Has any one ever used Cabelas guide service, to book a caribou hunt? I"am looking for all the pro's and con"s. Going to do this once , while I still can, but dont want to be burnt!,

Nope.  Where ya goin?

we hunt in   Caribou, Maine    all the time

Not sure yet, thinking about northern Manitoba

I have hunted Newfoundland and Alaska. I booked the first hunt through an outfitter agent for the Canadian hunt. Newfoundland in the late 80s was alive with game. I don't know how it is now.
  My first trip to Alaska was booked straight through the outfitter. He was know through mutual friends. It was on the Alaska Peninsula and we were again in the middle of good game country.
  The first hunt I ever booked was in Quebec. I chose an outfitter guide out of the back of a hunting magazine. It was a disaster. I ended up guiding my guide back to camp. He had no idea how to even use a compass. He got lost the first time within a half mile of camp.  The cabin was built out of short logs and chinked with sphagnum moss. Half the rodents on the tundra were living in my mattress. He was building a fire in the camp stove, a home made contraption constructed from a grease drum. He had a squeeze bottle of Colman fuel and would squirt it into the fire. Then he would laugh and do it again. One time the fire came back and caught on the bottle, he looked around from side to side in panic, all the while dribbling fire across the floor and under the bunks. I didn't let him do anything after that except wash the dishes. To top it off the area had been over hunted for years. Oh I forgot to mention he didn't speak English. It was a valuable education though and I had a good laugh at my own expense.
 Unless you know someone personally that can vouch for your booking agent or they have an impeccable reputation you won't know what to expect. I would tend to think Cabelas to be on the up and up. Buy all means get multiple references. Even the best outfitter sometimes misses the migration, make sure they will relocate you if the area does not hold game.

OP..I know the owner..his prices are competitive, and he is an excellent guide who cares about his customers......His name is Jim Bickman...

http://www.magnumalaskaoutfitters.com

I read some of the information on Magnum outfitters. They state there is no outside communication once you are in camp.
The outfitters that I have used have always had some way of summoning help. One had a piece of painted plywood. It was yellow on one side, and if you laid it out it meant that you would like an aircraft to stop. It was painted red on the other which meant you had an emergency and any aircraft in the area would stop.
Another left a hand held radio for contacting aircraft in case of emergency.
If this concerns you, you should find out beforehand.
One time we were on a 7 day drop hunt in Alaska. The plane that dropped us off was a maroon colored Beaver. The seventh day came and went, the same with the eighth.  Eventually a blue Beaver with one maroon colored wing came to pick us up. They were float planes and when one was taxiing up the river the water rudder broke and the two collided wings at the dock. The owner had built one flyable plane out of the two and was a little late coming to pick us up. Expect little things like this happen, they probably won't but things like that are part of the fun.

I rented a sat phone on a recent elk hunt for emergencies.  Network innovations was the provider.  It was a nice phone, cost me less than $150 bucks for 2 weeks.  I used very few minutes, most of that was the rental.  It was expensive but for emergencies and the piece of mind was worth it.  I won't go into the back country without one again.

Normally Jim will overfly camp everyday just to keep tabs on his hunters, I also know he has moved hunters if they weren't seeing game as well..and as stated above..rent a sat phone would be a really wise idea...

Most of the outfitters state they have sat phones in camp, great point though!

Do not book throug Cabelas. They are high priced and deliver mediocre results.

I cannot speak about cabelas.  Never used them.  

I've gone to Quebec for winter caribou.  Hunted the leaf river herd on the west side of QC.  I've gone twice and used camps kiskimaastakin.  The outfitter was fine but I will recommend you do NOT go to Quebec for ' bou.

The prov govt really screwed up the seasons.   The George river herd has collapsed so they have messed up all carbon seasons.  This makes no sense...  Or as much sense as cutting new York deer permits because the deer herd in Maine is hurting.  The two herds are hundreds of miles apart.

Under the recent rules the season now starts two weeks later,  on Dec 1.  The only problem is this:  by Dec 1 the herd has migrated through the designated hunting zone and is 150 miles away.  There are virtually NO animals left in the legal zone.  None.  At all.

Over the years a buddy and I have made 8 trips.  The years when the season opened mid Nov were good.  Probably 90% success filling two tags per person.  Since the season change the success rate is less than 10%...

Do not go to Quebec.   Its a fucking scam.  The govt wants to sell licenses but has rigged the season so success is near impossible.

I have a hunt booked with Stoney River Lodge this coming August for caribou.  Taking my 21 yr old son and 17 yr old daughter.  

Never been there, hoping for the best.

Here is another guestion? anyone ever hunt with Jack Hume Adventures?