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"Ghosts of the Tundra" As a kid, I could remember on TV seeing those magnificent racks on the caribou. They fascinated me as they swam across wide rivers with strong currents and walking across the tundra on their seemingly endless migratory mission. I’ve always wanted to see the Great North known as the tundra, with its sacred landscape looking like a road map from endless amount of caribou trails left from the migration. I dreamed of the day that I would go to the northern tundra in quest of the spectacular Quebec Labrador Caribou. A lifelong dream became reality last year, as Mirage Outfitter invited me to come up to Northern Quebec to hunt and film the caribou for my TV show, A-Way Outdoors as seen on the Outdoor Channel. I invited my best friend Fred Abbas (my father) to come along and film the hunt, as he too had never seen the tundra. My father is always given first choice to film my hunts, not only out of love and respect, but also because he works for food. I enjoy my father’s company, but most of all I want him to see things he has never seen before age catches up with him. He saw the Idaho Mountains up close and personal for the first time. Which about killed him, but that’s another story! Our trip started by jet aircraft out of Saginaw, eventually ending up in Montreal via Detroit. From Montreal we boarded a twin-engine prop plane destined to a place known as LG-4. Most caribou hunts usually take place in northeast Quebec out of the Scheffersville area, where the vast majority of outfitters guide. We, however, flew more north by northwest, past James Bay and out to the Hudson Bay area to hunt the Leaf River heard of Quebec Labrador Caribou. Mirage Outfitter is only one of about three outfitters that guide this area. There were no other hunters to be seen at any time other than our group. Upon reaching LG-4 we were greeted by Mirage Outfitter part owner Louis Bazin, who drove us 40 minutes to the Mirage Base Camp. This place was nothing but first class all the way. The complex was huge offering gas, electric, TV, hot water, showers and dining room that can accommodate over 100 guests at one time. We had grilled steak dinner the night before flying out to our outpost camp via floatplane the following morning. As we flew two hours further north, the land quickly became barren of trees and we started seeing the road map looking trails left by the caribou which got us excited. Occasionally we would see a black bear, which stood our like a sore thumb. Excitement grew as we saw our first group of caribou marching single file on their forced march. After arriving at base camp we were greeted by Lily, our camp cook for the week. The outpost camp had more comforts of home than I would’ve expected. We had electric generators by day, hot water, fuel oil for heat, comfortable bunk beds, and three meals a day with a four-course dinner. (Plan to put on weight from this trip if you go!) We were scheduled to hunt the next morning. Although there were groups of caribou near our camp that were accessible by boat, the giant migration was further north as determined by radio collars and tracked by satellite (love that technology). Being that we were on the Deluxe Plan, (which is the price of most guides regular plans) we were flown by helicopter into migration. WOW! Thousands of these white ghosts dotted the tundra below. My heart raced just thinking about seeing these magnificent animals up close. After landing, our guide, Dennis, motioned us to follow him. As he did not speak much English, although the other guides did, we communicated through single words and hand motions. Dennis quickly evaluated the snowy terrain and had us set up along migratory trails on a high hill so we could see the animals coming up, so we could make a move on them as need be. What a sight to see, these large animals walking by us anywhere between 5-40 yards. For the most part, the caribou didn’t seem to see us, as long as we stood still. As there were few trees and few large boulders we had little or no cover to hide in or behind, but it didn’t really matter. The early October wind was hard, cold and constant with nothing to break it, except our bodies. The wind blew straight toward the caribou but our Scent Lok suits did the job, as we remained relatively undetected except when we moved. Even then the caribou would stop briefly to look at us out of curiosity before moving on again. I would have filled my bag limit of two caribou within 15 minutes had Dennis not been with me, because there were so many large racked animals walking by at all times. He wanted me to shoot two record book animals. My Bushnell Binoculars and rangefinder were my best friends, as we were always glassing at potential trophies and determining ranges of the current trails they were using for a potential shot. The caribou hooves make a distant clicking sound as they walk and the bulls make a grunting sound as they follow the cows. I played with them on occasion, by grunting on my Bow Grunter Plus. With the extender extended our half way and on a buck setting, it perfectly imitated their grunt. When the bulls heard it, they would stop to look. This was valuable information that would come into play shortly. Dennis spotted a large bull at a distance and pointed. As I looked through my binoculars at the magnificent animal that was 200 yards away and closing, all I could see was rack. “Wow”, was my first thought. He was so wide. My goal was to get a really wide one, and one with many points. Here was the wide one. The trail he and his cows were on would bring him 20 yards downwind of me. As he came over the incline and the cows passed, I could finally see the tips of his massive rack. Dennis quickly fluttered his hands back and forth, meaning this was a “so-so” bull; leaving it up to me. This bull more than met my own requirements, so I drew back my 70-pound Alpine bow. I gave a double grunt on my Bow Grunter Plus to stop him, and shot. The Game Tracker Carbon Express Arrow (tipped with a 100 grain Muzzy) found its mark behind the shoulder of the white caped bull, and passed through him. The mighty 350-pound tundra ghost ran up the hill with the rest of the herd before dropping 60 yards away within our sight. Handshakes were in order along with the excited laughter and smiles that followed. As I walked up on the bull, I was in awe by the size of the animal and its rack. Surely a record book animal that I was very pleased with, I later found large racked animals of this class to be fairly common over here. After a break for lunch and watching hundreds of more animals walk by us, it was time to hunt again. Now that I had my wall rack (50 inch inside spread), I would now be waiting for a bull with a lot of points. Big bull after big bull passed by. When I saw one that I thought was a taker I would ask Dennis “yes or no?” and point, he kept saying “no.” As I was looking at a group of caribou to our left, Dennis tapped my shoulder while pointing to the right while excitedly exclaiming “we-we!” (yes-yes). I looked and saw nothing but a rack full of points moving past me. Quickly I drew my bow and gave my best yardage guess before releasing the arrow. The arrow once again found its mark at 33 yards on the quartering away animal. He ran down hill about 100 yards before falling. That caribou was a monster in anyone’s book- especially mine. One of the guides in camp was a Safari Club scorer and green scored both animals for me. The minimum score to make SCI record book with a bow is 295 on the Quebec Labrador Caribou. My first bull scored 365 and the second scored 399. The big treat, however, was the meat. We ate some caribou back straps and eggs for breakfast at camp. Caribou is the best wild game I have ever eaten. Typically what to look for in a record book animal is a lot of top points with at least two of them being over 12 inches per side. Beam length also is important, so the caribou racks that go back then curve forward are desirable. The beztines that extend over 18 inches and have many bear claw looking points are desirable too. Double shovels will get you more points, but are not deducted if there is only one shovel. However, double shovels on the larger animal are not common. Finally, look for mass on the upper portion of the rack. Width is nice, but not the first thing to look for. Tall top points, long main beams, and long bez tines are more important to look for. Mature bulls will also have white capes with a longer chest mane or beard, while the younger bulls’ capes are more of a tan color. Truly this was a great experience, one that ended far too soon. The barren terrain was absolutely breath taking in pure uninhibited beauty. And to have over a thousand animals walk by in a single day was indescribable and t say the least, incomparable to anything else I have ever hunted. The caribou is an animal made for a bow hunter. There are many animals and the shots are short distance. The whole experience was better than I could have ever dreamed. And to share it with the person who introduced me to the outdoors at age three, my father, was even more special. We will be sharing this experience with you too on A-Way Outdoors, on the Outdoor Channel in July 2002. Chasing the ghosts of the tundra is something that every hunter should experience at least once in their lifetime. The experience will live with you for the rest of your life. For an affordable caribou hunt contact:
Mirage Outfitter (819) 339-3150 |