou are not completely stupid. I think with them smelling the blood and guts from all the kills, they've found what they think is a safer route. The reason for this is, the northern herds have not changed their migration at all. There's not as many kills there and what there are is cleaned up pretty fast. As a result of that there is no smell of danger or anything for them to see when it's time for them to migrate. Again...my opinion. I'm not a biologist. Just an avid hunter. And most of my living depends on hunting.

BKMSTR

Anyone hear any reports of bou turning around yet? Weather up there seems to have turned around.

Surreel

Mirage called us yesterday PM and told us to consider not coming up because of no animals in the area. They said impossible to hunt from the road and only way to get animals was with skidoo and a guide and be prepared for long, hard skidoo ride with high probability of getting skunked. They gave us the option of going later this year or same week next year.
Taking all of that into account and the comments I have read here we decided to postpone our hunt until next year same week. DEC 4,5,6. : (

Going to camp this weekend instead to chase rabbits instead. Not likely to find any of those with racks either. LOL.
Cheers