I work for a large corporation and I am thinking of transferring to Alaska, crazy eh.
Anyway, what could I realistically hunt and how much would it cost after residency?
Also, would I be better off with a super grade with a good weather resistent finish and synthetic stock, or would a stainless synthetic be allot easier to maintain?
All I have now is a 30-06, but I am going to buy a larger caliber wether I move or not, probably 338WM.
And lastly, are iron sights essential, or highly recommended?
I don't want to eat up allot of bandwidth, so PM's and email with any and all advice is welcome.
Thank you, Terry.

Buy Akshooters house in Anchorage and ask him to throw in a 338 as part of the deal. He has 3 or 4 or 5 of them and I know he wants to sell his house.

Alaska resident licenses and tags...

SPORT LICENSES / STAMPS
Resident Sport Licenses:
PRICES
Resident Annual Sport Fishing License**
$24.00

Resident Annual Sport Fishing License for the Blind**
$0.25

Resident Hunting and Sport Fishing License**
$48.00

Resident Hunting and Sport Fishing and Trapping License**
$62.00

Resident Low Income Hunting and Sport Fishing and Trapping License**
$5.00

Resident Hunting
$25.00

Resident Trapping
$15.00


BIG GAME TAGS:
The following state tags must be purchased for each animal in addition to acquiring the proper hunting license before hunting big game. Tag holder must carry metal locking tag and big game tag record with them in the field. The tag shall be affixed and sealed to the antlers or cape in such a manner that it cannot be removed or reused.
Nonresident Military FREE tag — * (34 KB).
Resident Tags:
Resident Brown/Grizzly Bear
$25.00

Resident Muskox – Bull
$500.00

Resident Muskox – Cow
$25.00

Resident Duplicate Tag
(For any above species)
$5.00

His last post made me wonder, but if he throws in a 338????
So greatest cost would be getting there, and getting back with animal?
My wife works in the medical field, so I assume Fairbanks and/or Anchorage would good to go?
I'm leaning toward Fairbanks.
Thanks again, Terry.

Don't overlook the MAT-SU Valley, we just got a new hospital

Where is the MAT-SU valley?
I dont mind a drive to work, but my wife does.

Akshooters house is nice.

It has a detached garage/workshop as well.

I dunno what your background is but we've got a pretty good set up here in Fairtown as far as hopspitals, clinics, etc. go. As to buying a house, in general two choices - plusses & minuses to both. IF you buy a home in the hills, oftentimes, temps in winter are warmer the higher in altitude you go. We have temp inversions here. They are generally more expensive, wells are drilled deeper and attendant hassles with slick roads during breakup. BTW, it's BREAKUP not spring!! Don't let anybody know you're a cheechako.
Homes located at the lower elevations are generally less expensive and often times have a lower water table. Those locations however, are colder in winter.
We have boroughs here in AK., not counties. In the Fbks. area, we have no sales taxes except if you live/shop in North Pole (about 15 mi. E. of Fairtown). Temps in winter can get to the -50 area tho kinda rare - I've seen it at
-58. We'll always get a period of "cold" - about -35 to -40. At times it can "sock in" so ya just gotta hunker down & live with it. The short days can get to ya too but beginning about now (mid Feb. or so) you notice the days getting longer & warmer. I have about +5 right now but we can easily get down to -20 before breakup starts. The one thing about the interior is that you've gotta keep busy in winter. Hockey, college, high school, semi-pro, skiiing, dog mushing, semi-pro indoor football (beginning in March - GO GRIZZLIES!!!).
As to your rifle, I think your .06 is just fine for everything you're gonna go after. A good premium 180 gr. bullet will put down a moose and I'd even use it on a grizzly. At some point, you might want a larger caliber for moose but that would be your choice. I use a .338 mag. for my moose hunting but we've had several guys in our camp with .06's put moose down just fine.
Finally, if ya wanna live/work in Los Anchorage & wanna be aroud lots of people - don't move to the interior. We don't have the "class" Anchorage does but we like it that way and I've been here for 40+ years.
Best of luck in whatever you choose.
Bear in Fairbanks

We were born and raised in Michigan, so we some idea of winter. Not as cold I'm sure, but cold none the less.
The houses I was looking at I believe were in the hills, 99712?
I have a million qestions, like what is the most common way people heat there houses?, what is "grey water"?
I would like to live rural, but my wife will want sat/cable tv and internet. Is that possible in "the hills"?
I figured the 06 would be fine, but I think I can convince my wife I need another rifle if we move.
My wife and I are just plain folk, I guess, and I am trying to have a normal life for my wife while getting as far away from people as possible.

Google Palmer & Wasilla, AK

Thank you.
Wasilla looks to be very nice.
How far would I have to travel to hunt, say, deer, moose?
Thank you again, Terry

quote:

Originally posted by TerryK:
I work for a large corporation and I am thinking of transferring to Alaska, crazy eh.
Anyway, what could I realistically hunt and how much would it cost after residency?
Also, would I be better off with a super grade with a good weather resistent finish and synthetic stock, or would a stainless synthetic be allot easier to maintain?
All I have now is a 30-06, but I am going to buy a larger caliber wether I move or not, probably 338WM.
And lastly, are iron sights essential, or highly recommended?
I don't want to eat up allot of bandwidth, so PM's and email with any and all advice is welcome.
Thank you, Terry.

It is cheaper to live in Texas and hunt in Alaska than to live in Alaska and hunt there. Run the numbers and see what you can do. Everything is cheaper and there are no state income taxes. No snow and no real cold weather. Food for thought.

While that may be true, I am really trying to get away from masses of people as much as possible.
I have a ton of research to do before I do anything, but I really would like to hunt within an hour or 2 from my house.

Originally posted by TerryK

quote:

I really would like to hunt within an hour or 2 from my house.

Buy an airplane. Thats about the only way I know to make your above statement possible.

There are exceptions and some hunting is possible from the road system, In some cases by drawing permit sometimes by general season but everyone who comes to Alaska with the intent on hunting on public lands along a very limited road system is competing with a lot of people who have the same idea.

I don't want to sound to negitive but it's a reality. A lot of people have come to AK with a lower 48 mindset and turned around withen a couple of years and gone back.

The best hunting in Alaska is off the road system and you will have to resing yourself to some air travel to get there. If you accept this concept before you ever make the plunge and move up you will be ahead of the game.

I know it's probably not what you wanted to hear but don't shoot the messanger.

On the other hand there is some decent fishing to be had from the roads and you can get into a little black bear action if you want to do a little hiking in or set up a bait station.

You can stumble into moose from the road and I'm sure there will be guys posting on here about how they get them every year but an educated guess on road system hunts would be less the 10% success. For the new kid on the block I'm afraid you would be on the wrong side of that 10% for a number of years.

Please do not take my post as a slap at Alaskans or Alaska. Great people and great state. However, in responding to your post, you seemed interested in hunting and fishing conveniently and relatively cheaply. I looked at the exact scenario you are looking at and decided to stay in the lower 48.

Like I said, it is cheaper to live in Texas or Florida and hunt in Alaska. Also, if you live in the Hill Country near Austin or San Antonio, there are scads of exotics and hogs and no closed season on them. Deer hunting is easy and can be done within an hour of either city. You have quail, doves, turkeys and coyotes as well. In state lisense is cheap as well.

However, if you want to get away from people, there are some places in Alaska that are definitely away from people.

My brother lived in round rock for three years and coulde'nt wait to get back home. He moved back last spring. I guess it's all about what your geared up for. His complaint was that you could'nt go hunting unless you knew someone or paid someone.

I do agree to some degree because it dose end up costing a lot of money everytime I go hunting and I have my own plane. On the other hand I make a little money hunting usally from those Texans who are coming up for a hunt.


BTW Alaska has no state income tax .

AKshooter,
You are dead on. It is tough for someone from Texas or the desert southwest to go to Alaska long term. Hard to adjust. I would think the same for someone coming from your part of the world to the desert.

He is right about the hunting in TX, you have to have a lease or hunt the coast in the marsh.

Akshooter: Why don't you let TerryK add the price of a .338 and 1 fly in guided hunt to your home price so he can finance it all over 30 years and his wife will be none the wiser.

OK a full price ofer gets you a brown bear and a rifle to shoot it with. I'll start moving my stuff and leave one .338 behind.

Hunting trips are 1-2 week expeditions and you should budget $2-5k for transportation costs per hunt as a resident, more expensive if you buy the equipment to transport yourself, though that could balance out in time, depending on if it's a 4wheeler w/ a trailer, boat, or plane. Weekend hunts for big game generally don't exist if you live in inhabited areas.

Alaska is worth living in, but if the only appeal is resident hunting license, then you are probably better off coming up from the lower 48. Also factor in a yearly winter trip to Hawaii or somewhere else sunny and warm. It's not so much the cold, it's the darkness in the winter, and our winters are generally much longer than the lower 48.

Funny thing is, when we moved up I didn't even consider living in Anchorage. Now that we've been here 13 years, and I've been working in Anchorage all that time, I can't wait to move to Anchorage to cut down my commute.

Nice homes in Anchorage aren't cheap, but when you factor in a value for your time, and fuel burned commuting, they make aweful lot of sense.

I appreciate everyone's help.
Just starting to research everthing and the people of this sight have been great.
So it will cost 2-5k to have someone fly me in and out?
I have 3 weeks paid vacation, so time off isn't really a problem.
I guess that its still allot cheaper than hiring a guide, although realistically, not having any experience hunting moose or the deer up there, I don't like my odds at success.
Hunting and shooting are my only hobbies, and I guess bowling.
My wife doesn't hunt because of medical reasons, but is supportive of me.
I guess the main reason I am conteplating this move is my desire to get away from people.
We go to Florida at least once a year now, allot of family have reloacted there, so we could still plan a Feb. trip there for her.
Right now, if I want to go hunting, I just go, no need for a plan, I guess that will change?
From the little bit of research I have done, the Wasilla area looked the best so far for my wife.
AKShooter, if it is a M70 classic stainless (crf) with iron sights and no "boss" mb, you have a deal

I know it's hard for folks from the lower 48 to grasp, but generally Alaska has low game populations per acre, and lots of folks wanting to take what game there is.

If I want to hunt caribou, I can either fly out, which will be a commercial flight and then a small plain flight for ~$2k, or I can drive 700 miles to the Arctic, and be competing with a zoo of road hunters. So even that driveable hunt will set me back abourt $400 in fuel, and likely a new windshield, and perhaps a tire.

Deer hunting is on the islands, you can either be flown out, or have a charter boat drop you off. I haven't priced the flights and boat prices, but figure $3-4k for the drop off and pick up hunt. You could do that with a group of 4, so cut your costs to $1000/head.

I can understand the apeal of getting away from people, that isn't too tough to do.

TerryK

A lot of good info here from both sides, ie stay in Texas of move to Alaska...

I will recommend this, if you do move to Alaska, for your first few years at least stay on the "road system" ie, be sure you can drive to Anchorage from where you move to.

That way it is not quite as much of a culture shock as opposed to moving to someplace like Dillingham or say Nome...

Be very careful moving to Alaska with any preconceived notions. We just got out after 6 years of living in the Anchorage area. Basically, if you can drive to decent hunting or fishing there will be MANY other people there. That is for a 15 minute drive or a 600 mile drive.

If you really want to get away from folks on a hunt you have to pay for a boat ride or a flight. That will usually cost 2 grand to much much more. It is not really any cheaper for a resident than someone flying up from the lower 48.

I would suggest trying a 2 week vacation wherever you are thinking about moving- during the winter. The cold is not bad in SE or SC Alaska, but the darkness and icy roads can be a real deal breaker.

Good luck.

Doug

Terry I presently live in 99712. You have enough time to walk your way into game. However, you need to be in pretty good shape. There aren't the game densities that they have outside but we do have many things going for us.
I can tell you that if I was planning on moving up from Outside that I probably would check Whitehorse, Yukon. There are great game populations and the human population is still low.

Sincerely,
Thomas

Don't get me wrong, I love to hunt more than just about anything I do in life.
Watching my kids compete is definetly 1st, but other than that, I am a boring person.
Having said that, I want live someplace where the human population is low.
I realize that isn't for everyone.
I have to stay where my work is, and that means the Anchorage-Fairbanks area.
I would definetly take 2 weeks and fly up and look around before I ever commited to anything, my wife would definetly want to.
Is it possible to buy a boat and outfit myself to go hunting, or to buy a piece of land as a base camp to hunt out of?
I would probably buy a new 4 wheeler, is it possible to get to any decent hunting if I buy like 10-20 acres, build a base camp, and hunt out of it?
Thats how we currently hunt in the UP.
We have a cabin, and we either take a small boat or 4 wheeler and hunt.
Right now it's about a 5 hr ride to hunt there, but I also have a lease that I bow hunt because it's close.
I'm not going to rush anything, but I have to start someplace.
I am blessed to work for a company that I could transfer allot of places, Alaska is my 1st choice, but I am also looking at the continental northwest.
Thank you all again, Terry.

quote:

Originally posted by TerryK:
- I want live someplace where the human population is low. I have to stay where my work is, and that means the Anchorage-Fairbanks area.


- Is it possible to buy a boat and outfit myself to go hunting, or to buy a piece of land as a base camp to hunt out of? is it possible to get to any decent hunting if I buy like 10-20 acres, build a base camp, and hunt out of it?

-Thats how we currently hunt in the UP. Right now it's about a 5 hr ride to hunt there,

According to 2008 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city of Fairbanks is 35,132,[1] and the Fairbanks metropolitan area's population was 97,970

Anchorage is a consolidated city-borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. With an estimated 279,243 municipal residents in 2008 359,180 residents within the Metropolitan Statistical Area.

These are not exactly low populations. Now if you are driving 5 hours to the UP to hunt you might be coming from Detroit or Chicago so this might seem low to you but as far as Alaska is concerned these are the mega-cities.

Also keep in mind 10-20 acres might make a good base camp but you are not going to grow your own trophy animals on that piece of land like you can grow trophy whitetails on it in the midwest.(see Paul H's post about game populations per acre) If it was me I would save the land money and use it to buy some floatplane trips or better yet your own plane and just sleep in a tent.

Also I think you need to think about what type of game you want to hunt? Alaska is very big country and where you hunt caribou is not where you hunt blacktail deer. Not even close.


Now the boat idea might be what you are looking for but you are probably talking about Kodiak, Prince William Sound, or SE Alaska. Mostly Sitka blacktail deer and black bear hunting in the later 2, deer and brown bears on Kodiak. Might even get a crack at a goat on Kodiak or PWS. But not usually from a boat unless you get dropped off or someone stays with the boat.

The base camp cabin thing sounds like a great idea, but the good locations are going to be accessible only by plane or snowmachine, and it'll take all your spare time and money to get building materials out there to build a cabin. It sounds great, but I can't think of any serious hunters who opperate that way. A cabin in the woods has it's own appeal, but not for a hunting base. You want to stay mobile and are much better off putting that money into trasportation.

I'd thought an ocean boat would be the perfect way to get out deer hunting, and it is, when the weather cooperates. The problem is, getting the weather to cooperate when I can get out hunting doesn't always coincide. Early in the season when the weather is better, the deer are up high, so hunting is more like mountain climbing. Later in the season when the deer are pushed down by the snow, and the vegitation has dropped it's leaves, the weather can be iffy at best. The weather between storms on my way back from a September hunt included taking 6' waves over the bow, and that wasn't the serious weather, just a portent of things to come. We also had 6" of rain fall overnight and gale force winds.

Fortunately I love fishing in the saltwater, so the boat was a good choice.

I don't mean to discourage you, but the reality of hunting in AK is it's a serious committment and very expensive even for residents.

Originally posted by MNHunter


quote]Also I think you need to think about what type of game you want to hunt? Alaska is very big country and where you hunt caribou is not where you hunt blacktail deer. Not even close.[/quote]






OK I could'nt help this one. Everyone trust me MNhunter knows about this place and it is a huge exception to the point he was makeing.

99% of the caribou in AK live no where near 99% of the deer.

Terry -I'll add the photo above was taken 77 miles from the nearest town and that town is nowhere near any roads.

quote:

Originally posted by Akshooter:
Originally posted by MNHunter



OK I could'nt help this one. Everyone trust me MNhunter knows about this place and it is a huge exception to the point he was makeing.

99% of the caribou in AK live no where near 99% of the deer.

and you told me this was kind of a secret spot!

Still a secret I did'nt give up too much.

Anyway you got to admit that was to tempting.

quote:

Originally posted by Akshooter:
Still a secret I did'nt give up too much.

Anyway you got to admit that was to tempting.

Touche´

No to mention the deer on that island have taken a licking from the last couple winters.

quote:

Originally posted by TerryK:
We were born and raised in Michigan, so we some idea of winter. Not as cold I'm sure, but cold none the less.
The houses I was looking at I believe were in the hills, 99712?
I have a million qestions, like what is the most common way people heat there houses?, what is "grey water"?
I would like to live rural, but my wife will want sat/cable tv and internet. Is that possible in "the hills"?
I figured the 06 would be fine, but I think I can convince my wife I need another rifle if we move.
My wife and I are just plain folk, I guess, and I am trying to have a normal life for my wife while getting as far away from people as possible.

99712??? You gotta be kidding!!!! That's my old zip code. Was about 10 miles out of town, had a sat. dish, was about 400 ft higher than Fbks. No cable anything - internet was dial up.
As the other guys mentioned, virtually wherever you go, there's gonna be somebody there ahead of you. We run into that even in the Brooks in our "secret" sheep hunting area. Also, it's expensive regardless of what you do. It costs me about $800/ year for my portion of the gas & food to go to moose camp for 3 weeks. A plane ride into our sheep hunting area is gonna run about $2200/person. Think you're gonna get a river boat & run up "Noname" River for a moose hunt & be by your self? Forget that right now - you won't be disapointed later.
In short, I've seen lottsa changes here in the last 40 years & oftentimes I think for the worst. It all started with the pipeliners & the pipeline. Before that, the interior was a rockin' place - lottsa hints of the old days. I had the pleasure of knowing some of the old timers & they could do 3 things.
1. Tell stories
2. Drink like hell and
3. Fight at the drop of a hat.
Now, we have a crappy, 2-bit hotel on the corner of 2 Street along with it's over priced, restaurant that gilds to the tourist in bermuda shorts with a camera dangling around their necks attempting to strangle them. UUGH!!
Then, the city FATHERS, in their all knowing ways, had to tear down the one best hardware store in town - a building about 100 years old that literally had everything you could need - so they can build a one way bridge across the Chena so the cheechakos can drive their tin tents thru downtown's narrow streets & rubber neck.
Better get of my soap box now, I've already gone too far. I went overboard here.
Bear in Fairbanks

Getting away from he negitivity albiet reality, Everything you heard is true but theres a reason for that.
Everyone in Alaska go'es first where it is easyiest and cheapest to go. It's only human nature. So even though our population is low so is the revenue base for building infrastructure.

There are only so many roads to hunt from that lead to boat lanches or trail heads so the point is the boats and four wheelers only go so far in gaining you that advantage.

On the flip side I have a place real close to my House in Anchorage that is great hunting.

I started hunting there in the early summers after my brown bear hunts ended because I wanted a place close by I could get away and do a little black bear hunting for myself.

Turned out it was a great place and the bears are exceptionally big. I took three in a row over seven feet. Ended up getting licensed in there and took several goats and a pritty decent moose once.

One day I was playing with my GPS and realized I was only 38 miles from my house in SO.Anch.

What this demonstrates is the differance between what is possible with 4x4's etc and areas that are Airplane access only.

Certainly allot to consider, and I appreciate the frankness.

Im living in Naknek now ...so I'd be glad to sell you the 5 acres I have in Mat-Su..In the Fishhook area..near Hatcher pass....Raw land, trees, moose,no house or barn...GOOD LUCK WITH WHATEVER YOU DECIDE.....Red

TerryK--

+1 from me on the advice from Paul H and dogcat.

There are many good reasons to want to live up here.....cheap and easy hunting are not among them.

Don't overlook the price of getting out of the state periodically to visit family or find the sun. It adds up fast and can be hard to get tickets at all at peak times like Christmas or spring break.

Cheers

Dan

I becam pretty good friends with a person that had lived in Alaska, and then Montana for several years.

This person was a big hunter...

They told me that they much prefered hunting in Montana, as it was much easier and cheaper....

When they wanted to hunt moose or brownish bears, they went to AK, but for everything else they prefered the ease, and cost of Montana...

Alaska is more expensive to live in day to day, and more expensive to hunt in, as you need "AIR TIME", to do any good hunting...

I moved up from Ohio last year. I'm also in the healthcare field. Please feel free to call and ask questions.

Brett

cell#: 330-429-2762