Three weeks from today, I fly from Salt Lake City to Nome for a 2 week Grizzly hunt.

The rifle and pistol's load has been developed, sighted in, practiced with. The CZ550 American's stock has been sealed internally and waxed externally. The metal has been coated to prevent rust. The extra 4x Leupold scope has been sighted in in it's Talley Lever Release rings.

The gear list has been picked over by the members of this board and the outfitter. Items were removed or added as suggested.


The tags and licenses have been bought, paid for and recieved from the state of Alaska.

The airplane reservations are made and paid for.

The Aurora Inn reservations have been made in Nome.

I packed, weighed, repacked again and again to figure out the best arrangement which per my guide is to make sure, as a minimum, I have hunting clothes, boots, tags/license and maybe a sleeping bag as carry on, withm me on the plane. That way if my gear and/or rifle does not make it, I can still hunt. Actually, a great idea!

The taxidermist knows when I'll be back.

Just bought two extra 2GB SD cards for the digital camera.

Can you think of anything else I should do, worry about, practice with, explore, research, etc., before I go?

Oh! I know. Remember to arrange an overnighter for my wife's birthday which is several days after I get back. Gotta keep momma HAPPY!

I'd say you're ready. Have fun, and GOOD LUCK!

I hunted Alaska Sept 06 for Dall and Grizzly.. took along an extra sighted-in scope in a set of rings that would swap onto the bases.. didn't need it but felt good about the little bit of extra weight.. HTH.. good luck.. Les
Okay, I re-read your post and see that you're covered in that department.. good on ya!! (I ended up shipping back a lot of bulky stuff via the Post Office in Healy on the return trip).. cheaper than extra carry-on..

Let's see, if you don't mind, without rereading all the previous posts, having done this before, just some thoughts (may have been covered, and if so, forgive me).
1. I was glad I had GorTex socks more than once
2. I always take too many knives
3. Tip money
4. STay the He!! away from the horses
5. Have enough clothing to recover from a complete soaking
6. Back up battery for the digital camera
7. Spare pair of glasses
8. Empty duffel to carry home cape/horn, etc
9. Soft sided gun case for the final leg, after you've stored the hard case
10. Walking sticks
11. Topo maps downloaded into GPS
12. Fresh batteries in everything with spares

I did a 20 day Grizz hunt out of Nome earlier this year on snowmachines. I had a great adventure, even though I did not get a bear.

I also spent @10 days in Nome itself.
I had a good time on Front Street as well.

I enjoyed hanging out with the Natives.

I would suggest that you pack all your stuff in roll down water proof bags. Especially your clothes and sleeping bag.

The Pizza/Sushi place has good pizza and great Shushi.

Who are you hunting with, and do you know what area you will be hunting in?

Have a great trip.

Ammo!

Les,

Wow! You're not kidding about the price difference to mail my gear home vs paying for a 3rd piece of checked luggage.

Looked into the price of mailing my "50" lbs of gear home through USPS. From what I can tell, it will actually be cheaper, for me, to pay USPS $44.02. Alaska Air wants $25 for the 2nd checked bag and $125 "total" for all 3 checked bags. That adds $100 to that 3rd checked bag.

Thanks for the advice.

Don,

-Yep! Got Goretex socks.
-Yeah, I tried to bring 3 knives myself. Down to one now.
-Got tip $
-No horses. Argos!
-Two pants, shirts, etc
-Got extra Lithium batts
-Buying spare sunglasses
-Two old army duffles (hey, I'm retired Army)
-Soft sided gun case (s), one for rifle, one for shotgun.
-Got my Stoney Point Hunt N Hike staffs
-I'll research toe topo on my GPS
-Gots lots of fresh batts

NE 450 No2

10 days n Nome! How much of it do you remember?
-Water proof bags; great idea
-Thanks for the tip on local eats.

Rifleman,

30 rounds enough?

I don't know about Nome, but at that time of year the Bristol Bay area was full of waterfowl when I was there during that same time period two years ago. Think SHOTGUN. Buy a cheap 870 and leave it up there if you don't want to freight it home. You might get "ol Griz on the first day and then what are you going to do...fish?????

Plainview,

Way ahead of you. My 12 bore SxS is taging along for Ptarmigan as well as my LW spining gear. Supposed to be some worldclass Grayling and Char along with Dolly Varden and Chum salmon.

There's no place like Nome

Don,

Thank you very much. You put a BIG smile on my face.

Put a target in your guncase to check the sights.

Don't forget a "Guilt Gift" for the wife an No! a tee shirt won't do do it. I got many brownie points for a gold nugget necklace.

Good luck, good shooting.

Grizzly

Grizz,

I was thinking gift already but ya know what you're spot on with that. Besides my wife's birthday is a couple of days after I get home.

Already have a couple a large targets packed.

Thanks,

If you are looking for gift in Nome gold is good, but look at some ivory too. A couple of shops have stuff, ranging from cheap junk to some very nice stuff....ivory, whalebone and baleen make for some nice artwork.

Airport pizza isn't too bad either

-phil

Phil,

Where in Nome could I get some decent ivory and do they take visa cc?