Of Wolves, Brownbear and Arctic travels

[caribou]

No Wolves were eaten. They are like any Dog/Wolf/Cyote/Fox or Weasel/Otter/Wolverine/Mink/Martin family, "very strong" is a polite word for the smell of the carcass. Weasles family in rut will clear a room faster than a dropped 5 gallon bucket of ammonia.....

Wolves and "Fur" in general are $$ to us. We take the hide and make stuff and double its value.
A really white , large Wolf is an easy 700$, a small grey is an easy 300$...."But" Gas is 7.85$ a gallon and parts are not cheap. With a good rig and 2,000$ on hand for gas and parts its easy enough to ride the thousands of Caribou in their Winter range and make a 20 Wolf run, while staying with my oldest sons place. Start hunting 5 miles from town I just havent had the Need to get so many except a few times, but its been a major source of income for us over the years.

The wife tans them and we make crafts from them, clothes for winter and as raw furs to others who sew, never to a Fur buyer. The good $$ is in making crafts and sewing. Wolf claw necklaces and bags from the heads, mukluk tops for eskimo dancers and Ruffs/trims for clothing. She only sells what she doesnt pick for her needs, or prehaps trades for fur I havent caught and she needs for a project.
Wolf is especcialy usefull as its a very light skin and the fur has the qualitys of being warm to wear and ice does not adhere to it. You can brush off frost, snow and ice before going into a dwelling and the fur will be dry inside, as even a breif venture into the warm in winter will soak you if you dont have it beat outta your clothes. Wet fur ruins and sheds as well, and since Wolf, Wolverine and PolarBear all have these charcteristics they are cut thin and used to trim clothing, as wetness from people is generally where it escapes, from the cuffs, hem and the hood. Also, alotta people take their paras off in the storm shed, where they stay cold, and enter the house with their regular stuffs on. We do the same with guns, so they dont warm up and "Sweat" on the metal.

Hers a Caribou Parkee my daughter is making these last few days, and most likely It will get the first (and Best) Wolfs ruff and trims when its done.
Our oldest daughter has decided to join the Miss Arctic Teen contest in Kotzebue this summer during the 4th of July celebrations.
Shes decided to enter sewing as her best skill, and is hell bent with her mom over the last couple days tanning skins to git 'er done.
They started with a couple three of last summers august Hides, perfect for clothing......and I worked them soft, but the ladys did the final scraping and sanding, with sand paper and a pumice stone.












Moms getting the sineiw twisted into threads, and plenty of 'em.












Will some time soon look like this little girls parkee, who also awaits a decision on trims and ruff.....


Here is one with a Wolf ruff, but no lower hem of cuff trims added yet.

 

[788Ham]

Caribou,

Thanks for sharing, beautiful clothing your wife and daughter make, very envious of your time up there. Nice bear also, might make one heck of a coat! LOL Be careful and thanks again.

 

[GWARGHOUL]

GWARGHOUL, out of curiousity, how do you feel about coyote hunting or hunting fox?

I'm old school. If you aren't going to use it, or eat it, don't kill it.
Obviously Caribou does both, and I respect his skill and use of the animal.

I realize that hunting is an important part of conservation, in the healthy population management aspect.

Seeing as both Foxes and Coyote are in the Canidae family, I personally could not bring myself to shoot one. But thats me. I'm certainly not going to try and impose my beliefs on anyone who is not ill-intended.

To be honest, with all due respect, its the people that hunt these creatures (the more intelligent, and highly family/pack oriented) for "pleasure"... that bothers me. They are of more brilliant use left alone, or managed where need be by folks that will make use of the animal.

I would be absolutely upset to see a stuffed and mounted Wolf, Fox or Coyote here in Missouri. Because we don't have healthy populations of any.

We barely have any cat population left, and it seems every-time one is spotted, its killed.

I don't want to get attacked, or insulted etc.
You asked me a question, I gave you an answer. If I'm missing something, or somehow have a ethical flaw, I am open to discuss that in a constructive manner.

Just FYI.. I just went through the mandatory hunter's education class to be able to hunt deer and turkey. So I'm not the "anti hunting tree hugging" as someone else crudely thought of my words.

 

[KodiakBeer]

Awesome stuff Caribou!

 

[shiftyer1]

I have to say caribou the doing what you do just makes me sick............with envy I've always wanted to give Alaska a try but I don't think it'll happen aside from maybe a visit. My son has a huge interest in Alaska and I hope he can experience even a little bit of your lifestyle. He's been hooked on bears after seeing several in yellowstone.

 

[IdahoLT1]

I'm old school. If you aren't going to use it, or eat it, don't kill it.
Obviously Caribou does both, and I respect his skill and use of the animal.

I realize that hunting is an important part of conservation, in the healthy population management aspect.

Seeing as both Foxes and Coyote are in the Canidae family, I personally could not bring myself to shoot one. But thats me. I'm certainly not going to try and impose my beliefs on anyone who is not ill-intended.

I can respect your opinion. At least you stand up for what you believe in.

I realize that game needs managed and some have very little use or bad tasting meat like whistle pigs or coyotes. The only thing of good use on a coyote is its hide. The only good use from a whistle pig is a decent compost. If the coyote populations grow because they arent harvested, wild bird populations be expected to decline. Theres also a direct correlation between whistle pig population and crop damage.

To be honest, with all due respect, its the people that hunt these creatures (the more intelligent, and highly family/pack oriented) for "pleasure"... that bothers me. They are of more brilliant use left alone, or managed where need be by folks that will make use of the animal.

I can agree with that. Im in themiddle on Idaho's wolf issue. They do have some good for the State. An example would be the amount of erosion on river banks in Yellowstone has declined and amount of vegetation on the the banks increased because wolves keep the Elk herds moving. This has caused wild fish populations to increase because the vegetation creates shade for the river, thus cooling it.

But, as I said before, any game animal that isnt protected, needs managed. I like the wolves here but they need managed just like any other animal.

I would be absolutely upset to see a stuffed and mounted Wolf, Fox or Coyote here in Missouri. Because we don't have healthy populations of any.

We barely have any cat population left, and it seems every-time one is spotted, its killed.

We have an over abundance of coyote here. Their populations are so large, they are considered a non-game species. Theres no season, no limit and can be harvested in almost any manner.

I don't want to get attacked, or insulted etc.
You asked me a question, I gave you an answer. If I'm missing something, or somehow have a ethical flaw, I am open to discuss that in a constructive manner.

Just FYI.. I just went through the mandatory hunter's education class to be able to hunt deer and turkey. So I'm not the "anti hunting tree hugging" as someone else crudely thought of my words.

Wont get any from me. We both have a similar philosophy, just different ideals and theres nothing wrong with that.

 

[caribou]

Glad you like 'em.



Indeed, I keep no trophys myself (what would I do with em?~LOL!~), but I have alotta Muskox and Sheep heads , as well as antlers of all sorts, bones from whales and such, for raw materials for arts and crafts work for the wife, she carves, draws, sews and such...., laying in piles outside, both pick ups and what I brought home from meats, all to be used to beautify the world someday.

Alaska is a great place to see, for sure, and i dont have to leave the state in order to see new country.

Someday, H&H hunter, I bet you find yourself back up this way a huntin'........ never know, maby find me, and shoot the Moon

 

[shaggy430]

I've got to say that I have much respect for the Mosin after seeing what you are able to do with it repeatedly.

 

[Cob]

Idaholt, What is a whistle pig???

 

[IdahoLT1]

Idaholt, What is a whistle pig???

A ground squirrel. Not a squirrel like the ones with bushy tails. They're like a miniature gopher. They dig hundreds of holes and tunnels that can spread over acres. They're mostly out west or in the central plains. We call them whistle pigs because the make a high pitched call(sounds like a loud but short whistle) when they detect predators.