Just got back this last weekend from anamazing hunt up north. First off, thanks for all the help, tips and suggestionsI received from this site. You all made a world of difference in this hunt.Also, sorry for the length. I can be pretty wordy, haha.
Quick Facts:
· Outfitter:Brooks Range Aviation dropped us off out of Bettles, AK
· Dates:8/24-9/2/16
· Results: 7 Caribou(4 trophies, 1 small bull and 2 cows) and one grizzly
The trip started with a ~12hr drive from Anchorage to Prospect Creek Airport atPump station #5. My truck was loaded down and we towed an empty trailer withhigh hopes of returning with both full of meat, trophies and gear. Fortunately,the drive up the Dalton to Prospect went without a hitch, and we excitedlyunpacked the truck and waited on BRA to pick us up to shuttle us to Bettles.BRA allows 1800# of gear on the fly out for a group of four, and we took everybit of this weight. Among what we brought was: 4 individual lightweightbackpacking tents, one Arktika Arctic Oven with a stove for a communal cook/drygear/hang out/warm up tent, ~45 beers/person, ~1L whisky/person, vac sealedchili, gumbo, and other dishes for dinner, bacon and hashbrowns for breakfast,etc. We were not light but we were comfortable!!
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Unfortunately, we arrived at the end of a 5-day storm, so BRA was very hecticcatching up. We got stuck in Bettles an extra day, but that is hunting in AK.Once we got out of Bettles, it was ~1.5hr flight in the otter to our drop site.Once we were there and got set up, it was an amazing camp site. We were surroundedby mountains, archeological sites, a lake full of fish, and caribou seen nearbyfrom camp. We were pumped! We immediately began scouting and wishing we couldhunt on the fly in date, since there was caribou all over the hills surroundingcamp.
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