Hey everyone from down here in Winnipeg, Canada!

I was hoping you could help me out. I have an opportunity to sign on for a combo moose and grizzly hunt along the border of Denali National Park for $7500 + licenses, a charter flight and fees etc. Of course that does not include flights to and from Alaska. I have no idea what it normally costs for a hunt of this nature, but I suspect that is a pretty good deal. Pulling this off on short notice will be difficult time-wise, and I also will have to bail on an elk hunt with two close buds, so I want to be sure this is an opportunity that I will surely regret not taking advantage of. My gut tells me to jump on it and fast! Advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Is there an additional trophy fee for the animals taken? If not then $7,500 plus license sounds like one heck of a deal for Grizzly/ Moose combo.

I have seen Grizzly hunts alone advertised for $10,000 + and $7,000 to $8,000 for moose.

At first blush the price looks very, very reasonable. Sit down and make a list of questions to get answers to such as what Harris said "is there an additional trophy fee", what is and what isn't included in the hunt, etc.

Make up a budget worksheet so you have a reasonable expectation of what the total cost of the hunt will be.

If after you have done that it still looks good, go for it.

Remember if it looks to be too good to be true then it probably is.

Ask for some references if you or a trusted friend are not familiar with the outfitter.

Hope it works out.

There are no trophy fees - Just the total cost of the hunt. This hunt is a cancellation hunt, so I guess it's cheaper than normal. The licenses are $500 each, and can be puchased one at a time. Buy a moose license, and if you see and shoot a bear before you get your moose, supposedly you tag the bear with your moose tag, then go back to camp for another moose license and go back out hunting. Lesser animal laws or somthing... This info is provided by one of the other members of the hunting party who invited me and NOT the outfitter, so if this is wrong, or I misunderstood this, please forgive me!

A flight will only cost about $700 return to anchorage, and then I am told we sleep overnight, then drive one hour, then fly in a bush plane to camp. The charter for the plane is $150 each ($150x4) and that cost is for each way. We would be hunting out of Healy and along the border of Denali National Park.

It looks like the costs are:

$7500 for hunt (land in Anchorage Sept 8, leave Anchorage Sept 22)
$1000 in License Fees if both animals taken
$300+ for charter flight (depending on weight going out)
2 nights hotel (overnight in Anchorage 8th and 21st)
Tips, and incidentals.

Naturally I expect to have some unforseen expenses which is normal on a hunt like this. I was more concerned about the baisc package price. It looks like we will end up with 10 days of actual hunting time.

With highest regards,

Sounds like you had better jump on it!!

Sheldon, your gut feeling is right on! Jump on it. I use to hunt outside the Parks Area around the Healy Mtns.--some very beautiful country. I strongly suspect your outcome to end with fabulous results. At that time of the 22nd the moose can be "called" in with great effectiveness! You most certainly will see bear or I generally do when I too hunt for moose-bears tend to like moose steaks as well You do not need luck so I will not offer any, shoot straight and hit em hard!

a non-res alien moose tag is $500

Grizz Bear tag is $650

and you will need a hunting license at $300

you cannot use the Moose tag fro a Grizz but can use the Grizz tag on a Moose.

Johnny, glad to see you here. Look forward to your input.

DB

Okay so vice versus on the tags then. So I buy a Grizz tag first. Since I'm an alien, then it's a bit more. That's not problem and sounds fair.

I just found out who the outfitter is. The name is Coke Wallace, of Midnight Sun Wilderness Adventures and I am told he is a great outfitter. I'm not sure if it's wise or not but I'm tempted to take my bow and either a Muzzleloader or my .338 WM as backup. Thanks for the input guys. The only thing I could find on Google when searching on him though was that he was targeted by animals rights groups for trapping wolves in his area. Man. I sure hope I have a chance at a wolf!

Can anyone tell me how much a hunt like this would normally cost in that area??

Sheldon,

If Coke has a website for Midnight Sun w/a you might could just blog it there and check his regular prices?

DB

check out the outfitter, reputation, record, license status, references both usccessful and not, etc.

if all that checks out. then dive in head first. that is a bargain. sometimes short notice cancelation hunts are sold at deep discounts as they can not be filled w/o an added incentive.

Leave the muzzleloader at home. Take the bow if you want. If coming home without a trophy is okay, the bow would be wonderful. If a trophy is highly desirable, set a limit of 2 or 3 days with the bow, then after that put it back in its case and get the big stick out. 338 as a minimum. If you got anything bigger 375 H&H and up, take that.

Good luck and be careful.

I leave for a 10 day brownine hunt on 8/30 departing out of Palmer headed to GMU-16.

I would love to hear your results when you return. Send me a PM when you get back and maybe we swap some pics and a story or two.

Good luck and be careful

Sheldon

If your outfitter has a good area that is a great price. The closest I can come to that price is $12000 for a moose/grizzly in the Brooks range. A moose/brown bear combo in the area I used to live in in AK goes for $17,000 on a 16 day schedule.

Don't screw around with this kind of opportunity just take your 338. Getting a moose to present the right angle for a bow shot is really tough and the chances of some real rainy weather make the ML thing tough. Also you can only take a moose with 50" rack or 4 brow tines which further limits your shot opportunities.

I'd go for but insist on talking to all his clients for the last 2 years that have hunted that area.

Regards,

Mark

quote:

supposedly you tag the bear with your moose tag, then go back to camp for another moose license and go back out hunting.

When did guides starting selling game tags in the field?? Is this information correct? If he has to leave the camp to purchase another tag it will cost him a day of hunting at the least?
Am I correct ?

Just thought I would add a note that the area you will be hunting also has some Toklat phase grizzlies around which have straw colored pelts.

I would chalk that up to a misunderstanding of what the outfitter told him regarding tags.

Agreed, flying back to buy a second tag would not make sense, buy both tags up front, or go with the more expensive of the two, and when you take your first animal you are done.

Guys,

AK Guides can be license vendors. Nothing new here. Makes it much more convenient for guide and client and potentially could save a client some license bucks.

Regards,

Mark

I never hunted with a guide while I lived in Alaska. However, I think it is great that a client can purchase an additional tag while in the field!

Ye the outfitter is a licensed vendor and licenses are available for a second animal. You purchase the the higher species license first, then you kill moose or grizz and use that tag, then buy another if needed for your second animal. Sounds good to me.

Well, I'm all booked in to my hunt with Coke Wallace and Midnight Sun Safaris out of Healy. I leave on the 10th of September now and return on the 23rd. I am going to leave the bow behind and just take the .338 Win Mag wearing my Nightforce 5.5-22x56. Apparently it's not easy getting a griz and a moose on a 10 day hunt so if I want a good chance of getting both, I need to take my opportunities when they come, not waste a day or two or three chasing them in close for a bow shot. I'll let you all know how I make out.

With highest regards,

Sheldon Charron

o.k., now you say coke wallace. you will have a good time. i have a friend that hunted with him. good choice on outfitter, price of hunt .338 and lousy scope choice.

good luck write a reveiw when you return.

You are in good hands. I have heard nothing but the best about him. I have a friend that guides in the same area and they harvest some nice animals! Good luck!

Cold Zero.

Probably won't matter since I likely will not get my ATF import form in time. I used a Nikon Tactical 2.5-10x40 in Africa last year on that rifle and then took it off. Are you suggesting I put it back on again? Are you think the NF is too heavy or too much power?? I have used a 6X for hunting all my life and can pick up a target fast, but I hear you for grizz. Still we have a chance at sheep too and I wanted a bit more power than 10x for that longish stuff.

no knock on the n.f.. it is a great tactical scope. i have a n.f. n.x.s. 3.5-15x50mm on my sniper rig. for that application.

for hunting, especially sheep or grizzly, that scope is too much power, to heavy, too clunky and too big of an objective. personally for most app' i like 40mm.

6x would be an o.k. choice for sheep, but you would be better off with that nikon 2.5-10x. 2.5 power for the grizzly and 10x for the sheep. you should be able to shoot 1,000 yds with 10x. you should be able to kill a sheep with it. it too is heavy for sheep hunting.

for my 14c chugach sheep i used zeiss 3-10x42mm light and plenty of power for brown bear leupold 2.5-8x. y.m.m.v.

Sheldon,
I'm also interested in a alaskan moose hunt. Please a report of your experience
thanks