Salina and Hubby's Caribou Hunt 2008

Here is the story of Salina and her husbands Caribou Hunt just this past week in Delta Alaska in our great wild outdoors!

So after skimming through the hunting regs my husband found something that caught his eye. Caribou hunt (bull only) in Delta for two days. Only catch is crossing Jarvis Creek. Sa-weet! So we packed up and headed down to Delta Junction.
When we got in to Delta we settled into our roadhouse. It was awesome. And to our surprise there was a bar right next door! Could this trip get any better? YES! And it did. But read on. So we went next door, had a few and returned to our little cabin. We got up about 4:30 am. I looked over at my husband and said," I don't think I slept at all. Did you?" He said, "No way". So we got dressed and headed out towards Jarvis Creek. It was cold that morning. Around 28-30 degrees, but on a 4 wheeler going 30 mph it seemed much colder. So we get to Jarvis unload the machines and head out. My husband crossed Jarvis first and I followed him. It was a fast moving current, and I sure did not want to get stuck. I wish you all could have seen my face while I was crossing. It was priceless. So after what seemed like an eternity to cross I finally got to the other side. Whew...
We rode and rode and rode, 16 miles in. We found and old abandoned cabin in the middle of no-where. It was really cool. The trails back there were crazy. It wasn’t really rough, but very steep. Tons of mud puddles. In fact it would not be fair to call it a puddle…more like a mud lake...
So we finally make it to a really nice area for “Bou“, tons of tundra. We were sitting on top of a hill, and my husband and two other guys that were with us were just glassing the area. Not seeing a thing. I pick up my binocs, and spot one right away. (men...) I point him out and Nic (my husband) and I head down into the tundra. Now, if you have never been through the tundra, it is a mess. Your up, then down, then back up again. Its marshy and just well, it’s heck getting through. So we head on down. My husband hits a mud hole, gets stuck and I followed him, getting stuck too. So, he says forget it, leave them here, grab your gun and lets go. So I jump up on the top of my machine, grab my gun and start running.
Now, this is where it all gets interesting...
After about a quarter of a mile, I realize I am not in shape by any means. Walking through this stuff is not easy, plus I’m short, and I woke up with a terrible tension headache. I was throwing up, and wheezing like an asthmatic smoker. My husband on the other hand is walking through it just fine yelling for me to hurry up. Now mind you, one of his steps is like 3 of mine...
So after about 10 minutes of him yelling for me to keep up, I said, just go! Go shoot him yourself and I’ll find another one. So I sat down. collected my thoughts and looked around. I started to hear these grunting noises...
I look behind me up on the hill that Steve and Rob are on, and I see two HUGE bulls. I get down, and get a bullet in the chamber. These two are about 100 yards from me. So I sit knees up, elbows on my knees and look through my scope... What do I see?
Rob! Walking down the hill, and my huge bull 40 yards behind him! AHH!!! Why did I bring men with me on this trip?
So I started to wave at Rob to try to get his attention. But did he see me? Nope, he was looking to his right at a Caribou up on the hill to the right of us. By this time, the Caribou got skittish and ran off down the other side of the hill. So then about 5 minutes later I hear a shot. Nic. He shot him...Then I hear another go off. Then another...
Where is Steve?
About 10 minutes later I see Nic, and started walking towards him. Rob catches up to us, and I tell him about the bulls that were right behind him, thanking him for ruining my shot. Ha, ha. Rob heads over to his Caribou and Nic and I watch through the binocs. Three shots and his was down. Nic and I start heading over to his bull, and see another standing about 10 feet from his bull and where the heck is Steve?
So I get ready for my shot I took the first shot and it went right over his back. I take a breather for a few (Caribou are dumb….he didn’t even flinch when that shot went off). I took my second shot and he dropped! I thanked Jesus over and over. That hill in Delta became my personal place of prayer.
Still no Steve...
So Rob and Nic head back down to the machines to get them un-stuck and I sat and stared at my victory. 276 yards, right in the jugular. Heck Yeah!
Did Steve leave?
Now all this time no one had a clue where Steve was (duh ha ha). After about 30 minutes I hear some shots going off, and then I see Steve walking towards me.
OMG its Steve!
He gets too me and says " That darn Caribou!" He bedded down and is stretching out and won’t stand up so I can take a shot. I fired at him a few times to see if he would get up and run, but nothing." I look at where Steve is pointing. I said," that caribou?" "yeah that one"…..I started to laugh...
"Steve, I hate to break it to you, but that is the Caribou Rob shot about 45 minutes ago"
Awkward silence...
"Well no wonder he wouldn’t get up!"
Ha ha ha ha ha. We laughed for a good 10 minutes.
So in the end, it was a rough trip, I was so sick, Steve got a new nickname Waldo! My husband got the monster I spotted, and Rob killed my shot.
But it will make that animal taste a whole lot better!
Thanks for reading, and your interest in my hunting here in the great north! Salina