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Grizzly/Brown Bear
Our hunts begin in April of each year when the big boar Grizzly and Brown Bears start to emerge from their dens. These animals are notorious for putting a huge dent in the Moose population from the moment they wander away from their dens right through the time when the Moose calve, mid May through the first week of June. The food supply is very limited and will only be replenished with the arrival of spawning salmon. All five species of Pacific salmon flood the drainages we hunt throughout the course of the summer and into the fall. For this reason there is an overlap of Brown Bears and Grizzly Bears in the areas we hunt. For example, one spring a hunter took a beautiful 24 year old boar that squared 8'3". Nine days later and only a few miles away another hunter took an 18 year old boar that squared 9'10". Both bears were in excellent shape and taken in very similar habitat.
It is difficult to put a hunter in the field and say whether or not you'll be hunting Brown or Grizzly bear. Every year I have been operating, we have taken bears over 9'. Right now the population of bears in the areas I hunt is at an all time high. Because of this the Alaska Department of Fish & Game has given this GMU the most liberal Grizzly Bear hunting season in North America!
From August 10th through October 15th, we are offering Grizzly Bear hunts throughout the mountains that surround us. Our success has been outstanding over the past four years. One of our Dall Sheep hunters took a record book Grizzly last year and literally every hunter we had in the field saw Grizzlies. These hunts are 10 days long; giving you a generous amount of time to select the trophy you want and account for possible delays due to inclement weather. We have about 20 different camps to hunt bears from. They range in altitude from the lower river bottoms when the bears are working the salmon streams to very high camps in the mountains where Grizzlies dig for parka squirrels and eat blue berries. The camp you hunt from will be determined by the dates you select and, more importantly, by where we have been seeing the bears just prior to the time of your arrival.
In an attempt to promote conservation of all resources, we have developed a program of harvest of these prey species that we anticipate to be very beneficial to hunters as well as advantageous to the resource itself. Our Brown/Grizzly Bear hunts are explained very well on the Bear Hunting Special page.
(Click Here to go to our Bear Hunting Special)
Black Bear Hunts
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Besides the combination bear hunts found under our Bear Hunting Special, it is possible to book a hunt expressly for Black Bear. These very affordable hunts are offered in May, June, August and September. They are one week in duration and have the highest success rates of all of our hunts. This is a great option for a father and son, a couple of friends or a husband and wife to hunt together.
In May and June the days are long, the weather usually stable and we're hunting in the high country where the views of the mountains are sensational. The wildlife seems to be roaming everywhere, migratory birds are returning to nest in the tundra and the Black Bears very active, foraging on fresh shoots.
Our August and September hunts are again in the tundra where glaciers and jagged peaks are seen off in the distance. Now the bears are eating the delicious ripening blueberries, low-bush cranberries and moss berries. Frosts carpet the tundra in the early hours of the morning and northern lights illuminate the night sky. One hunter spotted 17 bears in one day from our most productive camp last August.
Our Black Bears are not as big as southeast Alaska but our numbers of bears are excellent. We have taken several bears that squared over 6' in the recent past.
The cost for this hunt is $4,500.00 for a solo hunter or $3,750.00 apiece for partners.
(Click here to book your hunt)
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Dall Sheep Hunts
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As the first of the blueberries begin to ripen in the high alpine country we head up into the mountains for our Dall Sheep hunts. We hunt the upper drainages of the Talkeetna River, about 10 miles downstream from the largest glacier in the entire range of the Talkeetna Mountains. I take only two or three hunters each year to insure an excellent opportunity for success. Top physical condition is a must requirement for my hunters. If you aren't in good shape, please, consider another outfitter. This will save you a hardship and frustration and it insures me that my Sheep hunters have an outstanding opportunity to be successful. Top fit means you have the ability to carry your 50 pound pack for eight miles in trailless wilderness. Hiking in the areas I hunt is, for the most part, very good. We do our share of bushwhacking in tag alders and willow thickets and we also cross some pretty swift streams; but we practice the utmost caution in our encounters with the terrain, taking time and care to choose the best routes and crossing points for the safest, least resistant advancement to securing our goal, taking a full curl Ram. The population of legal rams where I hunt is very good but, to be successful, it takes some hard work and requires a bit of patience from the hunter. The sheep move around often and glassing skills are used and tested.
We allow for a full 10 days of hunting for Dall Sheep. Our hunters are picked up in Anchorage on the 8th of August. We fly out to your Main camp that evening and the following day you and your guide hike out to spike camp. In this manner, it's our hope that on opening day, August 10th, you wake to being positioned perfectly to begin the hunt of a lifetime for a trophy ram.
This hunt can be combined with a Grizzly Bear hunt and together make up one of the finest hunts offered in North America.
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The cost for our Dall Sheep hunt is $10,000.00
The cost for a combination Dall Sheep and Grizzly Bear is $12,000.00
(Click here to book your hunt)
Alaska-Yukon Bull Moose Hunt
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The Alaska-Yukon Moose is one of the most desirable trophies of all the Big Game species in Alaska. Every year my hunters take Moose that are gigantic. Tough winters and bear predation hurt the Moose population and caused reduction in harvest potential for out of state hunters in GMU 13. That was back in 1999; however, recent surveys by the Alaska Department of Fish & Game indicate that Moose numbers are rebounding. This is exciting news for me as GMU 13 has provided my hunters some extraordinary trophies.
Our biggest Bull in the past three years, taken in GMU 14, spanned 65" and we took one other over 60" that qualified for Boone & Crockett scoring 227. The bulls in the area we hunt have beautifully shaped antlers, usually tall, wide palms, very long tines and palmated brow tines. A perfect trophy, an awesome hunt and a lifetime of great memories, this is the hunt we offer.
We'll take two Moose hunters in September 2007. By limiting our harvest to two bulls, I'm accomplishing two important conservation practices. First off, less demand on the resource, promoting stability and even growth in numbers. The second factor is, by taking only two hunters, this allows for a finer focus on the target specie, granting selection of an older, mature specimen.
Management is the key here and management begins with the spirit of each hunter as he takes to the field. I feel the commercial operator has an even greater responsibility to insure the longevity of the resource and the industry. There are a lot of demands on the Moose in Alaska. They provide a tremendous amount of nourishment for both carnivore and omnivore and are highly sought after. Moose, being the largest member of the deer family and my clients hunting the area's where the greatest trophies still roam, conservation practices have become mandatory. I'm doing my best to be a leader in wise use of these resources we are fortunate enough to live with.
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In the spring of 2005 I was awarded a plaque from the Alaska Moose Federation. It said "In Gratitude for your generosity in supporting the Alaska Moose Federation". In an effort to reduce Moose kills along the Alaska Railroad I assisted the AMF with presenting evidence of kills and wasted meat along the rail corridor near Talkeetna. I'm convinced that through science, education and correlating impact reduction, we can continue to hunt Moose in Alaska for far into the future.
The cost for our Alaska-Yukon Moose hunt is $11,000.00
The cost for the combination Moose, Grizzly, Black Bear and Wolf is $13,500.00
(Click here to book your hunt)
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