Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska I am thinking of moving to Alaska. What will i need?

Self sufficient is a vague term. Do you want phone, electricity, access to grocery stores, wood for heating etc. I shoot in my yard any time I want and am close enough to town for the misses to run in and get something for dinner.
A marketable skill is the best thing you can bring with you if you want to live the alaskan dream...

Alaska can be a great place to live and raise a family.

You should probably post up your intended GPS coordinates, so when it comes time to go looking for you, we can alert the authorities on where to find your carcass.

Right now I am dreaming about returning to Idaho. I guess you either love it or hate it. While I do not hate it I do not or at least dont think I want to stay. My big [bleep] up was moving to Anchorage. First time I have lived in a city and need to find me a place in the sticks. Any place south of here or north and I think I would be more than Ok

Elk,
Sorry to hear that. As a first city to live in, Anchorage would suck. You need to really spend some time in Seattle or Portland to appreciate Anchorage.
As I recall, you were in construction trades, which is a difficult way to go here. The work/money is available in the summer and fall, as is the fishing and hunting. Makes a guy choose between making money to afford hunting/fishing and actually hunting/fishing.

Yea, Im about to hang it up and head back down.

The key is having both the money and the time to enjoy the state. It's a heck of a balancing act and if you're not able to enjoy the state as much as you'd like it's not the best place to live.

The campfire burns bright, as always! I'll wade in while it's only knee deep...

I lived on a boat in Sitka for a season, did some seasonal fishing out of Wrangell (commercial) and I moved to Fairbanks a long while ago, then moved back to WA a little over a year later. (A couple months before getting my first permanent fund check, it wasn't worth waiting for. - - But I did get one season of resident fishing and hunting licenses!) I liked AK better than here, especially politically & outdoors, but it was too far from Family, and I wasn't prepared financially.

To really 'do' Alaska, you need money and toys. Not just to enjoy, but to survive without hardship. Things cost a lot, distances are FAR, and you need good equipment to function. Jetskis & Jetboats in the summer, 4wheelers Utv's in the spring/fall, snow machines in the winter. (All late model and in good repair if you value your toes and fingers!) Your clothing and footwear need to be top drawer, designed for your locality. You vehicle needs to be reliable and customized for the cold. Everything you own need to be equipt to survive a breakdown for a number of days. Doesn't hurt to have a Super Cub or something either!

To go there unprepared and underfunded, you can get work if you dig hard, and you can survive, but it's no better than anywhere else. Not to mention you'll be seeing the equipt out enjoying the place, while you plod along punching the clock and just getting by.

It doesn't hurt anything to have people there too, not just fallback either. If you're outside the main cities, networking is the #1 way to get local knowledge, work, scouting reports, and absolutely everything else. Cities are cities, the bush is a very unique place, and the people who are friendly and network are the ones who thrive. I loved it up there, but I love my family more, and I was alone up there. I made friends fast, found a fantastic church, hunted, fished, etc. But being alone in a crowd wasn't for me. Glad I went, but it wasn't for me. At least not then.

Be prepared and you'll love it!

Snow machine!

Spent 10 years in a small place called Big lake just outside wasilla in the Mat Su valley, cabin on 20 acres no running water or electricity loved every minut of it! Alaska does not have seasons like you have come to know there is hunting season, fishing season and snowmobile season better enjoy them all might also consider becoming very handy with a snow shovel because that is your in between season enjoyment
Good luck!

What about tourist season?

BTW I'd take living in Anchorage over not being in AK any day. Trust me you are closer to Alaska in Anchorage than in Idaho....

But I"m biased anyway and not sure I could live in ANY city period.

Phone can be a satellite phone. Electric can be solar, wind, and generator. 4WD Truck, Snow Cat in winter.

I will need the bear bells too.

Bare Belles keep you warmer, though.

At a significantly higher cost.

Just bring half a million dollars, and buy all that. You should have enough left over to almost cover fuel for the first winter.

"almost".


Bawahaha.

What do you know? You are just as happily married as I (and many others) are.

Oh wait- that's not mutually exclusive in the singular.... the belles part - not the cost...

But since she makes more and works harder than I do (someone has to do the dishes and vacuuming!), she can spend whatever the hell she likes!

Been out in the cold when it was -25F with 60 mph winds for several days straight so I think I can survive for a little while. No need for GPS coordinates to find me. I do understand it gets colder than that in Alaska and for longer periods of time like weeks.

Sounds like an interesting tale. Please regale us with the details.

Once upon* a time, in a land far* away....



*Once upon - "February, generally the period between the 7th and the 19th of the month, back in '33.

*far land - Siberia; for purposes of this tale, deeply nestled in the Verkhoyansk Range