The winter coat is much thicker and longer, consisting of longer, hollow guard hairs and dense curly underfur. Woodland caribou are gregarious, but tend to gather in small family size bands, unlike the barren-ground caribou that herd in the thousands. Woodland caribou are a relatively sedentary race that tend to migrate shorter distances than barren-ground caribou. They are strong swimmers and adept climbers. Communication within the herd is visual, auditory and olfactory.
Caribou have a keen sense of smell, good hearing, but relatively poor eyesight.
Crescentic hooves are an adaptation that helps the caribou move across hard snow packed surface in winter weather. This results in cold resistant, shed proof hoof. The primary food is lichen. It will supplement this with fungi, mosses, herbs, sedges, grasses, shrubs and young tree growth. The rut or mating season is October and November.