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Adak Caribou
Posted by DennisM on Oct 22 2005
As mentioned in an earlier post, I'm posting the results of my caribou hunt on Adak Island. I'll apologize in advance for the length of this post.
The trip up to Adak was uneventful, except for the 24 hours it took to get there from Dallas.
Boy, talk about misconceptions ! I thought that Adak would be a flat, barren, wind-swept grassy island with nothing but a few draws and short ridges to navigate. Was I wrong ! The island is gorgeous, reminding me of pics I've seen of New Zealand. Not really any mountains to speak of, but plenty of hills (they'd qualify as mountains to us flatlanders from outside) and lots of green basins. All of the island I saw was very green, lots of grass and cover intersected with many streams and cuts. Oh, and the wind ! We did have abundant sunshine and fairly low winds the first two days of the hunt, though. It's kinda like that ol' saying about Texas ... if you don't like the weather wait five minuites and it'll change. Up here, though, it's not a small change, but dramatic. From sunshine, to rain, to wind-blown sleet, to all three at the same time.
My non-hunting buddy and I hunted with Mark Wagner (Wags on here) who is guiding on Adak; this is his first year up there. We stayed in 'town', a village of about 80 people, in government housing built years ago while the military had a large presence on the island. Now it's like a ghost town. It really seems to be a shame with all the infrastructure remaining and no one to utilize it. There are many, many housing units and larger buildings that are totally abandonded and in various states of disrepair, along with a few housing units and some commercial building being used. Since the Aleuts acquired the entire island and buildings from the feds the low population just can't keep up with all the many buildings and such remaining. It is quite interesting to go through some of the old structures, though, including bunkers and ammo dumps throughout the island. In fact, a couple of other hunters we met, Tim and Chet from Anchorage stayed in an ammo bunker for their hunt. It was large and dry and served them well, as long as you didn't talk too loudly...the echo was deafening :) .
Yes, I got a caribou. On the first day, in fact. He's big, and I'm extremely happy with him. While some of the bou were 'rutty' this one wasn't and the meat is great. The hiking was enough for these old legs but the scenery and the constant sightings of bou kept me going. We had scoped a group from a road just out of town the day before we started hunting and had decided to take a closer look with rifle in hand the next morning. We climbed to where the bou were the previous evening and discovered they had moved on. We hiked a couple of miles inland and immediately started seeing bou. In fact, one group we stalked bedded down and we eased up to them ending up only about 60 yds from one group of cows and calves. We knew there were a couple of good bulls in the group so we took it easy for about 45 min waiting for the bulls who had bedded in some cuts to stand up. While we were relaxing Jeff, Mark's very able assistant, went aound the side of the hill to check out the next drainage. He came back a while later and he and Mark had a heated conversation that we couldn't hear. Then Mark left. Hmmmm ... He returned a short while later and told us they had found another group around the hill and across a creed that had a super bull in it. Here we go !
We eased back from the bedded caribou and made out way to the other spot. After looking at the bou from the top of our hill we decided to get a little closer, which meant going down the hill (very steep) to more accessible shooting spot. The bull they had found was very nice and was also bedded with a group of cows, calves and other bulls. There was no doubt that he was the boss of this group! I must admit I'm a real wuss when it comes to heights, but we managed to get into position for a good shot across the canyon. Mark ranged it at 272 yds and I prepared to shoot. I have ample confidence in my .300WSM left-handed Savage and felt ok with the shot. We got set without the bou becoming too uneasy. Then the bull got up and started to move; we were afraid our good luck had come to an abrupt end. However, he just got up to pee and wander a bit. I got set with my foreend over a pack and just as I was about to pull, a calf walked right behind the bull. Man ! Good timing, thought as the calf cleared and offered a good broadside shot. The trigger seemed to pull itself and I never felt the recoil. I heard a solid 'whump'; the next thing I know is my back being pounded by Mark and a single "Awesome !" from Jeff. The bull never moved, except to go down. The 180-grain Barnes Triple Shock took him in the spine.
It was a kinda hairy decent to the creek bed then back about halfway up the hill to the bull; I discovered it's a lot easier to sit on my butt and slide than to try to walk :) . The bull lost absoltely no size on the trip across to him, though, and I was amazed and very pleased with him when we arrived.
He's almost prefectly symmetrical, with seven point on each top, nice bezzes and a double shovel. To say I was pleased was a vast understatement.
Mark went all the way back to where we had started the morning's climb to retreive our packs, etc. while my buddy, Jeff, and I stayed to guard the bull against the eagles and ravens that had already started gathering. After caping and boning the meat, we took the meat that we couldn't pack on this trip along with the rack to the bottom of the hill. At the creek we cached the remaining meat and the rack for them to pick up the following morning.
Dinner was on me! When we got back to town in the dark we ran into the boys from Anchorage. They had taken a nice bull also, so they had a tasty beverage with us before heading off to the house and to bed.
We got the rack and meat the next morning and had a cook-out that night after inviting the Anchorage guys over to make the party. The best Angus steak couldn't have tasted much better than that caribou backstrap on the grill.
We also took a boat ride around the east side of the island that day, and saw many, many more caribou in that area also. There are many places to camp on that side, as long as you can get a boat to take you there.
As far as going up on your own, it's possible. The major hurdles are finding a place to stay and transportation around the island. There are few 4wheelers on the island and they wouldn't be too usable in the field anyway due to the many drainage crossings. This makes it pretty much a hiking type hunt. If you can get around to the east side of the island you'd have it to yourself. That's where I'd go if I were on my own. Of course, I didn't see all of the island. There are some cabins available, but they're spartan (no stove, etc) and they're all hike-in.
Overall, I'm glad I went with a guide this time. Mark turned out to be a super nice guy and has figured out the logistics. Jeff, his assistant guide, was very professional beyond his tender years.
Sorry this post is so long, but after all the research (much from the posts on here) I thought some of you might appreciate a current update. October seems to be a great month to go, weather-wise. The season is open year-round.
I'll cut this short now, as I need to run to the airport to pick up my antlers that just arrived.
If you have any questions, I'll try to answer them to the best of my ability.
Thanks to all of you who have posted concerning Adak; it was a great help.
Next: Adak Caribou Mike S. Jun 07 2006
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