As a young man working in Alaska one summer in the 1980s, I had no idea it would take me over 30 years to return to fulfill a bucket list hunt. There I was scanning the Huntin’ Fool website, daydreaming about that hunt I thought I would have done years ago – Barren-ground caribou. As I was surfing their website, an unbelievable opportunity presented itself. There was one spot available to hunt caribou out of Cold Bay, Alaska with MAO Outfitters. However, there was a catch. I needed to book it ASAP and fly out within the next three weeks amongst all the craziness and uncertainty that had been prevalent the past several months thanks to COVID-19. I contact Dwayne, the outfitter, to get the details. After a lengthy conversation, I decided this was the opportunity I had been waiting for, so I booked the hunt and began my preparations.
I flew into Anchorage and was met with beautiful blue skies and snowcapped peaks. Although I had been to Alaska a few times over the years, it felt so good to be back for the purpose of hunting caribou. I would be flying out the following morning, so I ran a few errands and headed back to my hotel room to try to get to sleep early. Thank goodness because I was wide awake at 3:30 a.m., too excited to sleep any longer. I checked over my gear, including my brand-new Browning Hells Canyon X Bolt chambered in the 300 PRC, got repacked, devoured some breakfast, and then I was off to the airport.
Upon my arrival in Cold Bay, I was greeted by Brian, Dwayne’s brother-in-law, who had jumped at the chance to help out as a packer this week. We gathered our gear, met up with Dwayne, and drove to a quaint local motel. A low-pressure front was coming in, bringing high winds and rain, making a flight out to the spike camp impossible. We hunkered down in Cold Bay for three days, waiting for the weather to clear out.
Finally, the weather broke, so Dwayne and Brian flew off to the spike camp in Dwayne’s Super Cub. After a few hours, Dwayne returned to pick me up while Brian was setting up camp. Cruising at 500 feet, we passed over several herds of caribou as well as a few brown bears. We even watched as one fished in a stream below, snagging up a salmon with its large paw.
Our camp was set up in a river bottom at the base of a small ridge. Brian prepared a delicious dinner on the fire that night. We sat around and shared stories under the star-filled sky and admired the beauty around us. As we were all tired, we called it a night in preparation for what was surely to be a big day ahead.
I woke up just in time to watch a beautiful Alaskan sunrise and to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. We ate a little oatmeal, gathered up our gear, and then headed up the ridge. I was beyond excited to get up there and start glassing for caribou. The weather was perfect with clear skies and light winds.
We hiked out, found the perfect vantage point, and set up to start glassing. Immediately, we were spotting caribou. To my left about 350 yards out, I spotted what appeared to be the tops of a caribou’s antlers. I whispered to Dwayne that I had spotted one. He pulled up his binoculars and told me to get ready. I pulled down the bipods of my rifle and got into position for a prone shot. The bull was moving toward us and closing the gap. By now, I could see his full body and realized he was a shooter. At 310 yards, I settled my crosshairs on the vitals and squeezed off the first round. We all heard the bullet strike, and the bull seized up. Dwayne recommended I put another round in, so I fired another shot. This bull was tough and wasn’t going down without a fight. He was still on his feet, so I jacked another round into the chamber and fired the third and final shot. My heart was beating out of my chest as I watched in shock as my first bull caribou went down.
As we approached, I knew immediately that he was the bull I had dreamt of all these years. He was in full velvet, had awesome tops with long, flowing tines, amazing bezzes, a massive shovel, and two incredible back scratchers. This bull was phenomenal! Now the real work began with caping, skinning, and quartering the animal. This had all occurred before 8:30 a.m. What a perfect start to my hunt, and I still had a second tag to fill!
Nearing completion, Dwayne recommended I hike back up to the vantage point to glass for more caribou. As luck would have it, there were two large bulls in sight at 600 yards to my right and another two to my left at 800 yards. One bull was extremely wide and happened to lay down as the other stood guard. When Dwayne rejoined me, he motioned to Brian to bring up the spotting scope, get it set up, and zoom in on the one that was still laying down. Until now, I had been doubting if he was the second bull I wanted to harvest as he did not seem that large. After second guessing myself, Dwayne proceeded to tell me he was a huge bull and assured me he was the widest that any of his clients had taken this season.
Just then, the bull stood up and those two moved out of sight. Suddenly, four more popped up over the ridge behind the first two. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, we saw that they had congregated in a group of 12 bulls, crested the hill, and were heading directly toward us. I got set up in a prone position and waited for them to come closer. The big, wide bull was definitely the leader. As the herd moved closer, he was oftentimes surrounded by other bulls who seemed to be protecting him, making a clear shot a bit difficult. Eventually, though, the shot presented itself at 200 yards. I fired, and instantly, we heard a heavy “whack!” Dwayne told me to chamber another round. I fired into the bull a second time with another direct hit. Just like with the first bull, this big guy refused to go down and required a third shot. Incredibly, the other bulls did not run off, so we all watched as they slowly meandered across the tundra.
We congratulated each other on an incredibly successful hunt, and as we made our approach, we were all impressed by the width of his antlers and main beam length. He was hard horned and absolutely gorgeous. In my 45 years of hunting adventures, this truly was one of the best hunts I have ever been on. Having two large caribou down in one morning was so much more than I could have ever dreamed. That day really was “two” good to be true.
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