Annual Caribou hunt

[Michael Johnson]

Those boys know what they are doing and I know you will post details of the trip Mike. I am looking forward to reading about it. As I am nearing retirement I am thinking this adventure may have a place on my bucket list with my oldest son. Best wishes - Mike

[rdnck]

Just remember--if you don't use a BPCR to take your caribou, it doesn't count. Shoot straight, rdnck.

[Yellowhouse]

Wow, so you do float out! Ah, to be younger!

[mdeland]

Hunt alone with a BPCR in this country and there is a fair chance you will become bear crap. It happens enough as it is with practical modern game rifles and ammo. Personally for serious game hunting up here I prefer a .338 and Hornady or Nosler game bullets. Save the BPCRs for what they are better suited for, competitive sport.

[mdeland]

I'll be 70 this fall Sam, so I ain't exactly a spring chicken!

[mdeland]

I remember another fly in float out trip for Dall sheep many years ago in the Nebessna area. A flying out fit ( I forget who they were) out of Northway flew in our rafts and landed on the river bank in a 206 with Tundra tires. Looked pretty goofy on a tricycle landing gear plane but it did work for them. Must have been some real drag with three of those large tires plowing through the air.
All four of us got rams and mine is on the wall behind me as I type this. Only ram I ever got although I have passed up a few smaller ones. Can't get up the hill any more and keep up with the young bucks. Raft hunting is more my speed these days as it does most of the work and you can take some comfort with you. Sheep hunting requires only necessities .......... Good lungs, heart and legs and what you can carry on your back up the hill.

[Lumpy Grits]

Mdeland-Have the very best of time
Please take lots of pictures, and post up a trip report.
Gary

[rdnck]

Mdeland--we have a very different opinion about rifles and their capabilities. If you would learn how to load a 45-110 or a 45-70 correctly and LEARN HOW TO SHOOT IT, you would have a different take on the matter. FWIW, a 45-70 properly loaded with black powder and the right bullet will easily out penetrate a 338 and shoot through and through any bear in Alaska from any angle. rdnck.

[Michael Johnson]

I have hunted deer, elk, and bison with BPCR. The unit we hunted for caribou had a large healthy grizzly population. We were dropped in by supercub one at a time with our rifles and back packs. No guide, no cabin, we set up a very basic tent camp for ten days. Every morning we would see fresh grizzly tracks outside our camp site. Tromping around in tundra in rainy conditions is not where I want to be toting a 12 pound Shiloh. Like Mike, I brought a bolt action rifle, specifically a Kimber Talkeetna 375 HandH.It weighed 8.5 pounds with a detachable Leupold 1-6 power VX-6 scope. The gun also sports an integral peep sight.I shot my own handloads. It was the camp bear gun. Of the other three hunters, only my son David fully appreciated the capabilities of a BPCR having shot mine at local matches.We each shot a caribou. I shot a mature bull thru the chest broadside, No meat lost.Go on using your 338 Mike, it is a good all around Alaska rifle.Be safe up their with your raft and have fun! - Mike

[mdeland]

You seem to be under the impression that bear usually drop at the first well places shot from a large caliber but this has not been my experience having killed six myself and was present when quite a few more were taken, both black and brown. The 458 Mag won't do it reliably either unless you hit the spine smash a shoulder or brain them. With good game bullets the .338 will go through any bear or bull moose in AK. Done it many times with the Speer 275 grain Hot core and I have two more shots left in the magazine. A heart shot bear will kill you before he expires from blood loss if it takes a notion to. You simply have to cut their wiring to stop them in their tracks and that is hard to do with any caliber or rifle on a moving target.
Elmer Kieth had it right on game guns, large caliber at moderate velocity with a bullet that opens up but stays together. I have had quite a bit of good results with Nosler's, Speer hot cores and Hornady interlocs.

[mdeland]

Yeah, in the area we hunt (zone 3 of Unit 20-E ) we can take three black bears ,two Grizzly and either sex Caribou this year. Guess the 40 mile herd is doing quite well these days. Residents don't even need a tag for Grizzly in this unit there are so many.

[beltfed]

I agree about the intelligent carrying of a modern heavy caliber repeating rifle for that "what if" bear.

Years back, I built myself a "what if I ever get an all expense paid trip to Alaska or Africa" rifle.
It is a Rem 700BDL rebarrelled with a No 3 weight, caliber 375 H & H IMPROVED, bedded and cross pinned.
Shoots a 300 grain bullet at 2750 fps.
Only game experience with it: I shot a deer with it from up above it at close range. Speer 235gr , clocking 2900
Thru penetration, BUT: Later, I found the perfectly mushroomed Empty jacket in a rib chop I was eating.
It was only the core that went on thru. Bad choice of bullet-- too much velocity for that bullet.
beltfed/arnie

[Michael Johnson]

300 grain Swift A-frame in a 375. One tough bullet.Craig Boddington recommends them on Cape buffalo.

[mdeland]

I built my current big game rifle too on a worked over 98 Mauser action. It is a wild cat of my design made on a Rem .280 case blown out with 40 degree shoulders. Most efficient .338 I have ever seen or heard of. It will push a Nosler 210 grain partition a bit over 2900 fps without crazy pressure. My cases last longer than does my .338 Winchester Mag, Ruger 77. Killed quite a few bull moose and a few bears using the 275
Speer hot core with that rifle before making this new one.
I also made a pop up peep with a ramped partridge front . If the 1x4 Luepold scope should go TU the scope comes off and the rear scope mount has a flip up aperture regulated for dead on at 50 yards.

[jackrabbit]

I built my current big game rifle too on a worked over 98 Mauser action. It is a wild cat of my design made on a Rem .280 case blown out with 40 degree shoulders. Most efficient .338 I have ever seen or heard of. It will push a Nosler 210 grain partition a bit over 2900 fps without crazy pressure. My cases last longer than does my .338 Winchester Mag, Ruger 77. Killed quite a few bull moose and a few bears using the 275
Speer hot core with that rifle before making this new one.
I also made a pop up peep with a ramped partridge front . If the 1x4 Luepold scope should go TU the scope comes off and the rear scope mount has a flip up aperture regulated for dead on at 50 yards.

So it's a 338-06 with an improved shoulder?

Isn't there some kind of Alaska hunting forum where you guys can brag about your hotshot wildcat smokeless rounds? BPCR rifles interest me and most of us on here. Let's hear about hunting with them. Rdnck is right, the old rounds will penetrate just as much and can be just as effective. What do you think the old dead guys used to settle Alaska, feed the miners, and defend themselves from huge bears?