Big Game Hunting in the Wilds of AlaskaThere are 12 species of big game animals in Alaska . They are spread across 365,000,000 acres, this is an area one-fifth the size of the entire United States. Big game densities are generally much lower than you are probably used to in more southern states. Many of the big game species in Alaska make migrations between seasonal ranges. The key to successful big game hunting in Alaska is in doing your homework to determine both the best areas and times to hunt the species you are seeking.

Caribou are a good example. Study migration routes carefully. Caribou hunters frequently experience feast or famine depending upon whether they are hunting where caribou are moving through, or in an area away from the herd's location. Doing your homework with local area biologists and air taxi operators can make the difference between success or failure.

Record book caribou from the Mulchatna caribou herd.

Moose are abundant all summer in lowland areas, feeding in sloughs, lakes and road side ponds on fresh grasses. They begin moving up to less accessible higher elevations in late August, just before most areas open to fall moose hunting and the rut occurs. The choice of hunting location in relation to moose movements at that particular time of year can make all the difference between coming home with a moose or not. On more than one occasion, I have seen bull moose feeding up high in the Alaska Range. When I say high up I mean above the Dall Sheep we were hunting.

Sixty Eight Inch Trophy Bull Moose. Look at them tines

Here in Alaska you just don't go out the back forty to day hunt like in other places. You will probably have to fly in a small bush plane, or boat for a couple of hours to get to your camp! Spring through late fall there are big game animals to hunt, except July. I used to guide from April straight through till mid October. For over 6 years, I would start guiding with spring brown bear. Then help open fish camp and start fishing clients into August, when combination hunt and fish for caribou, moose, then brown bears would happen. I would then close up camp as fast as possible to beat the growing infestation of ice on the river. A couple of times I had to idle with the current all the way down to the village. The ice was some thick the jet drive on the outboard could not pump the ice out fast enough to get the boat moving fast. That was six months of guiding. Ice out to ice in. I personally would plan on no less than a 7 day hunt for one species. Combination hunts of 2 or more species I would hunt 10-20 days. Because of Mother Nature and her unwillingness to cooperate, it would be wise to plan a longer trip. You can always shorten it. Alaska is known for some dandy weather patterns. The longest storm I personally was in, it rained and blew hurricane force winds for 10 days. The river rose up over the banks leaving only a couple of spots above the water to camp on the 150 mile river. That is a worse case scenario.

Sheep Camp In the Brooks Range in the Arctic Circle.

Good basic hunting gear is of utmost importance. Don't buy junk. You'll regret it, possibly putting youself in harms way. Proper foot gear will make or break you on a hunt in Alaska. I learned the hard way sheep hunting once. I had the wrong boots for the terrain. I'll never make that mistake again. The old reliable light weight rubber rain gear works for almost any hunt, but best for wetter country like southeast Alaska or Bristol Bay. Goretex if you got the money is great for less moist regions like the Brooks Range for sheep and caribou.

Do Not Skimp on quality Gear. It could mean success or failure in your hunt.

Your most basic requirement will be a good bolt-action rifle. I suggest choosing one with a weather resistant metal finish, some people say get a light synthetic stock. I have been guiding in Alaska for allot of years and only have a high quality wood, blued rifle that has never failed me. A high quality weatherproof variable scope, say 2x7 or 1.5x5 power. I am a proponent of using one rifle and one cartridge loading for most big game hunting in Alaska. Over time the combination will become as familiar as a good friend and you will come to use it instinctively and with confidence. Personally, I shoot a dependable Mauser- type action Ruger M77 chambered in a .300 Winchester Magnum caliber. I shoot premium quality 200 grain trophy bonded bullets for everything from Sitka black-tailed deer to Alaska Peninsula brown bears. The 30-06 with 180 grain bullets would define my personal low end of calibers and the .338 magnum with 225 grain bullet is the upper end for an all around Alaskan big game caliber and load.

Good binoculars are worth their weight in gold in Alaska. High quality lens are important to prevent eye strain because most successful hunters spend many hours every day methodically glassing. I have used a set of Leupold 10x42 binoculars for over 18 years and love them, but there are other brands of equal or greater quality. In addition, a high quality spotting scope and tripod are essential for sheep and brown bear hunting where judging sex, age and size of animals at long ranges is necessary. Look for spotting scopes with good eye relief like Leupold. It will help your eyes from straining to hard. Look at the photo below. Do you like my versatile camp chair? It is my frame pack and it works great for a camp/glassing chair.

Do you like my glassing/camp chair? A freighter pack, now comfy chair.

After your animal is down, it must be dressed out. For all big game animals in Alaska I prefer a 3.5 inch folding knife for doing the skinning, removing quarters and boning out large cuts of meat. I also cape the head on moose, caribou, and for skinning the bears. On dall sheep and goats you might want to use a razor blade for caping the head. A diamond sharpening steel and a good medium stone, or Lansky kit is a must. A good pack saw is handy for removing antlers or horns and sawing through ribs and other bones. Bring enough clean fabric game bags to keep meat clean and safe from blow flies. I use the cheese cloth bags for keeping the meat clean, then painters canvas cut to size and sewn up is a great over bag because of the tight weaved canvas fabric to stop blow flies from getting to the meat and ruining your food. Remember if you want lots of quality meat without a bunch of wasted trimmings, cut up your animal in the biggest possible pieces(more cuts more waste).

We are getting ready to float the moose down the creek with small rafts to a jet boat 3 miles farther down the drainage. I have harvested a lot of moose with this technique.

The most important thing is to keep the meat as dry as possible! As you see in the photo above. The moose meat has hide on the quarters and no game bags. WHY? The hunters are about to float the meat, capes, then antlers down this creek drainage. The meat might get wet. When the meat arrives to the camp and it is hung on a stout meat pole, you take the hide off wipe down the meat of moisture and any debris, then cover the meat with your cheese cloth and then the canvas bags. Check the meat over the days you are in camp. Take the bags off everyday to see if the meat is collecting moisture if so start a smugg fire(small fire with leaves and small twigs) under the meat. After making the fire smoke for several hours the meat will get a thick crust on it this is very good. The crust will help preserve the meat. You must check the meat everyday if raining!

Access to Hunting AreasAlaskan big game hunters have many choices of access to reach hunting areas. Although Alaska is vast, the state has very few roads. The road system is readily accessible from the larger cities of Anchorage and Fairbanks. While it is possible to hunt off the road system, there is a lot of competition for available big game and hunter success rates are generally very low.

All terrain vehicles (ATVs) and four wheelers have become popular with many hunters resulting in crowded conditions on popular trail systems. Hunting success rates for hunters using ATVs are generally higher than for those using only highway vehicles, but are still relatively low. I believe this is because many people spend more time running the machine than hunting on foot once they reach their hunting area. The atvs should be only used to get to the hunting area. Animals become familiar with the sounds and will stay hidden. Walk, it is good exercise and you usually see more game.

Boats are another option along Alaska's river systems. Where access to launches is within easy reach of Anchorage or Fairbanks, there is a lot of competition for game among boat hunters. The farther you are willing to run from a launch site, the less crowding you are apt to find. Now days fuel out in the villages is very expensive. Do your research before boating to far.

Three mile float later we come to the jet boat. No problems on this trip to the boat.

Chartering an aircraft for a drop-off hunt is what many consistently successful Alaska hunters prefer. The upfront cost puts off many new hunters, but in the long run the costs are reasonable given the solitude, high hunting success rates and the sheer adventure of the flights and landings themselves. Some of my most memorable hunts for sheep, bears, moose and caribou have been fly-in hunts. When you consider fuel and maintenance costs in addition to purchasing costs for highway vehicles, four wheelers or boats, fly-in hunts once or twice a year are quite a bargain for the serious hunter. Make sure you do your research on the air taxi or guide/pilot before booking. Fly with experienced pilots. The FAA is a good start to see if the pilots got a good safety record.

Spike camp for Dall Sheep in the Brooks Range above the Arctic Circle.This is a grand way to commute in remote Alaska on a hunting trip.

The pinnacle of a big game hunt is the stalk and then the kill itself. To be sure of a quick clean kill, your rifle should be sighted in properly before you leave home and lots of practice. It will help you get your life time trophy. Test fire your rifle after you reach camp to make sure the sights were not knocked off zero during transport. You also should practice shooting your rifle throughout the year at a local rifle range to keep your marksmanship skills sharp and to gain familiarity with your rifle and all its features. Practice shooting in all three positions, standing, kneeling and prone. All shots at big game should be made from a rest or from the prone position whenever possible for the most steady hold. Don't take an initial shot at a moving animal, be patient and wait for a good standing shot.

This is one nice record book caribou. The palmation in the tops of the main beams was 8 1/4 inches in width

I sight my .300 Winchester Magnum to hit 3 inches high at 100 yards. At 200 yards, it will hit about 6 inches high and at 300 yards it will hit only a few inches low. On most Alaskan big game animals, this allows me to hold at the center of the chest from the muzzle out to over 300 yards. By holding just behind the point of the front shoulder, the bullet will strike the vital spine, high lungs, mid lungs, or low lungs/heart area. You should determine point of impact for your own particular rifle, sight setting and loads at various known ranges before going hunting, and PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

I strongly recommend taking shoulder shots rather than head, or neck on only a couple of Alaska big game. Breaking the shoulder and going through the lungs is a good thing. Moose and bears need to be slowed down or stopped in there tracks. We don't want you chasing a wounded bear in the alders or the moose dying in a slough in deep water. The vitals area, lungs and heart area, is larger and the potential for wounding loss is lower compared to fancy neck or head shots. On meat animals, a fatal lung shot has the advantage of causing blood in the meat to bleed out into the chest cavity through the damaged lung tissue. Meat loss is limited to a little rib meat and, perhaps, a little meat from the rear of the shoulder blade. Meat quality is far superior with a lung shot. Head, neck or heart shot animals die with all the blood remaining in the blood vessels. Attempting to bleed your game by slicing the throat after the heart stops is a waste of time.

This 60 inch trophy bull was shot 2 times and fell over dead where it was standing! Not running off to die in a slough. Hunter ethics, To dispatch the animal as humanely as possible!!

Some people say shoot moose in the lungs only once. Don't waste your bullets. I can say no way to this. If you are in the swamps for moose which most times you are in the swamps, you have deep beaver ponds and sloughs all around, I highly suggest shooting the moose in the shoulder a little above the center of the shoulder standing broadside, and don't stop shooting till the animal falls down. Wounded moose are notorious for finding the deepest water to die in. What will you do when a roughly 1500 pound moose dies in 3-10ft of water. You will be very cold and wet cutting up a moose in the water and the meat can get a bad favor from the swamp water!

On big bears keep shooting until the bear is down and stays down. Big bears are nothing to mess around with trying for that( one shot kill) so popular in sporting magazines. Approach all downed big game cautiously from the rear with your rifle chambered and in a ready position. Stop well away from all downed animals and look to see if there is any regular movement of the chest due to breathing. If so, dispatch the animal humanely with a shot to the brain (or base of the neck on a trophy bear).

Alaska Peninsula Brown Bear Squared 9.5 feet.

Nothing can make or break an Alaska big game hunt more quickly than the quality of your camp. I suggest that new Alaskan hunters put together a backpack camp weighing 50 pounds or less, including tent, sleeping bag and pad, cooking gear and dried food for a week. Such a pack is suitable for fly-in, boat, backpack or ATV hunts where weight and bulk are important considerations. I recommend two-man hunting arrangements both for safety reasons and the ability to share a tent, cooking gear,and more help to pack out meat. I suggest the following camping basics:

A good 2-3 man, 4-season nylon tent/fly make sure the tent fly goes all the way down to the ground. Tent flies that don't go to the ground are worthless in storms. Good goretex or rubber rain gear depending on region. Warm clothes, layered clothing, a good cold weather bag. My personal sleeping bag is rated to -20 degrees below zero mummy bag. Before you buy a bag crawl in some to see which is better for you, Mummy bag or a rectangular, a good ground pad, look for self inflating pads, like thermo-rest pads, and plenty of extra socks. Also 2-12' x 16' light weight nylon traps. They are good for covering up gear and also good for covering the meat pole, which is very important to keep meat from spoiling!

Above a sample of the food and cook gear you could have in your Dall Sheep or backpack hunt.

One mantle lantern and backpacker stove, lightweight cook kit, canteen, a good cup for hot or cold liquids, cups that are insulated plastic. fork/spoon/butterknife, freeze-dried entrees, package of beef jerky, trail mix, quick fix oatmeal, bread, ready to make pancakes, peanut butter and jam, Candy bars and or energy bars. Get something you like coffee, tang, etc. salt/pepper

Rent or own satellite phone for emergencies, or if you want to contact the airtaxi to change arrangements, first-aid kit, signal kit, tooth brush/soap, water filter or purification tablets, or bleach, mini flashlight/headlamp and batteries.

Situating camp for weather and animals.If possible, situate your hunting camp in a spot that will be protected from wind. In the mountains, I set up camp where I have a good vantage of the game country right from the tent, or at least close to a good vantage to maximize glassing, and hence hunting time.

Don't lose any sleep over bears at night. If camp is set up correctly there should be no problems from bears. Don't set your camp on major game trails or right on the river bank of a salmon stream. Hang or cache meat and foodstuff about 100 yards away from your camp. Somewhere easily seen from a distance . If you got something that will make some noise, hang it on the cache, if a bear comes by, you'll wake up to clanking and have plenty of time to avoid real problems. I keep my rifle and a good flash light handy in the tent.

Miscellaneous TipsWhile hunting in Alaska always think Safety, I do not carry a live round in my rifle's chamber. nor do my clients. I am far more concerned about an accidental gunshot wound hurting myself or my partner in a remote area than about bear protection. In most big game hunting situations in Alaska, there is ample time to chamber a cartridge after game is spotted and stalked.

Before hunting too far away from your vehicle or aircraft landing strip, stop to think about how far you are willing or able to carry harvested game. A bull moose will yield 500 to 750 pounds of bone in meat and will require up to eight round trips carrying approximately 100 pounds per trip. A big raw brown bear hide can weigh over 120 pounds dry, if the hide gets wet, it will weigh more than you can carry, but it can be cut in half if necessary. Even a big bull caribou will yield 150-180 pounds of boned meat and a Dall sheep ram about 80 pounds plus the weight of the horns and cape which could be another 50-70 lbs.

Another beautiful trophy bull moose at 67 inches. It is a lot of hard work to get these monsters out to the river. Are YOU up to the task? Remember Alaska has a want and waste law on the meat.

If it will be necessary to make multiple trips to pack meat back to camp, take the time to pack all of the meat at least 200 yards away from the kill site and conceal it under a bush or spruce tree. Ravens and gray jays will soon find the kill and their commotion can draw in other scavengers like bears. Always carry your rifle when packing meat and be alert each time you return to the kill site and meat cache area in case a bear has moved in during your absence. Remember it is the law in Alaska, the horns or antlers may not leave the kill site until all meat has been moved to vehicle, camp, or airstrip.

Above, Seventy Two inch trophy bull moose. The last pack from the kill site. Notice what's left, back bone, some hide from the rear, and hocks of a moose.

As a parting note, be sensitive to public perceptions of hunters and hunting. Hunt in a fair chase manner and hunt according to a high ethical code of conduct. I'd urge everyone to consider taking the Alaska Hunter Education course, it's a good one. Also, take advantage of the Alaska Hunting Clinics for the various popular species. Familiarize yourself with the Alaska Hunting Regulations and carry a copy with you afield. There is no excuse in the court of law. So know the laws. You'll be glad you did. Plus, if you get weathered in for a day or two you will have something to read. If all the hard work and research pay off the end result will be this next photo.

Happy Hunter returns to camp in a beautiful Alaskan Sunset.

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