mulchatna and $800 total for the bou flyout with an option on a blk bear silver salmon trip at some point when we tag out for another $200 the grand total for ALL opf us as far as air taxi is $1000 split 3 ways (provided we take the bear & salmon move)
We have been 100% on bou EVERY year and the last 3 we opted for the bear/silver salmon trip too and each got a bear and caught tons of silvers
This is a wheeled plane flyout not a float plane. I would never do a float flyout for, hunting bou...they can only put you down on water regardless of how far it is to a good glassing point. BB

Ballbuster,

That's what I think we'll do next time. You said it was $800 for the air taxi to fly three of you and your gear out...it that EACH, or TOTAL?

What kind of success have you had with the caribou? Which herd is it that you're hunting?

Thanks for the info.

And, no, I won't forget walking on that ***** tundra, EVER! Every step I was cussing our outfitter for dropping us where we had to walk so far to glass, and looking with envy at the camps all around us on ridges and hills, where it was like walking on sidewalks...

That sounds like the way to go, no doubt. What area and dates do you usually hunt, out of curiosity?

We were at about 60 10 N and 156 48 W, on Old Man Creek, between the Nushagek and Malchatna rivers.

Sh!t. Ofoto pictures can't be linked, and hunt101 won't let you upload pics any more. I'm tired of joining these rackets just to host pictures. So, without any photos:



We hunted 75 miles west of Illiamna, on Old Man Creek, just west of the Malchatna River. Dates were Sept 10-16. We hunted with Tony Lee of Westwind Guide Service, on an outfitted drop camp.



The Good:



We saw lots of caribou.

The equipment provided was good (9x9 tent, cots, stove, lantern, etc).

Weather...only two nights with rain, and a couple of hours on two days. 20s two nights, otherwise 30-55 every day.

Iliamna Lake Lodge was a neat place, if you ever overnight in Iliamna.

Plenty of food provided.

Cabela's MT050 hunting and rain gear were perfect. Very impressed (all three of us used the stuff with 0 flaws).

Danner boots stay waterproof and provide really good support.

Sierra Designs sleeping bag.

Nikon ATB 8x40 binocs.



The Not-so-good:



There were NO big bulls, period. I shot the biggest bull we saw in 6 days of looking at every bull that came through.

Food selection left something to be desired.

Our camp location was terrible. We had to hike 2 miles out/back each day across rotten tundra to get to a vantage point (and where the 'bou were).

Wolverine boots-leaked first day and no support.

Mountain Hardware sleeping bag.





Overall, it was a very enjoyable hunt. We hunted damned hard, and could have shot many smaller bulls. I shot mine because we had made a long, exhausting chase over terrible ground to catch a herd that was traveling, trying to get a better look at 3 bulls in the herd. It was the second day, and we wanted some meat to eat while we were in camp, so I shot the biggest bull (the biggest one we saw, it turned out).



After about 3/4 mile of hard double-time walking we got to a vantage point on a hill the herd had worked around. The bull was moving quartering away at 375 yards.



I held 12 inches into the wind and on the top of the back with my battered 300 RUM. The bull dropped like he was hit by lightning. The bullet had hit the spine at the top of the withers.



It later occurred that I had compensated for the 20-30 mph wind, but not the steep downhill angle, which is the reason for the high hit. I should have held just high of dead on.



The 180 gr Partition did just as it should have, although I'll note that the top 1/3 of both shoulders were shredded, along with quite alot of neck and back meat, as well as the paunch being ruptured badly.



Cost ex Anchorage (per person):



Pen Air to Iliamna - $388

Air Taxi Iliamna to camp - $500

Outfitted drop hunt - $1400

2 nights Iliamna Lake Lodge - $200



Total is about $2500 per person, plus incidentals and $75 for back-haul of meat to Iliamna. We donated the meat there, and I shipped the antlers home as a check bag (they were small...just split 'em, wrapped in cardboard and tape, and checked the package).



As a note, I think that this is not a good value for a hunt, even if we had gotten 3 big bulls. We basically paid $5200 for a tent, cot, freezedried food, etc. The outfitter didn't provide any flying, since we paid for that ourselves from Iliamna.



If you have any hunting experience at all, you should be able to ship a crate with your equipment to Iliamna, and just hire a bush pilot to fly your stuff out to where the caribou are (they should know).



If anyone wants to host a picture for me, I'll email it to them.



Has anybody seen any big bulls in the Malchatna herd this year? The outfitter said they haven't seen ONE YET.

Trademark,
If you want to e-mail the pictures to me I will post them for you.
E-mail to: allen@generaldesigninc.com
Allen

You can post your pictures to www.photobucket.com

Nice to read about the hunt, I went up for caribou and fish, but ended up just fishing this year. No regrets, I have a lot of salmon and halibut in the fridge!

You won't forget walking in that tundra will you?

I hunt 'bou every year in Ak an the most expensive part is getting there and back from Pa. once there I hire a air taxi out of Anchorage or sometimes Soldotna area. and rent my camping gear once in Ak. The air service costs about $800 to haul everything and us ( 3 guys) that we need for 10 days on the tundra. They will move you if you request it during your stay to a nice area for fishing (if you tag out on 'bou) and blk bear hunting for another $200.

That runs around $1000 total plus tags and camp rental ($150) and your food ($300) split 3 ways.

You need to make arrangements as to keeping the meat/racks at a freezer facility. That's why we go to Soldotna area, where we stay our first night in a B&B then they charge us $100 to go to the Soldotna airport pickup our meat/capes antlers and put them in their freezer till we come out from the bush an spend another night at their B&B till we leave for ANC the next day.



Total trip without air rnd trip to ANC from Pa costs us each around a grand for 10 days of 'bou/blk bear/silver salmon fishing...good deal huh? (took me 5 trips up to AK before I got this all lined up)BB

Here's the pic