Steve this has been beat to death on here in every sheep thread. Blanketing 19C as a whole is just as much a partial truth as saying that Federal land is the only way to go. Some deserve that status, some don’t.
It’s irrelevant now but Hidden went 4/6 on sheep last year, none sublegal. One of the unsuccessful clients had a panic attack in the terrain and asked to return to main camp.
Forgive me, since you mentioned me by name, You many know me but I am not sure who you are. My apologies.
Apparently it has not been beat enough because non residents were still giving 19c a serious look up until the AK BOG put a stop to the madness in 19c; hopefully the bear, moose and caribou unlimited madness will follow suit.
I guess we can agree to disagree, because for the general OTC tag non resident, federal land hunts are the ONLY WAY to go for CONSISTANT quality uncrowded Alaskan sheep hunts bottom line. NO STATE LAND OUTFITTER can guarantee that another outfitter could not set up shop next to them can they? That would be my question to you SLDMTN.
Federal land concession outfitters can guarantee that statement!
Look no farther than our neighbors to the east in the NWT and the Yukon. Same management style. One outfitter selling a limited number of permits on a given piece of ground. Not a 100 percent across the board comparison but without question the closest you can get here in Alaska for $15 -20K less.
Can their be anomalies in these over hunted state land areas from year to year such as 19c? Sure there can be, and I guess a 66 percent success rate Hidden Alaska had last year was decent............. better than most of these outfits in 19c selling over priced over crowded disappointing hunts.
My main point of that post to this thread was just spreading the word of Alaska's two tier guiding laws and to let the author of the thread know he had dodged a bullet. Also it was for non resident sheep hunters to ask of these outfitters those mentioned questions if they are considering non draw sheep hunts.
How is that not helping non resident hunters? That is what this "Sheep Thread" primarily should be about IMO...... helping those that are most likely coming on a once in a lifetime hunt that they have saved for decades for. I very rarely mention any outfitters by name in all the social media I post on. I just suggest areas and to hire an outfitter that has a federal land concession if you are NOT getting a draw permit hunt.
I'm so tired of Alaska taking a bad rap for our sheep hunts when it is primarly outfitters in 19c, 20a and the brooks range state land that are the low quality, low legal ram numbers and overcrowded conditions. Why are these the outfits that constantly get the attention of "Alaska sheep hunts suck now"? Because for the most part these AREAS do suck for the forementioned reasons.
Sorry if that offends any of you guides or outfitters that provide services in these areas but that is not why I post here. I certainly have the knowledge the gear and the ability to get my license to sell sub quality hunts in ANY of these state land areas but i don't. Why? I love sheep hunting! I love guiding hunters to quality rams! I'm 100 percent on 33 rifle guided sheep client hunts. I don't because I have integrity, honesty and ethics. Something many of these state land outfitters in the above mentioned areas who are still trying to con non residents out of their savings are lacking.
For the non resident that don't know, that is how easy it is to get a license to sell hunts on state land in Alaska. Anyone with those credentials can set up shop anywhere.
