This afternoon Renee and I headed out looking to get her her first caribou. Just like last time we only took her sweet little 257 Roberts. Unlike last time, today she was going to be the only one on the trigger. Last time out we couldn't get her in position for a shot so I ended up taking two caribou with her rifle because we needed the meat.

The Inupiaq tradition dictates that a hunter must give away their entire first kill to the elders of their choice. We always give away half of what we kill and even so we have enough meat to get us through until the Fall. This hunt was truly to be her hunt.

We got to our favorite area only to find that our worst fears had come to pass: most of the caribou have migrated. We searched and searched and we did find one lone animal but he saw us and ran, and ran, and ran. I have never seen a caribou so skittish.

Later we found where a small group of caribou had been successfully hunted earlier in the day. This had probably been the heard that he was with. That would explain his wariness.

We took a detour on the way home and bumped into this beautiful fellow, quite the consolation prize. Of course being the hunters first, this one has to be given away. Renee already has her favorite elder picked out. She was very excited.

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:

Sorry about the poor picture. We tried to get one out on the snow where we were hunting but my phone was frozen(that happens here a lot).

Our weather is "warm" now being that it is zero with the windchill. Even so I know that the snow will be gone before long now that the sun is out from 4 am until midnight. So Renee and I will be back at it again tomorrow in hopes of finding a caribou or two who have not left with the migration.

Smile says it all

Great way to raise your girl! I look forward to seeing her future hunts.

As good as it gets!!

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:
This afternoon I Renee and I headed out looking to get her her first caribou. Just like last time we only took her sweet little 257 Roberts. Unlike last time, today she was going to be the only one on the trigger. Last time out we couldn't get her in position for a shot so I ended up taking two caribou with her rifle because we needed the meat.

The Inupiaq tradition dictates that a hunter must give away their entire first kill to the elders of their choice. We always give away half of what we kill and even so we have enough meat to get us through until the Fall. This hunt was truly to be her hunt.

We got to our favorite area only to find that our worst fears had come to pass: most of the caribou have migrated. We searched and searched and we did find one lone animal but he saw us and ran, and ran, and ran. I have never seen a caribou so skittish.

Later we found where a small group of caribou had been successfully hunted earlier in the day. This had probably been the heard that he was with. That would explain his wariness.

We took a detour on the way home and bumped into this beautiful fellow, quite the consolation prize. Of course being the hunters first, this one has to be given away. Renee already has her favorite elder picked out. She was very excited.

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:

Sorry about the poor picture. We tried to get one out on the snow where we were hunting but my phone was frozen(that happens here a lot).

Our weather is "warm" now being that it is zero with the windchill. Even so I know that the snow will be gone before long now that the sun is out from 4 am until midnight. So Renee and I will be back at it again tomorrow in hopes of finding a caribou or two who have not left with the migration.

Love it when the game is bigger than the hunter. When you are young everything is big. Thank you for sharing.

Very nice, I showed my 8 year old she thought it was really cool.

We shot 22's yesterday in the Gila.

There is something very heart warming about the happiness of a child.
Well done both of you.

Outstanding! Good memories made!

Well after our Saturday adventure we decided to head out again on Sunday looking to connect Renee with her first caribou. The results were similar, but in reverse. Last time we hunted hard but struck out on caribou, then we were able to collect an arctic fox on the way home.

Today we were able to connect with an arctic fox as soon as we hit the hunting grounds. We were excited but we knew that we needed to focus on the task at hand: find and stalk a caribou for Renee.

We had a bit better luck in that we found two different groups. Both groups were very wary and just wouldn't let us close the distance. We did have a yearling that we could have collected but I decided that I wanted Renee to do a bit better for her first "big" animal.

With the It being light past midnight now we will be at it again this week. Renee, trooper that she is, told me: "We will get one."

You gotta love that dedication(especially when it's 1 degree above zero with the windchill!)

Today my battery hadn't had a chance to freeze so we were able to get two photos before the phone quit.

This guy is not as prime as the fluff-ball that we got yesterday, but still an absolutely beautiful creature.

The background of this photo really captures the beauty of our hunting area....

Congrats!

Hell of a deal!

That looks really, really, really cold.

Tell her she is tougher than me.

It is a dry cold.

-20 with no wind chill is ok as long as you can keep covered up.

-20 with a wind chill is pretty much deadly.

-40 is deadly.

To me the worst time to be in Barrow is the -40 with a windstorm and you are over -100.

SE Alaska at 5 above, heavy winds coming off the glaciers through the Fjords is a 1000 times worse.

Reading that makes my teeth hurt. I do not know how man survived to the 21 century across such environments.

Hats off to the young girl. Touch is as tough does, and I have never been out in that cold.

One of the coldest times I had was directing traffic at a crash site on a straight highway with no wind break.

At -45.

Jason, so glad you are getting out with your daughter. Can't wait to see Renee with her first caribou.

Bravo, Renee!

Maybe some day I can hire you to guide me to an Arctic fox. After seeing the photos, it is now on my bucket list.

Well we have been hunting hard but just about all the caribou have headed for greener pastures. We made it out on April 30th which is the last day of arctic fox season. Renee had already filled her season limit of 2 foxes so I hoped that we might see one so that I could collect my first fox. The weather was amazing, the sun shining bright and blue sky as far as the eye could see. It was almost too warm with little wind and temps just above zero.

When we traveled a few miles into the area that we hunt we saw our first fox. He made it into his hole before I could get a shot. We waited a few minutes and he emerged took off at a run, only to dive into another hole before I could get a shot.

As we sat on that hole hoping for a third chance I glassed off into the distance and saw two more foxes. As they say: "a fox in the sled is worth two in the den", so off we went. We headed toward them and I was able to collect an old boy with a beautiful coat and worn down teeth. A real veteran.

Dad’s first fox:


We traveled around looking in vain for any caribou. We did find one lone straggler but he never let us get even remotely close.

With the Sun shining bright were spotting foxes everywhere. With the Sun at our backs the foxes seemed to glow like platinum and could be seen with the naked eye from a long, long ways off. We could have taken a half dozen with ease and probably a full dozen with a bit of effort but with a season limit of 2 I had to settle on just one more. Renee was happy to pose with my foxes.

Renee with Dad’s catch:


My phone took this next picture while I was shutting it down. It reminds me of an astronaut on the moon or a Led Zeppelin album cover.

Renee walking on the moon:


The weather was so nice and the Sun so bright that we lost track of time and didn't get home until after 11:30. It was a heck of an end to fox season. Of course dad still had to fix dinner, put away gear and skin foxes.

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We headed out again on May 1st. To be honest I had kinda given up on our chances of getting a caribou so we left out sled at home and packed a rucksack of emergency equipment, lashed it to the machine and headed out. I figured that if we somehow got lucky we could always return for the sled and then fetch the meat.

This trip was fruitful in that Renee gained a lot of hunting experience even if she wasn't able to connect. This was to be the first hunt in which Renee was able to get a caribou in her cross-hairs.

We found our same lonely pal and he was skittish as ever, mostly. We stopped the machine about 1,000 yards away. He hadn't noticed us and continued to feed. We slogged through some knee deep snow and closed to 400 yards before he busted us and took off on at a ground eating trot. We noted his direction and took our time getting back to the machine.

Our plan was simple: try to get within 1,000 yards on the machine and park the machine in plain sight then sneak in as close as possible. My simplest plans often work, but not always in the way I envision.

We headed in the direction the caribou had headed. Our pace was leisurely and I scanned the horizon for the first sign of our caribou who had somehow disappeared. Suddenly something just ahead appeared to be out of place. I could see something in the snow right in our line of travel. I got out the binoculars and low and behold there was our caribou just 75 yards away.

Only his eyes and ears were visible and it appeared that he had fallen into a hole or had simply been swallowed by a snow drift. I got the gun out but instead of getting Renee in position for a shot I continued to gawk at the caribou like wondering what in the world he had gotten himself into.

This went on for several minutes. Finally the caribou got tired of making a fool out of the village idiot(me) and he sprang to life and was off and running.

I still can't believe the the caribou had played me for the fool that I am and simply laid down in a small depression and held his head and neck low to the ground in hopes that he would go unnoticed. I knew that mule deer will use this trick but I had no idea that caribou could be so cunning.

We started our plan from the beginning and were able to get Renee in position for a shot on three separate occasions. Each time the distance was close to 200 yards and the caribou would shift position just as Renee began to squeeze the trigger. In the end she never fired a shot but she came away with a much better understanding of stalking and shooting game. She repeated several times, "I had my shot, I should have taken it!" Haha, haven't we all been there?! Hearing that took me right back to my early hunts! How many times did I utter those words 30 years ago?

I'm pretty darn proud of her!

Renee on our trusty steed. Our machine turned 1,000 miles so I thought that we had better stop and take a photo.


Renee is always all smiles when we are out.

quote:

Originally posted by scruffy:
Bravo, Renee!

Maybe some day I can hire you to guide me to an Arctic fox. After seeing the photos, it is now on my bucket list.

Richard,
We are going to have to get together again someday soon!