Last month I made my first trip to Alaska on a DIY caribou hunt. I killed my bull on day 1 of a 7 day hunt.

WOW!

Great looking bull, congrats

Nice job. On my to do list someday. Hope you found a nice fishing hole for the other 6 days waiting on the bush plane.

What the heck did you do the other 6 days? Camp and eat all your meat? Hahahaha....

We tried to get our third hunter on a bull. Unfortunately the caribou numbers got less and less and by day 4 they were gone. He was archery hunting and did not want to use a rifle. We did eat some of the caribou though!

Great bull. Curious how the DIY hunt in Alaska works. Do you apply for a draw or buy OTC tags?

It is over the counter tags. Hire a guide or air taxi and have them drop you off in the bush. Most guides limit you to between 75 and 100 pounds of gear including food. Buy the best gear you can afford. Alaska can be unforgiving especially on a DIY hunt. Go with several people who are not beginners in the woods. Weather determines when help will arrive if you need any. We planned for this hunt for over a year.

Congrats! That's a really nice caribou!!!

Sweet baggage!

Great bull. congrats!

XMTG, Big Congrats! I have been wanting to do a hunt like this. How do you get your meat back home? From the field to truck, truck to home? What's the easiest? I've never had caribou, is it as good as elk?

Very nice caribou, congrats.

ChadTRG42 we carried the quarters back to camp which was at the river bed air field. The transporter carried the meat back to the airport with one of our hunters and then came back to get the last 2 hunters. At the airport the guide took us to their facility where we cut meat off of the bone and put the meat in special meat boxes. The antlers went in an antler box. Both boxes were checked on the airline as luggage. The hotel we stayed at our last night had a freezer to keep meat in and the air port in Anchorage also had a freezer for meat and fish if you had a lay over. Everything was still nice and cold when I got home to Texas.

Here is a little more information. If you are going to do a DIY hunt you need to be in good physical condition.

We were limited to 100 pounds of gear per man and that included food. It was hard to get the weight to 100 pounds.

The cost of the hunt was $2250
Air fair was $1000 round trip plus another $200 when we had to move our flight back one day.
Luggage cost on the way to Alaska $175
Luggage cost on the way home $150
Meat box $20
Antler box $60
Satellite phone rental with minutes $150
Hotel for stay before flight home $225
Parking at the airport DFW $150
Taxidermy will be about $800 here at home
Figure another 150 cash for eating on the way there and back.
I spent a year buying gear for the hunt. My normal hunting gear was not good enough to survive in Alaska for 7 days on a DIY hunt. I spent way too much money on gear but it all worked good.
We ended up with 80 pounds of meat each. In Alaska the meat has to stay on the bone until it gets out of the field which sucked for us. We killed our bulls 2 miles from camp and had to haul the quarters, cape, and horns two miles. One bull shot at 1200 noon and the other bull shot at 1600.

Here is the equipment that I took on the hunt.

Snugpak Scorpion 3 tent
Nemo Symphony Sleeping Bag 25
Nemo 25 inch sleeping pad
Gerber camp Axe
Water filter and spare filter
2 UA glove liners
2 water proof gloves
1 balclava and neck gator
Water/wind camo coat and pant RedHead Brand
UA long johns
Insect head net
Poly green pull over
Camp shoes, sandals
Eating utensils
Back pack - Eberlestock Operator
Knife sharpner
Outdoor Edge Razor Pro Folding Knife
Bone saw
Nalgene bottle
emergency blanket
Sunglasses
Range finder - get batteries
Video recorder, batteries, charger, tripod
Binoculars Steiner
Headlamp
2 Trekking poles
Multi tool
2 packs wet ones
6 socks wool
2 sock liners - a must have
Candle
Compass
Mirror
Tape measure
Needle thread
Gun oil/rag
Stove - Camp Chef Mountain Series Stryker Propane Stove
2 Deet bug juice
Paper pen
Personal hygene, meds
550 cord
Duct tape
Tent lantern
Biodegradable soap
air Pillow
Sleeping bag liner
Sleeping bag stuff sack
Rain gear - Cabelas pack rain wear (very important, I wore this most of the time as my outer layer. It was too warm to wear my heavy coat and pants, temps ranged from 32 to 42 degrees)
Water treatment pills
GPS -Delorme in reach se 2 way satellite communicator
Goal zero solar charger nomad 13 with venture recharger total
2 Water bladder
Hat
Carmex
2 tarps
Under Armour boots
Bow case hard
Flagging tape
Soft bow case
soft rifle case
Arrows
Duffle bags
Towel
3 T shirts
3 Underwear
Scent lok pant/shirt
Trauma kit
5 trash bags
Game bags
14 Zip lock freezer bags
Coffee
Water flavor
10 days food mountain house for a 7 day hunt (brought beef jerky and other snacks.)
Hunting license tags
Patch kit for tent and air mattress
pistol
ammo
Holster
Chair
5 gallon collapsible water jug
Rifle
Rifle ammo



Get from guide
10 pounds salt
Lighters
matches
propane

Three of us used 2.5 propane cylinders. We took 4 to the field.

If I did it again and I did not have all of the camping equipment I would pay the extra 1k to the outfitter for them to supply tents and all food and cooking products.

The clothing I will have on the next hunt will be First Lite or Kuiu. Pay the extra cash for the high end clothes. They are lighter and every pound matters on a hunt like this.

I hope what I learned helps when you plan your hunt.

Caribou meat is great! Very good taste!

Maybe i missed it but who was the outfitter or company you used for the drop?

Awesome!

XMTG,

Who was your guide/outfitter and/or air taxi company? Where in Alaska did you fly into? Thanks for all the great information. I have recently been researching this exact hunt.

CenTex I replied to your PM.