Another great hunt
Caribou
A few years ago I was talking to a friend about maybe trying to do a hunt together. He asked what I had left that I really wanted to hunt. It's kind of embarrassing to say that I really have hunted everything on my bucket list. I'm not just dying to do another big hunt. I told him that I could probably get excited about woodland caribou.
Here's why.
As most of you know the Newfoundland herd crashed pretty hard about 20 years ago. Man I can't believe it's been that long. I've noticed over the years that the best time to harvest the biggest animals is when a herd is on the rise. That's what's happening with woodland caribou right now. They are making a comeback and the trophy quality is going way up.
We talked to a number of outfitters at SCI 2 years ago and we settled on Efford's Hunting Adventures. I have never had the best luck on guided hunts. In fact, I've only been on 9 guided hunts in NA. Of those, I've only taken 1 P&Y animal. I average 5 or 6 P&Y animals per 9 DIY hunts. It's hard to part with half a years earnings and not even nock up an arrow.
I was hoping this hunt would break that jinx.
Bob said we would be hunting Caribou pond. A place called Caribou pond has to be a great place to hunt caribou, right?
As is often the case with northern hunts, we loaded up the float plane and took off only to be turned around by clouds and fog. Oh, the joys of hunting the north country.
We got out mid afternoon on the next day and very quickly, I was certain that this would be a great hunt. There were plenty of caribou and I knew it would only be a matter of time before I found one I wanted to go after. Even if it didn't work out the first few stalks, it looked like I would have plenty of chances.
That's the tough part about bowhunting and particularly, traditional bowhunting. You really need to have multiple opportunities to be consistently successful.
Here is my second day bull
3 of us went on this hunt, one longbow, one recurve and one compound. All 3 of us tagged out. It was a really fun hunt and a great time with good friends.
The population seems to be on the rise which is great news for all of us. I would highly recommend this hunt to anyone who wants a big woodland bull.
We snuck up on this one while we were packing out my bull. I could have easily shot this bull. What a fun hunt.
Beautiful bull, congratulations!
Love the beautiful mane on your bull! Congrats on a great animal, Jim!
Awesome animal. Congrats.
Congrats. What a beautiful animal!
Wow, what a beautiful bull. Grats!
Gorgeous bull all the way around congratulations
That will make a beautiful mount congrats!
You aren`t kidding about the quality....that is a great bull.
Fantastic! What are the specs on the recurve?
What a bull-------->
Congrats
Thanks for sharing, Robb
Beauty bull...congrats! My buddy was up there this fall and killed a dandy as well along with a great velvet bull moose.
Great bull, congrats on a fine job!! Jinx over...
Beautiful woodland bull congrats!
The Rock! No where like it! Congrats! C
Awesome bull Jim.... he's a fatty. Ed F
spectacular in all regards
Great animal Jim!!!!! Your fall is shaping up nicely!!!!!
Nice job, that's a great bull. Percy
Great bull! Love the dark antlers against the white mane. Congrats!
Beautiful Trophy animal, great accomplishment with a stick and string!
Amazing critters with traditional gear! Can you tell us a little about your bow and arrow setup? Thanks for the post
Heck of a bull, congrats!
Beauty of a bull, congrats Jim!
Nicely done! Beautiful animals...and yours is a whopper! Kevin
Someone asked about my bow. I still shoot my 1999 model Bighorn takedown, short riser. 56", 52# at 27". The only time I shoot anything else is when I put on the 60# limbs for heavy animals. Something bigger than elk. I know Bighorn had a reputation for being a dog but the later ones shoot really well. I've taken dozens of animals with this bow and it never lets me down. I almost always shoot cedar arrows with either a magnus or bear razorhead. I put together 6 carbons and put trad vanes on 4 of them. I've always said that the worst part of shooting traditional is keeping your feathers dry especially on the northern hunts. The trad vanes shoot pretty good. I can't say they fly as good as feathers but they certainly fly better than wet feathers. These carbons match my cedars in weight and flight. I got a new gripper for my thunderhorn quiver before I left. I've been shooting the bigger cedars for so long that the carbons don't stay put in the quiver. When I got there I realized that my cedars fit way too tight in the quiver so I just put in all carbons. I had a Carbon Express 250 heritage with an old screw in bear razorhead. It penetrated to the fletch and did a great job, as always. These arrows are 500 grain. A little lighter than my normal setup but I had some matching cedars that I've been dying to use. Been shooting both all year and they hit the same. I wasn't hunting anything big this year so I was comfortable with the lighter arrow. I'm going to put the old gripper back on my quiver so I can shoot cedars next week on whitetails. What an exciting time to be a bowhunter.
Thanks for all the kind remarks. Maybe I finally broke my guided hunt jinx.
Congrats. That's such a cool looking animal.
Beautiful caribou, congrats! Is the Bighorn made after the Asbell era?
1999 Bighorn was either Bud Boker or King Cavalier. My Bighorn was made just prior to Bud's passing. It's a shame, he would have done a lot with BH. These are good bows! I still have mine.
Bill
I got it while King still owned the company. It was right after they redesigned the limbs and were getting better performance out of the bows. I bought this bow and an identical set of limbs which shoot exactly the same.
I agree with you on Bud. I think he could have kept it going and made some good bows.
Wow! Stud of a bull. Congrats Jim.
Great job, Jim! Fantastic bull!
Congratulations on a fantastic hunt......great looking caribou!!
What a great bull! Congratulations!!
