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Author Topic: Pathfinder and PathfinderJRs Alaska Caribou Hunt  (Read 43932 times)

Offline 206

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Re: Pathfinder and PathfinderJRs Alaska Caribou Hunt
« Reply #90 on: August 30, 2016, 09:39:59 AM »
I read every word.

Offline Gringo31

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Re: Pathfinder and PathfinderJRs Alaska Caribou Hunt
« Reply #91 on: August 30, 2016, 10:20:11 AM »
Absolutely fantastic  :tup: :tup: :tup:
We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.
-Ronald Reagan

Offline Knocker of rocks

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Re: Pathfinder and PathfinderJRs Alaska Caribou Hunt
« Reply #92 on: August 30, 2016, 10:27:04 AM »
More action in reading this than most 1/2 hour Keefer brothers "Dropped" episodes

Offline Timberstalker

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Re: Pathfinder and PathfinderJRs Alaska Caribou Hunt
« Reply #93 on: August 30, 2016, 11:39:33 AM »
This may be thread of the year.  Just saying. :tup:
If you aint hunting, you aint livin'

Offline lokidog

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Re: Pathfinder and PathfinderJRs Alaska Caribou Hunt
« Reply #94 on: August 30, 2016, 12:46:07 PM »
Awesome write up!

Having done a trip similar to this years ago (23), and looking at your cost list, a person can save some bucks by driving.  It looks like your fly-in cost was only double what ours was, surprising.  Of course gas and food costs need to be figured in but the drive is part of the enjoyment if you have the time.  We froze the meat in quarters and processed when we got home.  We bought U-haul boxes and lined them with foam to use as coolers, still had to wait a few days to thaw enough to butcher after the two-day drive back from Anchorage. We also did a halibut trip and brought home a bunch of fish as well.

Offline Pathfinder101

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Re: Pathfinder and PathfinderJRs Alaska Caribou Hunt
« Reply #95 on: August 30, 2016, 12:54:00 PM »
Awesome write up!

Having done a trip similar to this years ago (23), and looking at your cost list, a person can save some bucks by driving.  It looks like your fly-in cost was only double what ours was, surprising.  Of course gas and food costs need to be figured in but the drive is part of the enjoyment if you have the time.  We froze the meat in quarters and processed when we got home.  We bought U-haul boxes and lined them with foam to use as coolers, still had to wait a few days to thaw enough to butcher after the two-day drive back from Anchorage. We also did a halibut trip and brought home a bunch of fish as well.
This is correct.  We could have saved a LOT by driving, which is what we originally intended (until I found out that I had a blown head gasket). 
When I priced carriers, it seemed everyone was in the same price range (between $2,000 and $2,500 per person, plus an extra flight to get the meat out $800).  Prices went up this year.  When I first started pricing I figured I was going to pay about $2,100.  When I called to book on 15 December I found that it was $2295.
Most of the companies that hunt the Brooks Range were in the same price range, but the drive up to Prudhoe Bay would have been a lot longer and costlier.

 
Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.  That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

Offline X-Force

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Re: Pathfinder and PathfinderJRs Alaska Caribou Hunt
« Reply #96 on: August 30, 2016, 01:58:16 PM »
Awesome write up. Thanks for sharing the story and photos!
People get offended at nothing at all. So, speak your mind and be unapologetic.

Offline MooseZ25

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Re: Pathfinder and PathfinderJRs Alaska Caribou Hunt
« Reply #97 on: August 30, 2016, 02:43:52 PM »
Great write up on a great hunt!  Congratulations on making lifetime memories with your son :tup:
Live Every Day To The Fullest

Offline DOUBLELUNG

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Re: Pathfinder and PathfinderJRs Alaska Caribou Hunt
« Reply #98 on: August 30, 2016, 03:01:00 PM »
Awesome.  Every bit of it.  Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
As long as we have the habitat, we can argue forever about who gets to kill what and when.  No habitat = no game.

Offline Pathfinder101

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Re: Pathfinder and PathfinderJRs Alaska Caribou Hunt
« Reply #99 on: August 30, 2016, 03:52:18 PM »
Thanks for all the kind words everyone.  Headed home for one last session of stripping velvet... :tup:
Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.  That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

Offline lokidog

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Re: Pathfinder and PathfinderJRs Alaska Caribou Hunt
« Reply #100 on: August 30, 2016, 10:28:10 PM »
Awesome write up!

Having done a trip similar to this years ago (23), and looking at your cost list, a person can save some bucks by driving.  It looks like your fly-in cost was only double what ours was, surprising.  Of course gas and food costs need to be figured in but the drive is part of the enjoyment if you have the time.  We froze the meat in quarters and processed when we got home.  We bought U-haul boxes and lined them with foam to use as coolers, still had to wait a few days to thaw enough to butcher after the two-day drive back from Anchorage. We also did a halibut trip and brought home a bunch of fish as well.
This is correct.  We could have saved a LOT by driving, which is what we originally intended (until I found out that I had a blown head gasket). 
When I priced carriers, it seemed everyone was in the same price range (between $2,000 and $2,500 per person, plus an extra flight to get the meat out $800).  Prices went up this year.  When I first started pricing I figured I was going to pay about $2,100.  When I called to book on 15 December I found that it was $2295.
Most of the companies that hunt the Brooks Range were in the same price range, but the drive up to Prudhoe Bay would have been a lot longer and costlier.


Car issues definitely suck!  Back in the day, hauling the meat out was just part of the fly in/out cost, kind of like charging for a suitcase these days I guess.  Although, we flew in in a float plane so only one trip, maybe that is the difference in meat transport cost.  This kind of hunt is something I've been wanting to do again with my wife since she can't take time off during the school year either.  Unfortunately, she says she doesn't like caribou, though the only one she has tried was one from Newfoundland.

We lucked out, they had lost their velvet by the time of my hunt in early September.

Offline csaaphill

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Re: Pathfinder and PathfinderJRs Alaska Caribou Hunt
« Reply #101 on: August 31, 2016, 04:33:01 AM »
Holy crap man what an adventure. Awesome Caribou both of you. Awesome pics and great write up. :tup:
"When my bow falls, so shall the world. When me heart ceases to pump blood to my body, it will all come crashing down. As a hunter, we are bound by duty, nay, bound by our very soul to this world. When a hunter dies we feel it, we sense it, and the world trembles with sorrow. When I die, so shall the world, from the shock of loosing such a great part of ones soul." Ezekiel, Okeanos Hunter

Offline Pathfinder101

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Re: Pathfinder and PathfinderJRs Alaska Caribou Hunt
« Reply #102 on: August 31, 2016, 08:49:38 AM »
Awesome write up!

Having done a trip similar to this years ago (23), and looking at your cost list, a person can save some bucks by driving.  It looks like your fly-in cost was only double what ours was, surprising.  Of course gas and food costs need to be figured in but the drive is part of the enjoyment if you have the time.  We froze the meat in quarters and processed when we got home.  We bought U-haul boxes and lined them with foam to use as coolers, still had to wait a few days to thaw enough to butcher after the two-day drive back from Anchorage. We also did a halibut trip and brought home a bunch of fish as well.
This is correct.  We could have saved a LOT by driving, which is what we originally intended (until I found out that I had a blown head gasket). 
When I priced carriers, it seemed everyone was in the same price range (between $2,000 and $2,500 per person, plus an extra flight to get the meat out $800).  Prices went up this year.  When I first started pricing I figured I was going to pay about $2,100.  When I called to book on 15 December I found that it was $2295.
Most of the companies that hunt the Brooks Range were in the same price range, but the drive up to Prudhoe Bay would have been a lot longer and costlier.


Car issues definitely suck!  Back in the day, hauling the meat out was just part of the fly in/out cost, kind of like charging for a suitcase these days I guess.  Although, we flew in in a float plane so only one trip, maybe that is the difference in meat transport cost.  This kind of hunt is something I've been wanting to do again with my wife since she can't take time off during the school year either.  Unfortunately, she says she doesn't like caribou, though the only one she has tried was one from Newfoundland.

We lucked out, they had lost their velvet by the time of my hunt in early September.

A Supercub can't haul you, your gear, your rifle and the meat in one trip.  Each downed caribou necessitates an extra trip, hence the extra cost.  A Cessna 206 would have been big enough to haul everything, but they can't get those bigger planes into the hunting spots.
Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.  That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

Offline elkinrutdrivemenuts

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Re: Pathfinder and PathfinderJRs Alaska Caribou Hunt
« Reply #103 on: August 31, 2016, 09:18:37 AM »
A trip you will remember for the rest of your life! Thanks for taking us along with you!

Offline cbond3318

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Re: Pathfinder and PathfinderJRs Alaska Caribou Hunt
« Reply #104 on: August 31, 2016, 09:44:00 AM »
Pathfinder, awesome stuff man! Thank you for sharing such an awesome life event with us. As a father to 2 young boys myself, you have planted a seed with me that will be hard to ignore! :tup:

Great work on raising an outstanding young man as well, hats off to you and Mrs. Pathfinder!
Just tend your own and live.

 


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