Boat Caribou Hunting

(by Russ) Brett, Grandpa, Paul and I took advantage of quite an opportunity on Wednesday. We went with native Eskimos Jimmy and Jayson Mills in Jimmy's 20 foot boat about 35 miles upriver on a caribou hunt with some fishing. Boating here is quite an experience and is geared toward going fast over being cautious. The boat had a 90 HP Yamaha which moved the boat very well. Knowledge of the river is critical as all 4 of us would have been lost quickly as the river branches off all over the place. It was impressive to watch and ride with Jimmy as Captain. The river has so many gravel bars I have no idea how we made it 35 miles without hitting bottom once. We wound up past and much nearer some mountains in a feeder creek to the Noatak. We caught 1 trout, 1 grayling, and several whitefish the short time we fished. We idled back towards the village and hunted. Numerous people in the village "caught" caribou that day but not us. They typically leave the racks on the river banks as they are of "no value".

We had great conversation with Jimmy who graduated from UAF and is one of the few from the village that have gone on to get a college degree. He was the first in his family. He told of some of the Eskimo traditions such as eating the bladder raw when they get a caribou. He told a few stories of Eskimo history/heritage. We did not get back until 1030 pm but it was an interesting day and quite an experience. It would have been neat to see Brett get a caribou but it was quite an adventure anyway.