Calling out all Alaska residents to support RHAK

[adventure907]

Rhak is reasonable, any resident that loves to hunt and wants to see there children be able to have the same opportunities that we do should support them and there cause. having a voice for residents that carries some weight is a must for the future. The board of game is ran by guides and has guiding interests in mind, things could get worse without a group “rhak” to fight for our interests, take our concerns and present them in the proper manner

The Board of Game has one member that is an active outfitter/guide. I am not sure how that qualifies the board as "ran by guides." Not to mention, the current chair is a highly respected former biologist, whom I doubt has "guiding interests" in mind while presiding over the board.

 

[wildwilderness]

The Board of Game has one member that is an active outfitter/guide. I am not sure how that qualifies the board as "ran by guides." Not to mention, the current chair is a highly respected former biologist, whom I doubt has "guiding interests" in mind while presiding over the board.

From your posts and History it is quite evident you are a Guide and have strong ties to the outfitting industry- Josh Ellis?

I think you should Disclose that as the reason you are disparaging RHAK as it goes counter to your interests....

 

[adventure907]

From your posts and History it is quite evident you are a Guide and have strong ties to the outfitting industry- Josh Ellis?

I think you should Disclose that as the reason you are disparaging RHAK as it goes counter to your interests....

Sure man, yea, I am a working part time guide. I am not an outfitter. I am also first and foremost a born and raised Alaskan, a resident hunter that lives to hunt and spend time in the sheep mountains, whether it be guiding or hunting for myself.
I surely do wish we had an organization up here that represented the best interests of Alaskan hunters, instead, we have small factions representing competing special interests. It is rather unfortunate, but that is the sad reality of it.
I don't see where I am disparaging RHAK, I am just trying to provide a little historical perspective. I agree with their current stance on the Kodiak permit situation, does that make me anti-guide?
But they lost all credibility with me with they ardently opposed 207 and their motivations were quite clear. It is what it is. My interests are what's best for sheep and the sheep hunting experience, thats it, because thats what I love.

 

[AK Troutbum]

The Board of Game has one member that is an active outfitter/guide. I am not sure how that qualifies the board as "ran by guides."

This is completely false information Josh. Stosh Hoffman, Jake Fletcher, and Lynn Keogh are all members of the BOG and are all guides in the guiding industry. That makes almost half (3 of the 7), of the BOG members guides.

Anyway, the reason for me starting this post is to try and promote an organization that I feel has the Alaska resident hunter's best interest at heart. I absolutely think people should research ANY organization that they think they may want to support, and chances are you're not going to find an organization that follows your views 100%. Before I join any organization and after researching them, I decide whether or not they follow my views most of the time. If I find something that I feel conflicts with my views so much that I can't support them, then so be it.

 

[BFR]

I’m not familiar with RHAK, BOG or Alaskan guide orgs., their goals or addenda but I do know firsthand what $$$ from guide associations try to do. Here in Montana we have Senate Bill 143 being presented that would give 60% of all non resident tags to guides. As a resident it doesn’t affect me, but it does affect friends and family that come here to hunt, they would effectively be shut out. I do some non resident hunts in other states and appreciate that a small percentage is set aside but if a guide was required, forget it. That being said states residents should be first priority, non resident secondary and guides are treated as private businesses.

 

[actionshooter]

I’m not familiar with RHAK, BOG or Alaskan guide orgs., their goals or addenda but I do know firsthand what $$$ from guide associations try to do. Here in Montana we have Senate Bill 143 being presented that would give 60% of all non resident tags to guides. As a resident it doesn’t affect me, but it does affect friends and family that come here to hunt, they would effectively be shut out. I do some non resident hunts in other states and appreciate that a small percentage is set aside but if a guide was required, forget it. That being said states residents should be first priority, non resident secondary and guides are treated as private businesses.

I agree 100%, I have nothing at all against guides and outfitters... UNTIL they start trying legislate hunting opportunity that affects the individual, for the outfitters monetary benefit, which is exactly what is going on with Bill 143.

I don't know the specifics of RHAK or what's going in AK, but just judging from this thread it looks like they are supporting the average hunter.

 

[AK_Skeeter]

I wonder what percentage of non-Master guides in Alaska are non-residents...guiding for a couple months (Aug-September) then leaving Alaska? It is not possible to make a living guiding sheep/moose/caribou for 2 months....

As a resident, it seems like the guiding industry has a bigger influence on Board of Game decisions and residents have also been screwed by Federal Subsistence hunting decisions. RHAK is the only group that I know of that represents the resident hunter concerns.

 

[AK Troutbum]

This is completely false information Josh. Stosh Hoffman, Jake Fletcher, and Lynn Keogh are all members of the BOG and are all guides in the guiding industry. That makes almost half (3 of the 7), of the BOG members guides.

Anyway, the reason for me starting this post is to try and promote an organization that I feel has the Alaska resident hunter's best interest at heart. I absolutely think people should research ANY organization that they think they may want to support, and chances are you're not going to find an organization that follows your views 100%. Before I join any organization and after researching them, I decide whether or not they follow my views most of the time. If I find something that I feel conflicts with my views so much that I can't support them, then so be it.

I stand corrected, Stosh Hoffman no longer carries his guide license. Al Barrette is the other licensed guide on the BOG.

 

[dieselchessy]

Guide orgs, fly fish orgs, ect.. are all the same. They try for legislation that benefits them and their desires while trying to represent said legislation as a benefit to others and wildlife.
That’s how we end up needing guides to hunt wilderness in Wyoming, guides to hunt brown bear, sheep, and goats in Alaska.
Fly fishing only rivers and lakes. Guide only tag allotments in New Mexico, Alaska, Idaho, ect...And the list goes on and on.

All the while they claim they don’t sell a public resource, but instead just sell “access” or (opportunity) to the resource.

Hogwash.

 

[AK Troutbum]

I wonder what percentage of non-Master guides in Alaska are non-residents...guiding for a couple months (Aug-September) then leaving Alaska? It is not possible to make a living guiding sheep/moose/caribou for 2 months....

As a resident, it seems like the guiding industry has a bigger influence on Board of Game decisions and residents have also been screwed by Federal Subsistence hunting decisions. RHAK is the only group that I know of that represents the resident hunter concerns.

Of the 151 registered guides and assist. guides (not master guides), 122 are residents and 29 non-residents. So, approx. 1/4 are non-residents.

 

[AlaskaMark]

In reply to AK_Skeeter:

In Alaska, there are ~300 contracting (master/registered) guides and a percentage of those contract all the hunts in Alaska. Residents make up close to 90% of the contracting guides. There are about 1700 total guides. I don't have the stats on the exact percentage of nonres assistant guides, but they make up a big percentage of of the total guides. There are also nonresident alien (from another country) guides. A bit over 3,000 hunters contract a guide annually in Alaska, and 98% of those are nonresidents/nonresident aliens. About 15,000 nonresident hunters hunt in Alaska each year. So about 20% are guided; most are on must-be-guided species hunts (Dall sheep, brown/grizzly bear, mtn goat).

Alaska's must-be-guided law is so bizarre that if you are a nonresident guide, whether a contracting master/registered or assistant guide, no matter how much experience you have, you cannot hunt Dall sheep, brown/grizzly bear, or mtn goat without hiring or using a licensed guide yourself. Or unless you hunt with a resident relative within 2nd degree of kindred.

Edit: I would also add that most guides, including contracting guides, work or have other businesses outside guiding.

 

[adventure907]

I stand corrected, Stosh Hoffman no longer carries his guide license. Al Barrette is the other licensed guide on the BOG.

I should have clarified I guess, I meant active outfitter, of which there is only one. Barrette has an assistant guide license and Keogh hasn't registered a guide use area since 2005, hardly active. Fletcher is the only current active outfitter, that was my point.

My biggest issue with RHAK is their attacks on 207. Thats why I suggested folks look into the organization before they blindly follow based off a few talking points. If anybody remembers what the sheep hills were like pre-207, and compare them to how they are now concerning the swarm of super cubs, it is night and day. RHAK is currently trying to repeal that law which will be bad for the sheep and the sheep hunting experience. With the winter die off we had last year, the last thing we need to do is add more pressure on the resource, but that is exactly what will happen with the repeal of 207.

 

[AK Troutbum]

Alaska's must-be-guided law is so bizarre that if you are a nonresident guide, whether a contracting master/registered or assistant guide, no matter how much experience you have, you cannot hunt Dall sheep, brown/grizzly bear, or mtn goat without hiring or using a licensed guide yourself. Or unless you hunt with a resident relative within 2nd degree of kindred.

Edit: I would also add that most guides, including contracting guides, work or have other businesses outside guiding.

I'm kind of getting off the subject now, but with regard to this^^, it also rubs me the wrong way that, I can be a born and raised resident, live my whole life in AK and hunt and kill every large game animal, move out of state (now a resident of another state), then come back a year later and have to hire a guide to hunt those species. This coupled with the fact that the guide that I hire could very well be a non-resident with much less experience than me hunting those species.

Now, in regards to the kindred thing. The state of AK determines second degree kindred as being:

Second degree of kindred:​

"Second degree of kindred" means a father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, spouse, grandparent, grandchild, brother- or sister-in-law, son- or daughter-in-law, father- or mother-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepsister, stepbrother, stepson, or stepdaughter (5 AAC 92.990).

So, my in-laws, stepmother/father/brother/son/daughter's are included, but my uncle's/aunt's, nephew's/niece's are not? I don't understand this.

 

[akbrett]

I am a member of rhak and believe in what they stand for mostly. i’m happy 207 is a law and hope it stays in effect. The reasoning for eliminating 207 is silly, they state that it’s unenforceable so if that’s the case why does it matter. i would be really upset to see the air show while sheep hunting. As a a sheep hunter i take pride in the hard work it takes to be successful. The calories burned, miles traveled thats what makes sheep hunting so special. To be able to fly around in an airplane and spot a legal ram , land, wait till the next day and shoot it is not sheep hunting and should be illegal. But you can still do before the 10th so there’s that.
i have no issue with people using airplanes to access the sheep mountains to hunt ethically, fair chase.
That being the only thing I seem to disagree with Rhak about, doesn’t mean they don’t have the majority of my other interests in mind.

 

[Glory]

Of the 151 registered guides and assist. guides (not master guides), 122 are residents and 29 non-residents. So, approx. 1/4 are non-residents.

1/5. . But the residency requirements are pretty loose. They aren’t the same as PFD requirements.

I am all for residents. I am one. But I get a little tired of the “residents” first rhetoric.

 

[AK Troutbum]

1/5. .

You're right! I think I was using that new fandangoed Common Core math. God help my 13 year old daughter who I've been homeschooling this past year.

 

[AK_Skeeter]

There are 7 members of the Board of Game. Most appear to have a background in the guiding industry,
or subsistence hunting.
So members representing primarily sport hunting seems weak.

Jerry Burnett---own and operate Encounter Charters
Jake Fletcher--registered guide
Lynn Keogh---owner Key-O's Guide Service
Al Barrette, class A assistant big game guide
Stosh Hoffman---an assistant guide and commercial fishing, subsistence hunter
Orville Huntington---primarily native subsistence hunting

The other member is Larry Van Daele who is chair and retired from AK Fish and Game.

 

[bushman]

I'm kind of getting off the subject now, but with regard to this^^, it also rubs me the wrong way that, I can be a born and raised resident, live my whole life in AK and hunt and kill every large game animal, move out of state (now a resident of another state), then come back a year later and have to hire a guide to hunt those species. This coupled with the fact that the guide that I hire could very well be a non-resident with much less experience than me hunting those species.

Now, in regards to the kindred thing. The state of AK determines second degree kindred as being:

Second degree of kindred:​

"Second degree of kindred" means a father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, spouse, grandparent, grandchild, brother- or sister-in-law, son- or daughter-in-law, father- or mother-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepsister, stepbrother, stepson, or stepdaughter (5 AAC 92.990).

So, my in-laws, stepmother/father/brother/son/daughter's are included, but my uncle's/aunt's, nephew's/niece's are not? I don't understand this.

As a former Alaska resident and former service member. I find the guide rules to be laughable and a huge slap in the face. Let's face it here the guide rules exist to line the pockets of guides ,period.

 

[trapperJ]

So if RHAK can get the guide requirement repealed what's the plan to keep everyone from down south swarming the sheep mountains? Draw tags? Honest question and my biggest concern if it's repealed. Seems like APHA and RHAK are both working hard to promote non-resident hunting.

BTW for disclosure I'm a registered guide(non active for 10 years), very avid resident sport hunter, and fed qualified subsistence hunter.....

I don't know Josh but I know I like him because he's the only one that brought up the resource instead of an allocation of it. Maybe he should start an organization.

 

[trapperJ]

I do like the proposal about non res getting to shoot a grizzly while on a moose hunt via a draw permit. Especially if it were in a predator management area. It doesn't really compete too much with the resident hunters since most only shoot one or two bears during their hunting career. It would be a money maker for ADFG and it would help take out a few alpha predators in areas that see a lower than desired take on bears. Seems to benefit non res the most but residents could benefit from the potential upswing in ungulate populations in those areas I suppose.