tag in hand

My buddy Bill and I headed north on a three day weekend in hopes of filling our tags before the season ends on April 30th. We packed up the truck on Thursday afternoon and hit the road that evening. We arrived at the Chandalar Shelf around 9:30 that night with the temperature hovering around six below and brisk 15 mph winds.

The next morning we were putting stalks on caribou by 7:00 and needless to say we were giving them a free education on what to avoid. When hunting caribou on the north slope its solely spot and stalk and extremely difficult since there is minimal terrain to hide behind. Bill shot a bull at 45 yards and by 9:30 we had him packed up and in the truck. I spotted a lone bull bedded on a hill side and was able to put a stalk on him and close the gap to 42 yards and by 12:30 we were packed up and heading south.

This was an amazing hunt. I'm still shocked that we were back in town by Friday evening when we were prepared to stay until Sunday. The description sounds like this is an easy hunt with a high success rate but I couldn't disagree more. It's not uncommon for hunters to travel south with an empty truck bed. This was my fifth time traveling north with a bow in hand and I was finally able to fill my tag...enjoy the pictures.

View of the truck from where I shot mine

I believe this picture sums up Alaska.