In search of El Muy Grande

[akhuntr]

In search of El Muy Grande or a respectable representative of the species.  I'm starting a year out as to be well informed/educated on possable areas that might produce good results.  Don't get me wrong I'm not asking for honey holes or phone numbers to land owners lol .  Just to be pointed in the right direction.  I would be hunting on the west side of the state.  So any BLM properties or state land that is open for public hunting that holds mulies is what I'm interested in.  I will do my own leg work over the summer.  I love to get out in the out doors its almost a religious experience to me. 

Like I told everyone in my earlier post I live and work in Alaska.  I would love to help anyone in harvesting a Caribou with a bow.  I see about 10k of them every year during their migration.  I referring to the Dalton Highway.  You would fly into Fairbanks, rent a truck, pack all your gear in the truck and head north.  It's the longest road hunt you will ever go on, about 400 miles.  But, the scenery is awesome and I guarantee you will have a great time. 

[NWBREW]

I have always wanted to take a trip up the Dalton. I heard you should take about 4 spare tires with you when you do it.  What about harvesting a caribou with a bow and rifle? Can you still harvest 2? Just wondering. I plan on going caribou hunting in 2 years up there. Is it possible yo do both...the Dalton and hunt on the same trip?

[akhuntr]

I have always wanted to take a trip up the Dalton. I heard you should take about 4 spare tires with you when you do it.   What about harvesting a caribou with a bow and rifle? Can you still harvest 2? Just wondering. I plan on going caribou hunting in 2 years up there. Is it possible yo do both...the Dalton and hunt on the same trip?

As far as the tires yes.  Must 1/2 ton trucks today don't come with truck tires.  They come with heavy duty passenger car tires.  The Dalton has a tendency to chew them up pretty bad.  Our trucks that we use to work with are 3/4 ton trucks with at least 6 ply bad as you can get tire and we go through them about every 3 - 4 months.  

As far a killing Caribou, yes you can harvest 2 from 1 Jul to around the end of Feb (if you want to hunt that late).  There are two schools of thought for hunting the Dalton. The first is come early (1 Jul - 1 Sep) and u fight the bugs but not many hunters though.  (the reason this comes into play is there is not allot of place to camp.  U would think with all that open space there would be, but not really).  From 1 Sep on the season is open for other animals (not sure which ones exactly because all I care about are the caribou).  During this time there are about twice as many hunters (maybe 50 - 75).  

As far as hunting with a rifle goes, you have to be 5 miles off the road.  If you've never walked across the tundra, let just tell you this it ain't no joke.  5 miles on the tundra is like 20 on hard ground.  Then you have to get your caribou back out to the road.  There are no motorized vehicles allowed on the tundra while there's no snow.  Once it does snow you are not allowed to use the Dalton as a jumping off point for snow machines.  you can cross it from outside the corridor but not start your hunt from there.  

As far as bag limits on other species and the regs go, you can find it on the web.  Oh, one other important point you need to know.  For hunting in this area with a bow you have to successfully pass an international bow hunter education course and have proof on your person while hunting  

I hope this helps.  Oh, just to let you know I will be going around the end of Jul to through the first week of Aug next year with my bow.  I also included a pic of some caribou from the last trip we went on up here

[actionshooter]

If your hunting the west side, your gonna have a hard time finding a Mulie. Your either going to have to go east or hunt blacktails.
Those are cool pics! Do you guys just drive the Dalton until you see the bou out in the tundra?

[hunterofelk]

As far as a mule deer on the west side of the Cascades, they are smaller, not very grand.  Once in a while we see someone that got a blacktail that is more mule deer, but that is rare.  Wish I could put you on a big blacktail, would love to take a hunt like you described.  You might consider late season archery hunts in eastern Washington.  PM me if you want to know my choices.

[boneaddict]

What time of year do they go hard horned? (not a fan of velvet)

[Guy]

"You might consider late season archery hunts in eastern Washington."

I concur - that's a good way to get on a big buck.

[akhuntr]

OK!!!  Now that I know I am geographically challenged     I will not be hunting on the West side as I stated before I will be on the East side.  My brother lives just mins north of Nine Mile Falls and this is the area I would like to concentrate on, the eastside.

Actionshooter:  Yes, you just drive the Dalton looking for caribou to shoot.  Sometimes its a piece of cake and sometimes its not so easy.  I have been on trips where we only saw a few caribou but tagged out in a day.  Then there has been trips where we saw a ton of caribou but just couldn't connect.  So, for the most part we drive north until we locate caribou then look for a suitable camping area close by to set up camp.  sometimes they are closer to Pump Station 4(close to the northside of Brooks Range) and sometimes they are further north.  If we don't see any caribou to speak of we set up camp a little closer to Deadhorse.  Make sure you have about 10 gallons of gas in cans for a reserve per vehicle.  Did I mention it's allot of driving?!?

Boneaddict: As far as bone vs velvet.  The time you would need to be here would be around the 1st week of Sep.  Some loose it before, but for the most part they loose it around 1st week in Sep.

One thing I don't think I mentioned is that I have hunted mulies before.  It was Dessert Mulies in TX, so I'm used to spot and stalk and I have hunted over feeders and food plots as well.   

[whacker1]

Nine Mile Falls area is predominantly white tail.  as you move North there will be spots where you can find Mulies, but you will still find a lot of whitetail.  For a concentrated amount of Mulies, you will need to get closer to the Canadian Border and if not close to the Canadian Border you will have to be high in Elevation.  Much of the prime Mule Deer hunting in this state is permit only and is nearest the North East Slope of the Cascade Range.  The NE corner of the State which is nearest Nine Mile Falls is very brushy and many of the Mule Deer are Timber bucks, which makes them very different from the Spot and Stock you took on in Texas. 

[724wd]

if you wanna drive a bit, there's decent mulies down around clyde on the snake river.  good CRP out there.  no vehicles, but you can walk in.  unfortunately, GREAT mulies are pretty rare around those parts.  3 point minimum, and if you find a 4 point, that's actually kinda rare.  also some GIANT forked horn genetics in the area, so be careful!

[NWBREW]

Thank you akhuntr.  I know I haven't been any help to you with mule deer but the info you posted about the Dalton was much appreciated. This is the first I have heard about an International bow hunter safety course....that is great. I wish more states would require that.

I hope you don't mind but I have a couple more questions for you about hunting the Dalton. How long would you suggest for the drive and caribou?  (one maybe two weeks?) Can it be done in that short of time? If you were to come up from Washington state would you drive it in your own rig or rent one from the start? If not a resident of Alaska, would we need any kind of guide or outfitter.

Sorry for thread-jacking your post but the Dalton has been one of those things I have to do for many years now (I don't know why). I would love to see more pics of the land around the Dalton so if you have any.......please post.  Thanks for all the info you have given.        BREW