www.roanoke.com

If you have done much research into caribou hunting, you probably think it's pretty much one of the slam dunks of big game hunting. Once you get there, the tundra is covered up with animals and the hard part is deciding which bull you want.

Jim Grigsby knows better.

A couple of years ago the assitant city manager for Roanoke booked a trip to hunt in the Northwest Territories. He saw just a couple of caribou and they were miles away. Not that it was a bad trip, but when you commit the kind of time and cash it takes to get up there it's nice to come home with a bunch of meat and a nice trophy or two for your wall.

Well, it turns out the outfitter is so confident in its hunts that it allows hunters who don't have success to come back for "free."

There's a reason "free" is in quotes, of course. I'll get to that in a second.

I met Grigsby for lunch the other day and he told me about his recent hunt. It turned out much different from his first.

The first afternoon they were into caribou immediately. Memories of the last trip still too fresh, Grigsby didn't want to risk another blank, so he shot the first good bull he encountered.

After that he was able to be pickier and it paid off with the great bull above. He and the guide had to haul this thing (quartered, obviously) across a couple of miles of tundra, a real chore. Tagged out, Grigsby got to spend the rest of the stay fishing for northern pike and such.

The trip wasn't exactly cost-free. Yes, staying at the lodge and guiding was gratis. But he had to buy a flight to get there. Buy tags. Pay tips to the guides. And pay shipping for the meat and caped heads of his bulls. The trip ended up costing probably about what it would cost for an outfitted elk or mule deer hunt out west. Not cheap. But for a twice-in-a-lifetime adventure, a pretty good bargain.