Hello to all here. First, this is a truely great forum.

I am in the Army and will be reassigned to Fort Richardson, Alaska by 1 July. I am excited about the upcoming assignment... you see, I have been trying to get up there, for oh, about 18 years! Finally, I am there!

I just recently got back from Iraq, 2nd tour, and consequently I have missed two hunting seasons down south already.

Question? Will I be able to participate in the hunt this upcoming season? Or will I have to lay out a year, to become a Alaskan citizen/resident? I will most likely retire there in three years.

Also is there any hunting opportunities in the immediate Anchorage/Richardson area? From what i have read here, I will most likely hunt back a ways off the road, or out of a boat on the water, walking is not a problem, even with a load.

This is a great site, and will greatly appreciate any advice or assistance from the experienced Alaskan hunters.

RLTW!

Charles

AK does not have any "instant resident" provision, even for the military. There may be some special license that you can get that would be cheaper and valid only for the military rez. Aside from the expense of the non-res license, though, the only big game you couldn't hunt without a guide would be brown/grizzly bears, sheep, and goats. In short, your non-res status shouldn't slow you down a whole lot, especially since your first year will be spent learning where to go (and how to interpret the regs, both State and Fed) anyway.

Welcome to AK.

Welcome!

I wasn't sure if the state allowed military personel to wave the 12 mo residency requirement, but I guess not. As was mentioned, you can hunt as a non resident this fall, it's just spendy for the license and tags. A non-res small game license is fairly inexspensive, and there are huntable populations of spruce hens and snowshoe hares within an hour or so of Anchorage. There is waterfowl hunting within the Anchorage city limits, and North and South of here.

There are some archery only hunts within Fort Rich for moose, but they are permit hunts, and your odds of being drawn are pretty slim. Arhchery only hunts require passing an archery competancy test.

Most big game hunting is either fly out, off road vehicle out, or boat out for game with over the counter tags. You'll probably be suprised to find that hunting in Alaska is much more expensive and time consuming than down south. The state isn't just crawling with game, at least in the areas that easily accessed.

There are permit hunts within or nearby Anchorage for many species, but your odds of being drawn are typically less than 10% and closer to 5%. There are fair numbers of black bears within an hour or so of Anchorage.

Don't underestimate the difficulty of packing out a big game animal on foot. Most areas are either mountainous or swampy, and even a small moose is multiple loads.

There are two nearby ranges, one in Birchwood called Isaac Walton that has rifle range out to 300 yds, pistol range, sporting clays and trap/skeet. I think a season pass runs ~$200. There is also a state run range on the South end of Anchorage called Rabbit Creek that has 50yd pistol, 100yd rifle, 100yd 22rf and a trap range, $50 for a year pass. There are a few gravel pits outside the municipality to folks reportedly use for target practice.

Fire away with the questions. There are lots of great things to enjoy about the state in addition to hunting.

ceg1963: Welcome to Alaska. As RupertBear said, you will have to live in Alaska for 12 months before you are considered a resident of the State..regulations affecting nonresident military personel states that if you are permenently stationed in Alaska and have been here for 30 days, but less than 12 months, you would have to buy a NR hunting license at full price (this year it was $85 but I think it is going up) and you would be able to buy the appropriate NR tags for the game you wanted to hunt at half the normal NR price (for example NR caribou tags were $325 this year..for you they would be $162.50..NR black bear tags were $225...for you they would be $112.5)..I think these prices are going up after July 1, 2005 as well. Hunting on military lands has its own set of rules that I do not know about...hunting off the road system is tough for most of us...but if you wanted to hunt caribou, for example, you could do that this August or September if you bought a NR hunting license and a NR Military caribou tag...together the cost of the lic and tag would be less than a NR lic and tag for elk in Colorado or Wyoming. So it is not that bad. The tough part is getting to where the caribou are..

And as Paul advises, hunting in Alaska is not like hunting in other places...it is always diffecult and requires lots of hard work but it is always exciting...as long as you don't hurt yourself.

I work on Elmendorf AFB and I am pretty sure both Fort Rich and Elmendorf provide hunting and fishing packages at reasonable prices for active duty personal, I could be wrong, but you should look into that to get the ball rolling. I know they used to offer these opportunities.

Good luck..you will love it up here.

Thanks to all who have responded. i knew it would be tougher than down south. That's probably why I am so interested.

RWJ, I'll have to find you in a month or so, there, and get face to face. I am so excited about the prospects, that I can't even sleep at night!

Thanks

Charles RLTW

Charles: Send me an email when you get here...my home email is rwjobson@acsalaska.net (I do not check it very often so be patient).

As it happens one of our staff just transferred to Fort Benning (following her husband).

You should be excited. You will love it here.

Ceg:

I posted under your other post as well. Don't wait a year to hunt - nonresident tags aren't that expensive, and if you don't retire in AK, you will be sorry. On the other hand, you will learn enough while there to come back and go on DIY hunts if you do leave (except bears, sheep, etc.).

When I was on Ft. Rich, they had a good off duty range to use. God, that seems so long ago.

AnotherAZWriter,

Thanks... One way or the other I am planning on hunting this fall. Maybe caribou or moose. Once I hit the ground in July, my plan is to net work as quickly as possible , to find a great hunting partner. My research has been ogoing for two months so far.

Hell even if all I do this first year is scout out areas for next year, and "mule" loads of meat out for someone, at least I'm in the bush, right!

To all, Thanks for the inspiring words.

RWJ, I'm going to find you face to face NLT 15 July. I am looking forward to meeting you soon. By the way, I just got me a new M700, synthetic, SS, in .375 Remington Ultra Magnum.

V/R

CG

ceg1963
I think you will like it up here, also when you get up here fishing should be heating up as well.