My brothers and I want to take our pops on a caribou hunt.  Problem is, I have nowhere to start.  Guided, diy, etc.

Can anyone here who has done either method help a brother out for some starting points?  US or Canada is acceptable.

We did two of these caribou hunts about 10 and 15 years ago with my dad. There were six of us hunting together and we did a semi-guided (plus a camp cook) week long trip. We went the first week in September both trips with Explo-Sylva outfitters.
Left from CT and drove up through NY up to Montreal to a staging hotel that we parked and stayed the night at. Next morning about 30 guys in total got onto busses with all out gear and drove to the local airport tarmac and loaded into a medium sized plane with half the seats taken out and our guns and packs were set in large cargo nets in front of us. You are allowed a certain amount of weight including rifles, nothing more can be taken. They are very strict on that because the smaller plane to the satellite camp can only take so much. You can purchase some alcohol and beverages at the main camp that wont count towards your total weight.
Flew about two hours north to the main camp on the edge of a large lake. From there we flew on a puddle jumper another 3 hours or so to our satellite camp. Camp was on a lake with a small cabin for the hunters, a main cabin for the kitchen and meals, and a small shack for the shower and bathroom. Camp had a generator that was on for parts of the day and a Sat phone in case of emergencies.
We opted for the semi guided trip which meant the guide showed us the lay of the land and what direction the caribou would be coming in from. After the kill they would also be responsible for gutting, transporting the animals back to camp, and prepping the meat for transport back to base camp and getting hides ready if you are planning on a head mount.
Camp cooks have been great. They bring all supplies needed for three meals a day, and in my experience they have some of the best stories.
You are technically not allowed to fish in the lakes up there but everyday after lunch we would go on the lake and catch some beautiful lake trout and bring them back for the cook to prepare for dinner. If you want your fish cooked a certain way, bring the necessary ingredients (breadcrumbs, spices)
The hunting was slow most days, you are waiting for a group to migrate through and sometimes the timing is just off. Most days we would take the flat-back canoes across the lake to the north side and spread out enough to cover a very large area and communicating with handheld radios. The weather went from sunny and warm to little bits of rain followed by snow flurries and back to sunny at random parts of the day.
The first trip we didn't see anything till the last hunting day when a heard came through and we got our limit. Guide earned his keep that day gutting, transporting, and prepping twelve caribou in a matter of a few hours. We all helped but it was a huge undertaking.
Second trip we saw one caribou the first day while the guide was showing us around and that was it for the week. We missed the migration but we got some great fishing in. Had a nasty snow storm come in on the last day and we're stuck there for an extra day and a half.
Most of the larger outfitters out there are willing to move hunters to different satellite camps if no caribou are moving in the area and they will fly around looking for them but sometimes they're just not around.
They get us back to the hotel in Montreal and have taxidermist ready to take animals for mounts and processers there that will have your meat cut, packed, and on dry ice by the time you leave the next morning.
We had a utility trailer that we made an insulated plywood shell for that we hauled all the meat for the drive back.
I know im missing a lot of details, let me know what questions you have

Bou populations have been dropping many parts of Canada and Alaska.


Rokslide is a good place to go and Alaska outdoor site.


Been some crazy hunting changes lately for some bou herds here in AK.

Most of the reasonably priced caribou hunts were in Quebec.  Those no longer exist, as Quebec has closed the season.  There is no caribou hunting there any longer, and all the outfitters that previously offered hunts are pretty much now out of business (or at least aren't offering caribou hunts).

You can find caribou hunts in two additional Canadian provinces.  Newfoundland has some surprisingly decent animals, but I hope your wallet is fat:  Basic hunts seem to be $12,000+ and that does not include transportation to the island.  Manitoba also has decent hunts, and are potentially a bit more 'affordable' but I'm not entirely sure that's the right description, since these seem to be $8,000 plus transport.

The days of the $2,000 - $,2500 Quebec caribou hunt are over.....

If you do find and book a hunt, you dont need a massive firearm.  Ive shot a few, and find that Caribou aren't super-tough animals.  I popped mine with a 308 Win and loads that pretty much generated 300 Savage power levels.  I'd be entirely satisfied chasing them with a  .243, 6.5 Creed, 7mm-08 or 270.  Unlike whitetails, thee aren't 'tough' and seem to just stand in shock at the shot, waiting to fall over.  I didn't experience any of the flat out bolting for cover and extreme toughness you can often see when hunting a large bodied northern whitetail...

We did a diy caribou hunt in Alaska this summer. It took 2 1/2 years to plan and get the flights with a carrier we trusted. Here is how it went:

Son convinced wife he wanted to do a caribou hunt with me.
I researched air transporters to figure out who I would trust. Boiled it down to one carrier who was booked out beyond two years. I asked him if he were going to hunt who and he gave me a name.
I contacted that carrier who had an opening in two years. I paid the deposit and started planning.
I had booked for 4 people knowing a couple friends would want to join.
One friend died and I had to find an option. My nephew said he was interested in hunting but had never done it. So, I offered it to he and one of his friends. They jumped at the opportunity!
I did all the planning, gear acquisition and logistics. They split the cost of food, transportation and covered their gear based on my research.
We all met in Alaska and flew to our carriers airstrip.
A carrier can’t guide or tell you where to go. We talked about where others had been going and I decided on a location.
Weather delayed us 1 day getting in so our trip was already behind.
We got in and found caribou immediately.
We waited until the next day to begin hunting per AK law.
We split up and started hunting.
Long story short my son and my nephew both got amazing bulls on day one.
The weather was mixed and the tundra was kicking our asses so we decided to get out.
Weather caused 3 days of delays to get out.

What’s my take away and recommendation?

Do your research and choose a guided or an air carrier. FWIW, I don’t think the diy hunt saved us much money. It wound up being $8-10k pp with the gear we had to buy.
Don’t be surprised when AK throws you a curve ball. Weather up there is unpredictable at best and shit at worst.
The caribou migrations are changing so be prepared to hump your ass off to get within shooting range of a caribou.
Figure out where they want to be and go there.
Get in shape and the. Get in better shape. The tundra will still kick your ass. I am 60 and it flat out whooped me!
Good glass will save you miles of pain on the tundra. The bulls I spotted from 3 miles with my vortex razor hd spotter were worth the hike. The large group of cows at that distance weren’t. Without good glass I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference.
I would absolutely do it again. It was a life changing experience!
The end results:
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Hope this helps. Ask any questions you may have.

State of Alaska just dropped some numbers.

WACH herd took another double digit drop in numbers.

A few other herds have also dropped.

I heard about a major freeze event that hammered the calves. On our hunt we ran into a pack of wolves that numbered 7 adults and 5 cubs.

Not sure what is causing the change but the populations are definitely changing in size and habits.

Ice covering the tundra
Hard to get food
Also kills calves when they are born
Deep snow
Wolves
Being run to much will also make them abort the baby
Too much pressure from all hunters



Chip Hailstone has seen it and asked elder about it. He has passed the info to hunters and state.

AKcaribouhunter is spot on, at this point an alaskan caribou hunt is a crap shoot, just keeps getting shut down. Another option though would be reindeer. some outfitters in Alaska have deals with native lands that allow them to hunt reindeer, they are the exact same as caribou and are free range across and area they just belong to the natives of the area so you purchase a tag from them and not the state. They don't migrate the same routes like our other herds and are just resident to an area, mind you that area can be the size of New York State so were not talking about high fence hunting. That might be a more economical way to go, my buddy has a reindeer concession north of Nome and can put you guys on one. Other than that id try Canada. My buddies outfit is linked below
https://fejesadventures.com/