Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Nikiski/Kenai Area

I just received an offer for a teaching position in Nikiski. Does anyone have specific knowledge of the Kenai peninsula? What are the communities, the geography, hunting and opportunities like there?

I have always dreamed of possibly moving to Alaska, but never believed that an opportunity like this would show up!

I look forward to some good intel. Thanks in advance.

JB

Where are you coming from?

What will you be teaching?

Kingsford Michigan. I just finished school at Michigan State Univ.

I will be teaching middle school social studies.

If you hunt/fish, get your butt to Alaska..

How big is Briquette-ville?

I gotta go, but will send info later. hope you have a few days for decision.

Kingsford has a population of about 5300 with other small towns quite close.

Couple of hours out of Anchorage. The most beautiful river on earth, the Kenai, flows through the middle of the peninsula. Trophy Salmon, Halibut, and Rainbow fishing, clam digging, moose hunting. Multiple canoeing lakes.

Small towns overflowing with tourists in the summer and tranquil in the winter. Winter not significantly different than you are used to in Michigan, except possibly more snow. Beautiful summers. Not much night life unless you drive to Anchorage.

Most bear, caribou, sheep, and goat hunting in AK is a fly-in proposition. Some local moose hunting and black bear hunting.

Were I in your situation, I'd point the pickup north and never look back.

Social Studies in Nikiski could be very interesting... That would be watching, not teaching...

Careful Kingsford, there are some real nuts in that part of the world and some really goofy horseshoers!

Sitka, tell me more about Nikiski folk.

Nikiski folk are what around here are called "North Roaders". They are rednecks - not that there is anything wrong with that!

The school is a small one and combines middle and high school. It's grades 7-12 IIRC.

Nikiski (Nikishka) is about 12 miles up the road from Kenai where the nice folks live. That's also where you will do the bulk of your grocery shopping and with the new Chinese Embassy (Wal Mart) opening soon, you'll save another 10 miles shopping for sox and underware.

Population density will be lower than Kingford, but I 'spect you will manage!

If I were you, I'd call O'brien and say fax the papers for me to sign!

The hell you say!

If they have regular school term..... being off for many weeks in summer could allow for lotsa good play time.

This pesky work is starting to get me down. I think I will ditch tomorrow and try for some bay fish.

SG, I just checked your last name, you got it made in southern Alaska. You could claim five generation status and people would buy it!

It's a neat part of Alaska, the advantages of the road system, yet not a major population center. The major industy is oil and gas, and the fertilizer plant that was fed by the gas field was s/d as they are running out of gas. This is the oldest oil field in the state, and is in the process of being pumped dry, so the economy there is going to be somewhat depressed.

As far as hunting opportunities, the biggest shock folks from the lower 48 have is, there isn't a game animal around every bush. Most people that hunt go on mini expeditions via 4 wheeler, boat or plane. This is both time consuming and expensive. Be prepared to budget several thousand dollars a year just for transporation. Also I don't know about the Kenai school district calender, but the Anchorage schools have moved up the start of school to where school is in session during most hunting seasons. Pretty tough to take a week or two of school off as a teacher right at the beginning of the school year.

There is moose hunting in the Kenai area, but sucess rates are low. If you are willing to hunt hard, the Kenai National wildlife refuge is a good local area to hunt. It is closed to aircraft and 4 wheelers, so access is via canoe through the many lakes. And as I'd warned someone who came up on a moose hunt, think very hard before pulling the trigger. He and his wife took 2 1/2 days to pack out their moose. Even though one can't fly into the lakes to hunt moose, you'll see folks spotting them from the air. This is relatively flat land, so there are few high points to glass moose. And the season is relatively early, so calling isn't as effective as areas with later seasons.

Fishing is phenominal, so long as you don't mind rubbing elbows on the Kenai. Well, thats just for salmon season, before and past the salmon sease is great fishing. And those moose hunting lakes are a great place to canoe back and fish for rainbows, and hunt small game. Look up Kenai Canoe Lake Trails, a great book with info on every lake and portage.

Being a teacher is a good gig in AK, you have the summer off, you can start it with a spring black bear hunt, then fish all summer, and try and get a caribou before school starts again in the fall.

I can't think of many people that have regretted moving to Alaska, even if they don't stay that long. There are plenty of people that regret never having taken an opportunity to visit or live here.

Saw your signature line SG.

Sign the damned papers! And welcome to Alaska!

I'll take you moose hunting locally. But only after you are a resident after your first year teaching. You are gonna be swamped the first year - well- probably for 2 or 3, professionally speaking. You'll start to get the hang of it after 5 or 6.... and if you are like my wife- you will still be obsessive after 25.....She's retired - un-retired -soon to be re-retired. It probably won't last...

I'm getting old and could use a moose packer- assuming I can ever shoot one of the SOB's again.... I'll teach you all I REALLY know about moose hunting on the 15 minute ride out....

The lies will take a few years. ( I tell them over, and over, and over.....)

KPBSD teacher's first day in '09 is August 17. It varies. Sheep/caribou/goat/small game season opens August 10, moose season August 20 (on the Kenai). This does not vary.

Of course teachers have evenings and weekends free... not to mention all summer for scouting...

I know, I know - that was cruel!

(Insert malignant laugh here - I've been married to a teacher for 32 years- and done 6 myself, some years ago....)

Phil,

You are right in that moose success rates are low- mostly because 85% of people are lazy idiots, the rest is because of declining habitat. Me- I'm just plain unlucky
( aka "stupid-on-scene").

I get a lot smarter after a couple weeks thinking about how I blew the situation, and whatIshouldadone.....And the moose keep learning/changing lanes faster than me....

Back when moose were thick on the ground in 15A (burn area), I never spent more than two weekends slip-hunting through bedding areas in mid-day. (which, by the way were much more confined- unburned spruce stands in the burn area - than now that the second growth has grown up so much - now they can and do bed anywhere!) Then, too, it was "any bull" regs and antlers coming out of the grass was meat in the freezer. Now we have antler restrictions. You can shoot, or you can look, but generally on slip/still hunting, you don't have time for both, especially pre pre-rut (before Sept 1)... Stand hunting/calling for antler specific bulls is a much lower percentage factor than any-bull whack 'em when they stand up.... Back then, any idiot ( and I were one) willing to get a half mile off the road and wander around for 3 or 4 days could find a shootable moose.

Even with a third the moose we had 10-15 years ago, I could still score yearly while slip hunting under "any-bull" regs. Probably.

And I've a couple ideas forspecific sites this coming fall, anyway....

Such is life/ habitat succession/ proper game management.

Only the Wilderness Area/Canoe Lakes System of the Refuge is closed to aircraft.

The rest of the Refuge is open to aircraft the last 10 days of season. I hunt on foot, off road, back-pack distance only, early on (2 miles in or so), and the last 10 days farther in, 5-6 miles, and fly out the meat if I get one. And yes- those last 10 days I am competing heavily with airplane hunters who have a huge advantage. )Of course - i could chose to hunt in the Wilderness area!)

Many of the airplane hunters fly during late evening, and if they find a vulnerable bull close to a landing lake, they GPS it, glide in, camp, walk in and shoot the bull at first light- some mere 6 or 7 hours later after landing. Bulls don't move much in that time- generally bed down right close by where seen at dark. It's legal, but IMO, not ethical. But maybe that's just me.

And maybe if I had an $80,000 airplane to use as an optical instrument for "hunting", I'd feel differently....not likely, but maybe. (I've no objection to using it for transport in and out).

Many airplane hunters have yet to figure out that (surviving) bulls in the area are more and more staying in heavy cover (also increasing via succession in my area) during daylight hours (especially if they hear an airplane coming - I've seen them cock their heads, then enter the nearby brush until the plane is gone, and/or even going mostly nocturnal because of the aircraft usage pressure.

In '07 there were probably 5 (stupid) bulls taken off one of my hunting ridges (1.5 miles by .5 mi,) judging by the gunfire/aircraft (at least 6 landing/take-offs) sounds in the two weekends plus 2 days I was out there. Be it noted, I didn't get one of them!~

In '08, in the same time spent there, I heard not a single bull taken, and only one aircraft on the lake- most likely a USF&W officer investigating our camp. She (likely she) dropped a wad of toilet paper out of pocket 150 yards from camp, crossing a swampy section.... (guys tend not to carry wads of TP in their pockets, if at all...) Now, whether or not it was deliberate....? Them LEO's are psycho-sneaky...

We had 5 bulls, at least, come in on us (4 at one time), but nary a shot was fired.

The bulls, nocturnal and/or heavy cover were there. The airplane "hunters" were not. I kinda like it. I could get lucky...

But, would they show themselves? Nooooooooo!

The half-second glimpse of antler at about 5 pm on the last day, stalking a "sound bull" convinced me we were playing with at least one 60 plus inch bull in the bunch- none of whom were showing themselves to aircraft..., or obviously, us, during daylight hours. We heard them tho...

They ain't dumb where heavily hunted, you know. I'm also guessing that guys like you - Phil - who get more moose hunting experience in one year than I do in 5 would have probably scored...

But it's all fun, if not meat in the freezer...

[quote=458 Lott]And as I'd warned someone who came up on a moose hunt, think very hard before pulling the trigger. He and his wife took 2 1/2 days to pack out their moose.

He and his wife also lost nearly ten pounds, each, if I'm thinking of the right "he and his wife". Moose are heavy. The Refuge is some thick, soft country. Most places every step is uphill, tamping down a foot or more of mossy undergrowth.

My time and experience up here is quite limited, but I've found that moose hunting success seems to favor the one who puts in a lot of up-front hunting effort. Meaning, time and effort spent accessing a hunt area and preparing a reasonable egress. Lots to read into that little tidbit. Sheep hunting success seems to favor someone other than me, but that's only one season into the game.

If you have the summer off, there's little reason that you shouldn't be able to generate the bulk of your yearly protein intake just by fishing and gathering.

Having a job and living in the greater soldotna area are two marks in the plus column, if you're coming to AK. Not often one comes with the other.

2 and a half days?

What's your point?

Plan for it. Done it several times. You've got about 4 days before the meat spoils, proper field dressing required...and prompt processing thereafter.

You people who seem to think that teachers (at least good teachers) "have the summer off" have no grasp of reality.

Hell, it takes two months just to get sane again. Not to mention the requirement for additional credits to get re-certified, etc. One reason I only spent 6 years at it... and if you endeavorer higher than "teacher" - or even "self improvement on skills" - well- my wife's Master's cost us $30,000. She got a $1,000 per year raise for it....

Teachers are nuts - and heroes, in my book...

Thanks for all of the help so far!

I am glad to hear that Alaskan hunting is not easy. If it were, everyone would do it and the hunt would be much less worthwhile.

I expect to get an official offer from the school on Monday. Last wednesday they told me they had to finish my background check before they could give me the final word.

I would really like to visit Nikiski before taking the position, however I just finished a long unpaid internship and am trying to restock my savings. Is driving a viable way to visit/move?

I am hoping that the school can help with moving expenses.
If they are not able to do that, what is the best way to move to Alaska?

I moved up here from 4-5 years ago in three driving stints (moved my wife here and returned to Nevada to sell our house) then made two more driving hauls to get our stuff moved. We bought a delivery truck (bobtail) w/liftgate, it was as cheap as renting a U-Haul. So I would say; drive! There are some sights you would not want to miss by flying. People who recommend taking the ferry from Bellingham, have a lot more money than I do I guess.
Realizing as las says that you don't really have the WHOLE summer off, you should allow 2 or 3 weeks to make the trip, there is some world class scenery in Canada esp. around northern BC and Yukon. I could have spent a weel at Kluane NP alone.
When you get here don't buy any horses from Mike (Ironbender).