Hey guys, any suggestions on a place to do a self guided moose hunt in Alaska. I prefer somewhere around the Brooks Range or SW Alaska.
Thx

Just curios: Is that still possible for non-residents?

non-res can still hunt moose up here unguided. You just have to read the regs and know where you are. Depending on area there can be some restrictions.

Sorry Caracal- Yes Non Resident can hunt without a guide for moose but nonresident Alians must have a guide.

505, Alaska has quite a lot of moose but not many roads. You need to know someone up there with a boat or plane or hire someone. We once hired a guy out of Anchorage with a Beaver to a lake(pond?) west and a little south of Anchorage. We saw a number of small drainages that had moose on the way to the Mulchatna country. But no roads.

check out pristineventures.com for some good info

I suppose a hunter could hunt without a guide in Alaska, not a good idea though. You have a lot of bears there and if you have never been around them much, a guide can keep you out of trouble or save your skin too. It is a big wilderness for sure. There are no walk in roads that I know of and you would have to have 30 days or better to do it as far as walking goes.

The biggest problem I have read about or heard of over the years concerning self-guided moose hunts, is that moose are huge and in Alaska the laws concerning waste of game meat are pretty harsh.

One or two people getting 1100 to 1200 pounds or more of moose on the ground and then salvaging all of the edible meat while keeping an eye out for bears, and not black bears but Big Bears is not something to enter into without a lot of planning and logistics.

"Walk In," isn't a viable option and I'd guess 505 wasn't considering it.

Utilizing an air taxi is the most common way to go and renting some kind of boat from them for the hunt is a smart addition. If the hunters are on a small pond or lake a canoe works well, if a bigger body of water a zodiac w/ outboard.

I'd recommend and have been sucessfull with Bay Air, owned by Tom and Janet Schlagel based here in Dillingham. (907)842-2570. Bay Air operates a Beaver on floats and a Maule on wheels. Another option would be Tikchik Air, owned by Rick and Denise Grant.(907) 842-5841.

There are several B&B's here in Dillingham that cater to tourist hunters and I'd recommend Bill's Bunkhouse, (907) 842-2715 or Beaver Creek B&B, (907) 842-7335. Regardless of where you stay I'd recommend contacting Bill of Bill's Bunkhouse regardingself meat processing, freezing and shipping. Bill has specialized his services in this venue.

Unit 17 (The Dillingham area,) has excellent moose hunting. Wolves and brown bears are also abundant and a hunter may see or hear both while here but they are actively hunted by both resident and non resident hunters.

Roughly speaking if anybodies interested, I believe the best plan would be to fly into Dillingham the last week of the moose season, September 7th thru the 15th. I'd spend the night at one of the above mentioned places and the next morning I'd spend re packing, shopping in DLG and double checking. That afternoon I'd fly with one of the above mentioned operators to a body of water and spend the rest of the day setting up the camp, blowing up the raft/ practicing paddling the canoe and fishing. The next morning begins the hunt. I believe good campfires and dogs assist in dissuading maurading bears and I allways have both in my camp, I've never had a problem. I pee all over the place, burn lots of wood and make no special effort to conceal the human presence where I have the moose quarters hung. The air taxi may or may not pop back in midway thru the hunt to see if you need meat hauled. At the end of the hunt, the meat should end up at Bill's Bunkhouse, stored in his walk in cooler. Bill has accomodation for self processing and he is an agent for shipping back home.

I'd recommend packing light and getting it in your head that you're roughing it for one week and one week only. You don't need trail cameras, multiple changes of clothes, cots, camp chairs, and six cases of beer. The Beaver only hauls 1200#'s and two hunters make half that weight in their stocking feet. You can pack too much and the pilots will instruct you to leave it behind.

I'd be happy to answer any questions any of you might have. I am not a guide/ outfitter, booking agent, member of the Dillingham Chamber of Commerce, or any kind of tourism professional so please don't abuse my time. I'm just some guy that likes to hunt and is willing to help as he can.

Biggest detriment to DIYS is the gear you need and the time and cost of transporting it to where you will hunt.

I would strongly consider some type of outfitted hunt where the outfitter drops you off at an already set up camp and you are own your own at that point.

I've only been to Alaska once, but from what I've seen, Alaska has a tremendous amount of land and very few moose per square mile. Unless you really know where you're going a self guided hunt would likely turn up goose eggs, and I doubt if anybody will tell you where you can go and kill a moose. They're probably going there themselves.

Well spoken, kinda about access too. I've did fly in's on the Innoko that were about 2 gran, called in several bulls. Suffered 6 days of pouring rain, miserable, gortex didn't work, couldn't dry out in several small tents that were provided. Pissed off, arguing with friends, no fun huntin trip. Finally, rain stopped, sun came out, moose were breeding all over the place. I was talking back and forth to 3 different groups, pretty cool. Called in 2 bulls nx morning. Always bring all your own gear (tents, cook gear, canoe, ect). There were several flying services dropping hunters off every mile along the river; pretty packed but lots of moose back then. Most the hunters were back easterners, floated the high water river, didn't see anything. We hiked back into the lakes & sloughs about a mile from river. Called young wolves in with squealers, saw wolverines up close, they weren't scared of my gun even and I didn't shoot any of them either; took picts of them smiling at me, ha.

Suffered from bad weather, got bulls, and only cost about 2 gran, so wasn't bad I guess.

I don't want to be contrary but I don't agree with either of the last two posts.

Sucessful moose hunters need nothing more than a standard backpack hunt gear list. Freeze dried food, light tackle fishing rod, bivy sack or light two man tent, backpack stove, water filter, etc,.....Last year I took quite a nice bull with nothing more than what any average sheep hunter would head into the mountains with. Yes, I have hauled wall tents, wood stoves, mass quantities of beer, cartons of cigarettes, and as many as five, (5) guns for myself into moose camp. No I didn't need it. I do not believe a visiting hunters should show up at the airport in Dillingham with more than one rifle case, one carry on bag and one checked bag. Its only going to last a week. A good tent/ sleeping bag, campfire, tarp used as a cabana to sit under can relieve a lot of discomfort. When its all done head for a hot shower and bad for you meal back in DLG. The pain will fade quickly.

The air taxi's operating around here are interested in happy customers that equate return business, good refrences and on. No, they cannot and will not guide a customer as prohibited by law but they sure aren't going to dump some poor fellow off in the middle of what they know is Nomooseville. There are absolutely a lot less moose per square mile in Alaska than there are whitetail deer in Ohio, but depending on the weather, hunter sucess for moose locally can be very good.

Thanks for some great advice and information, Scott. This isn't my thread but if I ever get a chance to come to AK on a DIY hunt I will definitely keep you in mind for information and assistance!

Guys, Thanks for all of the advice, positive and negative. I read this thread everyday and continue to be interested in peoples advice and comments.
Brad

Guys,

Scott King and I both lived in Dillingham, AK and Scott still resides there. The moose hunting in the surrounding area is very good and with luck as far as the weather is concerned plus if you following a few basic rules your chances are probably 50/50 of success if you've never hunted moose before.

For a novice moose hunter I highly recommend a guided hunt but Brad AKA 505 gibbs has shot moose before and asked specifically about a DIY hunt. It definitely is doable and as Scott said a huge camp is not necessary and in fact on a DIY for one or two people it just makes things more complicated, your footprint larger and your presence more obvious to the moose. We shot our biggest moose 150 yards from our camp.

The best advise I can give for Unit 17 is stay on the lake and bring the moose to you. If you call and rake it might take a day or even two for a big bull to move into your area if they are not already in the immediate area but they will come. A big mistake that novices make is expecting to see a moose in the open and if they do not see them they think there are none there. Wrong!!!

Mark

505 Gibbs, I did a hunt (successfully!) very similar to what you describe in 2009. I hunted unit 25A. You will need only a daypack, packframe, lightweight camping gear (mountain house freeze-dried meals, etc), hipboots and all your normal hunting gear to have a great hunt. If you have done DIY backpack elk in the mountains then moose won't even be as hard if you shoot them in the right place. I used Circle Air (Ron aka "Frenchie" 907-520-5223; circleair@hotmail.com) for air taxi and raft rental and flew in to Fairbanks rented a U-Haul van (to handle gear and moose meat/antlers) and drove to his house and airstrip in Central, AK. He was an older French-Canadian who knew the area and was one helluva pilot. There are many other air taxis that fly to this area as well. Cost was $2500 for flight in, $1200 for raft rental and $2300 out with a second meat flight at $2300 (split by 2 gives $4150 each). You can find much cheaper DIY moose flights but they will be shorter flights in less remote areas; I wanted a wilderness hunt with few or no other hunters on the river.

I picked unit 25A because it has a longer season into the rut (Sept 5-25) and it was one of the few units where you don't need to pack out bones (a real plus for meat recovery and the flight out). There are a number of rivers to look at in this unit with the Sheenjek and Coleen good options. These rivers flow to the Porcupine from the southern foothills of the Brooks Range.

Here is the result of my planning and DIY efforts! A 60" trophy moose for $6000 all in. We even managed to sweettalk the Alaska agent and get 400 lbs of meat back for $25! The rest was left with the air taxi which was greatly appreciated!

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Watch out with the info that hunt-99 gives you.
GMU-25A is, as of now, a 1 bull with 50 inch antlers OR 4 or more brow tines on at least 1 side. This is for non-residents. Residents can take any bull.
Now, new game regs come out on Jul.1 so some things can change. Go online & check the new regs.
Penalties for game violations here in Ak. are severe.
Bear in Fairbanks

Bear,

I am under the impression that most GMU's in AK require a 50"/ multi brow tine count minimum for non resident moose hunters. This is not correct? My recommendation regarding a Dillingham hunt has similar requirements.

I did not read anything in hunt99's suggestion that didn't seem reasonable. I have spoken with "Frenchie," about a flying trip and thought he was competent from a phone conversation.

I'd advise hunting a lower latitude like unit 17 since the warmer latitudes allow for more game densities. No offense meant to the south slope of the Brooks Range, but white sheep and caribou are all I covet from there.

Ok fine, it is magnificient country and everyone should see it.

Many areas in the eastern interior are way down in moose numbers due to how the wolves hammer the moose come winter, bear get calves soon as they drop in spring, high numbers of urban hunters accessing the area where they can by the few roads & rivers, and to a lesser degree by the Indians who have always hunted 24/7 (they can't effectively stop them either and maybe they shouldn't. Not for me to judge that sorta thing. JUst be glad there ain't as many Indians as Whites all over Ak, no joke).

I see guys with air boats getting way up the 40 mile tributaries, polaris 6 wheelers getting 70 miles back in from dirt roads on real bad trails, and to a lesser degree hunters getting nice bulls on the upper Yukon by usually hunting licks & lakes a mile or so in from river. They always get some nice bulls, but not everybody. So you still need equipment to get out and about and have to know the areas to find the hot spots and the local subsistence hunters keep those spots quiet.

Many areas (watersheds) are about completely devoid of moose, wolves have really cleaned them out. Not all that much political will to fund predator control like there was a couple years back either.

I'm sure somebody has gotten a huge bull right where I'm at too, but I don't see the numbers as in the past or what I have seen in other areas of Ak.

My nephew just got back from Afghanistan, visited us over the weekend. He spends a week a month in Fairbanks on call as para rescue. They fly blackhawks, or pavehawks and train most everyday that they are not rescuing somebody way back in, unaccessible. Flying everywhere around Fairbanks and into Brooks range. He will see more of Alaska in a very short time than I have my entire life. He said what amazed him was how many areas were completely absent of moose and other areas there were moose everywhere. He left me a 3 inch thick photo album of scenery from Afghan and his legs and M4 are always dangling out the helo door. I told him, you need some Ak maps, and keep tract of what you are seeing while flying here and there, no joke.

For the average joe, I believe you have to make some sort of investment (guide, fly in expenses, access method, or really know somebody who knows the area) to really improve your chances or you are just a hunter/tourist in the woods. Just my 2 cents.

quote:

Originally posted by Scott King:
Bear,

I am under the impression that most GMU's in AK require a 50"/ multi brow tine count minimum for non resident moose hunters. This is not correct? My recommendation regarding a Dillingham hunt has similar requirements.

I did not read anything in hunt99's suggestion that didn't seem reasonable. I have spoken with "Frenchie," about a flying trip and thought he was competent from a phone conversation.

I'd advise hunting a lower latitude like unit 17 since the warmer latitudes allow for more game densities. No offense meant to the south slope of the Brooks Range, but white sheep and caribou are all I covet from there.

Ok fine, it is magnificient country and everyone should see it.

Scott:
I dunno about the 50" requirement for most areas for nonresidents. I'm not really interested in that. I was just pointing out the requirement for the OP and I wasn't saying / implying hunt99's comments were unreasonable.
IF I wanted a large bull, I wouldn't be going to GMU-25 tho. But then, again, we hunt moose to fill the freezer.
B.I.F.

Crazy-horse! I figured that if one did go hunt moose without a guide mind you, he and his crew would simply stay there until the moose was completley eaten up. I would sure hate to back pack out of that wilderness on foot carrying moose quarters.

The bears would have a hard time deciding weather to eat hunter, moose or both.LOL

quote:

he and his crew would simply stay there until the moose was completley eaten up.

Aren't you supposed to bag up all your feces and carry it out with you in Alaska now? Trade a Wanton Waste ticket for littering?

As far as I know, the 50" multi brow tine rule has been in effect for non-residents since at least '91...

When I hunted in '89 it was any bull...Hunted again in '91 and it was 50" and 3 or 4 brow tines..

quote:

Originally posted by Blue Dog:
Crazy-horse! I figured that if one did go hunt moose without a guide mind you, he and his crew would simply stay there until the moose was completley eaten up. I would sure hate to back pack out of that wilderness on foot carrying moose quarters.

The bears would have a hard time deciding weather to eat hunter, moose or both.LOL

A critically important point and one that Mark mentioned earlier.

Bring the bull to you. Hunt the last part of the season and call. Thrash the brush like a bull raking the velvet off his antlers in the willows, grunt like an opposing bull or moan like an amourous cow, call one way or another.

I killed this bull last fall.

I paralleled the river on foot and ended up packing this guy by myself about 700 yards to the boat. It was nearly all I could do. I made the shot at about 9:00am and finished getting him back to camp at 4:00pm the next day. More than 24 hours.
Joe and I killed this bull back in '06 or something like that

and it took the two of us less than 6 hours to get him to camp. It was a 20 yard pack to the canoe,

a 20 minute paddle across the lake and a 20 yard pack to the hanging poles.

Going solo and packing it was rewarding and memorable but not easy. Many tickets are written by the game warden because hunters unfamiliar with alaska moose mistakenly believe their elk experience is comparable and are simply overwhelmed with the burden of retrieving that much flesh in unfamiliar terrain.

Bring the bull to you. It is thrilling and much more manageable.

I would say that if someone is going to use a fly-in service, don't be foolish and bring only enough for the 7 days you plan to hunt.
Any competent outdoorsman knows that you must be prepared for extra days due to bad weather, air service mechanical problems, or some other reason for not being able to extricate yourself from the wilerness.
MHO FWIW

Bear in Fairbanks: I hope you weren't implying that we didn't salvage all meat as I take AK's wanton waste laws very seriously and have butchered dozens of big game animals in the field with no waste at all. Boning out a moose isn't much different than an elk although it would be almost impossible if shot in water or deep mud. We made 13 pack trips of about 1 mile to get him out over 1 very long day. Also, there were plenty of moose in the area we hunted in 25A probably saw 25 different bulls over 50+ miles of floating and calling with 5-7 of those 50"+. Some were way up and out of range to be able to pack the meat back. Our self-imposed limit was 1 mile from the river and there was some solid ground up there. We also saw wolves but couldn't get a shot and there were lots of grizzlies working along the river. I just wanted a longer season to be able to hunt the peak of the rut with few or no other hunters. I didn't see many other units that would allow that. I probably wouldn't have even shared except that 505Gibbs was looking for a Brooks Range area DIY moose hunt.

Also, by the way I found the people of Fairbanks the most friendly and helpful to any visiting hunter as we bombed around town rounding up fuel and other items before the hunt.

I think that most non-residents would be coming to AK for a trophy moose so the 50" 4 brow tines reg is not a problem at all. If non-reidents wanted a meat bull they should hunt in Canada since the hunts are much cheaper and they can drive and bring back all the meat. I have a number of friends from WA, ID and MT that do this since for the cost of a DIY AK hunt you can do a guided Canada moose hunt in BC or Alberta for the smaller moose.

Whatever unit someone picked for a DIY moose hunt I think that a frame raft and river float is the only real way to do it unguided.