Mountain Caribou
Neither wildlife biologists nor game departments are consistent in identifying what we hunters think of as "mountain caribou." However, hunters are at least consistent in identifying our mountain caribou as living in mountainous country, as opposed to tundra. In our hunters' lexicon, mountain caribou are the caribou of western Canada's mountains: Northern British Columbia, southern Yukon and the southern MacKenzie District of Northwest Territories.

On do-it-yourself caribou hunts, make sure you understand the basics of trophy care. Blood will quickly and permanently stain a bull's white cape.

To some degree, caribou hunting is caribou hunting: Glassing, selecting, stalking. And, to some degree, a good caribou is a good caribou, whatever regional grouping it belongs to. That said, there are a couple of things different about mountain caribou. First, the most definitive characteristic of really good mountain caribou are tall beams with extremely strong and multiple top points. Second, hunting them is a bit different.

Not all good mountain caribou have strong top points, but this is one of the things you look for in this variety (in fact, British Columbia's criteria for a "legal caribou" in some areas includes a specific number of top points on at least one side). With mountain caribou you are generally not looking for (and will not find) big herds. Although mountain caribou do migrate from high summer range to lower valleys as autumn progresses, they generally don't follow the massive migration patterns of the other varieties. Typically you'll find them in small groups up high during early sheep hunts. After the snow flies, you'll find them more often in lower valleys.

As with the Stone sheep they share so much of their range with, at one time mountain caribou were the most available of our caribou, at least to those of us in the Lower 48. This was the case clear back in 1973, when I took my first ram, a Stone sheep; and my first caribou, a mountain caribou, on what was then a typical (and inexpensive) combination hunt. Today hunting a Stone sheep is almost as costly as a desert sheep, and the mountain caribou is easily the most difficult of all of our caribou to obtain. Traditionally, northern British Columbia was the place to hunt this caribou. In recent decades (and for reasons that are not altogether clear) BC's population has declined considerably. There are still good caribou, and a few hotspots like the Spatsizi Plateau, but no longer is a good mountain caribou an expected part of the bag in northern BC.

Odds today are perhaps better in southern Yukon and the MacKenzies. In recent years I've seen magnificent mountain caribou bulls in both areas while sheep hunting. The rub: On a backpack sheep hunt, you might see a huge mountain caribou, but if you pull the trigger your sheep hunt is effectively over until all the packing is done. Many sheep outfitters offer mountain caribou hunts (often in combination with moose) down in the valleys after it's a bit too late for sheep hunting among the peaks, and this is probably the best way to secure a mountain caribou today.

Barren-Ground Caribou
The barren-ground caribou of Alaska grow the largest antlers of all the caribou, with the best bulls displaying a beautiful "C" configuration to the main beams. Caribou of northern Yukon and the northern MacKenzie District are also classed as barren-ground, although Alaskan heads easily dominate record books. Alaska literally has hundreds of thousands of caribou in several distinct regional herds, and hunting opportunities are a democratic mix of guided, drop camp and pure unguided. The latter is seductive, but beware: Caribou roam across huge areas, and only in few circumstances can migrating herds be accessed without costly fly-in service.