Sound crazy to me but so does many other things that people spend tons of money on. For $21,000, I could buy new rafts and gear, hire a hunt planner to do the research, hire a plane to fly in myself and bunch of friends (meat packers)in and do 2-3 Alaska hunts. If I was hell bent on spending $21,000 on a single hunt, it would not be for a species that I could hunt without a guide. I would be looking towards a Dall Sheep, Goat and Brown Bear. If I had that kinda money to spend on a moose, I wouldn't need to worry about vacation days and I would spend August to October hunting multiple species instead of one. There are alot of non-resident folks that successfully hunt Alaska every year on their own for moose, caribou, and black bear. They are successful because they do the research, planning, exercising, and traveling arrangements themselves. They know what is involved with packing out a moose or how to set up a tent to get the most protection from the winds, that quality gear is expensive but is really a true bargain when it is considered as life saving equipment. They read everything about hunting Alaska that they can get their hands on and don't hesitate to spend hours on the phone gathering information from biologist, outfitters, guides, and anyone else that will talk to them. They start planning well in advance (a year prior is not to soon) and enjoy the planning and working out the details as part of the hunt. You know that that you did your hunt correctly if you are already planning your next one before the current one ends. I was fortunate to hunt Alaska as a resident for four years and have hunted it 3 out of the past four years as a non-resident which gives me a little advantage over someone that has never been to Alaska. There are some quality hunt planning services available now that didn't exist 20 years ago when I first started hunting Alaska that are well worth the money for the first timer. Try it; you may find the self planning and unguided hunting alot more enjoyable and rewarding than slapping down a wad of money for a guided hunt and expecting the world to be handed to you. A hunt in Alaska, or anywhere else for that matter, should be an experience that you enjoy even if you don't harvest an animal.
