Alaska Resident Moose Hunting

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Alaska Private Guide Service

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Smokey Don Duncan,
Master Guide #136

Alaska Resident Moose Hunting Information

Alaska moose hunting in GMU 17 Resident Only area is August 20 - September 15 with resident registration permit. GMU 20 is Sept 1 - 15, 20, or 25 depending on where you are moose hunting and the size of the bull moose.

In permit areas, the typical moose hunting day begins early in the morning and ends late in the evening, utilizing prime hunting times. The middle of the day includes a rest period, with the option for world class fishing of red and silver salmon, rainbow trout, artic grayling, dolly varden and char near the moose hunt campsite.

The moose hunting trip primarily consists of traveling up and down the rivers, creeks, and sloughs via jet boat allowing moose hunting in several spots throughout the day. Shots are frequently very close since we hunt in the vegetative corridor near the river. Longer shots are available across meadows, from bluffs, or across the creeks. It is also possible to be less reliant on the jet boats and include more hiking in tighter areas along the creeks. Depending on the style of moose hunting (rifle, bow, etc.), the trip can be tailored to best fit the hunter's desires and needs.

In Game Management Unit 20, Alaska Private Guide Service offers a Resident and Non-Resident Alaska Moose Hunting Area. The benefit of GMU 20 is prices are less because the logistics are cheaper and there is no minimum trophy size.

Hunting brown bear, grizly bear, black bear, caribou, wolf, wolverine, and some small game is also available. See the price information for costs and kill fees. -- top

Alaska Game Management Unit 17

GMU 17 is located 300 miles west of Anchorage, in southwestern Alaska, north of Dillingham.

Residents Only Alaska Moose Hunting Area - GMU 17

In our resident only trophy moose areas we recommend the fully guided option but we do offer semi guided hunts. The semi guided hunts are basically an unguided and outfitted hunt with some guiding time at the onset of the hunt so you get going in the right direction, learn the area and know how to use the equipment provided. Our semi guided hunts provide much more mobility, logistical support, and education than the typical unguided or drop-off hunt. In general, an unguided moose hunt will save you money but require much more work than a guided moose hunt. The season opening dates start August 20 (resident Alaska moose registration permit required for any size bull moose) OR September 1 for the, Spike/Fork, 50" or three brow tine rule. Alaska moose hunting season ends Sept. 15th. The pick up and drop off point is typically Dillingham. We have 2 primary means of hunting this trophy moose area.

• Primary Base Camp moose hunt where you have the advantages of a base camp to fly into and a jet boat for moving up and down the river. We have spike camps to use when we need to be out until dark or to be there early in the morning. This area has the most moose and is also lower on the river. We have more water for the jet boat but the vegetative corridor is a little wider and thicker. This hunt is for guided hunters only.
• Mobile Raft Camp. This hunt starts out closer to the headwaters. There are nearby spotting hills and bluffs and the country is much more open. The pilot can also land on several adjacent bluffs along the river to take moose off your hands. A lot of times we have seen moose just flying in and out. The main idea is to start working your way down the river if you are not seeing what you want. This hunt can be guided or semi-guided. You’ll get a fly around and be shown where the plane can help and where we can pick you up. We’ll teach you simple ways to effectively call moose. You’ll have a radio, Sat phone or both for communication and you will be checked on periodically. The freight rate back to Dillingham is cheap.

Raft moose hunters have a more portable camp, which is easily set up and broken down and packed for travel. Raft trips will also be in easy contact with APGS for emergency and preset communication times. APGS will inform moose hunters where they can meet the plane to pick up a hunter or moose along the route. APGS will pick up meat to make hunters more comfortable and limit unwanted interaction with bears. -- top

Resident Alaska Moose Hunting Prices - GMU 17

Most Alaska moose hunts consist of 1 guide / 1 hunter or 1 guide / 2 hunters. Our contract stipulates the ratio that will be in place when you book.

The prices includes most everything you need except your personal hunting gear, game bags, weapon, medicines and booze.
We do not offer drop off hunts in this area.
Drop off hunts. For drop off unguided moose hunts with minimal outfitting provided by APGS, the price per hunter will begin at $2500 with 2 persons minimum and the hunt area may be anywhere in unit 17. -- top

Alaska Moose / Brown Bear Hunting Combination Hunt Prices - GMU 17

We offer moose brown bear combination hunts for residents only in the resident only moose hunting areas. We can price this option 3 ways.

1. The brown bear is only taken incidentally. In other words; we run into a bear before we get the moose, and we don’t actually hunt the bears. Additional Kill fee $3000.
2. The bear and moose are both primary targets. We hunt both with the intention of taking both. Add $4000
3. We hunt both but the price is for either one and the hunt is over when one is taken. Same price.

Other animals may be taken as incidental and the kill fees are listed below. -- top

Logistics - GMU 17

Trophy / Meat Shipment

Once you have chosen your trip package, Alaska Private Guide Service will send you an informational letter regarding the available services and options for trophy and meat shipment. Please decide which services you prefer before you arrive in Dillingham, and notify us on the provided form.

Game must be dismembered (but not de-boned) in the field by law before packing and transporting it. Please bring game bags for this purpose. The antlers and capes will be prepped while in the field, and Alaska Private Guide Service will manage the transport back to Dillingham.

Once in Dillingham, an expediter will meet our pilot and box the meat and capes for freezing, this process takes 2-3 days, and then ship the meat according to your instructions. The expediter, not Alaska Private Guide Service, will bill you for these services. There is also the option to cut and wrap your own meat if you would like. Any unwanted meat will be accepted by Alaska Private Guide Service. We encourage clients to use meat processors in Anchorage to improve reliability.

All trophy antlers must now be shipped as air cargo or be shipped through the expediter. It is much cheaper to split the antlers for shipping and/or place more than one pair in each box. -- top

Permits, License, Fees - GMU 17

Permits

See the Alaska Fish and Game Regulations for GMU 17B and 17C general regular season Sept 1 - 15. You can get a registration permit and hunt earlier for any size bull moose starting August 20, 2008. -- top

Kill Fees

Additional Costs

APGS charges $75 to seal a bear or a wolf at Fish and Game, which must be done before freezing and before leaving the state. APGS charges a maximum of $100 per animal to handle moose or caribou meat donations. Waterfowl hunters are asked for an additional $200/day to cover added guide, ammunition, and gasoline costs.

NOTE: Wounded game that is not found is considered killed and the big game tag for that species is spent. -- top

Alaska Game Management Unit 20

ONLY OUTFITTED UNDGUIDED CAMPS ARE AVAILABLE FOR 2008. Hunting in GMU 20 is Sept 1 - 15, 20, or 25, depending on where you are moose hunting and the size of the bull moose.

NO permits are needed in this area. Game Management Unit (GMU) 20 is located to the West of Fairbanks and North of Denali Park along several interior rivers. The many ponds, sloughs, and swamps off the main rivers make this area an ideal habitat for moose and black bear with few wolves or grizzly bears. GMU 20 is a special area, because while the moose are just as large as in other regions, there are no permit or minimum height requirements, and there are small kill fees for other game found in the area. Alaska Private Guide Service offers both guided and unguided moose hunts in GMU 20.

For moose hunting , you will fly into Fairbanks where Alaska Private Guide Service will meet you and arrange for your transportation to camp. GMU 20 is only accessible by boat or plane, and we have several camps along the river to choose from. APGS uses 20-24 ft. prop boats to travel from the camp to the hunting grounds. We rarely moose hunt from the boat, but instead work by foot or using canoes and rafts along the river, sloughs, and ponds. At the beginning of the trip, we hunt in the mornings and evenings, but as the season progresses, the moose go into rut and begin to travel allowing for all day moose hunting. -- top

Moose Hunt Camps - GMU 20

The camps for GMU 20 are temporary since they can only be in place 14 days in one location. Each has steel frame tents or wall tents with a wood stove, lantern, cots, pads, sleeping bags, enclosed privy, shower, meat pole, a fully equipped cook tent with propane stoves, and all the necessary general camp equipment like saw, ax, etc. Hunters will help setup or finish setting up the camp upon arrival. -- top

Alaska Moose Hunting Prices - GMU 20 C and B

Resident Prices

* For semi-guided trips

An outfitted and unguided moose hunt, outfitted by APGS with a raft/boat and camp supplies lasting 11 hunting days. A moose hunter must be experienced and qualified for operating boats and navigating rivers, or else the trip will be centered on a lake. APGS recommends hunters, at least one per party, come up for the spring black bear hunting season to learn the river and boats and to do some early scouting. -- top

Logistics - GMU 20 C and B

The Unit 20 hunt is less expensive because the logistics and costs are much simpler and cheaper.

Travel

Each moose hunter should plan to arrive into Fairbanks. Alaska Private Guide Service will arrange for you to travel to camp depending on your arrival, and return to Fairbanks in time for a red eye flight on departure. This is the arrangement for 11 total hunting days; if you would prefer a shorter trip, please plan it late in the season and please contact APGS for additional information.

Prices for the trip include transportation for each moose hunter and his or her personal gear from Fairbanks to camp and back. All food, gas and general camp gear is also provided.

The price does NOT include licenses, tags, meat shipment to Fairbanks, alcohol, or having bears and wolves sealed at Fish and Game. The average round trip plane fair from the East Coast to Fairbanks is approximately $800.

Trophy / Meat Shipment

All bears and wolves must be sealed at Fish and Game during the week (Monday-Friday) between 8 am and 5 pm. It is free to seal bears and wolves. Alaska Private Guide Service can assist if necessary for a charge of $75.

To keep the overall price of the trip low, Alaska Private Guide Service does not transport meat from the hunting ground to Fairbanks. You may do the following with your meat:

Depending on many variables during the trip, it may be possible for Alaska Private Guide Service to transport small quantities of meat for free or at a low cost. Please speak with your Guide for more information about this option during the course of your trip.

Should you choose to transport your meat, Fairbanks has a number of meat processors that can pick up the meat, process, freeze, and ship it for a much lower cost than most areas. -- top

License, Fees - GMU 20

Additional Costs

APGS waived all kill fees on wolves, wolverines, and the first black bear for 2008. Each additional black bear cost $500. A $3000 kill fee applies if a hunter takes a moose and a grizzly bear. -- top

Smokey Don Duncan, Owner, Master Guide #136 and P.H.
Tom O'Connor Registered Guide #1204 and Pilot
Wayne Gregory A.G., Fishing and Waterfowl Guide
299 Alvin St. Fairbanks AK 99712
Phone: 907-457-8318 Email: apgs@gci.net

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