Any Alaska residents here?

[IdAu]

I'm taking a trip to Anchorage in the Spring to explore and see if moving will work out and have some questions.

Is Alaska everything hunters and outdoorsmen dream of, or overhyped?


How is access out there? If a guy has an ATV is the sky the limit, or is there a ton of vegetation/obstacles that make exploring the vast wilderness extremely difficult?


I looked up success rates online and was surprised at the low %. Do you think a lot of people buy tags and don't hunt, or is taking an elk there just as hard as anywhere else? Either way, I'd be extremely happy just to not constantly bump shoulders with other hunters.


If I get accepted into my Masters Program in Anchorage I'm stuck there. But if not, I'm open to other areas. Any suggestions on must-see places to check out while I'm there?

What's the best way to get all your guns up? Canadian is apparently a no go, so I can't drive them up with me. Ship them individually to myself, or use some type of service to get them shipped all together?


Thanks.

 

[johnnycake]

I'm an Alaska resident that relocated up here 10 yrs ago from Utah. I LOVE elk hunting.

I will never willingly elk hunt in Alaska. I don't hate myself that much.

There is unlimited hunting opportunity if you have unlimited time and a healthy wallet. The key to hunting in AK is about figuring out the logistics. There just is not anything in the L48 that is comparable to the logistics hurdle to hunting up here. A 4 wheeler gets you and everybody else with one a few places. A six wheeler or an Argo go farther.

The harsh reality is that hunting from the road system for moose is a very low odds proposition. The caribou options have gotten extremely limited. Black bears are very doable. Grizzly too with some luck mixed in once you establish your residency.

Sheep with just a wheeler? It happens but very very very few are killed each year without flying out unless it is a hard to get draw tag. Goats, sometimes a registration hunt pops up that you can try to be fast enough to grab a tag. Good luck they disappear in seconds for the road system accessible hunts.

Elk require flying out or boat transport in the few places they are located.

Blacktail deer are either fly out or boat based in most places. A couple road systems on Kodiak and in SE AK have options to hunt deer though.

 

[IdAu]

I'm an Alaska resident that relocated up here 10 yrs ago from Utah. I LOVE elk hunting.

I will never willingly elk hunt in Alaska. I don't hate myself that much.

There is unlimited hunting opportunity if you have unlimited time and a healthy wallet. The key to hunting in AK is about figuring out the logistics. There just is not anything in the L48 that is comparable to the logistics hurdle to hunting up here. A 4 wheeler gets you and everybody else with one a few places. A six wheeler or an Argo go farther.

The harsh reality is that hunting from the road system for moose is a very low odds proposition. The caribou options have gotten extremely limited. Black bears are very doable. Grizzly too with some luck mixed in once you establish your residency.

Sheep with just a wheeler? It happens but very very very few are killed each year without flying out unless it is a hard to get draw tag. Goats, sometimes a registration hunt pops up that you can try to be fast enough to grab a tag. Good luck they disappear in seconds for the road system accessible hunts.

Elk require flying out or boat transport in the few places they are located.

Blacktail deer are either fly out or boat based in most places. A couple road systems on Kodiak and in SE AK have options to hunt deer though.

Ahhh... That's not what I wanted to hear. I have plenty of time, but I don't have the money to charter a plane or boat every time I want to go somewhere.


Are you saying the 4 wheeler isn't great because everyone else can use one to get to the same areas, or it just wont get you very far with the terrain and brush? I'm also going to spend a ton of time prospecting, so I'm not worried about hunting as much as I am general access and exploring.

 

[SaltySailor]

I know a lot of guys who relocated up here who hunted hard down south. The shock of not seeing 15 moose per acre like the deer they saw around the corn feeder down there is hard on them sometimes i think. It is absolutely doable to hunt off the road, but if your plan is to run down the same ATV trail that has 30 trucks parked at the trail head - you're probably not going to have a great time.

 

[IdAu]

I know a lot of guys who relocated up here who hunted hard down south. The shock of not seeing 15 moose per acre like the deer they saw around the corn feeder down there is hard on them sometimes i think. It is absolutely doable to hunt off the road, but if your plan is to run down the same ATV trail that has 30 trucks parked at the trail head - you're probably not going to have a great time.

I hate that, and that's why I want to leave Idaho. It's a zoo during hunting season and I can't seem to get away from people. Saturday was opening day. 5am a truck parks right in front of my camper on a turnout to head out where I had planned. Within 10 minutes of calling a drone buzzes by (illegal). I'm sick of this shit.


Even when I drive hours away, hours into the mountains, then hike hours over the worst terrain I can find... I still run into people. I can't hike over more than one or two mountains without hitting a hardball road in the majority of OTC areas. Should I expect Alaska to be any better, or even worse?

To be clear I am NOT talking about hunting from the road. I'm talking about getting into areas on foot. The ATV I brought up was to get back to areas to start the hike, as Alaska seems to not have all that many roads.


What I'm looking for is a place I can put in hard work and get away from a million other hunters. That takes the fun out of it for me. I'd rather have a 10x lower chance of getting an elk away from people, than down one with a bunch of other dudes running around the same area.

 

[rickyw]

I hate that, and that's why I want to leave Idaho. It's a zoo during hunting season and I can't seem to get away from people. Saturday was opening day. 5am a truck parks right in front of my camper on a turnout to head out where I had planned. Within 10 minutes of calling a drone buzzes by (illegal). I'm sick of this shit.


Even when I drive hours away, hours into the mountains, then hike hours over the worst terrain I can find... I still run into people. I can't hike over more than one or two mountains without hitting a hardball road in the majority of OTC areas. Should I expect Alaska to be any better, or even worse?

To be clear I am NOT talking about hunting from the road. I'm talking about getting into areas on foot. The ATV I brought up was to get back to areas to start the hike, as Alaska seems to not have all that many roads.


What I'm looking for is a place I can put in hard work and get away from a million other hunters. That takes the fun out of it for me. I'd rather have a 10x lower chance of getting an elk away from people, than down one with a bunch of other dudes running around the same area.

I hunt a lot on foot. It won’t be as busy and it will have a bit more of a remote feel, depending. I don’t think it improves success up here. Hunting on foot here can be a bit of a challenge with the terrain and vegetation, but I enjoy it.

Ideally, I’d buy a plane and become a pilot

 

[SaltySailor]

I hate that, and that's why I want to leave Idaho. It's a zoo during hunting season and I can't seem to get away from people. Saturday was opening day. 5am a truck parks right in front of my camper on a turnout to head out where I had planned. Within 10 minutes of calling a drone buzzes by (illegal). I'm sick of this shit.


Even when I drive hours away, hours into the mountains, then hike hours over the worst terrain I can find... I still run into people. I can't hike over more than one or two mountains without hitting a hardball road in the majority of OTC areas. Should I expect Alaska to be any better, or even worse?

To be clear I am NOT talking about hunting from the road. I'm talking about getting into areas on foot. The ATV I brought up was to get back to areas to start the hike, as Alaska seems to not have all that many roads.


What I'm looking for is a place I can put in hard work and get away from a million other hunters. That takes the fun out of it for me. I'd rather have a 10x lower chance of getting an elk away from people, than down one with a bunch of other dudes running around the same area.

I see you're talking about elk, as far as i know there are only elk on the Islands off Kodiak - the logistics of getting an ATV to these and the limited area you could probably actually ride one would make a Idaho Elk hunt look pretty dang good again. The golden age of not seeing people out in the 'wilderness' off the end of ATV trails ended a long time ago. I hiked 15 miles past the end of a rugged ATV trail years ago looking for sheep, killed myself climbing up over a pass to drop into what I thought would be a good drainage, only to crest the pass and look down into the valley at a bright orange tent set up in the bottom. Guided sheep hunters had been flown in to a remote strip about 3 miles down the valley. plenty of land to get out in and put boots on the ground up here off the road system, but I am never shocked anymore when i see people in a area I expected to not have a soul in.

 

[cowdisciple]

There are some elk on Etolin Island as well. They are very safe there...

 

[MountainTracker]

I see you're talking about elk, as far as i know there are only elk on the Islands off Kodiak - the logistics of getting an ATV to these and the limited area you could probably actually ride one would make a Idaho Elk hunt look pretty dang good again. The golden age of not seeing people out in the 'wilderness' off the end of ATV trails ended a long time ago. I hiked 15 miles past the end of a rugged ATV trail years ago looking for sheep, killed myself climbing up over a pass to drop into what I thought would be a good drainage, only to crest the pass and look down into the valley at a bright orange tent set up in the bottom. Guided sheep hunters had been flown in to a remote strip about 3 miles down the valley. plenty of land to get out in and put boots on the ground up here off the road system, but I am never shocked anymore when i see people in a area I expected to not have a soul in.

Yep getting to the elk here requires a plane, a boat or both.


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[307]

A great outdoorsman and fly angler friend of mine moved from WY to AK for work. AK is big and beautiful, but also a pain in the butt. Driving to a trailhead and hiking a couple of hours isn't going to get you very far in AK. He's doing much, much less fishing these days and much less outdoors stuff in general. With a float plane... the game would be different.

 

[IdAu]

I hunt a lot on foot. It won’t be as busy and it will have a bit more of a remote feel, depending. I don’t think it improves success up here. Hunting on foot here can be a bit of a challenge with the terrain and vegetation, but I enjoy it.

Ideally, I’d buy a plane and become a pilot

I wish I could but years ago I got denied medical and now can't even fly a sport plane because of it. The FAA is a joke.

The golden age of not seeing people out in the 'wilderness' off the end of ATV trails ended a long time ago. I hiked 15 miles past the end of a rugged ATV trail years ago looking for sheep, killed myself climbing up over a pass to drop into what I thought would be a good drainage, only to crest the pass and look down into the valley at a bright orange tent set up in the bottom.

Damn, Alaska was my last hope...

And yeah, that's happened to me a lot here. The only elk I shot here was running between a road and other hunters pushing it around. I was still happy to get it but it was not the same. The smallest buck I shot here was far more enjoyable than the rest because I was truly alone for once, and actually HUNTED it, rather than just shot it.... if that makes sense.

 

[SaltySailor]

There's always hope man, sounds like you are willing to put in the work, that's 90% of the battle. It's just tougher to get farther out past people these days is all. Hell, these new side by sides and powerful wheelers are getting to places my dad and his buddies never would of dreamed of back when they were on three wheelers.

 

[IdAu]

There's always hope man, sounds like you are willing to put in the work, that's 90% of the battle. It's just tougher to get farther out past people these days is all. Hell, these new side by sides and powerful wheelers are getting to places my dad and his buddies never would of dreamed of back when they were on three wheelers.

Thanks, it sounds like it's definitely worth giving a shot.


From what I'm gathering, most of this is geared towards hunting and people. As far as prospecting and general exploration, do you think a regular ATV and hiking is going to keep me endlessly busy exploring? Or is access still going to be really tricky.

 

[SaltySailor]

You can spend a lot of time exploring the trails up here on wheeler or foot, its my favorite past time. Get a snowgo and blow the country open even further. A whole lot of public land off the road system you can smash around in.

 

[johnnycake]

Thanks, it sounds like it's definitely worth giving a shot.


From what I'm gathering, most of this is geared towards hunting and people. As far as prospecting and general exploration, do you think a regular ATV and hiking is going to keep me endlessly busy exploring? Or is access still going to be really tricky.

You can hike or ride a different trail from the road system pretty much every day for the rest of your life and still not ride all of them. The exploring is endless. Just the hunting due to low game densities really is not the Shangri La that people get in there heads. Can you kill moose on the road system with nothing but your boots? Yes, I've done it and do have many others. But it takes a combo of luck and a lot of exploring to pull off. And you will still deal with other hunters.

The small game, bird, and duck hunting can all be very, very good and is absolutely doable on day trips from Anchorage. Have a good dog helps tremendously.

And a snowmachine will open up more country to play in for more months of the year than a 4 wheeler ever will.

 

[Johnboy041586]

I'm in kodiak, and it's pretty similar to what everyone else has stated. You can get away from people if work for it. But pretty much if it's remotely easy to get to, there will be others there.

 

[Meanderthal]

Alaska is a tough place to hunt. When I moved here from Idaho I was exited for all the opportunity but soon realized that success would require a lot more time and effort than I was used to. It can be awesome if you can afford thousands for transportation and spend 10+ days afield. It's not a great place for weekend warriors.

 

[307]

hen I moved here from Idaho I was exited for all the opportunity but soon realized that success would require a lot more time and effort than I was used to. It can be awesome if you can afford thousands for transportation and spend 10+ days afield. It's not a great place for weekend warriors.

This is basically what my friend had to say also.

 

[IdAu]

Alaska is a tough place to hunt. When I moved here from Idaho I was exited for all the opportunity but soon realized that success would require a lot more time and effort than I was used to. It can be awesome if you can afford thousands for transportation and spend 10+ days afield. It's not a great place for weekend warriors.

More time and effort than Idaho? When did you move? I'm just curious because I've noticed it getting exponentially worse in the last few years. And those that hunted before I started here told me it had gotten bad back then. I don't have a ton of money for that but I have plenty of time.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

More time and effort than Idaho? When did you move? I'm just curious because I've noticed it getting exponentially worse in the last few years. And those that hunted before I started here told me it had gotten bad back then. I don't have a ton of money for that but I have plenty of time.

You love to hunt elk and are considering moving to one of the worst Elk hunting states from one of the best Elk hunting states.

If you said moose, sheep, goat, caribou, fishing, etc. then Alaska can’t be beat. For elk, it mostly sucks.