I will again drive the frozen James Bay roads in search of the caribou.No better place in the world to be this November than the unspoiled wilderness of the canadian north.By the look of the satellite migration maps they might be their in record numbers.Rifles cleaned,ammo ready,pick-up truck getting its check-over,equipment gathered,etc...This is what it's all about.I hope to meet any AR member up there and have a beer.

By the looks of the map, you're swimin in'em.
Best of luck, I think your tags are filled.

Thanks Chuck,I am hopeing for a trophy.They seem to be more concentrated in the zone more than ever and at a short distance from the road.This situation calls for the Caribou killer.I am staying up there for as long as I get one.VIVE LE QUEBEC! Until next week then!

Good luck------I just looked at the map. You should be knee deep in caribou. Pick out a good one. Looks like the non-res area may have slim pickings. Good luck & post photos.

Love the north country !! CB

Thanks Bob,I just got back and was pleased with the hunt.I hunted 22B,the non-res section.I will post pictures as soon as I get them developed.The trip up by truck was the best ever because the roads were clean and dry.The weather was not too cold,the mildest I ever saw.A big herd or group had moved in days before our arrival and was out of there when we got in.We hunted the rare small gruops that remained.We would not see more than 3 or 4 caribou in a whole days hunting.Most caribou taken were cows,and calfs.I was very lucky to shoot a good bull on my second day.There was a real beauty taken by a group of hunters that was said to be the finest that was seen by the outfitter in years.I saw that one and was really impressed.I wanted to take a picture but was out of film.It was just average in size but showed the grace and shine of one in a hundred thousand.It reminded me of the Hanson buck.My barnes 180gr tsx-vithavouri-lapua,molly, 3100fps load dropped my bull instantly at 220yds with a shoulder hit.That really impressed my father,as well as myself.I also managed to shoot 2 willow ptarmigan and 3 ruffed grouse.I enjoyed talking with other hunters from all over the place.The were from the US,Canada,and I believe a group from Germany.I saw lots of caribou in the 22a or res section.It was dissapointing to see,not having been there for the past 3 yrs that the quality of the caribou seems to have decreased.I never saw so many small caribou before,both in body size and in antler size.My father kept on telling me that they introduce a new breed in from europe.That was dissappointing to see.I will never forget the scenes of caribou early in the morning in the 22a section.All over the lakes in a snowy,christmas card-like image.No one around for a hundred miles,and all that beauty before me.I said to my father,caribou have a good life,and then thought to myself,I wouldn't mind being a caribou in another life!

Glad you had a good hunt. I've got to get back up there & do it again. If I were back east I would really consider doing this hunt every other year. Enjoy the steaks !! Bob

btw,that sako is a hell of a rifle.I keep on telling her to go away,but she doesn't want to leave.She keeps on impressing me more and more.It looks like i am going to keep her.I once sold the rifle that meant the most to me.It is not going to happen again.I got a winchester that is looking real hot,but she has a problem ejecting the cases.

[URL= ]caribouhunt[/URL]

[URL= ]caribou hunt[/URL]

A real hunt and a real hunter!

quote:

and a real hunter!

Its refreshing to see someone that likes themselves so much.

Just a suggestion, but it would be real helpful if you could crop the white space out of your pictures. Its about a 10 second operation in Microsoft Photo Editor and it would make it a lot easier for us to see your pictures.

Cheers
Canuck

How do you go about that?

If you open the picture in Microsoft Photo Editor, or any photo editing software, you just click on the "select" button (it has a square with dashed lines on it), then select the part of the picture you want to keep, then right click and select "crop". Everything outside of the selected area will then be cut, and all you'll be left with is the picture.

Then save and re-upload to your photo hosting site.

Some photo hosting sites (like Photobucket) will let you do the editing on their site.

Cheers,
Canuck

Thanks for the tip Canuck.I tried for awhile but didn't succeed.I'll get it next time.

I can't wait until next year to hunt the caribou again.

shootaway,
I just got back from Mirage Outfitters in 22B. There weren't many caribou to be seen or shot. Most of the herd had come down in 22A and alot earlier than usual. We saw more caribou on the drive in and out than during our 4 day hunt. I managed to get two small bulls but they were right next to the road. It wasn't my idea of a great hunt. Had fun but won't be back for another meat hunt.

cjp45,I understand your feelings.I feel the same way after seeing the quality of caribou lately.It is strange that for 7 or 8 yrs we never saw any caribou in the 22a section and there were always in the 22b section.Lately things are turning around and you are always finding them in 22a and rarely 22b.But,despite them being in 22a,they are much smaller than they were yrs ago.The best times hunting caribou were in the first yrs the zone opened,the caribou were monstrous and the pick-ups on the road were few.This downtrend however i feel is going on in all hunting in all parts of the world,that is quality is going down and prices are going up.Soon we will be hunting boar like the europeans and paying a fortune.Still for 2500 cdn(whole cost of my trip) you get a chance to take two beautiful wild animals,and be out in a true wilderness.You could bring back your meat with you and enjoy the best meat year round.I could afford to go on a more expensive sheep hunt or african hunt every year,but what makes a succesful hunt is not the value of a hunt in dollars,it is the value of a hunt in your heart.

you said you shot them next to the road.up there a road is not really a road its just a space in the bush that pickups travel on.

No bullets recovered, both pass throws doing great work.The meat tastes great,better than anything I ever had.The liver was out of this world.My mother dipped it in flour and fried it in olive oil.The hamburgers would put any fast food chain out of business.I had them in a bun with a tiny bit of ketchup.I am getting the head mounted,

Shootaway, have you looked at the maps lately?

I can't say I've ever seen this split before, the guys left are getting a big skunkin!

I just did and feel very lucky to get ours.I guess there will be some big ones left for us next year.It seems the only time they were in 22b was in the first two weeks of the season.

When I saw cjp post it appeared he was not happy with the small bulls. I had been watching the maps and thought...whoa, he was luckier than he thought. I looked again the other day and went over backwards. Either way I still think it's the best deal on the planet, just the landscape and lack of human originating sounds. Try finding that anywhere else.

Chuck,I agree with you 100%. I did not feel like driveing this year and booked two non-refundable airplane tickets at slightly over 2000 dollars.I was not on good terms with my partner,and my truck was not new.The hunt was going to be an assisted hunt,in that we would need a guide or some one to lend us a truck and come and pick us up when we got there.We decided to lose the 2000,buy some new tires for the truck and take a chance because what was most valuable to us was a private hunt.This means you buy your permit and that's it.You are free to go and do whatever you please wherever.Imagine we took on the services of a guide and he didn't want to burn fuel and left us someplace out in the cold where there were no caribou! This is exactly what we saw happen to other hunters.All the bou were being shot within a 1 km stretch and we saw hunters waiting alongside the road 100 km away were the tracks were a few days old.They end up getting nothing while we were haveing fun in the woods takkeing pictures and field dressing our caribou.I swear,I would choose this over a 60000 dollar african hunt anyday.Kind of like being given the permission to hunt whitetails in Alberta or Saskatchewan out of season and anywhere you please.You hop in your truck and it's like paradise.Speaking of whitetails,I think I discovered a similar caribou type whitetail hunt,except it is only open to canadian residents.I heard of such a thing years ago and drew up a plan but abandoned it since one hunt was enough and caribou was really good.I might try both hunts this comeing season after talking with someone who tried the whitetail hunt and getting positive news.

Shootaway, I like the self guided hunts better myself. When I've used a guide it feels more like Iam just a shooter and they're controlling the whole show, much rather do it myself and end up skunked than playing that role. It sounds like you might have a winner with the Whitetail hunt under the same circummstances.