Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska What I did not like about Alaska

I’m glad the folks in delta didn’t chase us off last Sunday while hunted for cranes.. we limited out in no time.

They receive money through their native corporations(+-$10k per year). That money goes toward paying for things but it doesn't buy caribou, and caribou is kinda like their religion.

Unless you have been around them I'm not sure that you can understand importance of caribou to them. For generations their people have relied on the caribou migration to provide them with the bulk of their food. Only a couple of generations ago(about 50 years) they were still following the caribou as they migrated and literally living or dying based on the adequacy of their "catch". Every elder in the village has stories of living through the lean times which killed some of their siblings and relatives due to starvation.

Today no one is dying due to starvation today, but there is a sort of "starvation of the soul" that comes when the caribou migration fails. No amount of store bough food can correct this deficit. I know that some of you would say that their historical reliance on caribou doesn't give them any more right to the resource than the guy who flies up from San Diego looking for adventure and something to hang on the wall, but I wonder if you guys really believe that deep down.

Another huge thing about the Feds in AK... Under the Statehood Compact they agreed to give the State a lot of land. 61 years later we are still asking. In the interim they locked up vast portions by unilaterally creating many parks. Another huge chunk was given to Natives (without legal standing) to clear the rights-of-way for TAPS without giving the State the opportunity to select some lands along roads and rivers for access.

And now they want to stop all but locals from accessing Federal lands. The feds can GFT.

no one has said non-residents should have the same rights as residents. As residents we are all supported and protected by the State Constitution and any allocation of resources has to follow it.

"Caribous come!"

There is a world of excitement and meaning in those two words for those in the Arctic, and points south.

I seriously thought of leaving a snow machine in Kotzebue when we moved back to th Kenai, just to takr advantage of winter caribou hunting. Pregnant cows eat good.....

Thanks to Jimmah.

Happy birthday yesterday to him! 😏🤔

Jimmy did no favors for Alaska or Alaskans.

You are correct, sir.

I thought that was exactly what 79S was saying:

Thanks Vern.
Since the missus and I are now retired, driving is a much better option. There’s lots of beautiful country between Michigan and Alaska. Hopefully next year or the year after.

Do it. I dare ya!

Are we confusing non-residents of AK with non-locals of Game Management Units?

I spent three years there. Did not like anything there .. was glad as HELL to leave.

Hard to imagine being happy anywhere if that is true.

Throughout history, the setting of geopolitical boundaries has caused many a problem.

I can’t tell if this is sarcasm, or not.

It’s not. Hubert has posted similar before.

It’s definitely not for everyone (fortunately) and I highly recommend everyone interested in visiting/moving to AK, to rethink that.

I Mentioned porcupine herd for a reason.. that seems to be the only herd the subsitance hunters don’t target, because they are so far out of the way. Then again I’m for NR hunting wherever.. If the NR were that big of an impact on the herds you guys hunt then someone/state would’ve implemented unit 13 rules for caribou in the unit you reside in. As of now sounds like a bunch of keyboard biology going on, up in the north slope.. Also grandpa Gusty talking about millions of caribou running through town back in 1947..

On one of the Facebook pages couple yrs ago when anwr was open for oil exploration. A lady from kotzebue posted a rant. On how the current pipeline altered the migration route for the caribou in kotzebue. Her grandpa told her how the caribou ran through downtown kotzebue apparently. I told her that’s the western arctic herd and they hardly get anywhere near the pipeline. She tells me I don’t care what herd it is we don’t need oil drilling in anwr.. I was like ph ucking ignorant idiots.. Then you have the ones blaming white eyes for shooting all their caribou.. nevermind 7 Pregnant cows you just shot..

Well 3 years ago

3 years ago there was a road with a toll booth in the middle of the road with the road built around it. My friend (an Alaskan) wanted to drive down the the river to see if any netting was going on. We would have had to $20 as I recall just to drive to the river. So we turned around.