40 Mile Air vs Ram Aviation?

[ddavis_1313]

Wife and I just got home from a float moose hunt. Was a great trip, but, crowded river considering what we were told.

That being said, our first kid is on the way and due in January. My wife has been my hunting partner for 10 years. She killed a bull with Ram in 2022. I could have but didn’t. Bears were terrible. We lost all of her meat in less than 2 days and she had strep throat so I opted to have us get pulled out.

She already told me to book a hunt if I want to go back. If she can go, great. If not, I’ll go solo or try to find someone that wants to go.

Ram Aviation was first class all the way and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. That being said, the scenery isn’t so great. I mean, they do call it Barren Ground for a reason. lol

I’d love to hunt the 40 mile herd but from what I’ve gathered either fly with 40 mile or don’t do it. (That was in reference with another transporter there)

Just wondering if any has hunted with 40 mile or has hunted that herd. If anyone has some other insight on drop hunts that they want to share via pm I’d muchly appreciate it.

Also, if anyone has a hunt booked with 40 mile air and needs another hunter, I’m more than competent and capable.


Thanks!


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[ddavis_1313]

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[timekiller13]

Others may chime in, but the last I heard is 40 mile Air wasn’t taking any new customers. Returning customers only and they have such a long list of returning clientele that I think you are going to have get willed a spot to get in with them.

 

[VernAK]

Others may chime in, but the last I heard is 40 mile Air wasn’t taking any new customers. Returning customers only and they have such a long list of returning clientele that I think you are going to have get willed a spot to get in with the

I think I'm reading your OP correctly....you just returned from a moose hunt but want to book a caribou hunt. Is that correct?

Timekiller about sums it up for booking with 40 MIle Air.....both caribou and moose.

Here's my random before coffee thoughts on the situation in the 40 Mile Country:

40MA guys are my friends and I've flown with them for decades.......the best out there IMO!

Last winter was mild compared to the past 2-3 winters and the ungulates were fatter and trophy quality better. Let's hope for another mild winter.

Predation is excessive and wolf control measures will begin next spring. The wolf packs are huge. The moose herd seems to be lacking in young replacement stock.

The 40 Mile Caribou Herd is managed by an international coalition [Alaska & Yukon Territory]. A meeting is planned for this winter, and I'll try to update after we complete the meetings.

Currently the herd is about 30K head but winter snows and predation are facing us.

Biologists will soon capture and weigh some of this year's calves. I suspect the results will be favorable as birth weights were the highest in several years.

 

[Tmcgarrigle]

I hunted with Ram in 2019 and had nothing but good things to say about the trip. I'd book another trip with them in a heartbeat if I want to do another caribou hunt in that area. I'm just kicking around different places for my next caribou hunt

 

[Larry Bartlett]

Well Ram brought planes to the Interior this year due to weather and conditions out of Kotz. They created a displacement of over 150 caribou hunters into areas already full by other air services who also moved in to new areas (traditional use areas for many other outfits). It was a shit show for many hunters as a result. I would expect they'll have a more difficult time doing this shift of services next year, but time will tell.

The Interior experience and game populations cannot support Ram's high intensity volumes, so I hope that improves.

 

[william schmaltz]

If I had one caribou trip to do, I would shoot for 40MA; granted by some miracle I could actually get on the books. I gravitate towards companies that are near impossible to get in with b/c return clients flood the books.

GMU23 is going to draw for NR starting next year. 40 Mile Zone 2 closed early this year b/c it hit quota and quotas are steadily dropping (who knows what they will be next year.) Ram unfortunately got on the Go Hunt/Huntin Fool spray and pray make hay while the sunshines hunter saturation the last couple years, and I have a hard time trusting companies once they go down that road. Maybe the limited NR tags in 23 will help with what appears to be wild overbooking from the outside looking in.

 

[ddavis_1313]

If I had one caribou trip to do, I would shoot for 40MA; granted by some miracle I could actually get on the books. I gravitate towards companies that are near impossible to get in with b/c return clients flood the books.

GMU23 is going to draw for NR starting next year. 40 Mile Zone 2 closed early this year b/c it hit quota and quotas are steadily dropping (who knows what they will be next year.) Ram unfortunately got on the Go Hunt/Huntin Fool spray and pray make hay while the sunshines hunter saturation the last couple years, and I have a hard time trusting companies once they go down that road. Maybe the limited NR tags in 23 will help with what appears to be wild overbooking from the outside looking in.

GMU23 was already mostly closed due to them shutting down federal lands. We dealt with that in 2022. Complete BS reasoning for closing it for caribou. I sat in and listened to the meeting they had…. The only thing left was the state land. I’m m suspecting that going to draw is piggybacking off that closure.

I wasn’t aware that Ram was running a high number of hunters. When we hunted in 2022 they were one of the lower number of hunters in Kotz. Maybe 60-65 for the entire season for caribou.


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[Dexter Grayson]

If you can get in with 40 mile you won’t be disappointed! Scenery and trophy quality of the 40 mile area are unmatched.

 

[ddavis_1313]

I think I'm reading your OP correctly....you just returned from a moose hunt but want to book a caribou hunt. Is that correct?

Timekiller about sums it up for booking with 40 MIle Air.....both caribou and moose.

Here's my random before coffee thoughts on the situation in the 40 Mile Country:

40MA guys are my friends and I've flown with them for decades.......the best out there IMO!

Last winter was mild compared to the past 2-3 winters and the ungulates were fatter and trophy quality better. Let's hope for another mild winter.

Predation is excessive and wolf control measures will begin next spring. The wolf packs are huge. The moose herd seems to be lacking in young replacement stock.

The 40 Mile Caribou Herd is managed by an international coalition [Alaska & Yukon Territory]. A meeting is planned for this winter, and I'll try to update after we complete the meetings.

Currently the herd is about 30K head but winter snows and predation are facing us.

Biologists will soon capture and weigh some of this year's calves. I suspect the results will be favorable as birth weights were the highest in several years.

Yeah. Wife and I did a moose hunt. Was a fun hunt but not at all what we were told it would be.

She is 5 months pregnant and will be having our first child in January. She has a nice caribou she shot in 2022 with Ram. I didn’t shoot due to her having strep at the time and the dog credible number of bears. In less than 3 days they ate all of her caribou meat, all of another guys meat, and some of a third caribou. The bears even stole a cape from my be of the other hunters. (Was a father son from Utah that were camped on the same ridge). We saw a ton of caribou though.


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[ddavis_1313]

If you can get in with 40 mile you won’t be disappointed! Scenery and trophy quality of the 40 mile area are unmatched.

I emailed yesterday. Haven’t heard back yet. Will try calling today. Do you know what dates they typically hunt? I don’t want a velvet caribou.


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[Dexter Grayson]

I emailed yesterday. Haven’t heard back yet. Will try calling today. Do you know what dates they typically hunt? I don’t want a velvet caribou.


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Better plan to go in September and hope the season is still open.

 

[william schmaltz]

GMU23 was already mostly closed due to them shutting down federal lands. We dealt with that in 2022. Complete BS reasoning for closing it for caribou. I sat in and listened to the meeting they had…. The only thing left was the state land. I’m m suspecting that going to draw is piggybacking off that closure.

I wasn’t aware that Ram was running a high number of hunters. When we hunted in 2022 they were one of the lower number of hunters in Kotz. Maybe 60-65 for the entire season for caribou.


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I haven’t hunted 23 since 2016 when they first closed fed lands and there were only a few of us trying to fight it and spread the word back then to no avail. I don’t plan on going back anytime soon but I’ll continue to try and fight the overreach.

The GMU 23 NR draw was implemented by the BOG this winter. I believe their intent was more or less theatrical to show the subsistence land hostage holders that they (the state) have made an effort to dampen competition and in return hoped the FSB would reopen the federal lands in the unit knowing the limit was now in place. It clearly didn’t work. Tags available are a bit higher than the average annual NR harvest, but we all know how draws go. A couple thousand people will put in for the 300 tags seemingly just because they can.

 

[Trial153]

I hunted with 40ma this year, in all honesty it wasn’t much of hunt. Numbers, and quality of bulls were in the shitter especially compared to 2020 when i last hunted the area.

 

[ddavis_1313]

I hunted with 40ma this year, in all honesty it wasn’t much of hunt. Numbers, and quality of bulls were in the shitter especially compared to 2020 when i last hunted the area.

Dang that sucks to hear. Seems like it’s an off year this year in Alaska in general.


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[Trial153]

Dang that sucks to hear. Seems like it’s an off year this year in Alaska in general.


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Yeah it’s wasn’t good by any measure …Expensive camping.

 

[ddavis_1313]

Yeah it’s wasn’t good by any measure …Expensive camping.

About like our “remote” moose hunt. We did call in two but neither legal. However, there were over 12 hunters on a 30 mile stretch of river so that “remote” part was a line of bullshit. lol

Wife was not too happy….

There was a 65” bull shot. But by pure luck. The guide that guided the hunter was the one that told us it was pure luck.


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[FAAFO]

About like our “remote” moose hunt. We did call in two but neither legal. However, there were over 12 hunters on a 30 mile stretch of river so that “remote” part was a line of bullshit. lol

Wife was not too happy….

There was a 65” bull shot. But by pure luck. The guide that guided the hunter was the one that told us it was pure luck.


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Did the guide have an inflatable with a motor?

 

[VernAK]

Dang that sucks to hear. Seems like it’s an off year this year in Alaska in general.


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Get accustomed to it guys! Caribou are experiencing a severe down trend throughout the world. It's not just an off year. Typically, without predator control; the caribou population cycle seems to span nearly a half century or more. There's not a lot of data out there but historical accounts over the past century indicate the span from low to high population is more than most of us want to believe.

I wish more guides would offer more affordable bear hunts [some do] and wolf hunting should be on every hunter's agenda.

 

[ddavis_1313]

Did the guide have an inflatable with a motor?

No. Only motors were in the lower section. Those were jet boats.


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