2020 Alaska DIY Moose Drop Hunt Planning to Execution Part I

[AKHunter22]

I’ll definitely contact you to see if we can figure something out, thanks. I did looked at Monster Moose, however they where a newer company without the depth I was looking for and it is similar to unit with regards to lack of elevation and that’s just not what we were looking for our hunt.

I’ll definitely contact you to see if we can figure something out, thanks. I did looked at Monster Moose, however they where a newer company without the depth I was looking for and it is similar to unit with regards to lack of elevation and that’s just not what we were looking for our hunt.

Ya I totally agree you wanna find a hunt that fits your needs. I did notice all the research you did on this hunt and enjoyed reading it. I noticed that you are going out of Aniak. Was curious what info you got for bringing all of your meat home and antlers after your hunt? Did they suggest a option for shipping for you? Cause getting stuff out of a village and back to Anchorage can get pricey.

 

[Dhosera]

I'll send you a PM on how we accomplished it.

 

[AKHunter22]

I'll send you a PM on how we accomplished it.

Sounds good. I always like seeing what route people take to get their meat and antlers back home. Cause that part can get very frustrating

 

[attk64]

Ya I totally agree you wanna find a hunt that fits your needs. I did notice all the research you did on this hunt and enjoyed reading it. I noticed that you are going out of Aniak. Was curious what info you got for bringing all of your meat home and antlers after your hunt? Did they suggest a option for shipping for you? Cause getting stuff out of a village and back to Anchorage can get pricey.

After speaking with Rob from Aniak Air Guides he said that Raven airlines runs planes to anchorage every day of the week and they also have a large walk in freezer at the airport. He suggested purchasing quality storage totes. The idea being to process the meat in Aniak and place the meat in the storage totes then walk the totes to Raven's freezers and freeze the meat for the journey home as checked baggage. He did indicate that they were a bit pricey in the .60cent per pound range, which for a short flight that's pretty high. Rob also indicated that there are two other air freight companies that fly but only do so a couple of days a week. He indicated if you finish processing on one of those days they will fly it to Anchorage but for about half the price of Raven. As far as antlers go, still figuring that one out. He said that a lot of the companies are not wanting to fly intact antlers from Aniak to Anchorage and suggested sawing them in half and then having a taxidermist put them back together once home. He did indicate that they would fly them out whole but require them to be palletized first and they charge an exorbitant amount. I personally would like the full skull intact to do a European mount. All of my bull elk have been done this way and display nicely.

 

[AKHunter22]

Yes Raven will be your best bet and they will fly them out while with skull attached. You will need to cover all of the points. I recommend throwing in foam pipe covering its 99 cents at lowes to cover points. Also Raven does fly a lot often so thats a good thing. But keep in mind there is a chance they will fly in half your moose due to weight. I have seen it take 3 flights to get a whole moose back to anchorage. If you plan on taking care of everything make sure you leave at least 2 days extra in Anchorage after your hunt. I have seen a few people have to change flights due to stuff not coming into Anchorage and at $150 change fee can add up.
Also I am not sure what airport you are flying from but if it has Alaska Airlines going into it that will be your cheapest route to get all your meat and antlers home. This is because you can use their Air Cargo service. Going the extra check baggage route is going to cost a lot.
If you are planning on getting a Euro Mount done plan on doing it here in Alaska it will save you money in the long run. I have a guy I use up here and his turn around is pretty fast and will run about $500.00 to have done.
If you are running short on time after the hunt you can always ship the quarters to Anchorage and there is a local company who will debone all the meat for you.

So listed below is the normal steps I help clients with.

1. I pickup all the quarters and antlers at Cargo plane.
2. I drop meat off at processor and antlers at taxidermist for Euro.
3. If doing shoulder mount I package up antlers and hide so can take as checked baggage
4. If Euro mount is done I wait for meat to be finished being processed
5. I package up everything and bring to Alaska Air Cargo for shipping. This is because you will save hundreds of dollars in shipping fees. Also you get a better rate when shipping frozen food.

There is a lot of different options logistically getting your moose home so before you come or have a few minutes to chat feel free to give me a call. I can overload you with a lot of helpful information about cheapest route for you. Also can give you a good dollar amount to keep in mind when planning so you don't get sticker shocked at end of hunt. I put my contact below so if you or anyone else reading this post feel free to contact me anytime and ask questions.

Nick
AK Trophy Expediters LLC
Owner
907-223-2666

 

[elkman1962]

Just picked up a cancelled float trip in AK. Thanks for all your insight - just starting to gather all info. I am behind the 8 ball!

 

[AKHunter22]

Just picked up a cancelled float trip in AK. Thanks for all your insight - just starting to gather all info. I am behind the 8 ball!

Oh that's going to be a fun time. If you need any info on getting stuff to am from Alaska let me know. Especially if you are bringing up your own raft and stuff. I got options for you to keep it cheaper.

 

[hornchaser2011]

attk 64 hit me up with a pm, I have some info you might be interested in

 

[hornchaser2011]

Apparently I can’t send or receive pm yet but I am going on the same hunt as you with rob but we are going this year and doing a float. Send me an email at [email protected] and I can go over some stuff with you and give u feedback when I get back from the hunt

 

[standswittaknife]

Bouncing this up


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Northwestalaska]

Ok my 2 cents:

Aniak is a small hub for the YK delta and is a transportation hub but like many areas in western Alaska it costs an arm and a leg to fly out and back. You will pay 1.80 a pound to fly gear out and back on Raven and about $300+ each way for seat fare. unit 19 of a good unit for moose but for that price there are better choices for sure but each can cost a bunch because there are limited options on flights out and back. Flying a freezer out to Aniak will have to go out on NAC and that $200 Costco special will cost $400 to ship out...Another option is to ship everything out and back on Northern Air Cargo. Link: https://www.nac.aero/routes-and-locations/

NAC flies DC 6 and the out haul will run you about $1.38 a pound but the back haul is only .38 a pound so getting the meat back to Anchorage is not bad at all and NAC has a freezer in Anchorage. I use NAC for all mu gear out to Kotzebue and they are reliable where some of the other choices are not. Alaska Central Express is another option. I have a former student who flies that rout for ACE so check them out as well. Link: http://www.aceaircargo.com/destinations/map/


Walt

 

[jdmecomber]

After reading and watching everything I could find I started to contact various outfitter/air taxi services. Here is a list of those I spoke with.
Larry Bartlett - Pristine Ventures
Kent Kaiser - Alaskan Quest
Rob Kincade - Aniak Air Guides
Poppa Bear Outfitter
Renfro's
40 Mile Air
and two other air taxi services, one from Anchorage and the other from Tok.

All of these companies explained what they had to offer and the general experience we could expect. I don't want to make any negative comments towards the companies I spoke with but would rather briefly mention our discussions.

Pristine Ventures- Extremely knowledgeable, he handles the planning of your hunt for a price. I would say he specializes in drop float hunts but I believe he can coordinate anything you would like.

Alaskan Quest - Similar to Pristine ventures assists with the planning and coordination. Unlike Pristine Ventures who, at the time, was a flat fee then all other costs were handled individually, Alaskan Quest does package deals and the price will include just about everything.

Aniak Air Guides - will discuss below

Poppa Bear and Renfro's - If trying to book direct they are very difficult to get a hold of and aren't really taking new clients for several years. In 2017 they were booked out to 2021 and beyond. The hunts were primarily drop hunts on lakes in unit 18. Extremely high success rates but there statistics include guys who shoot 30" bulls because it’s the first thing they see and there is no size restrictions in that GMU. They do have other booking companies that can obtain hunts in earlier years than you can if you go direct. I have a friend here in Boise that is using Renfro's and was able to secure a hunt several years ahead of what was offered to me going directly.

40 Mile Air - Usually have to book a caribou hunt first because they offer spots to repeat customers before new customers.

Anchorage and Tok - Didn't really access the terrain we wanted to hunt and frankly the guy in Tok was kind of a..., well I said I wouldn't say anything negative so I will just stop there.

Most of the above hunts would have been under the 10K mark except Papa Bear and Renfro's there hunts were around 9K without your travel, hotel, tags licenses.. etc.

I'm sure there were more companies that I spoke with but these are the major ones that I can recall.

The first thing you must determine is what you actually want out of this experience. Do you want to chance lower harvest odds by chasing a giant, do you want an almost sure bet but lower trophy sized moose. Do you want to float a river or camp atop a ridge? Drop vs guided. Outfitted vs non. The choices and combinations are endless. We decided we wanted to experience AK from more than a flooded lake bed. We wanted to hunt terrain that offered relief and glassing points. A mix of tundra and forest with nearby rivers or lakes. We wanted the possibility of striking out and establishing a secondary spike camp away from the strip if necessary. We are willing to risk the possibility of not harvesting to have a higher possibility of harvesting 65" plus moose. Ultimately after factoring all of these considerations, plus others, we decided to hunt GMU 19B with Aniak Air Guides.

We will be dropped off on a ridge, by means of super cub, with an outfitted camp. Our flight into the backcountry will take off from Aniak. We will be able to take in 90lbs of gear each. This does not include your rifle and items on you physical person. Some companies restricted you to 50lbs. We choose an outfitted hunt because we felt that it would be difficult to hunt for length of time desired with weight restrictions that would occur by bringing everything necessary yourself. Some companies allow a gear flight to help with this problem but the cost difference becomes negligent when you factor in your costs on equipment and the extra flight vs the outfitted. We basically only need to bring our hunting clothes, sleeping bags, air pads, rifles/bow and food. You can review his site but basically we will arrive and gear will already be on site. He provides, tent, camp stove with fuel, camp chairs, cooking equipment, water, sleeping pads and other various things that typically weigh a lot. Our hunt will take place from September 4 -22. The season in 19B is only open from the 5-20 but we didn't want to waste a day flying in on the opener and didn't want to pass on a bull on the closing end because we had to leave so we added a buffer on both ends. He offers float hunts and ridge hunts with the potential option of relocation.

Following

 

[decrooj]

Looking forward to hearing the rest of the story once your journey is complete

 

[SwampGhost]

Bumping this back up. I’m still in the dreaming phase of a Yukon moose hunt. Good luck and keep us updated

 

[John Havard]

10th & M Meat Lockers in Anchorage will sell you freezer boxes and freeze your moose meat. Then you can ship it south on Alaska Air Cargo at around $1.00 per pound. It will arrive frozen. In order to ship on Alaska Air Cargo you'll have to become a "known shipper", but it's the best way I know of for getting hundreds of pounds of meat back to the L48.