2017 Journal #2: My Alaskan Caribou Hunt (Photo Essay)

By Mark Kenyon

We circled the ridge-top twice in the tiny Super Cub airplane, swooped down for a landing on the small patch of flat ground off the side of the mountain, and then, at the last minute, pulled up hard and into a 180 degree turn. My heart skipped a beat, I gasped for breath and I held on tight.

And so went the rest of my week in Alaska chasing caribou with Steven Rinella and crew.

It was an experience of epic proportions – unlike anything I’ve done or seen before. And in the end it left me with a couple coolers full of caribou meat, a skull and antlers in the back of my truck, a moose shed, a sore back, a new group of friends, and a set of memories I’ll cherish for a lifetime.

In a couple days we’ll be publishing a podcast in which I go into extensive detail on the whole trip – so we’ll keep things short today. Rather than recap the hunt with words, I thought instead I’d go with images. Enjoy and stay tuned for more on this week’s episode of the Wired To Hunt Podcast and a soon to be published episode of theMeateater Podcastas well.

(Big thanks toGarret SmithandChris Gillfor some of these terrific photos, and to Steve and the rest of the Meateater crew for the invitation, their incredible generosity, and the great memories)

The flight in.

Home for the week.

Each day began with a hike up to a glassing knob, crossing windswept ridges covered in crow berry and lichen.

And then we glassed and glassed and glassed some more.

We watched thousands of caribou move through on their annual migration, giving us plenty of opportunities to pick the right animal to chase.

And finally, we spotted him.

After a flurry of action, running down a mountainside to intercept the group of caribou, I settled in and lined up for a shot.

And I was blessed to be able to walk up on this.

The work had just begun though.

In the end, I couldn’t have asked for a better group of guys to share this experience with. And our last meal, seen here, was unbelievable.

Good times, good people, incredible country and lots of laughter.

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