Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Kenai Questions

I am thinking seriously of relocating back to Alaska. Lived there from 1996 - 1998. This time I am considereing the Kenai Peninsula down below Kenai & Soldotna and was wondering about the hunting there. Main interests are moose & black bear. I hear there is some caribou there too. Would like to do some bird hunting but right now I can take or leave it.

So how is it there?

Kenai is great

but better bring your own woman and hang on to her tight


ironbender lives there and he kills all the critters and grabs all the chix, at least that's what I'm told....

My understanding is the moose numbers are way down, been years since I've hunted down there. The big fire this year should really help, but it'll take some years for that. Good black bear hunting down there. As far as Caribou I believe the access is either via show leather or horses. A friend backpack hunted for bou there several years ago solo and was successful, but said it was a brutal pack out.

I've been looking at Kenai too, found a couple of places with some decent acreage (10 plus) and Anchor River frontage, not cheap though. Assuming you have bought licenses can you hunt on your own property as long as it's in the right GMU and you have your tags?

KP is units 7 & 15. Can't give you much info on 7. That's the east half of the KP.

15C moose numbers are said to be improving.

15B is what burned this summer, and will be ~10 years before moose numbers are what they should be.

15A moose numbers are probably at the lowest in nearly 100 years.

Caribou is permit only and a tough draw.

Blackies are a good bet, but tough to find in spring w/out bait.

yes.

The thing about living on the Kenai is that you can drive on the road system. You aren't limited to what's there.

That's true.

My issue is that the KP should be a freaking hunting/fishing paradise. Most of it is managed by the Feds and they manage to screw it up.

A pard has suggested that the Feds should "manage" the mosquitoes. We'd have none.

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...