Or more.
What Ironbender said above.
The caribou are a tough draw, and a masochist delight if you do draw, with only two small herds available, both of them serious death-march types... been drawing 'em often enough and hunting 'em since 73, when they first came up for killing., to know....
Take a buddy. Or a couple pack dogs. Don't do like I did - 7 or 8 times- and hunt solo.
My Killey River permit went unused this year, dammit - I'm a might far away at the moment... I applied just in case we'd moved back to Sterling over the summer (We never know til April, and the permit apps are due in December).
I'm crushed - In about 5 weeks here, I'll up to my ears in migrating caribou if all goes well. But they ain't as pretty (animals or country) as those Killey River bulls.
I hate my life....
Last year I drew a caribou permit out of Cantwell 828? It would have been a combined general sheep/ drawing caribou hunt, but also went unused, same reason. I seem to be doing better drawing when I can't use 'em than when I can...
I'm blaming NSA.... I'm sure they are spying on me...
The plus side is a resident application only costs $5, 3 apps permitted (separate hunts). Most of us piss that cost of beer away on a weekend.
IF you hunt, and IF you are willing to BYA, and IF you are willing to shoot whatever shows up in your scope - success is almost assured for those Kenai caribou. Of 250 permits issued for the Kenai Mt. 001 any-sex hunt- average success is about 10 animals. Of 50 bull-only permits for Killey, it's about 2. Most who draw don't hunt after they find out they can't drive to the animals, some of the rest are trophy-only hunters (there's some damded big bulls up there!), and most of the rest just hunt easy... where the caribou ain't.
Of the 15-20? opportunities I've had to hunt over the years, I've failed to fill just 3 times. Once because my wife had filled her permit (we double-drew and I had a moose in the freezer as well), once because I ran out of time after my son filled his permit, and this year. If you can't hump a caribou out at least 5 miles, or afford hiring a horse packer - just don't apply. Makes my chances better.
But damn- just getting into that high Kenai country is worth it!
There is also both permit and general sheep, and permit only goat hunting on the Kenai. If goat quotas aren't met by permit holders, first come, first served registration hunts are held after permit season. If you think the caribou hunts are tough.... (I haven't had to opportunity to take advantage of the late registration goat thingy. Yet.)
Bird hunting would be spruce grouse, ptarmigan, and waterfowl. I don't do much of any- mostly spruce grouse as opportunity affords. I haven't ever hunted waterfowl, which is pretty sparse- mostly fly-in on the Kenai Refuge along the south side of Cook Inlet, or up toward Fox River out of Homer. Some folk fly across Cook Inlet to the north shore of same.
Fishing: All the salmon you can eat. Get a gill net. It's been rumored there are halibut and stuff offshore... For fun fishing, outstanding and largely neglected rainbows and dollys in the lakes. 'Course- u can go the tourist route and fish the rivers...