British Columbia Caribou Hunting Guides and Outfitters in Canada

New World Caribou: Big game like Caribou range from Greenland and the northern coast of North America south to the Canadian border, which include the areas in British Columbia, which is a providence of Canada. Many British Columbia caribou hunts are offered by hunting guides and outfitters in this area whom can offer a variety of guided trips including lodges and cabins. But this big game has all but disappeared from the limits of the borders of the United States from hunting. They were exterminated by hunters in Maine by 1901, but a few herds survived to a later date in the northern part of Michigan. Caribou still are found in good numbers in the remote regions of the Arctic Circle, but the enormous herds of the past are not completely gone to be sure. British Columbia, Canada offers big game like caribou also called reindeer along with many other types of game animals for hunters wanting that guided hunt or trip of a lifetime. European Species of Caribou / Reindeer: This big game animal was domesticated all across Europe. Actually domesticated reindeer / caribou were introduced into Alaska from Europe in 1892 in order to provide food for the native people of the Far North. These people were gradually facing starvation because of the fast-vanishing wild big game from hunts to help feed the population of that area with the meat these animals provided.

Migration of caribou / reindeer from the bleak, open tundra to the shelter of the timber, a distance of several hundred miles, takes place in September or October in British Columbia as well as other areas of Canada, which a guide or outfitter offering hunts for this big game. Each guided service offering different types of trips depending on the sportsman’s needs and plans. During the height of the migration the breeding season, or rut, takes place. The young, either single or twins, are born 210 to 240 days after mating. At birth their eyes are wide open and they are able to stand and nurse almost immediately.

Caribou hunting has been a stable support to the Eskimo and Indian of northern America including British Columbia, Canada for thousands of years as hunts have been carried out just as each Indian was taught by their father. Every part of the caribou is utilized after a caribou hunt – the bones are crushed for marrow and fashioned into knives; the tendons are used as thread for sewing garments; and shoes are made from the caribou hide. The horns are made into fishhooks. The intestines are cleaned, smoked, and boiled for food, and even the blood is used in making soup. Reindeer moos, taken from the animal’s stomach, is considered a delicacy by people of the Far North who call it “Nerrooks” or “Nerrokak”. Reindeer moss in its natural state is indigestible to man but, after being chewed and semi-digested by the caribou, it becomes a highly nutritious food. These people are the best caribou guides and outfitters you could ever want on a hunt, but very few will be willing to help outsiders. But that is worth investigating if you can hire an outfitter or guide of this caliber for a hunting trip.

There are two species of New World caribou, each with several varieties. Many of these big game animals are sought after on hunts by hunting outfitters and guides. The barren-ground caribou, Rangifer arcticus, occupies the tundra of northern Canada, Greenland, and the Arctic islands. It includes some of the smallest varieties like the Queen Charlotte Islands caribou, R. a. dawsoni; the largest – the “Osborn caribou”, R. a. osborni” – from the mountains of British Columbia, Canada; and the mountain caribou, R. a. montanus, of British Columbia and Alberta Canada, nearly as large as the Osborn caribou but darker in color and having more massive antlers. The woodland caribou, R. caribou, is a stocky species with heavy antlers found in southeastern Canada and Newfoundland. One variety, the Newfoundland caribou, R. c. terraenovae, is found only in Newfoundland.

British Columbia, Canada Licenses and Fees

British Columbia, Canada Regulations

Most of these beautiful game animals are worth hunting for on most trips, but keep in mind that some are protected and others are in very remote parts of the world. So planning a guided hunt in those areas may be very costly. The price for each guide or outfitter may vary dramatically and finding out these costs in advanced is advisable while still in the planning stages of big game caribou hunts. Hunting-Trips-R-Us wants you to keep in mind that these companies that we list in our directory are not part of our company and should be contacted by phone to find out what services they offer.