Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Is hunting in alaska really that good?

I think its safe to say that nearly every sportsman that has never been to Alaska, such as myself, assumes that alaska is loaded with tons of big game. However, I was just reading up on Alaskan hunting statistics on the Alaskan game commision website and hunting up there doesnt seem to great compared to the main land. There was only around 3,000-4,000 black bears taken in the entire state. My home state averages about the same harvest but in a much smaller area and tags arent raffled off. Anyone can by one over the counter. The north east where I live has lots of nice black bears. An 800 pounder was harvested 15 miles from my house a couple years ago. You guys have a larger deversity of big game but it looks like certain species can only be found in certain parts of the state. Take sitka deer as an example. They are only in the south east and on a few islands. Pa is loaded with white tails. A decent hunter can usually harvest a buck and doe every year. Most of the big game populations dont look that impressive and you have to be lucky enough to draw a tag. According to what i read there is only about 100,000 caribou in the entire state. Small game hunting looks a little better than Pa. Lots of grouse and ptarmigan but we have lots of turkeys down here. This is only based on what Ive read. Can you guys tell me what its really like?

Yep...you're right. Absolutely. Please convince everyone not to come up here. Add fishing too...it also really isn't that good... .

Dennis

I am sure trout fishing beats us. C'mon though. 3,000-4,000 black bears in the entire state. Alaska is one fifth the size of the main land. Thatrs not many bears when you spread them out in the areas that they could survive. I guess if your a resident its good. But for me to fly up there and spend $$$$$$$$. It doesnt seem worth it. I would fly up the to go fishing and see the true wilderness but I think my odds for hunting would be better on the main land and would cost far less.

OK...being serious for a moment. The number of black bears killed is based on how many people hunt them, not how many there are. As far as your estimate of the number of caribou...you're missing a zero -- it's more like 1,000,000 than 100,000. The herds in the far north and west part of the state run close to 450,000 alone. As far as Sitka blacktail deer, they are found in three separate locations -- Kodiak Island, Prince William Sound, and Southeast. The bag limit here in Southeast runs from four to six, depending on units -- so I don't think we're running short of numbers.

The primary hunting issues here are generally not numbers of animals, but access to them. In a multitude of cases, you can't drive there, like you can in most hunting sites in the Lower 48. And yes, there are places you can do that, but there are more where you can't. So then you're taking a plane, or a boat, or both. That means high cost, whether you live here or not.

So...there is lots of good hunting here, but it is way different than places down south. Whether you want to have this experience or not is totally up to you, but I can safely assure you that no one is capable of changing the primary conditions that exist and govern how hunting works here.

Dennis

I want to fly up there some day. I want to move out of Pa. Once I finish nursing school I'll look into it. I'd go now but I am broke and I dont know what is up there for me as far as work, probably not much.

Doctors and nurses are in high demand in Alaska. It would be worthwhile for you to check with the State and medical centers. Something for you to think about.

Dennis

I will be up there in about 6 weeks. I still want to find a live wolf to blast. Have you been well enough to find me one?...

As Dennis pointed out, your perspective is a little skewed as far as harvest statistics. I am originally from NE Pa, hunted there until I left at 18, still go back sometimes to hunt, but comparing Pa Black Bear season to Black bear hunting here is apples and oranges. There is no "draw" tag for Black bear, until this year you didnt even need a tag. Now you need a harvest ticket which is free, over the counter. Many of my friends from Pa have come up here to hunt black bear, just about everyone of them has taken bear here and in Pa, yet they seem to want to come back here each spring

The things I miss about Pa is Archery whitetail, small game, and 3 trout species to fish for vs only bows'....of course the salmon/steelhead species kinda make up for that.

Looking at it from a state-wide statistical basis, the big game densities are not that high, when compared to other states, because Ak is so big. After all, Alaska does have a pretty formidable winter climate. But if you look at it from a regional basis, the outlook is much more encouraging.

As far as caribou go, muledeer's estimate is pretty close although there may be even more than 1,000,000. The AK F&G says that there are 600,000 caribou in the NW Alaska herd alone and I think that there are about 250,000 in the Porcupine (Northeast) herd. The Mulchatna herd has crashed, but I think that there is still an estimated 100,000 'bou left in that herd. Plus there are many more herds distributed throughout the state. You can find at least a few 'bou in just about all of AK except the panhandle.

As stated, the quantity of animals harvested is proportional to the number of hunters. There are less than 700,000 residents in Alaska and half of them reside in the Anchorage metro area. The state has the lowest population density in the country at about one person per square mile. So you have to look at it from the standpoint of hunter success rates, not at the total number of animals harvested. Hunter success rates in Alaska are almost obscenely high compared to the lower fourty-eight states.

There are vast areas than can only be reached by bush planes. So getting to the animals can be pretty expensive and since caribou travel great distances, you could spend a bunch of $$$ to get someplace just to discover that the animals have already passed through or haven't arrived yet.

In addition, you have to have some good wilderness skills to hunt safely in Akaska unless you pay even more $$$ for a guided hunt. You can't walk out your back door and wait for them to pass by your tree stand like you can in many places in other states. And there are no game ranches like there are in Texas.

I have never been very good at fishing. But even an inept fisherman like myself can easily catch fish in just about any stream, river or lake.

Brown (Grizzly) bears see the smaller black bears as competitors and the grizzlies kill them when they can. So where there are grizzlies, there are few black bears.

The Alaska wilderness is overpowering even for someone like myself who has spent much of his life exploring the "wild" areas of the lower fourty-eight. I've been on five Alaska wilderness trips and will be going back for another in September. An Alaskan hunting trip is something that every hunter from the lower fourty-eight should experience at least once in their life.

Shrapnel,

I'm likely to be back in four weeks. Don't know how well I'll be doing when you come up here, though. And if I do get into good shape in September, I'll be heading up the mountains outside Ketchikan goat hunting, with a bunch of help from three or four friends.

Might be able to recommend a couple of folks to advise where wolves are, though. And you can sure come by the house and visit... .

Dennis

But we do have very clean animals. I saw this one bathing this morning while fishing for salmon.

Yup. This is part of the reason - things is kinda big here.

Good Lord man, are you serious? Any idea how big Alaska is and how few people there are? Saying deer are only in southeast and a few other islands is like saying deer are only available in an area the size of most states. There may be about the same number of black bear killed in the state, but far fewer hunters and more bears to pick from. Scenery is a bit better as well. I really miss the days in Kodiak when I could shoot 8 deer a year, unlimited reindeer, draw a goat and elk tag, fly over to Dillingham and shoot moose, all in the same year. Sure did suck.
I could be wrong as I've been out of the state for a few years, but the only animal I know of that you have to draw a tag for is muskox. There are plenty of areas that sell over the counter tags for sheep, goat, brown bear, moose, caribou, elk. I don't know of any area you have to draw a black bear tag in.

I worked here for 5 years. I'm sure they have a spot for you.
Kodiak Island med center

If you want a little more in the bush try this place. I worked for them several times. I loved it but my wife never like Dillingham.
Kanakanak hospital

One downside to working in healthcare in Alaska, the pay is not as good as you would think. Most places don't pay any better than the lower 48 unless you go to places like Bethel, Nome, or Barrow. I make more in Arkansas than I would in Kodiak, but I'd take a pay cut any day to go back.

I'd love to go there but never live there. The winter would kill me. Even NE Pa's mild winter(Mild by your standards) gets me down. Maybe stay for a year. It'll be years before I get my RN certification. I am 23. I'll be about 26 or 27 when I graduate depending on how things go. I vowed that I would go at least once before I died. However, I planed on going on a fishing trip. Artic char is on my list of fish to catch before I die. The alaskan game commision website makes it look like tags for most things are raffled off. I guess I just read it wrong.

Alaska sucks, much better everything in Pencilvainya

About three hours ago, I had a nice wolf walk across the road in front of my patrol car. After that, I followed a sow and two cubs down Waskey Rd. Haven't seen any moose yet, but the day is early.

You may not find hunting conditions which are logisticly more difficult at times; then again, perhaps 5 caribou/day won't spoil you but it may. And I can certainly say that the fishing can be a spoiler for many folks, even when simply catching char or grayling. (I've yet to catch an actual trout in Alaska in over 25 years.)



And this was an hour's worth of effort last spring - including a 5-mile each way trip by snowmachine to get there and back.

But then, Alaska tends to thrive on extremes, and sometimes you won't see a single bunny for several years. (Kind of like the caribou which haven't left tracks nearby for several years, yet we have sometimes glassed them by the thousands from the windows of the house - another simple hour's effort to bring fresh meat home.)

wrong.....Kodiak sucks, all the rest of AK is nice.
How is the Pelican State / Bayou State / Sportsman's Paradise these days for high temps? I could never live down there in the spring through fall again.

My brother got a 40 lb king yesterday out in the bay......been rough east wind weather lately but we are working around it, saw a nice deer being skinned yesterday but I think it is one of the last ones left in the state...

TomM1
what part of Nepa were you from, only wondering because I live 20 miles north of scranton along 81