Back From Dease

[Orangethunder]

Well we made it home last night after or tour to Dease. All in all it was a great trip. The weather could have been worse . We couldn't fly on our scheduled day so we did some sight seeing in the fog around Dease. Managed to get a flat tire an hour after the tire shop closed too . On the 26th the weather broke enough to get going. We managed to get all our gear into Bruce's plane and we were on our way. It was only a short flight this year but the scenery was awesome.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e122/Orangethunder/SD530410.jpg


After we got camp set up we took a short hike into a basin near to camp. No critters. A guide and his hunter cut us off on the way in. It was the last two hours of a 25K hunt and they were desperate to find a ram. I think the the hunter more so than the guide . Either way no critters spotted that night.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e122/Orangethunder/SD530416.jpg


The next few days we covered lots of ground and saw a fair bit of game. We passed on a few caribou and had one stalk run into darkness on us. We got cliffed out chasing rams and had to watch them feed off into the unkown.



We were getting set to go after a band of rams when a big caribou that was way closer got our attention. We hustled up the hill and did a big circle around where we saw him last. A couple of cow and calves fed out of sight and we kinda figured he was gone. We settled in and did some more glassing and some picture taking. Just as we were about to get up he stood up ~200-250 yards out. One look and I knew he was our bull. After the shooting he staggered a few steps and was out of sight. We made our way to where we thought he was. We couldn't see him. I got to the crest of a ridge where I could see quite a distance and nothing. I started feeling pretty sick. As I looked towards my partner an antler sticking out of a patch of willow caught my eye. He was down. Here is what I walked up to.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e122/Orangethunder/SD530461.jpg


To be continued...

[Wildman]

Awesome.velvet too.

[Orangethunder]

We did a bunch of picture taking and got busy with the knives. I was pretty happy with him being my first caribou.



http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e122/Orangethunder/SD530473.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e122/Orangethunder/SD530474.jpg


We got the quarters off and set them out to cool for the night. I grabbed the backstraps and my partner grabbed the antlers and we made it for camp. Fresh steaks and chili for dinner that night. Beat the heck out of the first five nights meals!!! The next day we got the rest of the meat and stashed it along the shore. We still had a week to go so we kept it within eyeshot of camp.

We kept on looking for our rams but they never showed again. We covered off as much ground as the weather would let us. Almost everyday was fogged in until after 9:00 and storms rolled in nearly every hour of every day. It was pretty wet and pretty cool.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e122/Orangethunder/SD530555.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e122/Orangethunder/SD530563.jpg

All in all it was a pretty big success. We got awfully close to a legal ram and had our chances. We passed on several other caribou and probably could have taken moose if we were so inclined. We were suprised to find absolutely no goats at this lake. Not that they weren't there, we just didn't find any.



Its 13 days I wont soon forget.

[308BAR]

Beautiful, nice boo to. Congrats guys.

[dawn2dusk]

Great looking country. Thanks for sharing pics and story.

[Big Bucks]

Great job guys , Great pics

[bruin]

good story and great pics. Congrats on the boo.

[Tanya]

Very nice caribou! Thanks for the story, always great to read other hunter's adventures.

[Marc]

What an awesome trip and experience. I've never been so lucky to be able to experience anything like that yet since I've moved here but I'm hoping too before I retire.

Thanks for the pictures and the great story.

Marc.

[Orangethunder]

Thanks for the comments guys. It was a pretty cool trip. Marc, get up there. Its worth it. I dilly dallied for a few years and then just said I'm going. I'm glad I did. My buddy laughed when we talked about the cost. He spend almost as much hunting his LEH moose a couple of years ago as both our fly in trips.

Just for fun I threw a tape on my bull last night. I rough scored him around 355. I would say that I'm within 100" or so of the actual score.

[newhunterette]

OM"F"G - yes I actually thought the "F" word - big critters amazing story fantastic picture thank you so so very much for sharing :)

Ali

[rock]

Great storey and pictures have to get there one day.

[bushguy]

very nice bou there,would of thought it grossed higher ,,sure you didnt miss something??Sweet pictures ,thanks for posting them.8)

[Orangethunder]

very nice bou there,would of thought it grossed higher ,,sure you didnt miss something??Sweet pictures ,thanks for posting them.8)


Like I said, I score roughly. Might have missed something, who knows. Scored it just out of curiousity. Either way I wont be making crib boards out of it:lol:.

[locdog_99]

liked the pics good to hear u had fun congrats

[GoatGuy]

Congrats on the trip - definitely some familiar looking country! Well done!!!!

[Tarp Man]

That looks like an amazing trip. I bet the pictures don't even come close to doing it justice (do they ever?). How did you deal with the meat while you continued hunting? Game bags? Vinegar and Pepper?

[Orangethunder]

That looks like an amazing trip. I bet the pictures don't even come close to doing it justice (do they ever?). How did you deal with the meat while you continued hunting? Game bags? Vinegar and Pepper?


It was cold enough it wasn't an issue for bugs. We let it cool out overnight and then buried it in bags along the lake shore. Seemed to work.

[Macgregor]

That's a nice looking caribou. Congratulations.

[MIL720]

Nice pics...My partner and I fly out of Dease on the 24th.Hunting boo and moose....Can't wait after seeing that.Great job

[Islandeer]

What a trip, good on yah. What is the cost for the fly in and out? PM me if you prefer.

[Krico]

Nice caribou, cool that he was still in velvet. Well done!