Anchorage to 19C Air Taxi

[BigFishTacos]

A little background - my cousin and I are planning a DIY moose hunt/packraft trip on the Tonzona river next fall (2026). This trip was sparked by learning that my cousin’s girlfriend’s aunt owns two small cabins along the river that she and her ex husband lived in for 20 winters or so when not working at Denali national park. We want to float in to check out the cabins and hopefully make a moose hunt out of it.

My general plan is to fly into the glacial lake at the headwaters of the river and packraft the 20-30 miles into the cabin, hunting along the way. There may also be a lake to get picked up at downstream of the cabins, or we may have to opt for a gravel bar pickup. Alternatively, there is a small public airstrip at a lake a few miles away that is maintained by a camp/retreat operation.

Any recommendations for a good air taxi that could shuttle us in and hopefully some meat out? Thanks

 

[cfdjay]

Between emails, phone calls and networking...it took me months to even sniff a pilot that is willing to do an individualized hunt plan. Most are set with schedules and drop off/pick up points. The countless hours I spent researching, calling and networking finally paid off. If you start now you should be able to pull something off in a reasonable time frame. Hell, I'd start with the folks that lived there for 20 years. Good chance they know someone. Good luck!

 

[Yellowknife]

Shot you a PM with some options.

 

[BigFishTacos]

Between emails, phone calls and networking...it took me months to even sniff a pilot that is willing to do an individualized hunt plan. Most are set with schedules and drop off/pick up points. The countless hours I spent researching, calling and networking finally paid off. If you start now you should be able to pull something off in a reasonable time frame. Hell, I'd start with the folks that lived there for 20 years. Good chance they know someone. Good luck!

Sounds like I've got my work cut out for me. Will start making phone calls and hopefully I can get something pulled together. Yellowknife gave me some good places to start.

The lady who owns the cabins hasn't been in there for 20+ years and from what I've been told she primarily took snow machines in. I haven't actually talked to her myself yet but hope to soon, and maybe she's got some good intel.

Thanks for the info!

 

[fatlander]

When I started planning my 2026 AK DIY moose hunt, I talked to about 20 different pilots/outfits. Initailly, I had interest in hunting the same unit you’re going into. The pilots I talked to in Anchorage weren’t willing to fly that far, fuel was the limiting factor on making that big of a haul. You may have better luck than me. I ended up going a different direction all together, but I wish you luck in your endeavor.


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[FranklinBluth]

There's a pretty popular lodge ~30 miles south of the headwaters of the Tonzona. Might be worth a call to see if they know anyone who flies that area.