Alaskan hunting laws

[JPbowhunter]

Well I'm spitting chips that I can't head over to Alaska to diy hunt. I'm never going to be able to afford a dall, caribou or moose hunt through a guide so I'll never get the opportunity in a lifetime.

Come to my state in Aus, pay your license fee and anyone is welcome!

 

[1dirthawker]

JPbowhunter,

I'm never going to be able to afford a dall, caribou or moose hunt through a guide so I'll never get the opportunity in a lifetime.

not true. you need a guide for a brown bear, dall sheep or mountain goat.

you DO NOT need a guide to hunt moose or caribou. a DIY hunt is well within your means if you want to make it happen.

 

[JPbowhunter]

JPbowhunter,



not true. you need a guide for a brown bear, dall sheep or mountain goat.

you DO NOT need a guide to hunt moose or caribou. a DIY hunt is well within your means if you want to make it happen.

Im non resident alien though,

Believe me if I could diy a moose or caribou I'd already be packed!

 

[crudeoildude]

it all boils down to IT IS WHAT IT IS the only thing the same about Africa and Alaska is the A they start with Thank God

 

[Mekaniks]

 

[Von S.]

I have seen people get hopelessly lost in states like Pennsylvania to the point when you find then they are shaking, cold, wet, starving, scared to death and willing to shine your boots with their tongue and they had only been lost for 5 hours.

A topo map and compass is all that is needed.

Without guides in Alaska I believe that the mountains would be littered with the remains of novice hunters and Mossberg rifles.

 

[WAB]

It’s not for everyone that’s for sure, but for those capable and willing, there is no place like it. I did not know that non-res aliens were treated differently than non-res citizens. I learn something new every day!

 

[WAB]

He is absolutely correct, game density and distribution is not what you are used to in the lower 48. I doubt that the road system accesses 10% of the land mass. I was very successful hunting when I lived there but I worked hard at it with plane, boat and backpacking. Hunts tend to be expeditions, not the weekend outings I was able to go on at the last minute in Wyoming.

FYI, those areas you were seeing moose were either closed to hunting or restricted to 50” bulls (or 3 brow tines). You don’t see many of those from the highway.

 

[Bob O]

Alaska also has low animal populations compared to land mass. You can fly over tons of area and not see squat and a lot of people from the lower 48 think animals are everywhere. When you drive from Anchorage to Fairbanks, it takes about 7 hours roughly. You may see about 5 porcupine dead on the road the entire trip.

Interesting. I'm from the lower 48, and I've been to Alaska twice and have seen quite a number of animals in the wild. In 2016 we drove from Anchorage to Fairbanks, and saw eagles and moose within a few hundred yards of the road. On the Kenai Peninsula a lot of moose too. I think it depends also on how hard you look, and how well you can spot animals.

 

[WAB]

I lived in Fairbanks and on the Kenai. I’m not saying there are not a lot of moose, there are and the tourists drove us nuts stopping in the middle of the road to take pics of them. But game density is not what we are used to in the lower 48 when you consider the state as a whole. You did not see 5% of the state with that drive. Hop in a plane, start flying the mountains and the flats, you will be amazed.

 

[Bob O]

I lived in Fairbanks and on the Kenai. I’m not saying there are not a lot of moose, there are and the tourists drove us nuts stopping in the middle of the road to take pics of them. But game density is not what we are used to in the lower 48 when you consider the state as a whole. You did not see 5% of the state with that drive. Hop in a plane, start flying the mountains and the flats, you will be amazed.

That may be true. We did fly a K2 flight out of Talkeetna to tour Mt. Denali, and didn't see much wild game. But we traveled that same area in a tour bus and saw five grizzlies, over ten caribou, countless mooose, etc. So I just think you see a lot more than just porcupine road kill if you pay attention and look around. There is a generous amount of wildlife in Alaska compared with any area in the lower 48, including Utah, Colorado, Arizona, California, and Washington. I've driven around and hunted in all of those states, and I saw more wild animals in just a few days in Alaska than I've even seen down here.

 

[leslie hetrick]

google earth maps can be you friend along with a good compass-topo maps too.

 

[WAB]

I sounds like you had a great trip! It is interesting though, if you think about one instance like the caribou herds. They sound big, when I was there the porcupine herd was doing particularly well. However, I you think that the range of one of these herds is the size of a lower 48 state and they move in a fairly concentrated group covering the entire range over the course of a year, you get the picture. Get dropped at the wrong spot in their range and you will spend a nice week fishing but caribou?? This is where the guides and the diy flight operators really help. They know where the concentrations are and get you into them. Alaska is a big place. I've driven Kenai to Fairbanks many times and the haul road from Fairbanks to Deadhorse half a dozen times. I ran the oil refinery in Fairbanks when it was still there and then the Chemical Plant in Kenai (KNO) after that. I love Alaska, but if you want to hunt or fish Alaska a little local knowledge will go a long way!

 

[Say Man]

Back in the middle of August I had the privilege of getting a Dall Sheep out of Delta. It was a legal ram but nothing big. It was two days into the mountains before we even got to where we were in sheep country and it took two very long days coming out. If it weren't for being a resident that little sheep would have cost me a fortune. Also I am not sure that someone coming up here would realize the amount of effort to get a sheep out without the help of a guide. My pack coming out weighed 126 pounds and that is pretty common with sheep and goats that I have hauled out of the mountains. With a guide they do most if not all the heavy hauling so makes it nice for those that can pay to do it and usually it's to an airstrip. My little jaunt was over 18 miles each way. That may not sound like much but when you consider that it is about 3500' elevation change through thick alders and devils club then you can start to understand.

 

[WAB]

Congrats, that is one tough hunt! What many don't know is that you just got some of the best game meat you will ever eat!

I took a huge ram out of the Brooks Range but we went in with my buddy's supercub. Even that was an 8 mile pack to our camping spot from where we tied the plane down. We hunted from camp, 2,000 feet straight up out of the valley. Coming out with that ram on my back is a grunt I won't forget anytime soon!

 

[Von S.]

It takes a really mountain man to have guy fun like that.

 

[Say Man]

Congrats, that is one tough hunt! What many don't know is that you just got some of the best game meat you will ever eat!

I took a huge ram out of the Brooks Range but we went in with my buddy's supercub. Even that was an 8 mile pack to our camping spot from where we tied the plane down. We hunted from camp, 2,000 feet straight up out of the valley. Coming out with that ram on my back is a grunt I won't forget anytime soon!

Thanks WAB, Yeah those heavy hauls are ones that you remember for better or worse.

 

[WAB]

I once packed a big caribou bull out to the haul road, ~5 1/2 miles in one trip. The pack was so heavy I couldn’t put it down. All I could do for a rest was lean on rocks. By the time I got to the truck my vision was blacking out. I crawled in the back and slept for 18 hours!

 

[Mekaniks]

I once packed a big caribou bull out to the haul road, ~5 1/2 miles in one trip. The pack was so heavy I couldn’t put it down. All I could do for a rest was lean on rocks. By the time I got to the truck my vision was blacking out. I crawled in the back and slept for 18 hours!

Yeah there is not very many people that can pack out a full sheep, goat, or caribou boned out with hide and horns all in one trip. A full grown moose will take 2 people at least 2 trips each....
The reality is that if there is not a guide required for sheep hunts to help share the load, there will be a lot more sheep parts left on the mountain...

 

[WAB]

I am an Alaska resident and I have done lots of DIY hunts. Caribou, Brown Bear, Black Bear, Deer, Moose. But...last year I also took a guided goose/crane hunt. Here is my AH report https://www.africahunting.com/threads/usa-goose-shack-guide-service-delta-junction-alaska.40201/
I didn’t take a Guide because I had to, or that I was just being lazy.... the reality was that I needed a Guide on this particular hunt to be successful . And I have booked with them again next fall.
Sure as a resident I could go try to do it myself, and who knows maybe even have some successs. But these guides actually work their asses off to make clients successful and kill birds. They have rights to private property because the land owners are not keen on everyone running over their ground, and the guides take care of them.
I could also go to Texas and hunt geese DIY, but no way would I risk all the unknown, when I can just hire a Guide and be succesfull while having a good time...
Hunting in Alaska is awsome, just follow the rules, take your best shot at being successful and have a good time.

That hunt report brings back memories! One of my friends runs the other crane/goose operation in Delta on the barley projects. I spent some enjoyable days in those fields. FYI, the Delta Clearwater river has the best grayling fishing I have ever seen. It boils with a hatch of black gnats at 1PM every day Spring, Summer and Fall. The water is so clear you spot the fish by looking for their shadows on the bottom. Take your fly rod if you’re heading back!