As luck would have it
Caribou
This summer a very close friend of mine asked if I had any interest in joining him on a caribou hunt this fall. It looked like at that point, that our potential moose trip may have been getting crowded so I figured what the heck, I'd love to get a little further north into the tundra, and agreed to go. My friend Alfred, had originally planned on going with his son but with increasing travel restrictions, it seemed like that wouldn't work, and I was more than happy to be a backup plan. Plus, the offer Alfred gave me was one, only a friend could imagine giving. Thanks Alfred!
The hunt was out of The Lodge at Little Duck, which is essentially on Nejanalini Lake, in northern Manitoba, just south of the Territories. This is a 5 star lodge, so I would need to prepare to feel a little out of place! The big kicker about this hunt, was that as many of you know, Central Barren Ground Caribou are spotty at best in the last few year, non-existent may even be a better description. The saving grace for me, was that Nej(analini) is an absolute world class Lake Trout destination and I was going with a great friend. Fellowship, fishing and fine dining in the tundra?? I'm in!!
Man! This is gonna be awesome!
Because the lodge is quite the operation, they have their own landing strip which means we were flying wheels, not floats, so we were flying from the airstrip in Thompson, not the float base as I was used to. This was a real bonus, because we weren't nearly as weather dependant as flying a small aircraft. We were flying a jet with a pressurized cabin so we'd be above a majority of the weather. Weather did still slightly delay our departure on September 7th, but it looked like around noon we'd be off. As we waited around to get the green light we overheard them talking about flying racks out from the previous group and Alfred and I looked at each other with the confused 5 year old look on our face. Did they say racks? Like caribou racks? We quickly confirm that what we heard was true. Now you've got two very giddy grown men putting serious pressure on them to get those wings in the air! THERE ARE CARIBOU TO BE HUNTED!
Giddy....yes....the perfect word. Refresh....
When we land in camp, we admire some of the racks coming out. Sounds like there was a very small heard that came in and around the lake, likely around 100 animals give or take 20/30. And with the racks going out you can definitely "take 20" from that number. So we are not getting into caribou like what had been in the past before the CBGC went rogue, but there are animals to hunt. We are elated! To put things in perspective, Nejanalini Lake is about 30 miles long from north to south, not quite that wide, and Little Duck Lake where the lodge is at, is a short boat ride off the big lake. Even Little Duck is 5 miles long so no slouch either. This is big country! But we were fortunate enough to get a 16' boat with a newer 40hp outboard, so we had the tools required. We were able to do the hunt together without a guide, which is more our style. This is great
The pin represent The Lodge at Little Duck. You can actually see the landing strip which is built on a sand esker
The pin represent The Lodge at Little Duck. You can actually see the landing strip which is built on a sand esker
We get there mid afternoon, not quite enough time to make any strides on the lake, so we jump in the boat and see if we can't find some lakers. About a half an hour later, we find ourselves out in the big lake, and realize we didn't grab any fishing gear. Wow, guess we both just really fell apart with all the excitement. We have a good laugh and do some glassing. Around 5:30 Alfred says, ok we better head back, they'll be starting appetizers at 6 and they'll be upset if we're late. I burst out laughing, and then stop when I realize he's serious. Yikes I got some learnin to do. Nice to see how the other half of the world lives!
Food was spectacular, as was our sleep in the heated and dry cabins, as was a hot bacon and egg breakfast the next morning.
Then we loaded up the boat, and headed on a long ride, about an hour, to a nice lookout where Alfred had success years back when the caribou actually migrated through here. We climb to the top of the lookout and start to glass. It's knock your socks off gorgeous and we can see for miles. Sand eskers bring natural division to the ponds and lakes, a river meets the big lake to our left, and with carful examination, old dead heads and sheds still litter the tundra. Sure paints a picture for a guy of 400,000 caribou flooding through the tundra like ants. What I wouldn't give to live that!
We sit and glass for about an hour and a half and discuss if we should leave. Alfred explains that because caribou are always on the move, it's not a bad strategy to just sit there all day, just because we can glass so far. This is also a proven migration path as it forces them down one side of the lake here. But, likely because our excitement level is at "can not contain" we decide another half hour and we'll cover ground.
I can not explain to you how excited I really was. You spend all this prep time on gear, but the entire time, I never "actually" thought there would be caribou to hunt. I really thought I was going fishing, and I would enjoy toting my bow, telling myself I'm caribou hunting. I'm so excited, that Im day dreaming picturing massive herds, migrating and flooding over the sand eskers. Everywhere I look, I see caribou. Even a willow shrub a mile away begins to take on the shape of a caribou rack. So I study it and watch it for ten minutes, until I finally give up. 5 minutes later, I can't help but check back, but it still hasn't changed. I chuckle and say to Alfred, man I so badly want that willow bush a mile that way to be a caribou. Man it just so has 'that look!'
He glasses it, and he agrees, and now he's questioning my judgement. Just about that time we see it turn 30 degrees. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. We quickly confirm with the new angle that it's a small bull, but there was no way I was passing up any animal. Especially not with two tags. We never know if we'll ever see another caribou.
After we cover about 500 yards we are up at a vantage and I take this photo. Red arrow is where he is bedded. I feel like we are two small dots in God’s great and vast creation, so far apart, but somehow are like magnets and have a destiny to collide.
Definitely exciting! Go get him!
Looking forward to the details of your hunt, Matt!
The wind is already naturally in our favour, so no need to circle. The only problem is that where I could see him bedded, it appeared that he had about 100 yards around him that was wide open with no chance for an approach. No problem, we'll get there and then see what it looks like. Things aren't always as they appear from a mile away. Worst case, we'll wait him out.
About a half hour of navigating the muskeg, which isn't as easy as it seems, we are in whisper mode. We are in the final approach. We are circling in to where we last saw him, kind of on the edge of a lake, when I catch movement on the edge of a patch of pines. It's him, and he's coming straight for us. He suddenly turns a hard left (my left) and is working through the trees. He's cruising so I'll need to move with certainty if I have any hope. Alfred chooses to stay back as two guys running down a caribou probably won't work as well as one. He stays put and runs a camera. I was about 100 yards out from him at this point, but from Alfreds point of view he said it was orange dot meet grey dot. We were triangulating for a meeting. I couldn't know at this point if it was working or not but kept my head down, and kept trying to swiftly and quietly slip through the timber. Suddenly at about 30 yards I caught movement. He was still moving sideways, and I would need to as well, to stay ahead of him. We played this for about a minute until he started back to where he came from, and moving quickly. He wasn't on to me though yet. With my position now, I was hot on his tail and he was working straight away from me into the wind, and he was not checking his "6." At that moment it was now or never so I put a big tree between us and I ran up to ten yards and drew my bow. The minute he stepped out I buried the arrow into the offside shoulder. He took off, and soon after I heard a crash into water. OH NO LOL, oh well I'll swim if I have to, I just shot a caribou! :)
I'll give you guys one shot of me in my undies for free
I'll give you guys one shot of me in my undies for free
After we drug him out, I put my clothes back on and took some real pics.
After we drug him out, I put my clothes back on and took some real pics.
We made quick work of him, and packed him back out through the muskeg to our nearest boat access.
I should mention the business end of the hunt. Each of us are MB residents, which quite affordably gives us two tags. It is a 5 day hunt at the lodge. Alfred is a heck of a hunter with bow, and with rifle. He has a coveted archery moose tag that'll need to be filled right after this hunt, and he chose to hunt with a rifle for caribou. He had a very busy season besides that ahead, and this was just one less thing to prepare for this hunt, plus damaging a bow up north was a concern. I was hunting primarily with a bow, and although my main 'passion' is bowhunting, trophy bowhunting to be more specific, the main 'reason' I am there is for meat for my family. So I'll use a rifle if need to be to provide meat, and I have no qualms about it.
Now back to the story....
Once we got the meat to boat access we hiked back around to the boat. By this time we were hot a sweaty, and were shedding layers the last couple hundred yards to the boat. Now if pure joy is something you don't understand, look at our faces here
Congratulations! Good work!
The wind on this lake can whip a storm up pretty quick and terrible, something that'll turn a boat upside down no problem, and the forecast for the afternoon was pretty ugly. We were already pushing our luck on time, and we started on the 25 mile boat ride south back to the lodge. 1 caribou spotted, 1 caribou killed. Two happy hunters.
This is great! So nice to have great friends. Congratulations!
One observation since you included a pic in your undies. Didn't know you Canadian guys could get so great tan lines;)
I swear the main reason I come to work these days is to open threads like this! I enjoy everyone else's adventures ALMOST as much as my own. Thanks for sharing Matt!
This story is just as good on Bowsite as it is in person!
That is a great observation deerhunter72! A Canadian with tan lines is a rare thing :-)
35" Lake Trout
35" Lake Trout
So day 1 was almost a loss from plane delays, day 2 was the one I just recapped, and now we're on to day 3. Yikes time flies. Wind is not supposed to be great today, call it borderline in the afternoon, but tomorrow they are calling for 55mph winds, so we better get after it while we can. First thing in the morning, we spot a small bull like my first, along with a spiker on a shoreline, but we elect to pass, and keep going. We spend the morning putting on in the neighbourhood of 30 miles in the boat and hours of glassing with nothing more to show for it. We start heading back south, as we need to beat the wind to the lodge so we don't get caught out there.
For those reading that haven't experienced a remote hunt, they are no joke. This one isn't remote in a sense that we have a lodge as a hub to work from, but if our boat goes down 20 miles from the lodge it's game over. This doesn't mean a guy needs to live in panic or fear, but you just make decisions differently than you would otherwise. You just don't dance on lines you aren't prepared to fall over.
But on our way back, having not even spent a minute fishing for lake trout yet, Alfred looks at me and says "ok toss a line in". Alfred is one of those guys, the kind of friend you want. Always thinking of others before himself, and makes it a real challenge to be equally giving. He never fished once on this trip, just hoping I could experience it for myself. What a gem. Anyways, enough romance, so we are in about 15' of water and I toss over a red devil and we start to troll. Real basic stuff. Not one minute in and I've got that truck axle rod bent to the transom. This is unreal. I get the fish to the boat, and in the process of netting we lose him. No biggie. Within 3 minutes I had another, and we were able to get him in and on to the bump board. He went a whopping 35", but was dwarfed by the first that we lost, who likely was just shy of 40. Unbelievable. Alfred says "yeah this spot isn't that great, reel up, we'll try later when we get to the good stuff" Again, one of those moments where I had to stop laughing when I realized he was serious.
quick success. keep it coming.
Well, we likely pushed our luck a little too far. Waves were getting pretty big and we were getting pretty wet. The rain was beginning to come down pretty good on top of that. While Alfred drove the boat, I moved gear in the front that was getting wet from waves coming over the bow. This was rough stuff. We both had our heads down and slightly cocked trying to keep our faces warm and wet (is that a thing?) and Alfred was clearly doing a better job than me, likely because he was driving. Not the warm and wet part, but the seeing part, because he suddenly cut the throttle and said "bulls!"
On an island to our left about 250 yards, there stood two bulls out in the open watching us pass the island, and one looked real good at a glance. I immediately grabbed Alfred's rifle from the front of the boat and handed it back to him, and I began to film. He says to me as he's looking through his scope, "is he good?" and I say "yeah man, I dunno looks good to me" while I'm thinking you seriously thinking of passing this bull up? Obviously shooting out of these waves is a major problem, and the one thing about Alfred is he can shoot like no other. Earlier that morning I watched him centre punch a rock at 600 yards probably just to make sure I remembered how good he was :) The first shot I can't see where it goes, and both bulls startle but stay standing. The second shot I see go quite high, and I give him the report. I'm concerned at this point it just may be too wavy. The third shot finds a warm home and the bull collapses.
I now have to decide if I want to pursue the smaller bull. He's likely the same size as my first, so I decide to pass, and just enjoy this moment with Alfred.
As we approach Alfred's bull we are overcome with the beauty and size of this bull. He really was bigger than we had expected. We could see from the boat that he appeared to "have it all" and had giant backscratchers, but yikes. His backscratchers went 10 1/2 and 11!" Just an all around stunning bull. Couldn't have been happier for Alfred. For those interested, he makes "All-Time B&C" with ease.
I have not stopped smiling since I started reading this. Nicely done. Paul
These two hunters just went over the moon. We took photos and just all around relished the experience. We had won.
We broke the bull down, and got him to the boat, a much easier pack job this time. The boat ride back was hairy as the wind had now really moved in, but the Lord has hand of protection over us and soon we were back to appetizers, 5 star meals and a warm bed. Are we already in heaven??
Wow Matt, caribou in Manitoba! What a great story and photos so far! Looking forward to the last 2 days! Kurt
Day 4 did not disappoint the forecast. Wind was truly insane. As Alfred put it, "just looking at the waves will make a grown man cry" It was for real, not sure if they were 6' or what but just nasty looking and water being ripped off the white caps by the howling wind. On Little Duck it was not near as nasty, but still a definite 'no go' by boat. All the other hunters decided to stay back at camp and enjoy the accommodations which wasn't a bad idea. Alfred and I decided to at least stretch our legs and do some hiking. We had a blast and covered some good country. We saw about a dozen sheds, and ate some blueberries. Turned out to be an all around great day in the north. No caribou spotted but an enjoyable day.
Insanely large wolf track. What I wouldn't give to send an arrow his way...
Insanely large wolf track. What I wouldn't give to send an arrow his way...
The weather for tomorrow looked perfect. Calm and clear. The lodge would have breakfast an hour earlier for the guys that wanted to make the most of their last day. I really appreciated that.
So on Day 5, we were out the door at sun up. We decided that today, any bulls get it. Two Caribou in one day is a tall ask. We better not be measuring. Alfred as well was after meat.
Around mid morning, I spot a spike and a cow walking a ridge almost a mile away. So we park the boat and start hiking. In our approach, we notice 2 small bulls and a cow bedded beside a small lake about half the distance to the caribou we first spotted. Bonus! These animals were bedded in an open area, and because we were short on time, waiting them out for a bow shot isn't great for the both of us, so Alfred makes a perfect shot on the one bull for meat, and we pack that back to the boat. Only 11am, so this just might actually work. WOW. 4 tags, 3 notched, lots of smiles, laughing and high fiving.
We are tooling in and around island taking our time picking them apart, but nothing. It feels as though we may need to be satisfied with 3. After all, the tags were more of a formality for this "supposed to be" fishing trip, so how can a guy complain.
As we are making our way back south toward the lodge I just about jump out of the boat. "BULLS!" I yell to Alfred. On our left on a gigantic island, there are two good bulls both walking a ridge top, and they give me that classic sight that I've been dying to see. Absolutely stunning. As Alfred points the boat to shore I quickly assess the wind and what a game plan might be.
We get the boat pulled up as far as we can but shallow rocks are making that challenging. We both end up jumping in the water and walk to shore and throw a line into the willows so the boat doesn't drift away. We wade through the willows until it's nothing but open in front of us and there they are feeding at the top the ridge. They are about 300 yards out into the open.
Screenshot from a video
Screenshot from a video
The wind is perfect and quartering into us. I tell Alfred we'll wait until they feed over the ridge and we'll run straight up there and kill him over the ridge, half joking of course. After watching them a bit, they begin to feed down our side of the ridge and follow a timber edge that triangulates with the water edge. It's very clear at this point that they'll be coming down to the water to cross and they'll follow that edge to get there.
We duck back into the willows and start trying to beat them there. I'm thinking to myself you have got to be kidding me, ...two hours left in the hunt. Every 100 yards or so I stop and poke out to access the progress. We are on the same clock, this could work.
We make it to where the willows meet the natural edge that they are following and I have a perfect opening that they'll come through at about 20 yards. The smaller bull is in the lead, and he's at about 30-40 yards, the bigger bull whom I want, is still about 50-60 but coming, and no need to panic.
Before I can hear anything the smaller bull freaks out, wheels around and busts back up the ridge taking the bigger bull with him! What the....? Then behind us I hear one of the other guides come cruising with his boat right past the island. You have got to be kidding me. I gigantic lake and right at this moment, he's passing by as they are coming into bow range. This is all in the matter of a split second and from Alfreds position and he wasn't yet aware of them busting out. I ran at him and said "give me your rifle!" and he had a look in his eye like he was wondering if I was about to end his life right there. It's funny now to laugh about it, but he said the look in my eye was slightly concerning, but all very confusing because he didn't know what had happened yet. I ran to the edge of the willows and started to give that running bull warning shots. Once I decided he had been warned enough, I put an end to the whole disaster. WOW just WOW, what a gift of a caribou. And a gorgeous one at that
Warning shots with the rifle is your M.O. Don't stop now! lol
We take some photos, and pack the meat back to the boat. Another easy pack job.
What a hunt. Climax from beginning to end. Finding out that there may be caribou at the airstrip to hunting them until the last minute. Almost all tags for everyone at the lodge were filled, which was truly outstanding as the animals weren't super thick. A hunt and memory I'll cherish as long as I'm here on earth. Thanks for following along, it's a pleasure to a part of this community and to contribute every now and then
I'll post a few other random photos of the hunt
Great write-up! Congratulations on your two Manitoba caribou!
Wow! Truly a Hunt of a Lifetime! What an awesome adventure, Congratulations!
Thank you for sharing! Great recap!
And of course all of this is pointless if we can’t share tenderloins with the ones we love!
Nicely done. good friends, good hunt, great accommodation. All of which makes a good story. my best, Paul
Great is all I can say, thanks for taking us along!
Well done M.Pauls. Great adventure as well as write-up
Thank you for sharing your story and photos, I really enjoyed it!
Outstanding! Congratulations! Happy you shared it with us!
I dearly love surf 'n turf success stories. This one is about as superb as it ever gets. I can definitely relate to Alfred. He just has that look in his eyes. Absolute wonderful story! KD
Man this was good. You Paul boys are always up for a fine adventure. That’s what life is all about . Thanks for taking the time to post . Makes me smile.! Good friends in wild places. Hunt
Doesn’t get any better than that. A hunt dreams are made of. Great story telling also. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for a great article
Another great hunt on Bowsite. Thanks for sharing with us!!
This recap is WAY better than the one you texted me! Awesome write up, Matt! A great adventure, made even better by getting to share it with a good friend by your side. Congrats to you both!
Awesome hunt and write up!! Thank you for taking us along!!!
Had me hooked bro!! Even though I knew it all already. Fantastic story. Pics make it A++
Congratulations on a great adventure, making memories
Well done and a great read
Congrats ya both,
Robb
Congrats! What an adventure!
Congrats!! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for all the kind words fellas. It’s a pleasure to re-live it and share with you all
Loved it Matt. Thanks for posting!
Awesome !!!
Bucket list for sure, thanks for sharing.
Congrats, Pete
Very cool man! Not a bad few days, I'd say!
Great story. I am going next year. Can’t wait.
Great write up and read! Congrats thanks for sharing
Congrats, Matt! Great story and pics...thanks for bringing it here!
Great post... I hunted there in 2013 and had a great time as well. The Caribou were there and everyone tagged out on 2 big bulls. But it is one of those places where it can end up as an expensive fishing trip if the caribou don't come through.
Despite the underwear pic, this was a thoroughly enjoyable thread ! :-) Tags punched, a great adventure in a beautiful setting, shared with a good friend. Now I ask you, what more does a man need ?
Another great Pauls recap! I missed it when it was posted last week. Glad I came across it.
Great hunt! Great story and pics! Thank you, I really enjoyed it.
Excellent recap! Anytime the Pauls boys are involved you know it is going to be good!
Well that was a super fast paced adventure!! Way to keep up the pressure while still stopping to smell the roses. Sometimes rare opportunities fall into our laps, but many of us fail recognize them till it's to late. Low expectations and high outcomes are a blessing. You were blessed in many ways!
Great stuff… congratulations
Congrats! This brought back memories of our Manitoba hunt, many of which were the same thoughts and feelings that you expressed and shared.
Thank you, actually just found it at work this morning but was unable to comment as I was logged into my work computer and not on my phone. What a great trip! Not sure how I missed this one!
TTT for Caribou77. Ironically, you were the last to comment lol
Even a better read the second time.
Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your amazing hunt!
I can’t imagine how I also missed this! Great story!
Your last scenery photo. I recognized the area. We sat on that same hill for days. That’s a great look out spot for sure.
Worth a read every year. Great story bro!
We flew through that runway and camp in 2014 with Ryan St. James but were grouped with the Webbers folks as they were taking on that camp. We definitely hit it while it was good and shared camp with a great group, every hunter except me had rifles and my dad had brought his bow in addition to a rifle… it’s always kind of funny to see guys reactions when your on such a trip only bringing archery gear.
Just as good the 2nd time around! Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks again guys. It’s fun sharing stuff like this with a bunch of other huntin fools.
Mikey that right there is funny. I bet we sat on that same rock!
Had to read this again Matt. I sure hope we get to do this again. You being there made it one of my most memorable hunts ever , I will cherish it as long as I live.
SWEET! I missed this one first time through. Glad to catch it this go around. Great adventure, thanks for the share!
Thanks Alfred! It was such a generous invitation on your part. Memorable for sure, great food, huge laughs, and some nice animals. Doesn’t get better
Nice to finally see you on the Bowsite. Hard to imagine you haven’t hung out on here, seeing as this is where all the real killers hang ;)
I am always pleasantly surprised when someone reposts a hunt from the past which I missed previously. Another great bowhunting memory!!
Yep. Not sure how I missed it first time around. Great stuff.
Good stuff for sure! Congrats, Matt!
Great story and photos, thank you.
Thanks Matt. I am looking forward to sharing some adventures on here. Sounds like a great group of guys on this site. We need to do a moose hunt together ! I will start sharpening broad heads :)
Fantastic hunt, story and pictures, loved seeing them.
Uh oh....Who invited Alfie to the party?!?!?! lol. Another Gem in the jewel house.
Man, I sure miss a lot of good stuff, that shows up September/October!
Fantastic adventure, great recap!
