WHAT TO HUNT

[Thebear_78]

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.

40 mile herd numbers are down. I wouldn’t bank on that hunt even opening this year and the competition for that hunt is insane.

 

[D21ALASKA]

I'd say it all comes down to how much $ you want/can spend on it. As already mentioned access is usually the main issue and access costs money to one degree or another.
From a tag standpoint moose is the best bang for your buck. $800 for the non resident locking tag plus the free OTC harvest ticket. I believe you said you're going to be in the Mat-Su. That's Unit 14 and they're moose season is a month long so opportunity off the road system is there. Or north to Unit 20 in the Fairbanks area isn't too far. Seasons vary by unit and subunits so always read the regs obviously.
Opportunity abounds here in the state but better opportunity and fewer people in the area costs money and it adds up quickly. Personally I hunt a non motorized area and when I'm successful it's a mile pack to the boat. An easy mile as moose packs go, but still a mile with heavy moose parts on your back. But most people are lazy and last season is the 1st in 4 years I've seen anyone back near my camp.
If money isn't an issue the world is yours here. If it is like for most of us strap up the boots and go hunting. As I said opportunity is everywhere though success can be elusive.
And if you've never hunted moose before get ready for an "oh s!@$" moment when you're lucky enough to pull the trigger on one and you walk up to it. Even after 20 years I still have the what did I get myself into thought. Though in those 20 years I've only been able haul 1 out of the woods with a machine. All the others have been on my back for at least some distance.
Im sure you’ve seen it but i attached your locking tag fees here for comparison.

 

[IdahoCTD]

40 mile herd numbers are down. I wouldn’t bank on that hunt even opening this year and the competition for that hunt is insane.

There were tons of people when we hunted it as well. We were early and didn't see many people until 3-4 days in, about the time we started seeing good numbers, and then there were people everywhere. It was almost like someone tipped them off that they were accessible.

Personally I'd just go to Kodiak, although it's not cheap either. I think 2 of us paid 2700 for our in and out float plane (206 in and Beaver out). It will get Vince's feet wet in AK hunting and if he has enough spare cash buy a moose tag and wonder around in the woods. 20 years ago we shot a forkhorn bull down near Homer but I think that area is all 50+" now for non-residents. He might meet someone willing to drag him along somewhere.

 

[Vince]

I’m easily drug and willing to be worked like a rented mule.

 

[KinleyWater]

Start saving.

Well, um... okay. Only thing is the wife threatened to live-fire test my hunting loads if I go to Alaska without her. Just wanted to be 100% clear.

 

[KinleyWater]

I'd say it all comes down to how much $ you want/can spend on it. As already mentioned access is usually the main issue and access costs money to one degree or another.
From a tag standpoint moose is the best bang for your buck. $800 for the non resident locking tag plus the free OTC harvest ticket. I believe you said you're going to be in the Mat-Su. That's Unit 14 and they're moose season is a month long so opportunity off the road system is there. Or north to Unit 20 in the Fairbanks area isn't too far. Seasons vary by unit and subunits so always read the regs obviously.
Opportunity abounds here in the state but better opportunity and fewer people in the area costs money and it adds up quickly. Personally I hunt a non motorized area and when I'm successful it's a mile pack to the boat. An easy mile as moose packs go, but still a mile with heavy moose parts on your back. But most people are lazy and last season is the 1st in 4 years I've seen anyone back near my camp.
If money isn't an issue the world is yours here. If it is like for most of us strap up the boots and go hunting. As I said opportunity is everywhere though success can be elusive.
And if you've never hunted moose before get ready for an "oh s!@$" moment when you're lucky enough to pull the trigger on one and you walk up to it. Even after 20 years I still have the what did I get myself into thought. Though in those 20 years I've only been able haul 1 out of the woods with a machine. All the others have been on my back for at least some distance.
Im sure you’ve seen it but i attached your locking tag fees here for comparison.
View attachment 19959

Alien hunting? You can hunt aliens in Alaska? Like, the little grey ones, or the lizards?

 

[salmonchaser]

Vince, did you buy a bug shirt for your Alaska kit?

 

[Vince]

Well, um... okay. Only thing is the wife threatened to live-fire test my hunting loads if I go to Alaska without her. Just wanted to be 100% clear.

She’s welcome too.

 

[Vince]

Vince, did you buy a bug shirt for your Alaska kit?

Got a link to a good one?

 

[D21ALASKA]

Alien hunting? You can hunt aliens in Alaska? Like, the little grey ones, or the lizards?

We're pretty liberal with our seasons and bag limits up here.

 

[D21ALASKA]

Got a link to a good one?

A thermacell is a necessary piece of equipment for most hunting pursuits in my opinion. The regular pads work well for skeeters though not the no seeums we call white socks up here. The new forest or earth scent pads work well for both I found out last fall. It was a bad white sock year too.

 

[salmonchaser]

People do not exaggerate much about the bugs. Some years are worse than others. If you spend a lot of time out with them, like I did guiding, you develope a systemic tolerance to them, to a point. If I was doing a fly out that put me then hiking across the tundra to reach a stream I always wore lots of deeT. Most of the guides I knew who hunted wore a bug shirt. The therma cells work.
The worst bug is the white socks., They bite a hole lay their eggs and then you scratch to let them out. You don’t feel them until after they bite. She is the wife of one of our guides, came up to visit. She’s no too happy

 

[diverdown]

People do not exaggerate much about the bugs. Some years are worse than others. If you spend a lot of time out with them, like I did guiding, you develope a systemic tolerance to them, to a point. If I was doing a fly out that put me then hiking across the tundra to reach a stream I always wore lots of deeT. Most of the guides I knew who hunted wore a bug shirt. The therma cells work.
The worst bug is the white socks., They bite a hole lay their eggs and then you scratch to let them out. You don’t feel them until after they bite. She is the wife of one of our guides, came up to visit. She’s no too happy

Sounds like the Black Flies in Maine. My buddy spent two weeks at his log home in Dover Fox Croft and related that he couldn't leave the house without totally being covered in netting. He used plenty of deet and said they bite like hell.

 

[Vince]

It seems that they’re going to change the regs for deer on Kodiak so that’s out for me this year.

Instead of three deer non residents will be limited to one buck. Seriously looking at moose off the road system. I’m willing to hike and camp out, alone if I have to, but mainly interested in filling the freezer.

Vince

 

[Luis]

I'm an avid grouse hunter. The limit for grouse is generous in AK compared to any state in the lower 48. After you decide which big game you are going to hunt, start hunting grouse - taste better than chicken. I had a friend that lived in Fairbanks that I visited and hunted grouse with him for 8 seasons.

 

[Vince]

I’ve got mosquito net hats, long sleeves, and you’ll be hard pressed to find me in shorts anytime I’m being active. My ugly knees abhor sunlight.

Vince