Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Hunting Alaska - expensive?

Meat that must be left on the bone
when salvaged prior to Oct 1:

UNIT Caribou Moose Bison

9B FQ, HQ FQ, HQ
13 FQ, HQ, R FQ, HQ, R
17 FQ, HQ FQ, HQ
18 FQ, HQ FQ, HQ
19 FQ, HQ, R FQ, HQ, R FQ, HQ, R
21A FQ, HQ, R FQ, HQ, R FQ, HQ, R
21B, C, D FQ, HQ, R
21E FQ, HQ, R FQ, HQ, R FQ, HQ, R
23 FQ, HQ, R FQ, HQ, R
24 FQ, HQ, R FQ, HQ, R
25A FQ, HQ, R FQ, HQ, R
25B, C, D FQ, HQ, R
FQ = Front Quarters
HQ = Hindquarters
R = Ribs

I’ve been to Africa three times, killed 17 animal, all archery.
I’ve hunted Alaska for moose, brown, and black bear.
No shot at a moose, got a brown and black bear, and an incidental wolf, all archery.

All in, except taxidermy, the four trips to Alaska that produced three kills, was more expensive than the three African trips that produced 17 animals.
The remoteness of game, float planes, remote camps etc do make Alaska more expensive. I’d like to go back for a moose, but at $25 grand or more all in, it ain’t happening.

For the most part, comparing hunting in most of Africa to Alaska is like comparing apples and oranges.
The nature and logistics of hunting in true wilderness is the difference.
If you choose to hunt bongo or Lord Derby Eland in the CAR , or Nubian Ibex in Sudan you will also pay substantially more than a full contingent of S African plains game.

Alaska in my opinion, is super cheap to hunt moose, caribou and bear if youre skilled. No skills......better pay the money, or you won't come home with sht.

In my world, I build my own boats, build my own boat motors, build my own freight sleds and train my own dog teams for winter hunts.

Build my own home, live on cheap land in an unincorporated borough with no taxes. Process all my own meat. Hunting is a chore, like splitting firewood. It aint some dream of a fkn lifetime. It's a necessary way of life.

If i wanted to pay to enjoy somethin:

I'd want a beach, bonfires, good beer, a nice vintage 4wd and lots of sun. Maybe a harmonica and a good geetar as well.

Some eye candy too, rather than these pale, jaded toyo stove dwellers in carharts dirtier than mine.

I have hunted Alaska three times while my brother lived up there and don’t plan on doing it anytime soon. The costs have skyrocketed, $25k for a brown bear hunt, $20k for moose, $6k for unguided caribou or black bear. It is a rich mans game now, not entirely, but you better save up.

The one thing that really makes hunting Alaska expensive, is the fact that you can apply 6 times for any one species. That's their way of getting 6X the draw fees out of you. You can apply less times than that but for species such as bison, musk ox, elk, etc. with few tags, there is little point in applying less than the maximum amount. Some of the caribou tags with thousands of tags (I haven't looked at the odds so I may be wrong) may be worth a person's time to only apply with only one or two chances. That's how I see it anyhow.

$300 just to apply for all the species at resident prices, not including a license. It is what it is....and totally worth it, to me.

Resident or not a person can go to any meat market order a whole beef or some combo pack(pork,beef,chicken ect) a full butchered beef is about $3000.00 Much cheaper that taking 7-10days off from work plus your new sxs wheeler, and rifle,scope package that you have (easy)$1200.00. I can keep adding it up and It goes on and on.
It not the hunt for me (I like to fill my freezer too) it's being outside paddling a river in my canoe, or just walking a trail. Being outside on some mountain slope in some remote valley.
Well worth the investment in my opinion.

Yep, it sure is expensive to hunt up here. No way to be successful without a bush flight, outfitter and guides. And with the shrinking animal numbers, there’s not much hope for success anyway. Nothing to see here. Africa is nice.

5 hunters opted for a landing craft to gat them, their gear, 3 deer and 2 elk off Afognak recently. They were scheduled for Island Air flights, but after wind kept buggering their plans, called for the boat. At $2500, not much more than a couple Beaver trips. Or 3.

And that’s just getting back to Kodiak. It’s hard to get your headgear around the logistics challenges of AK. It is possible to hunt where logistics are easier, but it may not be the AK experience you imagined. Then again, it may be. An open mind and good attitude are essential, and that sometimes takes work ...

Lol...