I remember a quote from Jim Zumbo about his most favorite and least favorite wild game meat to eat. His reply was "Caribou and Caribou" with the explanation that a rutting Caribou was inedible. With that in mind, I would like to plan a trip for barren ground Caribou in Quebec when the meat would be at it's best. Thanks in advance for your usual help.

Russ,

Zumbo is right, Caribou are inedible durring the rut. At least ours are. I would be curious if my dogs would eat the stuff. I recall an old indian saying to me, "We don't even eat caribou in the rut."

Mtn. caribou in this part of the country rut in late sept. Barren Ground caribou rut in Oct.

Someone here should be able to tell you about the Quebec variety.


Daryl

If you hunt Quebec caribou anytime in August up to about the third week in Sept. You will have no problem..

Same goes for Alaska and NWT..

Living in Colorado, I have a confession to make. My name is Max and I like caribou more than elk. There, I've said it! But I like elk a lot, too. Just finished a caribou burger and that may have a lot to do with it. Will be hunting caribou the last week in September (two years in a row!) with Andre Threlfall. Great guy and great camps.
Max

My tastes must be a bit different than yours, RWJ. The caribou I've eaten have all tasted pretty good; not as good as elk or moose, but certainly better than most mule deer I've had. I've had the meat made into traditional steaks, roasts, and burger, in addition to jerky. They have all been older bulls (we have a 5-pt. restriction on general season caribou - that's 5 points above the rear point, which is a pretty old bull), but they have all been shot in late August or early Sept. I wouldn't eat a rutting bull; I wouldn't even want to field dress it, as you can smell them from 50 yards away.