My wife has been in the Army for 21 years and we FINALLY got our orders for Alaska. We should be reporting there in April-May 08. I am trying to decide what to bring up there for firearms and toys. I have an old 30-06 and a couple of shotgus I will be bring and also I got very lucky while we were in Germany and picked up a Kreighof 9.3x74R DR that I will be bringing. Also, any need for varmit type rifle? All I have in that aspect is an AR-15.
The question I have isin refernce to toys. I have a 1988 Honda 4-wheeler and also a 1999 Argo 8-wheeler. I am wondering which of thes would be the most useful up there for hunting. The Argo sure isn't a joy ridding machine but its a good workhorse. whereas the 4-wheeler is fun to ride. Are there lots of ares where these can be used? Which of the two would be best for there.
Oh, we will be stationed at Elmendorf.

Glad to hear you got orders you wanted. (I tried to get AF orders here for 14 years and ended up moving up myself after I got out....)

The primary challenge for hunting here is access to places to hunt. The road system is very limited, and spaces are huge. Whichever one of these vehicles will transport you and at least a buddy and gear more reliably would be my choice. Where you are going and what you want to hunt makes a huge difference as well.

Good luck with your move,

Dan

Congrats on your transfer. Some guys try forever and can't get that done while others get transferred much to their dismay.

There is a place for both of your machines if that's what you want or sell them both and buy one machine. I would consider doing that to get a newer piece of gear.

The AR will work well for coyotes, wolves, etc. Lots of people up here use ARs for that.

So long as you don't have to pay shipping, I'd say bring all your toys. As mentioned, the key to hunting AK is access, and that means well off the few roads we have. The argo gives you the advantage to accessing areas 4-wheelers can't, and that's a huge plus.

Thanks everyone for the response.
I guess I should mention that I have my pilots license and fly tailwheel also so getting off the beaten path may have to be done via airplane. From the pilots I know up there that is the best way to find an area not over run with hunters.

You might be suprised how even areas plain accessible see a fair bit of hunting traffic. There is suprisingly little game in Alaska, considering how large the state is. Finding good game populations is the real key to hunting AK, and then getting to those areas.