Hunting Guide Articles:

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Mulchatna caribou herd offers hunt option

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Field facts

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Mulchatna caribou herd offers hunt option

Generous limit, longer season attracts hunters

By KEN MARSH
Special to the Daily News

The Mulchatna caribou herd has plenty to offer Southcentral Alaska hunters. Animals are plentiful, bag limits are generous, and the hunting season is long and wide-open to resident and non-resident hunters alike. However, this hunt has its pitfalls.

"Access is primarily by aircraft for non-local hunters," says Dillingham wildlife biologist Jim Woolington. "The main transport centers are Anchorage, Kenai, Soldotna, Aniak, Port Alsworth, Iliamna and Dillingham."

Bush charters can be costly and should be arranged well in advance of the hunt.

Woolington urges hunters to do some research. "Call around and find out which transporters offer the best services." And while prices are always a consideration, he advises hunters to be wary of bargain basement packages that may offer limited or substandard services.

To get started, phone air taxi services in Anchorage, Kenai, Soldotna and Homer for direct transportation to hunting areas. Compare prices and services offered to figure out the best deals. Check out air fares on commuter airlines to Dillingham, Iliamna, Port Alsworth and Aniak. Perhaps, for the hunt you’re planning, it would be most cost-effective to fly commercial to one of these jump-off points and charter air taxis once there.

Also, it pays to know just what sort of services your hunt will require. "What kind of hunt do you want?" Woolington asks. "Do you want to float a river, get dropped off on a ridge? And definitely talk to transporters about mid-hunt pick-ups and moves."

Caribou are nomadic, always on the move, Woolington explains. An area swarming with them one week may be vacant the next.

To check up on caribou movements prior to your hunt, phone air taxi operators who frequently fly over your region or call the Mulchatna hotline at 267-2308. Direct calls to area Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Wildlife Conservation biologists can also be productive.

Finally, Woolington warns visiting hunters that some of the larger airlines have implemented new regulations concerning the transport of antlers to the Lower 48. In some cases, antlers must be shipped air freight, rather than as baggage.

Another option available to Southcentral Alaska caribou hunters is the Kenai Peninsula caribou herd. The herd is a conglomerate of several small herds in the Kenai Mountains, the Killey River area and the Fox River region near Homer.

Trouble is, hunters who did not register for drawing permits for this season will have to wait until next year. This year, 250 permits were distributed for the Kenai Mountains region. These caribou may be accessed from the Resurrection Trail system, according to Soldotna biologist Larry Lewis.

Twenty-five permits were issued to hunters for a Killey River hunt where permit holders may harvest one caribou. Forty more permits were released for a hunt allowing the harvest of two cow caribou.

Finally, 10 permits were granted for the Fox River herd out of Homer.

All of the Kenai Peninsula hunts require access to remote areas. In most cases, that means a lot of hiking with heavy back packs.

For hunters willing to travel long distances, the Western Arctic caribou herd, Alaska’s largest, is yet another option. Hunters can reach this herd off the Dalton Highway. "If someone really wants caribou, I would look up north," says Glennallen biologist Bob Tobey. "The bag limit in some places up in the Arctic is five animals. That’s good hunting."