Greenland combo hunt Outfitter?
Caribou
For those that have gone or have looked into it, what is your recommendation for an outfitter to do a combo Caribou and musk ox hunt?
In my search here on BS I see Frank Feldman highly regarded- but his price reflects it as well.
I have also seen Karsten Lings mentioned as well.
Any others to look at? Any other advice?
I hunted with Karsten in August of 2019, and have nothing but high praise for his operation. I took a muskox and a caribou with archery gear, with them. Feel free to PM me if you want more details.
I also did a thread on here, about my hunt. “The OX-BOU Incident(s)” if you’re interested.
I would go with Frank again in a heartbeat. Great operation and he is a solid, fun guy to hunt with. We all shot musk ox (4 of us) and my son shot a good caribou. Musk ox aren't the most challenging quarry, but still fun to hunt. The caribou was tough and we worked for every opportunity. Amazing adventure.
Is it just me or did the price of Greenland Musk Ox hunts go up quite a bit? I thought they used to be about 5-6K.
Yes they did Nick!! Once again I may have missed the boat. I just got a quote from Frank Feldman- $19,000 for the combo hunt!
I would go with Frank again in a heartbeat. there are lot's of hunts. far fewer adventures. Greenland is an adventure from the git-go.
A friend and myself are scheduled with Frank with first week of this September. We are doing the combo hunt. Hopefully it will go as planned.
$19K?!?! Wow, that's over double what we paid 3 years ago. Glad we went when we did!! And make sure you budget in a few extra grand for travel and shipping trophies home (~$3-5K).
Yes, that was for 2022 season. $14,500 for the combo hunt, $1,500 for the muskox trophy fee, and $3,000 for the helicopter transport fee. That comes out to $19,000 not counting any personal travel expenses (Which I hear can be high including extra nights in Iceland or Copenhagen), or taxidermy/shipping fees.
I recall it being half that price only a few years ago when I first thought of going!
I enjoyed my hunt with Frank immensely.
Believe I’m re-scheduled to go with Karsten this Sept if the world holds together. But I’m not paying anywhere near $19k. At that price you’d be knocking on the door of some very premium hunts - Dall or Snow Sheep, Leopard, hunt for multiple species of Ibex, etc.
Can’t go wrong with Karsten... Hardworking wonderful family run operation. I took 2 ox for less than one at Franks. I do believe his hunts have gone up a little as well but still very reasonably priced.
Pelvis, hide and hindquarters... all packed out on his head..
I’ll raise you a front quarter, Shug!
Did you guys go directly through Lings? or go through a booking agent?
I used Bob Wodzisz with Hunting Consultants Unlimited. He was extremely helpful and very prompt to reply back to any questions I had. Occasionally he would take a week to 10 days to get back to me, but that was only when he out in the bush on a hunt and had no service.
I’d recommend going through a booking agent. Your hunt will still cost the same and they are very familiar with all of the logistics of what is necessary to make sure things go more smoothly.
I hunted with Frank in 2016. Shot a P&Y Muskox bull and missed a x-large caribou. I don't want to get into the details of the miss. Bowhunter error on my part. It still hurts.
That said, it was one of the best hunts of my life. Greenland has to be seen to be truly appreciated. It's one of the last frontiers that hasn't been fully explored or developed. Very unique hunt. As with all international hunts, be prepared for the extra expenses of foreign prep. expenses, shipping, customs broker fees, etc. Many hunters pay Copper Smith's customs broker fees, and pay a premium for their service. There are many other customs brokers out there that do just as good a job if not better. Google it!
If you're thinking about going to Greenland, GO! You wont regret it.
Booked with BSC in '17 to hunt with Frank in '19. Was more than worth the wait.
I looked at Greenland for a long time once the PR started coming out back in about 2012. It looked so cool, but complicated, costly, and pretty similar to a lot of trips to the quebec tundra i had taken.
I eventually ended up booking in 2018 for a 2019 trip with Frank. It seemed as the trip got closer it got more and more complicated (Denmark vs. Iceland travel), weird flight schedules and rules, extra hotel nights not cheap, different requirements, etc. and i started to get nervous about the whole thing.
About 8 months out i decided i was going to cancel if i could get the 50% deposit with BSC back. I assumed there was a waiting list and if they would refund deposit I would back out. I had already killed two ox in the arctic, had hunted many remote places, didn't want about another european mount, I basically just thought this is a lot of work and money for something that I figured is not really that new of an experience.
I was unable to get the deposit back so i went through with the trip.
IT WAS THE MOST AMAZING ADVENTURE TRIP I EVER DID. the whole thing from travel to camp, to hunt, to food to people, to culture, etc. was amazingly perfect. we were the first group into the inland helicopter camp and it was something out of jurasic park. The epitome of pristine and untouched. 24 hours of daylight...........getting up to pee at 2am and seeing muskox in every direction. at no point in the week were ox not visible from the tent camp. literally. i got to be in on nearly every ox that was killed, all big old bulls. it was just astounding.
..........and to think i would have gotten out of if it they would have refunded the deposit and given my spot to someone else. crazy.
do this trip. it is unlike anything else in north america that i know of. go with frank, go with a guy who charges less but is less well known.........it probably doesn't matter in the end. just go.
the one thing i will warn of, and it did not impact me because i gave my ox away to let someone else deal with the hassle and expense and wanted no part of the animal, the cost of the trophy handling is beyond insanely expensive. shipping to europe, clearing and processing in europe, veterinarians, shipping to US, clearing here.............and then it shows up at your taxidermist and he will expect to be paid. I know covid had an impact on the timing and shipping of the trophies from our camp, but they just this month made it back to the US (from August 2019 hunt) and the costs of some steps in the long process were 8-10X the expected costs due to issues in europe, shipping restrictions, surcharges, and supply related costs, etc. Some guys will be spending more on the mount than the trip.
I'm going back, with Frank, a second time, after taking a muskox with him a couple years ago. I'll be concentrating only on caribou this time because I "need" a CCBGC.....and the alternative North American hunts for that species have proven to be highly unreliable in recent years. Plus I know Frank now, he's a bowhunter himself, and I'm absolutely certain he'll make good on any issues that might come up. To me that's worth spending a little more for some added peace of mind. His all-in prices have only increased to the extent of the mandatory chopper fee, which is a benefit to hunters in that delays due to problems with the previous charter boat transport are mostly eliminated. And also that he's added a trophy fee (muskox only). I'm not sure, but I would imagine that he's had to do that in order to stay afloat, after losing essentially 100% of his hunt income for a year due to the pandemic. He's honoring all the covid-canceled hunts from 2020, in full.
Boubound x2. It really needs to be experienced before you can fully understand the entire adventure. Tom Hoffman coined the phrase “scenic orgasm” and he was spot on. The hunting was easy for musk ox but the trophy kill was a far second to experiencing hunting Greenland. If you can swing the cost, do it.
Totally agree. Go if you can....
Stekewood, That camp brings back fond memories. I opted to sleep in a single man tent at night. I'll never forget how quiet it was at night. Kinda gave new meaning to the term "the silence was deafening". There was absolutely no sound at night.
I'm headed back to Greenland this year for Caribou only, the first week in September. Can't wait to hunt the new camp. Getting there is half the fun. I'll do a full trip report when I get back.
Do you guys work for the outfitters? Geezus, I'm about to pull out some retirement funds and go!
Can't agree any more with what has been posted. It is a fun adventure and the scenery is awesome! Combine it with a few days in Iceland and you will be blown away with nature. As cool as Greenland is, Iceland was just as impressive.
I can attest to the amazing scenery. Unreal hunt and adventure.
I would love to get a hold of Karsten but multiple emails and inquiries on their website I’ve gone on responded to
Troy’s booking agent may be the way to go and get information
I recommend calling the phone numbers listed as well. If they are traveling/hunting camp which they do all the time either with clients or personal use they generally don’t have access to respond
The best way to get in contact with Karsten, seems to be to have Bob get ahold of him.
Bob is awesome to deal with. PM me if you need Bob’s contact info.
I would love to get a hold of Karsten but multiple emails and inquiries on their website I’ve gone on responded to
Troy’s booking agent may be the way to go and get information
Thanks for the lead on bob w as booking agent for Karsten. Nice guy.
