I am wondering what I can expect to pay for an outfitted, self guided moose of caribou hunt around Fairbanks? Also what can I expect as a hunting experience this way? I have a friend of a friend who is PCSing back from there this year who just went on a five day hunt like this that he paid $2300 to go on. Is that about right, high or low?

I will probably end up hunting alone if it cost $2k per person as finding another soldier in my next unit who will want to drop that kind of coin on a hunt will be less than likely. Because of that I'm thinking it might be better to go on a guided hunt so I will have help with the animal. Does anyone know what a fair fee for a guided hunt would be for a resident local of Fairbanks?

Not to be a smartass, but didn't you get up here this year?  365 days from establishing Alaska as your primary home for residency for hunting/fishing.  If I'm just not remembering that you've been here longer, don't mind me.  Memory has been pretty crappy lately.  If non resident, expect a big chunk of change for your license, locking tag, and harvest ticket.

This time of year, you aren't going to find a guide anyhow.  They are booked up months in advance usually.  Most services I've seen, you'll end up around $2500-4000 all said and done, counting licenses, etc.  Plus it is customary to tip the guide.  If you go without, GPS is your friend.  Depending where you go out, 100 yards can mean the difference between a safe zone and a felony.  Rainbow Ridge is the perfect example of this.  Garmin makes a software set for their GPS that shows what land is native/public/hunt/no hunt/etc that is pretty nice.  Personally, we just picked a safe spot and went there every year.  Moose numbers are way down the last few years though.  Last fall my dad went the entire season without even seeing a bull, which is odd because we've gotten one out there every year since the mid 90's.  Lots of wolves though.

Either way, you are going to want to hunt with at least 1 buddy.  Nobody in their right mind wants to skin out a moose on their own.  The state is pretty specific when it comes to the % of meat that MUST be packed out as well.  (read:  ALL of it)  Is also why the majority of folks have a 4wheeler.  Breaking your back hauling a single leg out sucks.

Unless you are going to hang the meat and butcher it yourself (with 3 people it'll still take the better part of a few days) processing the meat is spendy too.

IF you hire a guide, a good one will cover pretty much everything from making breakfast to butchering the moose.  So basically a camping trip where you shoot something.  There are a lot of "not so good' guides out there as well.  Get what you pay for and all that.

Well thanks for the run down. I figure I can get the names and numbers of some outfitters from various taxidermists and butchers there in fairbanks. I will be PCSing up there from Montana so with in a month of being up there I will be able to get residency through my orders to get liscenses but since I wont be settled in until after the mid way point of the season I planned on just shooting grouse and possibly waterfowl this year if I can find some good duck holes that arent already frozen over by then.

So whats the deal with being charged with a felony for tresspassing? Here its a citation at best as long as it wasnt criminal tresspass ie you shot a trophy buck or bull elk and the game warden can prove that you knew you were tresspassing and did it anyway and that gets even better when it's out of season.

Also about what does it cost to have a nice bull moose or caribou (which i know are smaller) butchered? Here in MT elk are like $100-$150 depending on the butcher and size of the animal.

From what I can tell, there is one "butcher" in the Fairbanks area....and he is located about an hour or so south of Fairbanks in Delta Junction (they do come up once a week during hunting season for meat pick up).  I had a caribou butchered last year (I turned in the deboned quarters and briskey/neck meat).  I think it was a few hundred dollars for them to make all the meat into ground meat and suasage (things are not cheap up here).  I imagine butchering a full moose would be pretty spendy.  Of course it depends on what you want done with the meat as well.  It sue isn't as cheap as getting a hog ground up in south AL.  I think I paid around $80 to have a 200lb hog made into sausage in Enterprise, AL.  

There may be a cheaper alternative in Fairbanks, but I've not found it.  If I shoot another caribou this year, I think I will grind it up myself.

I'm prety sure you have to reside here for a year before you are eligible for resident status, even if you are active duty.  Of course you can can call the Alaska Fish and Game folks to be certain.  The hunting/fishing regulations up here are pretty complex.  I try to go by the AFG HQ in Fairbanks to speak w/ an expert before heading out to hunt.  They can confirm if your hunting plan/area is legal before you invest your hard earned money and time into a hunt.  Good luck!

As an active duty member of the military, you are eligible for tags and licenses at the resident rate, although you are still considered a non-resident for the first year. When are you getting up here?

mid to late season. I'll be in state on the 18th of september and my report date is the 10th of october

The regs don’t seem to be much more complex than what we head with here in MT. In fact it seems like all regs are confusing the first time looking at them.

So everybody butchers their own then? Or does hardly anyone actually hunt big game up there? I have no idea how to get different cuts of meat out nor do I feel like spending from Friday after work until Sunday night screwing with the crap while watching YouTube videos on how to do it. I'm really surprised that there are no butchers in the city limits because here in Great Falls MT which is only twice the size of Fairbanks there are probably about ten game butcher shops.

Also the only way I will ever grind anything again will be with an electric grinder. I am absolutely never doing it by hand again. If you have done it that way you know how dumb it gets, having to clear fat and sinew out of the thing with hot water just about every second or third pound.

It seems like everywhere else I will have to completely rethink what I know about hunting.

Inst that for purposes of drawings and other restricted tags?

yes, as well as the guide requirements for certain species for non residents.

 






















 

Well I will be in fairbanks proper.

Its not so much that I wouldnt at least partially process my meat but that I dont really know how and all I have been shown was shown to be by other people who have no idea what they are doing.

When it takes me three hours to butcher a deer and only get burger scraps and loin steaks out of it I'm sure I'm doing a lot of things wrong.

Until such a day comes that I can find a competent teacher I will probably have someone else do the work and know that when I get the meat back it will have been done correctly.

Here's the rundown.

You're first year you are a non resident. However you can get non resident military  tags which are the same price as a resident. However you are restricted to the non resident ( marked NR in the regs seasons and bag limits)

This late in the year there are no outfits that aren't booked unless there is a last minute cancellation and usually they have waiting lists for such things.

Also you make it sound like such a sure thing.  Moose hunting is NOT easy and right around Fairbanks is a fucking Circus when rifle season opens up. I have gotten moose standing right off an ATV path that were so easy I could call it cheating and I have also gone 3 years without seeing a legal moose during open seasons.

For processing if you want the whole thing done you are looking at $600+ dollars and that is nothing fancy that is ground meat the standard steaks and roasts. IF you want sausages or something else made the price nearly doubles. 4

I realize Montana can be rough I have been and hunted there but its NOT Alaska. Alaska is completely unforgiving and you can find your self in some serious trouble even right out of town. When you leave Fairbanks 15+ miles in any direction there is NO cell service unless  you are right on the road and even then its spotty and there are many places where even Sat phones suck. Your best bet is to get  here. Get settled in and go out and explore and find some small game to hunt. Looking at a map is one thing until you get here and realize 80% of what you thought is a field is a 4' deep swamp and completely impassible .



Not to sound harsh but visit the alaska outdoor forums and spend a few weeks just reading and asking questions. You will get ALOT of advice similar to what I just gave and we aren't trying to be dicks or protect our spots Alaska is genuinely a dangerous place and we don't want someone to go out and get lost or get hurt.

Also if you are solo plan on taking a come along 100' of rope some anchors, bone saw, game bags, 3-4 SHARP skinning knives unless you want to spend time dicking around sharpening your knife while getting royally fucked by mosquitoes and attracting bears to your kill site.  And plan on 6+ hours just getting it cut up and into game bags. And probably longer if you are on your own.

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I am curious too. I doubt it for trespassing but probably kind of wrong hunting zone charge. Is it really a felony up there for that kind of thing ?

It can go from trespass to poaching pretty quickly.  At least that is how it was explained by a former coworker who is a F&G Biologist.

I get that. Odd that poaching would be a felony though.

Not in Alaska- they take game laws very seriously there. They also take almost as seriously the requirement to pack out ALL edible meat- and that includes neck meat and ribs- BEFORE you pack out the cape and antlers. I know one guy in Delta Junction that got big money fines for packing out antlers in the first load.

Anything used for poaching is confiscated too... Rifles, gear, truck, 4 wheeler, snow machine, aircraft, ect...

Even had a coworker shoot a 7/8 curl sheep (glassed it from 300 yards and had 2 other hunters tell him it was good too. ), reported himself, turned in the entire goat and got a major peepee whacking. He got his rifle back 2 years later, rusted shut.

Had a family friend kill a problem brown bear and had his rifle taken.

He did everything by the book about a problem bear.



State was told many times about it.

It was raiding fish-camps and there were a bunch of kids around.



States reason was THEY were going to kill the bear.

Yeah that all sounds like a gay boobs.

They are big about taking poachers stuff here too but fines aren't bad unless you shot a trophy. But then again I have never heard even third hand a story of someone who got caught poaching in Montana.

Oh, and here is a big one.  If you go north, for the love of god DO NOT DRIVE on the tundra.  That is a massive no-no.  Also the majority of northern areas you have to be 5 miles in a straight line away from any road before hunting.  Considering the road zig zags, you might have to walk 5-15 miles to get to a hunting area.  That is just north along the Dalton as far as I know though.

Its because of the Pipeline. Pretty sure the corridor starts at coldfoot.

Common misconception. It has NOTHING to do with the pipeline and everything to some animals being more equal than others. If it is about the pipeline as you say why can you hunt directly under/ next across from it in the rest of the state? The natives from up north of the north slope borough can subsistence hunt within the corridor. The Corridor was put in place after they lobbied F&G because they had too much competition for "their" caribou once the haul road got popular. Before you know it there is a corridor. They can also ride snow machines in the corridor while us "other people" are stuck with our feet or skis/snowshoes once there is a snowpack. It is ALOT more complicated than because the pipeline and there is ALOT of information about it out there and exactly how it came to be.