Spatsizi plateau

[bigneily]

For you fellas that have hunted this area before I have a question , Do the caribou winter on top of the plateau ? My son graduates next year and I am thinking of planning a father son fly in caribou hunt. Pending draw results of course but I would like to hunt later for the rut period. Any experienced feedback is appreciated , Thanx Neil

[40incher]

The Spatsizi Caribou stay on the plateaus until the end of the hunting season (October 15th). After that it depends on the snow levels.

On big snow years they winter in the timbered valley bottoms along the Stikine River. On low snow winters they will stay on top if the wind keeps the ridges open.

[bigneily]

Thanx for the info 40 .

[Avalanche123]

Hmmmm caribou meat during the rut leaves a lot to be desired :(

[bigneily]

Pretty awful I have heard, But I am willing to give it a shot anyhow. Late November mulies in the rut are rank to me also but I find they are tolerable when they are made into Hungarian sausage.

[The Hermit]

Hmmmm caribou meat during the rut leaves a lot to be desired :(

I have tried and tried and tried to eat bou but it simply tastes like bou-ggers to me. Blech

[Ferenc]

Pretty awful I have heard, But I am willing to give it a shot anyhow. Late November mulies in the rut are rank to me also but I find they are tolerable when they are made into Hungarian sausage.

Never a better statement. Lol

[sneg]

Rut meat require very careful handling. Meat itself is fine. Trim off glands, fat and everything else. Let meat age as long as you can . Good eating.

[shallowH2O]

My dog won't even eat rutting caribou.

[257stew]

I shot one caribou late Sept. god awful meat, wife cooked it and said never again. My mom called she had the meat in her freezer and was feeding her world famous goolash to people and they loved it. I told her they were lieing to her LOL. She said ,no, old trick, put some red wine in the gravey and let it simmer. I could not stop eating it it was that good. I tried teh same trick with some mule deer that was a bit gamey. Same thing great eating. That wine gave the meat a real nice flavour.

[BromBones]

Go late August to early Sept. They will be on the plateau in small groups.

Early season fat bull caribou is probably the best game meat going, next to sheep. Cut a gob of fat off the hind quarter, melt it in a cast iron pan, and fry up some 2'' thick backstrap steaks in it while you drink a cold beer. Pretty tough to top that meal!

Late season caribou is like eating fried dog shit. :)

[Cordillera]

I think the stink sets in right at the end of September. I shot one on sept 21st and the yellow goo had started to run into the muscle and tissue below the lower leg joint. It was incredible how bad that was. I can handle deer in the rut. This was way worse. The rest of the animal was usual caribou; tasty but fine grained.

[bigneily]

Thanx everyone for the tips and suggestions , Are the bulls up on the plateau in the same numbers in the early season as they are when the rut progresses ? I was under the assumption that the numbers and choices for the bigger bulls comes with the later season and the rut ? . Thank god my wife doesn't frequent this forum she would have read these posts about how skunky they are to eat and she would have kybashed the whole idea...lol.. Neil

[leadpillproductions]

AH don't believe the rut thing lol make it into sausage you"l be find

[kendoo]

Fed some rutty bou meat to my dog one time & he licked his rear end for 2 hours trying to get the bad taste out of his mouth.lol

[bigneily]

Fed some rutty bou meat to my dog one time & he licked his rear end for 2 hours trying to get the bad taste out of his mouth.lol...lol... That's a classic.

[40incher]

You can find a big bull at any time ... depends on the weather and other variables, but it is possible early.

Early in the season (August 15th to 30th) the bulls sometimes hang together pre-rut. We have seen up to 7 bulls in a group, with some real crankers. The biggest in that particular group was 3 just points on top, but with a 50 inch plus main beam.

The good thing about Spatsizi LEH Caribou is that it's "any bull" which means you could harvest that big bull.




Thanx everyone for the tips and suggestions , Are the bulls up on the plateau in the same numbers in the early season as they are when the rut progresses ? I was under the assumption that the numbers and choices for the bigger bulls comes with the later season and the rut ? . Thank god my wife doesn't frequent this forum she would have read these posts about how skunky they are to eat and she would have kybashed the whole idea...lol.. Neil

[bigneily]

What time of year do the bulls start to lose the velvet ? . Thanx men

[BromBones]

Late August into the first week of Sept they will start peeling the velvet off, give or take. Looks pretty cool seeing a big bull caribou with bright red antlers after he just raked the velvet off.

[bigneily]

Late August into the first week of Sept they will start peeling the velvet off, give or take. Looks pretty cool seeing a big bull caribou with bright red antlers after he just raked the velvet off.
That would be very cool , Thanx for the info .

[bigneily]

Hello fellas , Another question for those who know ? . For myself who has never done a fly in hunt before , In the event of an early season hunt on the plateau and say myself or my son was successful . What happens with the meat if the temps are warm ? I am concerned of spoil. Is there a place to hang meat at coldfish ? or do you make arrangements with the pilot for flyby's ? to check on success. I don't think I would want to cut this experience short if one of us was successful early in the hunt . Thanx Neil

[BromBones]

There is a shack at Coldfish camp down near the dock where you can hang meat if you need to, just have to make sure you keep it clean. There was an electric fence around it as well.

[40incher]

Bring some meat bags/cheesecloth and a can of pepper. That will keep the flies off.

[Cordillera]

I've had caribou in late August in region six keep really well for a full nine days as it is cold at night and we had lots of wind. I take deboned meat out of the bags every couple days and dry it in the wind and sun and then back in the bags.