WHAT TO HUNT

[Vince]

Moving to Alaska and wondering what I should hunt as a non resident?

My first year there I will have to hunt as a non resident so cost of tags is a consideration. I was thinking caribou and maybe black bear to fill the freezer for the first year. I will also be doing some fishing.

What would y’all recommend for the first year to fill the freezer?

Vince

 

[jimbires]

I like Caribou meat . if I were in your shoes I'd be trying to get tags for them .

 

[gerry]

Caribou and black bear if they haven't been into rotten salmon sounds good. Bear meat is great when they eat clean like grass and berries. Are blacktailed deer an option for you?

 

[salmonchaser]

Needs to get himself posted out on Kodiak! In my opinion Caribou in the rut eat as bad as bears on fish. Otherwise bou is very good. Moose is better.
Learn the sockeye swing, Haven’t bothered to check what the daily limit is this year but given history it will probably go to 10. Best eating of the salmon. Easy to catch once you figure it out.
Ptarmigan and grouse. Ptarmigan are the best eating game bird ever,
Have fun Vince

 

[DrMike]

Needs to get himself posted out on Kodiak! In my opinion Caribou in the rut eat as bad as bears on fish. Otherwise bou is very good. Moose is better.
Learn the sockeye swing, Haven’t bothered to check what the daily limit is this year but given history it will probably go to 10. Best eating of the salmon. Easy to catch once you figure it out.
Ptarmigan and grouse. Ptarmigan are the best eating game bird ever,
Have fun Vince

I do agree with you on caribou. I've never enjoyed one taken in the rut, but at other times I've found the meat to be tolerable.

 

[Vince]

Caribou and black bear if they haven't been into rotten salmon sounds good. Bear meat is great when they eat clean like grass and berries. Are blacktailed deer an option for you?

At $300/Tag I’d need six to fill the freezer.
Thinking caribou or moose is a better option.

Vince

 

[gerry]

Caribou before the rut in August or early September is excellent. I would imagine the winter hunt up north will be long after the rut and the meat should be good again. If you are able hunt moose that would be an excellent way to fill the freezer.

 

[Thebear_78]

Caribou is going to be tough. Numbers are down in road accessible herds. Unless you go up the haul road and hike the mile off the road. Access is tough for caribou without flying out or. Getting a boat to drop you off somewhere. Black bear is available and doable for a walk in off the road option. Moose is going to be the most easily accessible from the road system.

One thing you will find about a
Hunting in Alaska is that access is a bitch, and what is easily accessible is over run with competition. A boat or atvs will help but the biggest obstacle is going to be getting to the animals, the price of the tag is pretty small compared to the rest of the costs.

A. Drop off hunt on kodiak for black tails isn’t a bad option with a good chance of success for the money sent.

 

[jimbires]

I like Caribou meat . if I were in your shoes I'd be trying to get tags for them .

I've only hunted caribou that one time . the hunt was northern Quebec . I would have hunted the last week of August . I drove home on Labor Day , from this hunt . I'd say it was before the rut . some of the caribou that were taken were soft horned .

 

[salmonchaser]

In the lower 48 most of us feel we might be onto something if we get three miles or so off the road, go 10 to 15 miles and you’ve pretty much gone as far as you can go without getting closer to the guys coming in from the other side. When I guided up there I would routinely fly 40 or 60 miles just to fish, from our lodge which was 300 miles off the road system. As Tbear points out access is a bitch.

 

[Vince]

Kodiak for deer in November/December sounds good. Been researching it.

Anyone want to go with? Also looking at Adak for caribou since they have a year ‘round season on cows.

Looks like Kodiak will be similar to hunting coues deer so some of my desert skills will transfer to Alaskan hunting. Plus being later in the year it doesn’t look like I’d have to climb high for deer.

Cowboyed in Colorado years ago. Headquarters was at 9,000 feet so I’m familiar with having to layer up my clothing and being a medical professional I’m aware of hypothermia.

My days of doing, “Here, hold my beer and watch this;” are long behind me. I know my limitations and while I’ve done lots of things that can be considered dangerous I don’t take foolish risks.

Vince

 

[Guy Miner]

One interesting thing I noted in northern British Columbia, Yukon and again in Alaska... There really isn't much of a road network.

Here in Washington and other places "out west" there are so very many old logging, mining and ranching dirt roads to follow... But it seemed like the farther north I went on my drive to Alaska several years ago, the fewer roads that there were. Many places it seemed that there was the main highway, and nothing else.

Puts a different perspective on things, and yes, I've used small planes many times to simply get around in Alaska & BC. Float planes are popular in the north country for a reason! That's simply how ya get around, and yes, it costs plenty...

Oh, and I'd vote for moose if you can make it happen. I can't just walk out and start moose hunting here in Washington, but you can in Alaska!

Guy

 

[DrMike]

Such a majestic beast, and they taste great. A two-year-old just run away from mama provides some of the most tasty table fare imaginable.

 

[ShadeTree]

I'd like to pat that moose on the rump with my meat tenderizer mallet and some seasoning.

 

[KinleyWater]

Kodiak for deer in November/December sounds good. Been researching it.

Anyone want to go with? Also looking at Adak for caribou since they have a year ‘round season on cows.

Looks like Kodiak will be similar to hunting coues deer so some of my desert skills will transfer to Alaskan hunting. Plus being later in the year it doesn’t look like I’d have to climb high for deer.

Cowboyed in Colorado years ago. Headquarters was at 9,000 feet so I’m familiar with having to layer up my clothing and being a medical professional I’m aware of hypothermia.

My days of doing, “Here, hold my beer and watch this;” are long behind me. I know my limitations and while I’ve done lots of things that can be considered dangerous I don’t take foolish risks.

Vince

If I had a couple of years to save up for it, I might take you up on that.

 

[Vince]

If I had a couple of years to save up for it, I might take you up on that.

Start saving.

 

[IdahoCTD]

Honestly 2 Kodiak blacktails are nearly the size of 1 caribou bull. They are pretty big. I'd go to Kodiak with 3 tags and fill the tags. When we went there were deer everywhere and it was 80+ degrees for the first couple days in late August and mid 70's after that. We saw 34 bucks on one hillside. It just depends on how far you want to pack them and how thick of vegetation you want to pack them through. The bucks we shot had tons of fat, even at those temps and that early. As a matter of fact, my buddy shot several times at a really big buck at just over 900yds. That buck was so out of shape he only ran about 100yds and was panting like crazy. His tongue was hanging out of his mouth 6". 1 deer boned out is still 70-80lbs plus the head and horns. Most cow elk and 1st year branch antlered bull elk weigh less than double that. Moose would be better but it's not easy to kill a moose, pack it out, and then have to deal with more meat then one person will eat in 2-3 years. My last bull moose weighed 532lbs in quarters on the bone without the backstraps and tenderloins. A moose backstrap has more meat then a whole coues deer.

You will find out very quickly that hunting in AK is very expensive compared to the western states on public land.

You can hunt caribou out of Chicken, AK on a registration hunt. It's about 30 miles of 4 wheeling through some pretty good bogs and you better take a bunch of gas because that is usually just to the edge of where the caribou are. We typically rode 20-30 miles a day beyond the 30, a lot of it in 4x4. It can end in 24 or 48 hours once the quota is reached. You have to check in to see where the quota is but it's pretty fun and we all shot caribou the last time we hunted it. That is fairly inexpensive for AK if your going to be near Fairbanks. Chicken is close to the Canadian boarder north east of Tok.

 

[salmonchaser]

My first bull from near Tok. Circa 1960

 

[wvbuckbuster]

I have eaten caribou but not moose, but you all have my mouth watering to try some. Dan.

 

[Vince]

Half a bull moose would do me fine for a year.
Been about five years since I last had moose in my freezer.

Vince