Caribou
My Experience
I've only been caribou hunting once. In 1999 I hunted out of "The Caribou
Capital of the World", Schefferville, Quebec with Ungava Bay Outfitters.
It was also the first time I've ever been on a fully guided hunt, I think
I could get used to them. We had a great trip, just happened to be in the
right place at the right time, for a change. We saw more caribou than I
thought possible. They were everywhere. We had 9 hunters in camp and
everybody filled by the end of the third day with the exception of one great
ol' boy who was 83 years young. He finally did get one average bull, but
had enough trouble getting around and shooting that it took a while.
My own hunt ended all too quickly, I think my total hunting time excluding
walking around and waiting on guides etc. was all of about 2 hours. I was
dropped off by the guide and told to follow a marked trail up to the top of the
"mountain" where it would open up and give me a good view to glass over the
ridge into the valley beyond. I had no more gotten to the top and started
to get organized, when I started seeing caribou moving all over down below
me. I watched several different bulls over the next 20 minutes or so when
I spotted what I thought was a shooter. For those that have never hunted
caribou before, everybody warns you not to shoot the first bull that comes
along, just look for at least a day because they will all look huge to someone
that is used to hunting whitetails. With this thought in mind I was
extremely hesitant to shoot, but this bull looked so much bigger than any of
others that I'd seen (in all of 20 minutes of watching) that I thought
what the heck I can always wait for a bigger one with my second tag. With
this thought in mind, I decided I give him a try. Unfortunately, by this time,
he had progressed behind some trees and was out of sight. I got my scope
up on the opening where I thought he would reappear and waited. Sure
enough, (after forever, probably less than a minute) he reappeared in the
opening as expected. The only problem was that while behind the trees, he
had changed his direction slightly to put him on the far side of a small pond
which increased the range to almost 400 yards. I had used my rangefinder
earlier to check distances to various landmarks. This made me hesitate; I
had never taken a shot at a game animal that far away before. I had the
equipment to do it and I knew the trajectory of my rifle well enough, but still
I hesitated. Fortunately, I was stretched out over a big boulder with my
rifle resting across my pack, the sight picture through the Leupold looked as
steady at 8x as it does on the bench at home. So I moved the cross hairs up
high on the shoulder and began squeezing the trigger. When that 300 Win
Mag went boom it surprised me, a positive indication of a good shot.
Through the scope I watched my bull fall over right where he stood. I continued
to stare at my first caribou through the scope, trying to decide whether he was
really as big as I thought or was I going to experience a little antler
shrinkage. The longer I looked the bigger he got, an unusual occurrence
for me.
I watched him for several minutes to make sure he wasn't going to magically get
up and run away. After about 10 minutes or so I convinced myself that he
was going to stay put, gathered up my paraphernalia and started back down the
trail to the lake where I had been dropped off. On my way back down, I
encountered several more small groups of caribou, which contained several more
bulls. To put this in perspective, I had been dropped off less than an
hour before and had seen probably close to a hundred caribou within shooting
range, unbelievable. I proceeded on down to the lake, took off my
orange vest, hung it over a bush along the shore as I'd been instructed, and
waited for my guide to return. After waiting about 45 minutes, my guide
returned and I told him the story. He congratulated me and told me
to go back up top and continue hunting. He would go get the three-wheeler
and join me to haul my bull out. On this note, a happy hunter started back up
to the top of the "mountain". On my return trip, I again encountered more
caribou, they were literally everywhere, but I didn't see any that compared
favorably to the bull I already had down.
When I got back up on top, I continued to watch one small herd after another
swim across the lake (pictured above) and parade by in the valley below, but
none contained any really good bulls as far as I could tell. After a
while, JP my guide, finally got back with the three-wheeler. When he got
up on top, still behind me, he spotted a bull that I had been watching and
suggested we go after it. So off we went as fast as my old, out of shape
body would go. He knew his area well and led me around in front of the
herd containing the bull we had been glassing. We were literally
surrounded by caribou; some of them came within 10 feet of us. The bull
we had been glassing underwent some antler shrinkage by the time he got close
to us. I didn't think he looked as big as the one I already
had, but after a quick discussion, JP convinced me that this was a shooter bull
and that I ought to take him. So I did, an extremely difficult offhand
shot at 15 or 20 yards. The bull, as you would guess, dropped in his
tracks at the shot. Upon close inspection, this second bull really was a
shooter by most standards (he rough measured 330 with double shovels and 55 in
beams).
At this point
neither of us had really seen my first bull up close yet. So we hiked
back down to my first bull to check him out. As we walked, I continued to worry
that he really wasn't as big as I'd first thought and now I was out of
tags. As it turned out I wasn't wrong. He was gorgeous, an almost
pure white cape, classic C configuration antlers, double shovels, and 52
points. I was a happy camper, but my hunt was over.
I did get to "guide" my brother and a buddy the following day back on that
"mountain" while they took two bulls a piece, all quite respectable.
As it turned out, that first bull that I worried about shooting was the best
taken in camp that week, the mount is pictured at right and scores over 360
net.
Well my poor writing, hopefully, gives you an idea of what it's like to be in
the right place at the right time in caribou country. Unfortunately, this
is not the experience of everyone going to Quebec after caribou. The two
previous groups of hunters in this camp had to be moved because there weren't
any caribou. The previous group coming out did fill after being
moved. Caribou are unpredictable, here one day gone the next. This
movement gives all of the outfitters fits.
Recommendations
Be
sure that whichever outfitter you choose (there are a number of them based out
of Schefferville) will really move you if there are no animals around. I
talked to several hunters around the airport and hotel that saw very few
animals. In a few cases, they told me that the outfitter was willing to
move them; but he didn't have a camp to move them to that was any better.
I assume this was because all of his camps were in close proximity, all
experiencing the same problem.
This was also the first time I had flown into Canada for a hunt. I have
driven into Canada for fly-in fishing trips numerous times. Other than a
quick stop and a few questions, it's nothing. When you fly in, our
northern neighbor is really like going to a foreign country, proof of
citizenship is required. I strongly suggest you get a passport if you
don't already have one. International flights also have much more
stringent baggage limits than domestic flights. I flew on Delta and had
to pay $50 for each bag over the 2-bag limit each way. This is a
particular hardship when returning with meat and antlers. They charge
$100 per set for split antlers and won't accept unsplit sets.
Fortunately, I sent my antlers home with a guy from Minnesota who had driven in
and had room to take them home. I retrieved them a couple weeks
later. Between my bother and I, after having our meat
processed over night in Montreal, we had 5 boxes of meat and an extra bag,
which cost an extra $300 at the airport. The charter servive also charges
$50 Cdn at Schefferville to bring out a second pair of antlers. There is
also a charge for being overweight on the flight up. It appears that each
outfitter sets the baggage weight limit which seems to vary quite a bit.
If I remember right, I think the charge was just under $2/lb on the way
up. While these charges aren't astronomical, (and they do add up), just
be prepared.
Caribou bulls weigh up to 450 pounds, but they are not really hard to
kill. In the group of hunters in our camp, the smallest caliber used was
a 270 ranging on up to 300 Win Mag (I wasn't the only one). My brother
took a 280 Rem, but killed both of his bulls with 12 ga rifled slugs (he always
has to be different), but it did do the job. Basically anything that you
would feel comfortable with for large whitetails or mule deer will be adequate
for caribou.
This would be a great first hunt for a kid if you can afford to take them.
Where to Go
This link, Schefferville is
the caribou hunting capital of Northern Quebec Canada will lead
you to all kinds of information about the hunting and outfitters.
Ungava Bay Outfitters is the outfitter I used for the trip I
described above. I wonder if I can get a commission for this. I have come
across some less than positive reports on this outfitter since I hunted with
them so do your homework well. My experience was wonderful, but I
happened to be in the right place at the right time.