I am considering moving from Texas to Alaska very soon. I was wondering where would be a good area to live that is reasonably close to good hunting. I don't want to live in a big city. I prefer something small and more relaxed. Any information would be appreciated.

I've heard that Canada has better hunting than Alaska.
Sorry, couldn't help myself.

Well, there's only two 'big' cities to worry about, Anchorage and Fairbanks. So that makes it pretty easy.

Maybe a better questions would be...

"Do I want to live on the road system?"

...since most roads lead to those two cities.

What sort of animals are you most interested in hunting?

Do you have family? (schools, medical, isolation issues)

Do you need a certain kind of job?

The good news is that the whole States pretty relaxed. Most the folks I know from Texas really like it up here. At least once they get used to the size!

Alasken : wrote I've heard that Canada has better hunting than Alaska. Its to late i already tryed the one about the state bird being a Whitesock and its habbit of carring off people ..
Wraggle AK Petersbreg AK Out of the way or thay were ..
High hills er mountains ..You can alway shoot the coastal
dear err suit casers

Pottsy

Do you have to work for a living or will you be retired? If you have to work, then that will dictate where you live, and likely re-define what you think of as relatively close to hunting. You don't have to travel that far to go hunting, but for good hunting locations you're best looking for areas that are only accessible by boat and or plane.

I think you'll find that even Anchorage is smaller and more relaxed then your typically lower 48 big city.

HI,

I am with BW on this, I will be living in AK by the end of the year myself.In fact I tied up a loose end today, just two more and I am there, Kev

Kev, where do you plan on moving to in Alaska?
To answer BW's questions, I would prefer away from the road system in the country. I am married, but no children. I am trying to get hooked up with some hunting guides/ outfitters for work. Thanks everyone, keep the replies coming.

HI,

Kevin H, to take everything into account as far as game and fishing. I am going to go to the SE, also whether I would rather deal with the rain than extreme cold or feet of snow. This is just me and I have look into this alot, but everyone is different. Kev

HI,

One more thing to consider is if you mover to the inter- area you must likely will need an airplane or have to be near a river to move around or hunt, river boat. If you are in an area like the SE you will need a boat, so depending on the area either it will be an airplane or boat.The best thing is to have both, but I know I could not swing that.And from the people I have talk to about certain areas in the summer some parts get alot of people, you may want to take that into consideration also. Kev

What a great question! You can look at the hunting area question in one of two ways: (1) you are never near anyplace in Alaska, except for the spot you happen to be sitting at any given moment, and that includes good hunting areas, or (2) you are in an excellent hunting area no matter where you are, as long as you are flexible on what you are hunting and you can sit there until the thing you are hunting shows up! Alaska is very very big, twice as big as Texas, and as stated above, there are only a couple of cities that can reasonably be classified as having large populations: Fairbanks and Anchorage. The population of the entire state, however, is much less than Tulsa, Oklahoma. You will need a job unless you are bringing your money with you, so you would have to take employment opportunities into account. Most things are expensive (housing and other basic stuff). But when it comes to hunting, everything is very expensive, no matter who you are or where you live. It is hard to hunt in Alaska. However, if you have lots of money, then you are set! What you should do is just move here, anywhere, and count yourself luckly. And see if you can make it. On the other hand, you should probably stay where you are at...everybody up here is uptight and nervious, most of the caribou have been shot, grizzly bears are a myth, there are some moose, but they are far far away, and there is very little electricity. Almost none in fact. It is wet and cold here. It is horrible, in fact. I shudder at the mere thought of the terrible and horrid misery that we all suffer here in Alaska. I have recently heard that food is running short as well. I think you should save yourself and turn back now! My computer is actually running on AAA battreies. Alaska is actually a metaphysical aborration, it is a place to think about..it is not a place that you actually go to!! Good Luck

Maybe as a group we can try and descibe some of the places that are NOT on the road system...

I'll start with S.E. Alaska, as that's where I live now.

The biggest city is Juneau it has maybe 15-20,000 people, I'm guessing. There's a Costco and a Fred Meyers plus a couple very small malls. It's mostly government folks working there, plus tourism. The hunting is okay, but not great. You need to get away from the city, usually by boat, to do any good hunting. The fishing is also just 'so-so' compared to the rest of the S.E. There's blacktail deer, black bears, and some Mt Goat nearby.

I've never been to the actual city of Ketchikan. Been to the airport numerous times and have flown over it too. It's not much smaller than Juneau. I'd say the hunting and fishing are better though. More deer, black bear, brown bear on the mainland, and Goats.

Sitka is the last 'big' city with about 8-10,000 folks. Commercial fishing, sport fishing, and tourism are the big businesses. Hunting is limited to brown bear, Mt Goat, and deer. So most non-resident hunting is guided. Sports fishing is the big thing here. Kings, Coho, and halibut rule the day. Our biggest single employer is the Federally run Native hospital.

The rest of towns are much smaller. Skagway, Hoonah, Haines, Kake, Craig, Angoon, Tenekee Springs, Petersburg are all pretty small.

Alaska Air flies into Juneau, Ketchikan, Petersburg, and Sitka. The rest rely on small plane operations and the Alaska Marine Highway System (the ferry.) Only Haines and Skagway are connected to the road-system, but you have to drive through Canada to get to the rest of Alaska.

About working for a hunting outfit. You should know that to become a 'Class A' assistant guide you need to hunt in that GMU (Game Management Unit) for three years, or meet the alternatives. Here's the actual rules...

(3) either
(A) has
(i) been employed during at least three calendar years as any class of licensed guide in the game
management unit for which the license is sought; and
(ii) at least 10 years� hunting experience in the state; military service outside of the state for not
more than three years shall be accepted as part of the required 10 years� hunting experience;
or
(B) provides
(i) evidence that the person physically resides in the game management unit in which the person
is to be employed;
(ii) evidence that the person has had at least 15 years� hunting experience in the game
management unit in which the person is to be employed; military service outside of the state
for not more than three years shall be accepted as part of the required 15 years� hunting
experience; and
(iii) a written recommendation from a registered guide, state trooper, state fish and wildlife law
enforcement officer, or state fish or game biologist who is familiar with the person or who
intends to employ the person as a class-A assistant guide.

So you can see that it would be a good thing if you lived in, or near, the area where you intend to make your money with a outfitter.

That rule doesn't apply for just an assistant guide though, and that's one way to start. Here's the link for all the rules...

Guide Rules

Hopefully some others will explain the other towns off the road system for you.

I forgot to mention that due to the very small road systems in each town (the island of Prince of Wales being the exception) most hunting is done by boat. There's a lot fewer 4wheelers and snow machines used in S.E. Alaska compared to the rest of the State. Besides, fishing, crabbing, and shrimping is popular and obviously require a boat.

To add to BW's post ........

Ak Air also serves Wrangell. A nice dirty little town (that is going to stay that way).

Hyder (the friendliest Gost town in AK) is also connected to the road system.

Ketchikan has lots of jobs. The AK Ferry system is moving it's operations here from Juneau and the NOA vessel is now homeported here. These will create more high paying jobs here. The tourist industry is very large here with many niches yet to be filled. The shipyard is going to put in another dry dock, meaning more good paying jobs.

But can you spell 'RAIN'. We have had 45 or so inches so far this year with about 2 inches yesterday.

Daily ferry service to Prince of Wales Island and it's road system makes a good get-a-way possible. Hunting is good over there for Black Bear, Blacktail, Duck and Geese and fishing is second to none.

But if the hunters on POW continue to be successful in keeping all non-island hunters from hunting on 'their' Island, the rest of us might just be going to POW Island to 'glass' (or shoot with a camera) 'their' Deer and Bear.

A comment about the class a assistant guide. IMO, becoming a class a assistant guide is kind of a moot point. The logical progression is to go from assistant to registered guide. You can put your time in as an assistant guide, then test to become a registered guide. I know a lot of guides, and have never met anyone who is a class a assistant. There's just no advantage to go for the class a category. Why put in that much time to become a glorified assistant when you can put in three years and test as a registered guide for any GMU in the state?
Ken

I hate to piss on BW's numbers, but a few corrections are needed:

2003 State Demographer data:

Juneau Borough - 31,300
Ketchikan borough - 13,500
Ketchikan City - 8,000
Sitka Borough - 8,900

Guess you could say that Sitka is bigger than Ketchikan (City) now!!!

Here's a good link from the state of Alaska:

State of Alaska Community Database

I use this site a bit in my professional position. Great 1 page summaries of a LOT of communities throughout Alaska.

In regards to this POW hunting B.S. regulation - i.e. no non-residents. This really pisses me off!!! POW has some of the best trophy opportunities for Deer in Alaska. I've been dying to hunt the Island for some time. Have had projects in Coffman Cove, Klawock and Craig. I love all the cedar forests. Anyway, the one of the geologists came back with a georgous skull/rack he found recently on POW. Big old 4x4 with an odd drop tine. We scored it 120" gross and 111" net B&C. There are some big-ass deer on that Island and I WANT ONE!!!

Alasken,

The point I was making, is that it takes time to become a guide, registered or class A assistant. While not a requirement by any means, living in or near the GMU/GUA would be nice.

I was hoping more folks would give Kevin a run down on the areas off the road system near where they live. Maybe you'll contribute?

I live in Anchorage. I'm only 1/2 an hour from Alaska! Well maybe more than that. I've been in Anchorage temporarily for almost 16 years now. The spousal unit has always had a real good job here. If I were to live somewhere on the highway system, it would be in the Copper Center area. Gainful employment (for my wife) has been what's kept us here in the big city.

BW, I got your point. It takes a minimum of five years here to become a registered guide, so you can work for less peanuts than an assistant guide. Every time I see any mention of the class a assistant guide I wonder why anyone would go that route. It's kind of like going from apprentice baiter to master baiter. Who wants to be a class a apprentice baiter?

MuskegMan,

That's a good link!

Okay, since I lived in Kodiak for 6 years, I'll try that one too...

According to MuskegMans link, Kodiak has about 6300 people in the city. They've got a Wal-Mart now (after we left ) and a couple more nation-wide fast food joints like Pizza Hut, KFC, Dominoes, and McDonalds. I'm guessing commercial fishing is still the big employer there. Tourism is minimal. I recall a couple small cruise ships, but they were rare.

Winters are harsh and windy. The folks there learn to park there cars into the wind, or hold on tight to the doors. There's some boating to the north, but not too many folks head south unless they've got a 'real boat.' Four wheelers are popular and will help access a lot of good hunting grounds. Snow machines too, but mostly for fun.

Access to Anchorage wasn't bad. Two Alaska Air jets (at least 5 years ago) a day, with turbo-props filling in the rest of the schedule. The ferry was the 'Trusty Tusty' and it used to stop running in the winter.

From memory I recall brown bear tags on the road system, drawing required everywhere else (mostly for non-residents.) Mt Goats too, but again lot's of drawings, but I hear some areas are opening to registration. Big blacktails compared to everywhere else but POW in the S.E. Elk can be had on Afognak and Rasberry Islands to the north.

The road system on the island is nice. It follows the coast south and finding a private pinic or camping spot is usually no problem. Just watch out for Native Corp lands.

That's about it for me. I haven't lived in Fairbanks since 1991. I've flown over nearly the whole State, staying in places like Sand Point, Cold Bay, Dillingham, Togiak, St. Paul, Nome, Barrow, and Deadhorse, but don't feel at all qualified to talk about them.

Muskeg your right about this:::::::::



Ak Air also serves Wrangell. A nice dirty little town (that is going to stay that way).



Last time i was there i went to the only diner in town

It was 6:00 AM and for 2 flapjacks your choise or bacon or

sauages two egg's tost And hashbrown's it was 22.50

Now you know the last time i was in Wrangell

In Kecha///

Do thay still run the Ferry over to Met/ ever day ?

Or does a guy need to jump on taquan air or revilla to get there during the week day?



You forgot to tell them about the normal foot were in SE Alaska :Ketchikan Sneakers (rubber boots)



And last time i was there Ya the fishing great since most of the guys were snaging out of the river next to the shamrock bar



P.S is Clove Pass resort( boat ramp ) still running ?



Pottsy

The only thing about Wrangell that looked dirty to me, was the effluent of silt from the Stikine River.



I may be wrong again, but I believe they have the only golf course in S.E. Alaska. But, that is soon to change as they're building one in Sitka.

I think Bethel is the place your looking for.

Allen,

I just met a lady named Christna McDonald who is an Occupational Therapist for the school district (statewide I guess?) She's from Bethel. We we're at a parent, teacher, specialist meeting at my youngest daughters school, discussing my daughter needs. Anyhow, I wanted to ask her if she knew you, but then I would've had to explain that we only know each other from e-mails and the internet, and I knew that would draw some wierd looks.

dubya,

As Sitka deer's deer wife calls thsese forums, red neck dating services