Bigger Than A Deer, Smaller Than A Moose

[musketman]

Anyone ever hunt, or want to hunt caribou (carabu) with a traditional muzzleloader?

 

[BrownBear]

Haven't done it myself, but several friends do so regularly. You hear lots about caribou in "open tundra," but in fact there's usually lots of cover for stalking provided by low brush and folds in the terrain. Add to that the fact that caribou are either stupid or overly curious, depending upon your point of view, and they can also be attracted into traditional ML range. Lots of folks shoot them with bow and arrow, too.

I've shot plenty with open-sighted handguns, so getting one with an open-sighted Hawken or similar is easy by comparison. Carrying your favorite black powder or substitute to Alaska on an airliner or buying it once you get here is probably the hardest part of the hunt.

 

[cable]

i want to, and probably will get to next year or so. might use my swivel breech .50 and try for a double! we are allowed 5 [can all be in the same day too]. we went to a place a few years ago, where more than 1200 crossed the gravel bar next to our camp, in the week we were there! i took pictures of them while i was sitting on a stump and they were walking all around me. could easily have all shots under 30 yds!

 

[Stumpkiller]

A friend of mine has made several caribou hunts with his Lyman GPR. I'm hoping to hide in his luggage the next time he goes. I have a neighbor who cuts deer and goes almost every year, and it's fun to watch the faces on the local kids when he arrives with a truck bed full of Rudolph's around mid-November.
Just a ten hour drive straight North.

 

Smelly, sinking, bug ridden things with meat that has no food value. THAT comes from what they eat - lichen!
; they look pretty cool! - big racks are impressive - but they still stink & have exceptionally poor food value.
;

 

[Stumpkiller]

Thank you, Daryl.

You just saved me $2,500 that I didn't have. :haha: Now I can wish I had something else, instead (like that historically correct suit of longhunter clothes).

God saw fit to plop me where whittail are plentiful and relatively large, and squirrels & bunnies are in season for about half the year. Life is good.

 

[cayugad]

My sister who lives in Alaska has the same opinion of caribou that you do Daryl. She said the meat has such a strong game taste that she would rather not eat it. Her kids in fact refuse to eat it even if it is made into hotdogs or sausage. They instead go after moose and lots of fish to fill their freezer.

I personally would like to hunt them but if I do not eat it then I prefer not to shoot it. I might consider it if there were public food banks that would take the meat off my hands and get some use out of it. Of course I have not ever eaten it, perhaps my sister is wrong and I might actually like the stuff....

 

[BrownBear]

A whole lot must depend upon where they come from and how they are handled. Ours come from the Alaska Peninsula and are sweet and mild. I've had good ones and bad ones from around Fairbanks. Must be some way to tell the difference by looking at them in the Interior, because the same hunters always seem to bring home the really tasty ones, while the other group of hunters always brings home stinkers. :hmm:

 

[cayugad]

BrownBear you might be very well on to something about where the animal was from. It is that way to some extent with the deer we shoot here. When you get one from the southern end of the state where it has fed all its life in the oats, soybean, corn, and hay fields.. they have a lot different taste then a deer that lived in the northern marsh and pine forest area of the state.

 

Area could defintely have something to do with it, as well as time of year, rutt or no rutt. The caribou season opens up around here in mid August - open right now, as a matter of fact as is moose farther north of here.
: The only caribou I've eaten, are those shot in Spatsizi park, and provided by the guides at the game club banquet. The roasts are cooked by members wifes who've been cooking game meat for many years, most of them.
: My wife got to cook a griz roast one fall, best meat on the table, and once a couple people tasted it, the 15 lb. roast disappeared in about 15/20 min. The caribou is only sampled - no one goes for seconds & the platters with caribou look the same at the end of the evening as they do at the start. The samplers (of caribou) keep hoping it will be better THIS year. It never is - probably because the hunters are shooting the herd bulls, not yearlings or cows.

 

[BrownBear]

Sounds like a good possibility. We hunt late when its a lot cooler and the rut is long past. Big bulls tend to be dryer (less fat) but still don't taste bad. Younger ones and cows are top notch. Fat caribou ribs over an alder fire in camp are about as good as it gets. Folks back home always wonder why the ribs don't make it to the freezer! Also, carry a little waxed paper, then spread the thin mesh of fat from around the stomach on a bush to dry while you are taking care of the animal. Wrap it in the waxed paper, then wrap around a roast for baking back home. Sweeter than bacon and guaranteed moist roast. Kidney fat gets cooked with chunked tenderloin and heart for another camp treat. Better than butter, by a long shot. Cholestrol? Who cares at a moment like that!

 

[cable]

a lot of the taste is due to whether the rut is on or not; how warm the weather is; how carefully the meat is handled and processed; the last three i got, i saved the filet and backstraps...fixed them on the grill and they were exquisite; my son and i made them disappear quickly; the rest went into hot dogs, and mild polish sausage with a little beef suet added [got a total of over 150 #'s of sausage]; it was superb; firm, not very fatty, fine taste; everyone who got some begged for more; that whole lot of sausage didn't last a year! my son, then 13, would eat an entire pound at one breakfast if you didn't grab some for yourself; i much prefer moose, or buffalo, for steaks and roasts and burger; but caribou can be put to excellent use; i beleive you need to be very careful to cut away all fat, fascia, tendons, etc and leave on the clean, red meat; must keep it cool [not a problem where we were] and for the processing pick someone really good [Indian Valley Meats here]

 

HA!- you were making my mouth water, THEN I recalled this was about caribou and jsut about lost it.
: I can see late season animals being better. Once the bulls start eating again, and stop drinking their urine, they do taste better, even moose and elk.
: The very best moose I ever had, was a 15 yer old bull, long past his prime and mating urges, eating and resing, all day long, every day, until he had 2" of fat all over. His meat was incredible, marbled with fat just like good prime rib. The fat was sweet as well, while ,not yellow and THICK. We BQ'd a bunch of huge loin steaks from him on a Spring Steelhead trip, and a knife wasn't needed at all - he was an impressive moose. Antlers were a three pointed knob-crown on one side about 14" tall and a 4" dia. X 12" BAR on the other side.
: We got the age from the tooth program. He was shot by a friend of mine using an 11 bore English Sporting rifle, made by Taylor Sapergia. 160gr. 2F .735 ball - exited behind the off-side shoulder. Moose collapsed at the shot.

 

[jtmattison]

I am planning a boo hunt next fall in Nome.
I do agree that the boo shot in different parts of Alaska taste a little different.
I love boo sausage with my eggs in the morning.
I will be hunting with my .54 GPR.
I am fortunate to have an outfitter as a very close friend so expense to me will be very minimal.
I wish I could take you all along with me.

Huntin

 

[musketman]

I wish I could take you all along with me.

Take pictures and you can take all of us along... :winking: