Alaska on the cheap

[Bill Turner]

Make sure you check the regs for bowhunter education requirements. I believe it is required regardless of age.

[David Yukon]

If you are driving , you are welcome to our place for a quick stop of a few days.... We are on the way!
Cheers
David

[LKH]

Just to give you an idea, Great Falls, MT to Wasilla, AK is about 45 hours behind the wheel and thats keeping to the limits or just above maybe 5mph.

[LKH]

Bowhunter ed is required only for archery only hunts such as the Haul Road or other special archery seasons.

[John Havard]

For getting meat and antlers back to the L48 all you need to do is become a Certified Shipper with Alaska Airlines.  Go to their Air Cargo page and follow the instructions.  Gear, racks, meat etc. to the L48 for about $1 per pound.  For meat you have to build enough time into your hunt to take the meat to some meat locker like 10th and M in Anchorage, buy enough heavy waxed fish boxes to hold your meat, have 10th & M freeze it (a day at least) and then take the frozen meat to the air cargo terminal, put it on a pallet, and then pick it up less than 24 hours later at the final destination.  That's the only reasonably cost-effective way I know of for getting meat and other stuff back home.

[flinter]

John is right on about getting your meat home, freeze it and fly it!! I went on a fly-in drop camp about 22 yers ago, my advice would be to go for caribou. You won't see many moose in a drop camp. The air taxis are't going to put you in a hot area that their buddy's are guiding moose in. Not saying you won't get one but going against long odds. Caribou are their bread and butter. the herds come out of the mountains and the air taxis drop camps in front of the moving herds. If your timing is right you can see hundreds of bou for many days. We spent 17 days on the tundra, only saw moose from the air, none spotted on the ground. We moved camp after 10 days to the front of a migrating bou herd and saw hundreds and hundreds of bou. 4 of us shot 8 bou that second week. Good times!!

[LKH]

To get caribou size loads home, mail all your gear home from AK.  It's not that expensive and then use your airline baggage limits to pack a couple of coolers with meat.   You can get roughly 40 pounds of meat in a 52 qt. cooler and still be under the 50 pound limit.  

Antlers are a different matter if you won't split them.

[Kevin Hansen]

For you guys that have been there and done that in AK...
Would you recommend doing your own research and setting up your own trip, or would you recommend going with a package type deal where you trust a charter service, or an outfitter to put you in the right area?
If you are going to do your own research who/what are some good reliable contacts?
Thanks.
Kevin

[Tracks]

Originally posted by Stixbowdrew:
Just out of curiosity how many have made the drive from the lower 48 I'm considering this due to the huge costs of flying meat home if successful was this cheaper than flying? Thanks guys
-drew

I've driven back or forth 9 times in the last 5 years, which I thought was pretty good til I saw Bill's post!
 
With my 4 cyl toyota pickup, it costs $500-600 in gas and I do it in 3.5 days (b/t Valdez and central WA).
 
Unless you are looking to do the drive anyway, I agree with John, AK air shipping seems like a good way to go if you live near an AK air hub.

Otherwise, you could consider taking two full coolers on the plane with you (there is a freezer service right in the ANC airport) and donating the rest to a charitable cause.

[Tracks]

Originally posted by LKH:
To get caribou size loads home, mail all your gear home from AK.  It's not that expensive and then use your airline baggage limits to pack a couple of coolers with meat.   You can get roughly 40 pounds of meat in a 52 qt. cooler and still be under the 50 pound limit.  

Antlers are a different matter if you won't split them.

x2 on shipping gear home. You can mail a rubbermaid tote for about $25 (parcel post and insured, depending on weight and value) and an Action Packer for about $50. It takes 4-6 weeks for the parcel post stuff to arrive, so you probably don't want to do it on the front end of your trip. If you can, get someone to band the totes shut for you, otherwise, duct tape works of course.

You know you are on your way to being a rural Alaskan when you forgo bags altogether and use totes/action packers/coolers exclusively as luggage.

The post office by the ANC airport is the best one to go to for this. If you have half a dozen boxes or more, go right around to the back door where the world's best post office employee will take care of you in about 5 minutes... she doesn't measure a thing, she just eye balls it and prints the postage and you are on your way.

[Tracks]

Sorry for the multiple posts, I keep thinking of things...
October is the best month of the year to buy all your Alaska Air tickets for the next 12 months. Google the "Alaska Air PFD sale" during that month and you can get some pretty good deals to and from Alaska.

Within AK, you can check two to three bags free of charge (on AK Air and Era anyway, not sure about PenAir or Grant or any other small carriers).

[Stixbowdrew]

Wow thanks you guys I obviously underestimated the undertaking that is Alaska glad I got time to plan wish the logistics weren't such a hassle! Oh well it will be well spent no doubt. Thanks again guys once again this website just continues to amaze me nothing like it!

[Steve Chappell]

I have been doing a good deal of research to do a DIY drop hunt for Moose in 2014, including costs, and cheap is not a word that I can incorporate in conjunction with an AK hunt. Some are less then others but none seem cheap to me. So when I saw this thread...it got my interest. From my research, which includes advice from some of the posters on this thread...it depends on what kind of experience and way you want to hunt that will dictate how expensive it is. There is some good info on this thread that may help me minimize my costs but it is still not cheap.  One thing I uncovered is a trucker that will take your meat, cape and rack for a very reasonable price ($700 area) and he goes across the US stopping and meeting people to get them there meat. He stopped at a truck stop in Battle Creek, MI in 2011 which is an hour from my home. Whether he is still in business when I go, I just do not know so I must have a backup plan..the the Alaska airlines option is going into my notes for sure.

Just take flights for an example, and these on 2012 costs...2104 prices will likely be more. It is $900 to fly to one of the two main city airports in AK from MI. If you have to get to a remote airfield, which is likely the case, it’s in the area of $500.  Then, if you plan to hunt in the bush away from people it’s in the area of $600 an hour flight time...so if you go in 1.25 hours you pay for 2.5 hours of flight time or $1,350 each flight. which is 2 round trips for sure (unless you float to a road) and a 3rd if you get a Moose.  So, if two people go and share flight costs that is ($900 + $500 + $2,025 = $3,425 pp) just for flights. If you are looking for a truly remote experience with OK odds of taking a Moose, this is likely your cost for flights.  Then your cost just keep climbing if you need to rent rafts, rent camping gear, buy food, etc.  If you are fortunate to get a Moose (or other game animal),  once you get your meat out, the cost keep climbing.  I am guessing it will cost me $7K plus to do the DIY float hunt 1.25 hours into the bush and get some meat along with cape and rack home.  I am still looking for ways to cut costs and making some progress...but if I am fortunate enough to pull off an AK DIY hunt, I want it to meet what I have dreamed of doing since I was a kid...and I am no kid anymore at 53.  Yes, it can be done for less but you will have to cut corners and that is an individual choice.

Finding a good hunting partner you can count on and enjoy being with on a tough hunt, who is physically and mentally fit along with being able afford the time away from family and work and costs is, in my opinion, critically important. I have taken several people to CO DIY Elk hunting in the mountains and I can tell you...you do not know a person until you have hunted with them on a very physically and mentally demanding hunt.

I am focused on not letting anything get in the way of making my dream hunt a reality and still working to find some new tid bit to help me keep costs down and make it a realty. I have communicated with so many people I have lost count and I have so many more to talk to before my date in 2014 comes.