How was the weather?
hows the road?

are the caribou in?

13 days to launch.....

I am interested to here what anyone has to say about Nouchimi. A buddy of mine and myself are planning a hunt there for next year. Any input would be great. Good or bad.

Lawcop,
Good luck on your hunt! Post some pics of your bous and let me know about trophy potential of the winter hunt. As well as what to expect weather wise. Good Luck!

YOU WON'T find caribou with the heads to make the magazine covers in the late hunts.
The bigger the bulls, the earlier they shed. By the time we got there last year about the same time, all the "trophy" bulls were as bald as a doe deer.
That is how you can tell the bigger ones at a glance. They have no antlers which makes it easy if you are after the meat.

You are a hundred or so miles from James Bay in winter...nuff said. Not many days above freezing (we didn't see any) and potential for nasty arctic blizzard conditions.

All that said, it is LOTS of fun and if you catch it right you will be overloaded with the "big deer" being road hazards making night navigation "interesting". Ranges can be from 50 FEET to what ever you are comfortable shooting for looonnngggg.

Lots of frozen lakes for them to walk on and they don't seem to care that you are human. Not exactly the sharpest animals when it comes to hunters.

A great fun place to get away from it all without having to get all your gear into one suitcase/duffel bag.

We cut the legs off and the "knees"(?) and take the hides off and then throw them into the full size muslin body bags then toss them into the snow to freeze up. They are then good to transport whereever and much easier to deal with then the gangly animals they are.

i've hunted with them 8 years in a row. i'am addicted to hunting caribou.One year on opening day,when there were no caribou,I went up on the chopper.I decided to take a break this year and not go.I'll be back next year.To give some advice to someone who has not been,I would say get a pick-up or trailer with an open box to preserve your meat 2.Get your-self your vehicule and your rifle in shape 3.Get a good partner 4.Take your sweet time-think of this as a vacation.5.Be willing to lend a hand to anyone who is in need.

I was at Nouchimi the week before last. There were lots of animals all
around the area; especially just past the La Forge hydro dam where most of
these photos were taken:

http://www.capital.net/~desmobob/Caribou1.jpg

http://www.capital.net/~desmobob/Caribou2.jpg

http://www.capital.net/~desmobob/Caribou3.jpg

http://www.capital.net/~desmobob/Caribou5.jpg

http://www.capital.net/~desmobob/Caribou6.jpg

http://www.capital.net/~desmobob/Caribou7.jpg

http://www.capital.net/~desmobob/Caribou10.jpg

http://www.capital.net/~desmobob/Caribou12.jpg

The first bull I shot was ready to shed his antlers; one came off in my hand
when turning him over while field-dressing. All the other bulls our group
took (20 bulls total) had the antlers still solidly attached but we did see
some bulls that were already shed.

Enjoy your hunt!

Bob Scott
Whitehall, NY

Great pictures! Thanks for posting them. It gives me an idea of what to expect when I get up there next year. Hopefully we run into as many animals as you did.

demobob,were you there the opening week? If not were there caribou there during opening week?

We left home last Thursday morning, November 13th, heading out on a trip I have been wanting to take for years, a hunt for CARIBOU!
After a leisurely 12 hour drive we arrived at the border crossing at Port Huron MI. We did all the paperwork on our guns, destinantion, time there, etc.... and was through there in 30 minutes or so. All in all, a VERY smooth crossing I thought. We didnt have to show them any of the guns, ammo, cargo, etc.. After leaving customs, it was another 16 hour drive north to a little town named Matagami. If you look at a map of Quebec, this is the northernmost town shown in the province that is accessable by road. We got a motel room there when we arrived which was about dark, filled up with gas, took a HOT SHOWER, ate supper, and went to bed. We got up and hit the road again at 2am, still headed north. We went through the check gate at the beginning of the transtiaga highway, and headed for the camp. 13 HOURS later, we arrived after travelling at least half the way on gravel covered by six inches of packed snow. This was about dark on the 15th. We signed in, got our cabin, and unpacked. Our hunt dates were not set to start till the 17th, but the outfitter told us to go ahead and carry our guns if we wanted to, so we planned to head out to where he told us early the next morning. We drove the 125+ miles out to the area he told us to go to, and sat along with probably 50 other hunters, waiting for the caribou to head our way. The hunters in camp on the 15th had hunted all day and only 1 guy saw caribou, and just 3 cows at that so needless to say, skeptisism was running HIGH that morning. We stuck around till about 1pm, (it gets dark at 3pm!) and headed back in. We had gone about 40 miles when we ran into some hunters who had CARIBOU down! We drove on down the road until we saw a few and got out. over the course of the next 2 hours we saw 100's of animals and killed 4 bulls. It sounded like a good dove field there was so much shooting! I went ahead and killed my two bulls within sight of the road. Now keep in mind, these things weigh around 400 lbs, so killing them close is a definate plus. Shawn and Steve had split off from me and took off through the bush down a ridge to a couple frozen lakes where the caribou were crossing. Now keep in mind, these things weigh 400 pounds and can walk across a frozen lake. Shawn killed one that was all the way across the lake. Steve would take the sled and be working on getting Shawns out, I guess I should say here that the snow was considerably deeper that 6 inches here, more like knee deep every where and waist deep in some places! Shawn arrived to assist me and we started around the edge of the lake to get one of mine. Now keep in mind, these things weigh 400lbs and were running all over the ice. When I shot him, he fell HARD and just layed there. I was walking around the edge of the lake, about 5 ft out from the bank when all of a sudden, THE ICE BROKE! I went through but managed to catch myself with my hands, only going in knee deep or so. Shawn dragged me out and thanks to leg gaiters and saddlecloth, only one of my feet got a little wet. Almost as soon as I got out the wet stuff froze, making it pretty good insulation actually. After I got out, I got on the radio and told Steve UNDER NO CONDITIONS, should he set foot on ANY ICE since he was 1/2 mile from the truck and ALONE. We went on around to my animal and Shawn was gonna try to go to it. He fell through like I did, except he wasnt wearing sadlecloth or gaiters, and got soaked from the waist down! BAD NEWS in that country! He was instantly freezing! We left the animal and headed for the truck. We got there and he put on some extra clothes I had brought and started the truck to get warm and change socks. I got a rope and headed back to my bou. After 15 minutes of trying I got a rope around a horn and cautiously drug him to shore and field dressed him. Shawn came back, and we dragged the first animal to the road. By this time, it was getting VERY dark. We drove up the road a little ways to where my other animal was and after 30 more minutes or so, FINALLY got him to the road. 30 more minutes later and we had them both loaded. I got back on the radio and told Steve again to NOT GET ON THE ICE, and we headed toward him. We left the truck and following Shawn, the two of us headed for Steve, maintaining radio contact the whole way. We went up over a ridge and dropped 1/2 way down the backside, turned to our left and headed around a lake. We met up with Steve and the caribou of Shawns at the head of the lake. Steve had already dragged the bou well over a 1/4 mile through knee deep snow so he was wore out when we got there. I gave him the bottle of water I brought, and we talked for while. WE headed straight up the ridge with Steve in the lead. Steve kept bearing to the left, which seemed like the long, wrong way to Shawn and I, so we kept steering him straight up the ridge, thinking we were going to "shortcut" the drag out. We got to the top and Steve still kept wanting to head us left. We talked about it, and I asked Steve which way HE thought the truck was. He pointed about 90 degrees left of where Shawn and I thought it was, so we dropped the sled and rested a few minutes. While we rested, I dropped off the ridge in the direction I THOUGHT the truck was and made a circle back up to them. It wasnt where I thought it was! When I got to them I asked them why they had turned the sled around and they said they HADNT! Folks, Shawn and I was LOST in the absolute middle of nowhere and unprepared. At this point, I asked Steve again which way the truck was and he told us the same thing again, 90 degrees from where we thought. Long about now, I heard a truck on the road we were looking for, and we finally saw the lights through the snow and trees. It was EXACTLY where Steve said it was. Steve is THE MAN when it comes to direction! Let me tell yall right here, if 3 things had happened, Shawn and ole Huntaholic here would be dead. 1. If Steve had not been with us. 2. If the traffic on the road had not been there every so often to give us a direction. 3. If it had came just a light dusting of snow to wipe out our tracks to keep Shawn and I from having the option of backtracking. Following Steve, we made it out to the road and the truck around 7pm, which was 4 HOURS after dark! Loading THREE caribou into the back of my truck with the camper top on it was another hours worth of pushing and tugging and cussing, but we finally got em all in and headed back for camp.

We arrived back at camp around 10pm, totally worn out from the days events. As soon as we pulled up another hunter came over and asked us if we were the guys from TN. We said yes and he told us that the outfitter had been looking for us since early that morning. An emergency call had came in on the SATELITE phone from the booking agent saying we needed to call home ASAP. Im telling yall right here that that walk to the outfitters office was the hardest walk Ive ever taken in my life. NOTHING that important can be good news and we knew something HORRIBLE had happened here at home. Shawn and I walked into the ofice, Steve had stayed at the cabin getting things situated for the evening. When I walked in and told them who I was they handed me the note. It was in my name since I was the one who organized the trip, but the person to call was Steve's son and the phone number was Steves cell phone. After the outfitter found out it wasnt me, he told me what had happened. It was Steve's wife, Judy, and she had had a massive heart attack and they honestly didnt expect her to make it. I went back to the cabin and got Steve and told him it was for him, not telling him what I knew already because I thought it best that Eric be the one to tell him. I accompanied him back to the office and stayed with him while he got the news. He was devasted to say the least, and we walked back to our cabin to figure out what we needed to do. The closest commercial airport was 500 kilometers away and at least a 6 hour drive. We decided to try to get an outfitter down the road 20 kilometers who had THREE helicopters sitting on the pads he used to fly hunters out to the herds if needed for 500 DOLLARS EACH, to fly him out to the airport. All 3 choppers were sitting on the pads, caribou were starting to trickle through the area, making the choppers not needed for the hunters, and we offered to pay whatever price they wanted to fly him out. THEY FLAT OUT REFUSED TO FLY HIM OUT AT ANY TIME AT ANY PRICE! After trying to appeal to whatever sense of decency these people had for over an hour, we gave up on getting them to fly him out. I just dont understand why they were so determined not to take our money and fly him out. The name of these sonsof*****es is Mirage Outfitters, DO NOT EVER BOOK A HUNT WITH THEM! We decided then that I was going to drive Steve out to the airport to try to catch a flight out the next morning. We left at 2:30 am in a snowstorm that dumped anywhere from 6 inches to a foot! 6 hours of driving like crazy on snow and ice and I had him at the airport in a little town called Radisson. I explained the situation to a fine looking and VERY nice young lady there. She made some phone calls and got him out of there on a cargo plane in 45 minutes when at first there was nothing available till late that night. I thanked her, several times in fact, filled up with gas, ate a bite for lunch and headed back into the bush.

While I was out, I called home and talked to Brandon. He told me that Judy was still just barely hanging on and that he didnt know what the outlook was. I got back to camp after dark. Shawn had skinned and quartered the 3 caribou and was asleep when I arrived. I got him up and told him the newest information. I saw a few caribou nearly in camp on my way back in, so we decided to skip the 150 mile drive back out where we killed the first day, and hunt 5 or 6 miles from camp. By the time daybreak came, there were litterally HUNDREDS of caribou everywhere! Shawn killed his last one while I got it all on video. We spent the rest of the day getting it quartered and caping out the heads. we finished just before dark and ate supper. We decided to sleep till we woke up and head home.

We awoke to the sound of RAIN at 11:00pm that night. Not knowing what the weather would bring, we packed our last few bags and headed out of camp. As soon as I pulled out on the road I knew we were in for a nightmare if we tried it out of there. stopped and waited for Shawn to chicken out, but he didnt so I put the truck in gear and we were off. What had been a foot or more of packed snow was now 8 to 10 inches of SLUSH on top of a few inches of solid ice! This was beyond a doubt, the WORST conditions I have EVER seen a vehicle move in! Dont forget, I am now pulling a Uhaul trailer loaded down with caribou and hunting gear! Once we started, turning around was not an option with the trailer. It was 50 miles before came to a spot wide enough, and by then we kept thinking it might get better. WRONG. If anything it got worse. At one point I was locked in 4 wheel drive, climbing a mountain with a sheer drop off on one side and down to 2nd gear because I couldnt pull it any higher or faster! When we finally clawed to the top of that mountain I stopped and had to take a break. To say our nerves were shot is a vast understatement. I got out and looked at the trailer to see why it was so hard to pull. It looked like I was towing a SNOWBALL the size of a small barn! The whole front of the trailer, hitchhauler gas cans and all were completely covered in slushy frozen snow! We had to stop 5 or 6 times and beat all that stuff of just to be able to pull it! I hit the pavement 7 1/2 hours and 30 extra gallons of gas used up later! It was pulling the truck so hard we used two complete tanks of gas to cover what should have been done on 3/4s of a tank! At the pavement, I pulled over and took a quick nap, then I fired it up and headed south. 13 1/2 hours or so later I pulled into a gas station that was in a town Rand McNally actually shows as the furthermost northward point on their map. I filled up with gas and called home to check on Judy and see if Steve arrived ok. She was somewhat better and Steve finally got there, but now Channing was sick and going to the doctor too! I managed to catch him on his cell phone and found out it wasnt serious and told him we were headed in as quick as we could get there. 36 hours total from the time I left the camp, we rolled into Cookeville. That was 4 hours less than what it took us to drive up and through MUCH worse conditions. I guess I did drive a LITTLE fast coming home to check on everybody. Steve came by this morning and Judy is doing much better. They nearly lost her before he ever made it home though. They put 3 stints in the major artery to her heart and after closing her up, developed a BAD leak. She had to have 8 units of blood while they were finding and fixing the leak! That is a complete bloodchange! He is optimistic that she will get to come home today, so we are keeping our fingers crossed. If anyone wants the name of a GREAT caribou outfitter, check out Northern Caribou Adventures, who is the booking agent for Donat Asselin Outfitters. They truly do run a first class operation.

Huntaholic; That was quite an adventure!! Also please tell Steve that he probably has a heck of a lot of people rooting for his wife's recovory(sp). derf

Thanks for the kind words and thoughts! She is home now and doing good, but I doubt if Steve will ever take another long trip like this because of what happened and how remote it was.
I realize that my post wasnt about Nouchimi in particular, but all 4 outfitters up there hunt the same places and the same animals. According to the satellite reports there are more animals there now than there was when we were there so it should be a great hunt!

I'M BAAAAAA....AACCCKKKKKK.

Interesting trip.

Our camp was waaaayyyy out by LaForge 4. NO 'BOO. They were all back at 395 then North another 90Km past LaGrande 1. Made for long days and lots of driving.
Didn't see as many caribou as we did last year and the driving meant we tried to fill quickly, so we filled 19 tags in 2 days for the 10 of us. THe 20 tag was fillecd the next day.

weather was great but cool.

The real caribou herd was south of the fuel stop at 382. THOUSANDS of them 40+ klicks South. No one ever can recall them being that far south. Caused massive traffic problems for about 40 miles. All these animals in an area you couldn't hunt.

Nouchimi camps were the usual spartan cabins but they had replaced the wood stoves with oil stoves.

The trip itself was the usual drive through amazing country that just keeps you in awe.

OH WELL, only 11 months 3 weeks to go......

Hi,
Can I ask why people wait to hunt the caribou when the biggest males have dropped their antlers? Is it because you can drive up the hunting area and forego the float plane?

Meat keeps better in freezing temperature.Success rates are much higher in this season since caribou are less spread out.Hunt at your own pace-no flight times to respect hence freedom.Can bring up my snowmobile and enjoy that.Don't feel like going hunting in summer.Can visit Radisson city and shop for souvenirs,gifts.My partner gets sick on boats.Get to meet dozens of hunters and check out their gear.Don't save much this way,considering the ware on the truck and the cracked windshield,and the fatigue of the drive.It's just more fun,more do it yourself,more demanding,more rewarding.

THE other thing IS the meat.

If I understand it correctly on the fly in hunts you can only return with a couple of quarters(someone please correct me if I am wrong. Got this 2nd hand)
I LOVE CARIBOU VENISON.

WHen we get a caribou, we cut off the head and legs at the first joints, skin them out and then put them in muslin "body bags" and toss them into the snow to freeze.

Much easier to handle then the whole gangly animal and you don't have to carry the 'boo exposed to salt and road grime because it all fits under the truck cap. I just brought back 6 'boo in my short box Silverado and it and all the gear fit under the cap. THe only thing carried outside were the racks.

I would consider the float plane if I had to go alone.Dollar for meat pound caribou hunting is really worth it.Does any one know of any other hunts with an equal chance of bringing back two big animals at the same cost?

Hi,
Thanks for the responses, BTW do Americans have to hire a guide for this hunt? Also, is there much more hunting pressure due to the "easy" access?

THE hunt at Nouchimi can be an all or none as far as guides, help, etc.

THere are 10 of us who book a cabin and we do everything ourselves. No guides.

They offer other packages with food and guide service etc. It's up to you.

If you were going alone and for the first time I would recommend a guide just because you do NOT want to be out in that part of the world without anyone else knowing you were there.

OR

You just have to be sure you would NEVER shoot anything that you could not see the road from where you would be. The landscape is easy to get injured in and again you would be in deep doodoo.



There are several other camps in the area that offer different packages for the same caribou.

Mirage is a VERY nice place if you want a massage and sauna between hunts or after your gourmet dinner



AS for hunting pressure, there may be 40-60 people in the area all trying for caribou and they go where the caribou are. You will see other hunters if the 'boo are localized as they were this year. What that means is you find a spot where they seem to be crossing and wait or you drive to find them...in either case you WILL have shooting if they are in the area. The pressure seems greater then it is because there is ONLY one road for hunters to travel on but the territory is HUGE and it's just a matter of picking your place.

There were 8 of us who worked in essence one small herd of 30 or so and we filled the rest of our tags in about 20-30 minutes. That day we saw herds into the hundreds and maybe a thousand animals total during the day. The only reason we pushed to fill out our tags was because we had to drive better then 120 miles one way each day to get to where the caribou were. Makes for long days and sucks a lot of very expensive gas. (and people wondered WHY I carry an extra 48 gallons of gas...when the nearest gas fill is 150 miles away)

While we were pulling up our game to the road and processing them(we had 9 dead 'boo to work on at the same time) we had caribou cross within 50 yards of us 20-50 at a time.

If they are there in the area you WILL have shooting and there is NEVER enough pressure to drive them away from the path they have decided to travel on. They are indeed that unaware of what humans are.



THere are other people but there are more 'boo then licenses. Don't worry about it.

About the guide,if you go earlier on the season when it is less cold and the bulls still have their antlers,a guide may help you locate the nice racks.I never hired a guide but seen the results of some people who have.Remember Nouchimi is a native run operation-they know their territory.Another thing that about this season is that Quebec residents can participate in 22a permit draw.If drawn you receive two permits that's another four caribou for my partner and I.In total that's 8 caribou for two hunters in one hunt!

making an attempt to post a picture of the rack I dreamed up for processing them along the way..

wish me luck







COOL!!! it worked.

what is does is allow those gangly ...things to be lifted so gutting is a dream and so is skinning and slipping into body bags.



It all is mounted to a frame that sits on top of th truck side rails and then the cap is slid into place from the rear and then everything is clamped down.

THIS IS one of the ones we got. Not the biggest but certainly the strangest.

It is the only one I have ever sen running around with a collar with bells on it. What's up with that??????

Question,

I'm used to setting up an elk camp and hunting on public forest service land in Colorado. Is this "Nouchimi Camp" area all Indian lands? Is one required to stay in rented cabins? No big deal either way, but couldn't tell from the context of the thread.

EKM

In Quebec you can only purchase a caribou license through an outfitter.You must pay for their services.You have a choice between the american or european plan.Some outfitters are native owned,but still go by the federal or provincial regulations.