Moose or Caribou??????

[onpoint]

A buddy and I are planning a trip in late September/early October. We have 7-8 days and are trying to decide between moose and caribou. We plan on bowhunting but will have rifles along for bear concerns. We're not afraid to get well off the roads. What would you hunt and what GENERAL area would you go to????

[bearhunter338-06]

Elk Vancouver Zoo...........For moose I would go some where between 100 Mile and a little north of Prince George.

[Sitkaspruce]

Region 6, Dease Lk area, they are both open GOS and if you can find the money and fly-in will get you even better odds at an animal. If not then lots of good country up there to try for both that you can hike/drive/quad to.

There is some good info on here, do a search and look for Dease lk, Region 6 and the region 6 mgmt units.

Cheers

SS

[onpoint]

Tried Vancouver Zoo already, PETA didn't like the ground blind I set up next to the elk cage. Thanks SS for the dease lake reco. I've been searching region 6 on here a ton and there's no shortage of info that's for sure!! Flying in isn't in the budget this year unfortunately. If you had to pick one or the other animals what would you choose? I'm curious to know the thoughts of anyone who's hunted both.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Moose would be better table fare for those dates you posted. Caribou might be getting a tad rutty by then.

SSS

[onpoint]

Thanks SSS, that's a hell of a caribou in your avatar! I've read that caribou can get pretty rutty around this time, and was pretty disappointed by that as I prefer to eat what I kill. Have you had nasty rutted out caribou before? How bad we talking? Or does it just take a little more marinating and slow-cooking?

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Thanks SSS, that's a hell of a caribou in your avatar! I've read that caribou can get pretty rutty around this time, and was pretty disappointed by that as I prefer to eat what I kill. Have you had nasty rutted out caribou before? How bad we talking? Or does it just take a little more marinating and slow-cooking?

Haven't had the displeasure of tasting rutted-out bou before but have talked to enough people to know it can be nasty. So nasty dogs won't eat it.

We've shot all of our 'bous on Sept 18th and all have been great.

SSS

[swampthing]

7-42 pink mountain area

[Sitkaspruce]

Same with me, two bulls, one Sept 21 and the other Sept 25 and both tasted good to me. I have had bad caribou, but after what was explained to me in the way it was looked after and process....it was no wonder.

Both will be rutting at that time, moose just starting and bou in the middle. Moose will provide more meat, if you shoot a large one, but a mature bull caribou will provide lots as well.

I have done the combo both time while up in Dease area and had luck one on occasion, the other we were too late as the moose had moved to the valley bottoms by the time we got to base camp.

There is lots of area up there where both are found.

Cheers

SS

[pnbrock]

Caribou is nasty meat !!! Shoot moose yummmy

[onpoint]

SS do you mean just sloppy knife use while cleaning/dressing/quartering or just poor care taken after the animal was dressed/processed? If there's some specific issues to watch for with the 'bous when dressing and quaterting would love to know as I've never gone after them before. We're looking at going into Itcha Ilgahcuz park so it's a hell of a project to go in there for bad meat. Any tips/things to watch for are much appreciated!

[onpoint]

pnbrock, so the one that's on your back in the avatar was no good?

[pnbrock]

Not my favorite thats for sure may just be me ,who knows.definately a beutiful animal.good luck whatever you choose.

[yukon john]

Thanks SSS, that's a hell of a caribou in your avatar! I've read that caribou can get pretty rutty around this time, and was pretty disappointed by that as I prefer to eat what I kill. Have you had nasty rutted out caribou before? How bad we talking? Or does it just take a little more marinating and slow-cooking?

No we are talking eat your own feces first, green under the hide from fighting so hard, your dog wont eat it

[pg83]

The best sausages I ever had were from Barren Ground Caribou, never tried Mountain 'bou, but I can't imagine it been too different. They were shot in February or March I believe.

[moose2]

WE shot 2 caribou years ago on Oct 1. They were both unedible we put some steaks on the bar-b-q and it smelled like someone pissing on a fire. After relizing this wasn't edible this way , I contacted a sausage maker he said he would not allow late caribou in his shop. He said with his experience there are no spices to cover the strong taste and he said making anything out of this meat would be bad for buisines. My vote would be for moose at this time of year. They are easy to call around then and can get close for your bow. Region 6 is any bull and they offer a bow rut season as well. 7b is good , but there are antler restrictions in place. Good luck on your hunt I am looking forward to the pictures.
Mike

[Sitkaspruce]

SS do you mean just sloppy knife use while cleaning/dressing/quartering or just poor care taken after the animal was dressed/processed? If there's some specific issues to watch for with the 'bous when dressing and quaterting would love to know as I've never gone after them before. We're looking at going into Itcha Ilgahcuz park so it's a hell of a project to go in there for bad meat. Any tips/things to watch for are much appreciated!

Nope, just plain shitty game care, hide on quarters hung, no game bags and left in the back of the truck with very little air circulation.

No tricks to looking after it, usual, hide off and cooled down asap. Ours were all boned out, so not sure if that is why we have had no problems with the meat. Never had one from Oct though, so maybe they change real fast in taste and gameyness........

My suggestion is for you to go and try it yourself, us who have done it can tell you all sorts of stuff, but until you go do it yourself and see, you will never know.

Cheers

SS

[smoothbor]

I have shot both and its my opinion that the moose is much tastier than caribou the caribou we shot were late september early october and were not the greatest, but sure a fun animal to hunt if you like to hike and get up high good luck with whichever animal you hunt look forward to seeing some pics when you get back

[onpoint]

Thanks for the input everyone, much appreciated. I was surpsrised when I saw an old post talking about how bad bull caribou can be in the rut so I'm glad I asked. We're locked into those dates so with only one decent length trip in the budget this year, I think we'll have to save the caribou hunt for a year when we can get away earlier. I prefer to eat what I put down so looks like we'll be shifting to moose or maybe just bite the bullet and head to Peace country. Pics to come!

[hunter fisher]

any conclusion on this hunt?

[Blair]

Caribou is nasty meat !!! Shoot moose yummmy
NO NO NO - caribou taken in mid September is the best meat I've had, bar none. Can't speak for mid-rut Caribou, but I hear it is inedible.