[peter herzog]

I am planning a hunt up in Alaska with an Alaskan native but any info would be nice.

 

[Keelermk]

The hual road hunt can be a blast! The amount of animals you will see will blow your mind depending on what time if year you go. With that being said it can be pretty hard to get to bow range. We normally set up in front of a group an hoped the lead cow came towards us. There's almost no cover up there so stalking can be very difficult and they can walk through the tundra faster than you can run, so if you get behind um while there moving chances are good you won't catch up.

Hiking in the tundra can be pretty brutal as well. Best way to describe it is walking on a pile of wet pillows. So waterproof boots with good ankle support is a must. A range finger is a must as well. Yardages can be very deceiving since there are little to no landmarks to judge from. Try an get the bull to stop when taking the shoot if you can. I missed a monster bull at 50 yards because i didn't lead him at all. He never ran, was just milling around an i shoot a couple feet behind him. Take plenty of arrows cause any misses you have will never be seen again tundra is to soft to stop an arrow on the surface. I'd also say practice your longer distance shots. So you know exactly how far your comfortable with making the shot. It's very easy too be tempted to take 70+ yard shots up there do to the fact that it's wide open an it doesn't look "that" far. I've done that hunt 8 times and could ramble on and on about it. if you have any specific questions just let me know I'd be glad to answer to the best of my ability.

 

[peter herzog]

Thanks.
How successful have u been?
How far is it from anchorage?
Where did u camp?
I am young and in great shape so I am ready for a tough hunt.

 

[Keelermk]

I killed on all but one trip. The unsuccessful trip was in late October and we got stuck in a 3 day snow storm that kept us from hunting much. I believe it's close to 800 miles from Anchorage to the Atigan pass (which is about where you should start seeing caribou) from there your looking at another 200+ miles to dead horse. Be prepared to drive that last 200+ miles depending on what the herds are doing. Take plenty of fuel!!! We normally took 2 55 gallon poly drums up with us. Coldfoot is the last place to buy fuel until you get to dead horse and there's 245 miles between the 2. I've seen tons of people using all the fuel they have to go buy more because they didn't bring fuel cans. Also expect to pay double if not triple the price for fuel. I remember paying $7 a gallon for diesel in dead horse back in 2009. i can only imagine how much it is now. As for camping we pretty much followed the herds up an down the highway an would stop at any pulloff to camp at the end of the day. There's pretty much a place to camp ever 20-30 miles

 

[peter herzog]

Thanks for the info. So what is the total harvest amount do we have a good chance at a double or triple? also what time period did you go we are thinking end of August early sept.

 

[Turkeyflacx2]

We went the mid August if I remember. Just myself and my two brothers. We tagged 4. Mine scored 310 0/8 with the velvet on. Had a great time. It was definitly a great hunt. I had so many stalks/ ambushes I lost count. I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and there were Bou everywhere( the advantage to nearly 24hrs of light) and I was off on another group. I literally stalked within 5ft of mine,thinking it was another one my brother made a bad shot on but later recovered, and killed him when he bolted and stopped at 35yds. I got him a bit back and he swam across the river and died. Good thing we brought a small zodiac just for that reason. We ran into plenty of idiots that had no reason having any weopon in their hands though. One had their 12yr old son run after them to try to corral them into the Dad and Uncle. Saw a guy take a 100+ yrd shot with a beat up old recurve too. One word to the wise is be curtious to the truckers and they will be so in return. If you dont slow down and move over for them then be prepared to be "rocked" by every truck thereafter once word spreads.Get a CB radio and keep it on.Have a super hunt and bring plenty of arrows. We used the original Steelhead 100gr two blade mechs with great success.

 

[Ducksanddogs]

I killed on all but one trip. The unsuccessful trip was in late October and we got stuck in a 3 day snow storm that kept us from hunting much. I believe it's close to 800 miles from Anchorage to the Atigan pass (which is about where you should start seeing caribou) from there your looking at another 200+ miles to dead horse. Be prepared to drive that last 200+ miles depending on what the herds are doing. Take plenty of fuel!!! We normally took 2 55 gallon poly drums up with us. Coldfoot is the last place to buy fuel until you get to dead horse and there's 245 miles between the 2. I've seen tons of people using all the fuel they have to go buy more because they didn't bring fuel cans. Also expect to pay double if not triple the price for fuel. I remember paying $7 a gallon for diesel in dead horse back in 2009. i can only imagine how much it is now. As for camping we pretty much followed the herds up an down the highway an would stop at any pulloff to camp at the end of the day. There's pretty much a place to camp ever 20-30 miles

Diesel is ~$5.50/gallon up here right now. Caribou are almost all by the ocean to keep away from bugs right now. Should be heading back south at the end of the month.