Alaska Resident Moose Hunting

Alaska Private Guide Service

Smokey Don Duncan, old Master Guide #136 is no longer guiding any hunters, anglers or snowmobile trips. He has quit. These web pages are left up for historical purposes, cataloging and research and are not for client recruitment purposes.

Alaska Resident Moose Hunting Information

We have 3 Game Management Units (GMU) where we can take residents. Unit 17B and Unit 20 in sub units B&C. Both units have either resident only seasons or resident only areas. We can provide fully guided, outfitted and unguided or simply transported hunts.

Alaska Game Management Unit 17

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

Unit 17 B has 2 early resident only moose seasons. The first to open is the resident moose registration hunt which opens August 20 and has an any bull limit. The registration permit must be picked up in Dillingham. The 2nd season is a general season opening Sept. 1 with a spike / fork or 50" minimum spread or 3 brow tine requirement. Both seasons close Sept. 15.

Please see the Non-resident Moose Hunting page for a full description and discussion on hunting moose in Unit 17 B. It should answer all your questions. Be sure to click back on the resident page for the unique resident season dates and prices.

Resident Alaska Moose Hunting Prices - GMU 17B

* These are the days you arrive to and depart from camp.

Wolf Kill fee: $200. Wolf is considered incidental and priced as such. This means that once your primary animal/s are taken, your hunt is over and we do not spend money chasing wolves for the chance of a $200 kill fee. Our minimum daily rate to continue hunting for wolves (once your primary animal/s are taken) is $350/day.

** The brown bear kill fee is if you kill a moose and brown bear. If you only take a brown bear there is no kill fee. If you take 2 brown bears and no moose the second bear has the kill fee. To continue hunting for brown bear after a moose has been taken there is an additional daily rate charged at $350/day. Brown bear is incidental unless you book a combination hunt. The brown bear kill fee and combination hunts on 1 / 2 hunts is not available because of Guide Board regulations and because a guide can not guide 2 hunters going different directions at the same time. I am trying to fix this, but for now that is the way it is. You may want to consider an outfitted and unguided hunt to get around the problem.

Permits / Trophy & Meat Shipment

If you are going on the registration hunt beginning August 20, you are required to travel through Dillingham and pick up the registration permit (good for any size bull) in person before Sept. 1. Then you can fly to Koliganek where we will meet you. If you are hunting the Sept. 1-15 general season with the spike/fork 50 requirement, you can fly directly from Anchorage to Koliganek. All hunters can return directly from Koliganek to Anchorage.

We have 2 options to get the meat and trophies back to Anchorage. One is they fly from Koliganek directly back to Anchorage at about $1.10/pound. The other is to fly to Dillingham at about 50 cents/pound and then shipped to Anchorage air cargo at 50 cents / pound. Some of the Dillingham air cargo operators have freezers. Koliganek has limited freezer space. Either way you go, you will need to supply you own shipping containers which you can mail ahead. You can not count on buying containers in either place. You'll need someone on the Anchorage end to pick things up. I encourage you to donate meat in the village.

Incidental Kill Fees

* There are few black bears in this area. The ones that are where we hunt are mostly nocturnal. The caribou are not generally found where we hunt anymore. Mostly you would see cows or lost calves. You must have a black bear harvest or caribou ticket to take either species.

Additional Costs

You will seal wolves and bears yourself. APGS charges a maximum of $100 per animal to handle moose or caribou meat donations. APGS may waive this fee if you donate substantial portions in the village. You bring your own moose game bags or pay us $50/ moose for the bags. Any kill fees are due the day of the kill in cash.

NOTE: Wounded game that is not found is considered killed. Wounded game is game that was obviously hit, or knocked down or leaves blood. According to the State, your harvest ticket is still good.. -- top

Alaska Game Management Unit 20 B & C

Unit 20 B (remainder) has a general season for any bull Sept. 1-20. This area also has an antlerless moose drawing permit with a season August 15- Nov. 15th and a registration hunt for antlerless moose Oct. 1- Feb. 28. Minto Flats Management Area has 3 hunts. August 21-27 is any bull moose. Sept. 8-25th is a spike fork or 50" or 4 brow tine moose seasons. Oct.15- Feb. 28th is a registration hunt, RM 785, for antlerless moose. Parts of this area has the highest moose density in the State. Most of our hunting in 20 B will be by boats along the rivers, however, we do utilized 4 wheelers along some off road trails in prime areas.

Unit 20 C has a general season for any bull Sept. 1-25. In 20 C we use primarily boats along the rivers to move from camps to hunting areas. -- top

Moose Hunt Camps - GMU 20

We use camps or cabins for GMU 20 B & C Base camps generally have 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. Spike camps are less but more portable. Winter camps use Arctic Ovens. -- top

Alaska Resident Moose Hunting Prices - GMU 20 B & C

The resident price does NOT include licenses, alcohol, meat shipment to Fairbanks or having bears and wolves sealed at Fish and Game. Costs for transporting the meat and trophies back to Fairbanks are quoted individually on the contract before the hunt. The rate depends on when and where you are hunting and what it costs us. Figure $500 or less. It is free for you to seal bears or wolves at F&G. Alaska Private Guide Service can assist if necessary for a charge of $75.

* SF/50= Spike fork or 50 inch minimum. Any bull= any bull is legal. Antlerless= any moose with out antlers. Antlerless hunts will close when “x” of moose have been taken.

@Dates are the days you hunt. You will actually arrive in camp the day before and depart camp the day after the listed dates.

* Unit 20 B remainder and 20 C is any bull.

Kill Fees for Guided hunts and incidental game

An outfitted and unguided moose hunt, is outfitted by APGS with most everything you need depending on the area you are hunting. Gear may include a raft/boat or 4 wheeler with a reasonable supply of gas and camp supplies. The camp generally concists of tents, cots, pads, cooking supplies, crapper, tarps etc� A moose hunt along the river must have at least one experienced and qualified person experienced enough to operate boats and navigate rivers by GPS. 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

*Costs may increase depending on how much and what kind of gear you bring. The costs to move camp during the hunt will vary depending on our costs. For example: It is easy and cheaper to move you a few miles by boat than it is to fly you from one lake to another. You must bring a satellite phone. Costs to extract meat and trophies from the field will be quoted on a case by case basis once we decide where and how you will hunt. -- top

Logistics - GMU 20 B & C

The Unit 20 hunt is less expensive because the logistics and costs are much simpler and cheaper when compared to unit 17.

Hunting

When we are hunting moose along the river, we use the boats to move up and down the rivers. Seldom do we actually hunt from the boat. Typically we go ashore and into the woods and call hitting multiple locations in a day. When we are hunting the off road areas we use a highway vehicle and 4 wheeler to move around the hunting areas and into the woods where we spot and call moose. In both cases we may use spike camps to stay overnight in a good spot or somewhere further from camp. Most of the hunting is done early in the morning and late in the evening. As the season progresses into the rut, bulls will be more active. 20 B definitely has more moose/ square mile, but F&G has said the bulls coming from 20 C are mostly big ones. By Sept. 25, the rut will be happening and the bulls may be stinky.

Travel

Each moose hunter should plan to arrive into Fairbanks. Let us know how you will be arriving. Alaska Private Guide Service will arrange your travel to camp and back with your personal gear.

Trophy / Meat Shipment

Fairbanks has at least one meat processor that can cut and wrap your meat. If you fly to Fairbanks from elsewhere in Alaska, contact Alaska Airlines for freight charges and shipping requirements. If you are on the road system, you may want to use the overland freight/trucking companies. In either case, you should have someone able to receive the meat and trophies at home. We have a limited amount of freezer space available in camp or Fairbanks. Fairbanks also has taxidermists and a tannery. -- top

Additional Costs

Hunters may need a hotel room coming or going to the field. Hunters should bring their own game bags. Shipping containers for meat and trophies and packaging may cost you extra. -- top

Smokey Don Duncan, Owner, Master Guide #136 and P.H.
299 Alvin St. Fairbanks AK 99712
Landline: 907-457-8318     Verizon Cell: 435-890-8328
Email: apgs@gci.net

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