The Outfit -- Safari Nordik
For over 25 years Safari Nordik, has provided caribou hunters with the best access to North America's most substantial caribou herds: the Leaf River and the George River herds. The Leaf River herd, with a population in excess of 550,000 and 450,000 for the George River herd, offer big game hunters a once-in-a-lifetime caribou hunting experience.
Inexplicably, the steady drone of the Otter's engine had put me in a creative zone. There I was, working on my next book while flying in a hard working air taxi on floats. A new experience? No doubt. The Eastman contingent of me, Guy and Mike Eastman were on the last leg of our journey North. Despite the frequent dips and bumps that are typical of such flights, oblivious to my surroundings I typed away rhythmically, as we flew low over the land on the hour long flight from Kujjuaq, a very small town in Quebec to one of Safari Nordik's remote caribou camps.
Crunching the Numbers
In my mind, by the time the Otter's floats kissed the waters near Camp Vanessa, we were already behind the eight ball. You see we were weathered in at Kuujjuaq for a day after our arrival from Montreal as rain and fierce winds had bush planes grounded. Being stuck and loosing a day of hunting on what I already considered to be a short hunt is as bad as it gets. We were scheduled to have five days in the field and we'd already lost one. Twenty percent of our hunting gone just like that.
As a deep thinking backcountry guy, it seems I am obsessed with numbers. Bowhunting means a lot to me and suffice it to say, I spend a fair amount of time thinking about what it takes to be successful. As a public land D-I-Y bowhunter from way back what consumes me is the steep odds guys like us face. This is why when I plan out my own hunts, I give myself 10 days, which will hopefully be enough time to overcome all the pitfalls associated with backcountry bowhunting. And, be rest assured, I have the stats of all my epic backcountry adventures to which my “numbers” are derived. My paranoia is not random – it is a simple math equation.
Tough hunting, bad breaks and high-strung animals are a few of the reason I like to have a week plus to tackle those typical bowhunting challenges head on. There are simply so many ways to fail in the backcountry. It gets tougher yet when our “script” included filming the three of us taking two bulls each as part of this season's new Eastmans' Hunting TV line up. The “Filming Factor” adds a degree of difficulty that if worked in, would likely cause me to give up bowhunting on film altogether.
Bucking the Odds
After giving our bows a once over and firing a half dozen arrows to make sure we were still dialed in, me and Guy with our compound bows and Mike, with his recurve, headed to the hills with our guide, Carl. The nice thing about Quebec is that hunting the same day you fly is permitted unlike Alaska, which requires hunters to wait until the next day before heading out.
Timing is everything with caribou regardless of when or where you're hunting. Being migratory animals in nature, as a caribou hunter all a guy hopes for is that he hits it right. After a couple hours in the field it quickly became evident we did not hit the peak of the migration. We were seeing animals and a few bulls, but were not covered up by any means.
After a few hours of steady humping over the tundra, finally our glass revealed a great bull. The animal was bedded on the top of a ridge about a mile and a half from our position and even at that distance it was clearly evident his tops were amazing. Lots of long points just the way we like them. Quickly a plan was made to close the distance. The four of us, with cameras and bows hustled over boulders, around lakes and forged rivers towards the bull. It took us about on hour to get within a couple hundred yards. Everything was coming together perfect as the wind was right and by this time the big bull was up and feeding towards us. Once it was clear that the bull would be passing by outside of Mike's recurve range, I set up an ambush with Guy on the camera just off my shoulder. We crawled as quickly as we could using the contour of the land to knock a few yards off. It was now or never. I rose up, eased the bow back, locked my sight pin on the ribs of the quartering away bull and dropped the string.
The shot felt good and was, as the arrow hit behind the bull's last rib and angled forward just like I had envisioned. We had seen one truly magnificent bull so far on the hunt, hatched a plan to get within bow range and made it happen. The first day of the hunt was in the books. I had one chance so far and made good on it, numbers be damned.
Day two found us skipping over the water on a crisp, cool morning as we headed toward the other side of the expansive lake and new country. Mike decided to go another direction today with guide, Michael Cantrell, out of Wyoming himself and fellow hunter, Johnnie Boylen, a Utah transplant now working in Rock Springs. The Wyoming contingent ended up having a great day hunting and videoing as Johnnie, who proved to be a deadly bowhunter on this trip, put a good bull on the ground. His second. Two days of hunting and he was T.O.'d (Tagged Out). Mike Eastman still hadn't found the right bull in the right position to unleash the recurve so for him, the hunt continued.
Guy, Carl and I experienced a banner day of backcountry bowhunting the wild artic. After covering a few miles on the tundra by leg and 100's of miles with our glass, we had finally found a big bull and were closing in. With hearts racing, we were soon in bow range. With each painstaking step, we closed the distance down. Without notice, the bull was up and alert. Likely a swirling wind compromised us. Guy hissed, “How far,” as he came to full draw. Steadying the camera, I no sooner had answered his query than the arrow was on its way, arcing towards a great Quebec-Labrador bull. The arrow cut through the bull like a knife through butter and after a quick burst there was little doubt the bull was fatally hit. His demise came quickly and Guy had tagged his first Pope & Young bull of the trip. Two opportunities, two great bulls? Unbelievable.
We quickly broke the bull down and the bank of a pothole, looked at our watches and figured that since there was still plenty of day left, we may as well keep on truckin'.
Heading deeper inland, we broke for lunch at the top of one of the highest high points. From there we could glass many miles of tundra. Soon enough all of our binoculars were focused on a hill two miles away. It was there that a monster fed. Even at the distance we were at, there was little doubt he was special. The beast looked cartoonish-wide and appeared to have everything a guy looks for in a trophy caribou with good bottoms and heavy tops. We shouldered our packs and lined out towards the bull.
We closed down to about 300 yards fairly easily. But, all you bowhunters know, this is when it starts getting tough. Bothered by the unrelenting black flies he ran over a knoll and stopped, in a position that I thought would still allow me to close in.
With Guy following, camera at the ready, I slowly crawled toward the unsuspecting bull with the wind blowing steadily in my face. He was standing, seemingly relaxed, out of the bugs, with his head down about half-mast. By using a small patch of brush, I kept on. Guy held up at about 80 yards opting to video the action from there. I slowly eased forward on hands and knees, staying as low as possible. Reaching the brush I had used to shield my approach I pulled up my rangefinder and bounced the laser off the bull of a lifetime. The reading left a smile on my face -- 37 yards.
Hunched behind the brush, I bent the bow limbs back and came to full draw. Once anchored I rose up as high as I could on my knees to get the arrow over the shot sabotaging tentacles of brush, held my 40 hard on the unsuspecting bull's heart and slowly squeezed the release. The arrow pinwheeled him. He didn't go 100 yards before crashing to the tundra. Wow, what an experience. Classic spot and stalk just the way I love to do it.
Approaching the fallen monarch we were amazed not just at the overall size of his antlers, but the width was surreal. Guy quickly announced, "That is a Boone & Crockett bull." I didn't know about that as I am not the caribou expert he is, all I know is he was a heck of a bull for me and I was pumped. The only negative, we were about seven miles from the boat and now had two bulls down. In the end it was a good hard day of caribou hunting -- dinner never tasted so good.
Day three began like the others, with a brisk boat ride, and ended like the others, standing over a big bow killed bull. Again, to find opportunities we had cover some ground, which was fine. We forged on through the morning hours, humping it over the tundra and were rewarded for our efforts.
Far off on a distant ridge a huge bull fed. Training our optics on the bull Guy offered up a bulletin board quote, “That bull looks like he has garbage can lids on the top of broom sticks.” In a half hour's time we were positioning ourselves in front of the feeding bull. As he fed towards us, just at crunch time the wheels started to come off. I manned the camera as a lesser bull spooked and what we thought was going to be a chip shot turned into something much different. The bull spooked a bit before hesitating at a touch over 50 yards. Guy came clear of the brush, pinned in and sent an arrow on its way. His razor sharp broadhead let the air out the bull's lungs and the brute went down on film. Awesome. A perfect cap to what I would call a perfect hunt.
In Conclusion
When it was all said and done, Guy and I walked many miles, found four big bulls, closed into bowrange and made good on all four opportunities. Four for four and all in three days of hunting! And, to think, this was done during a time that might be considered slow hunting for the folks at Safari Nordik.
On this hunt, above all, I learned that numbers and statistics might not tie in directly to bowhunting success as I've always surmised. Or maybe they do and we just got real lucky?
Heading North?
For those interested in a classic caribou adventure (FYI - you can choose your weapon on this hunt, rifle or bow), contact: Martin or Bernie toll free at 1-800-361-3748, 639 Labelle Blvd., Blainville, Quebec, Canada J7C 3H8. Tel.: (450) 971-1800, Fax: (450) 971-1771, email, info@safarinordik.com
It's All Included, Except...
Fishing and game licenses.
Sleeping bag.
Fishing gear.
Transportation of game from Montreal to final destination.
Airline change fees for rescheduling flights if needed.
Air travel to Montreal.
Success...Guaranteed
In 2003, Safari Nordik proudly introduced the first fully guaranteed hunt in the caribou outfitting industry. What their guarantee states is that hunters will have an ethical chance to harvest at least one bull caribou or they will receive an immediate 50% refund or a free return trip.
It should be noted that for 25 years, every caribou harvested with Safari Nordik has been done so sportingly while respecting the fair chase ethics by which Safari Nordik and hunters live by.
Pricing
2007 full week package price, $5,445 + license cost
