We've been thinking about getting a few acres in AK. Around the Homer area. I prefer to not get the government involved in my business. So driving through Canada is a no-no with my AR's and such. We plan on driving up there pretty soon to check it out and see what's what - can I transport say my AR if we go through WA and catch a ferry?
I've never traveled interstate with an AR, so I have no idea what I'm doing here.

Thanks in advance...

For the love of all, where is the tacked thread?

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As for all the states in between that’s on you.

Thanks...my biggest concern was Washington. Well damn. No idea how I'm going to get my Glocks and AR's there if we do decide to go. I really don't want to put them through the system again.

Not you. We've done this so many times. There SHOULD be a tacked thread. It could have been written years ago and only need occasional updating.

But I guess Alaskans are lonely, and we want to type the same replies, almost verbatim, again and again.

Anyway, I haven't been on the ferry, but you might inquire of them what 'declared' means. If it is like actual Alaska, it means you say you have firearms in the vehicle, and the ferry employee would say "well don't take them out unless it is TEOTWAWKI." But again, I don't know what declare means to the ferry system.

More importantly, we are on a big downward job/employment slide, and it will get much worse under President Biden (with the likely exception of health care, and Chief Diversity Officers).

No worries - that's what I took it as. I meant the gif to look for a tacked thread I suspect it's a bit risky to board a ferry in Washington with the kind of hardware I plan on brining over - then as you mentioned, the new political climate. May well be a time soon where we aren't allowed the nice toys.
I'm sure y'all are fed up with us warm weather folks coming up there. Quite frankly, it's been on my radar for many years - just finally got the wife to come around to the idea. I'm not worried about employment. Already confirmed pretty good internet where we want to go and the kind of work I do is all remote.

Check the ferry 'declaration'. If they don't make you itemize, no one up here will ever ask or give a shit. Unless it is cool, in which case I call dibs on the first range session with you.

THE KEY IS that you have to get the ferry that comes all the way up to 'real' Alaska, and NOT get off in Haines and then drive through Canada. There are not as many ferry runs that get you all the way to the Alaska road system, and those vehicle spots tend to fill up early with reservations. Like months early.

If you get off in Haines, then you are correct and you'll end up being loved tenderly by a man in a red coat and a strange hat.

Ahhhhh! No...can't deal with those funny hat wearing folk. We plan on a ferry all the way to Homer.
Just checked the Ferry schedule. Holy shit! 5 days! I think my first trip up there may involve a drive through Canada damnit. Don't have that kind of time this time around.
When I make the move, I'll use the ferry.
As to the range trip...you bet!

When I moved my little PU up on the Ferry I exchanged several calls, etc., with them about how much powder I could carry...they didn't seem to know and asked me to throw out a number.  I did and it was OK with them.  I think they've upped that number by a lot now.  I just told them when I checked in I had it and they said OK and I was good to go.  I also had an extra 20# propane tank that they had me store in the ship's paint locker.  I think 65# of ammo was allowed.  Just told them I had it and no problems.

I had a compartment (false floor?) in the bed of the truck with some long guns inside and stuff piled on top of that.  Everything would have needed to be removed and then the compartment taken apart to get to the guns.  Guns in cases.  No problem with that.

I had no conversations with anyone from Washington at the dock.

The vehicle deck is off limits to passengers for most of the trip.  They do make "doggie calls" several times a day so folks can let their dogs out to walk around and pee on other people's tires.  There was always a crew member or two keeping an eye out for problems.  I was allowed to get clean clothes, snacks, reading materials, etc., out of the truck during the "doggie calls".

Make sure you have a spot reserved for you for the whole trip.  I had a spot for me, the truck, and a room.  Each one was independent and I needed to make sure all three were good for the whole trip.  I had my own sleeping room but shared the head.  If I'd had the Wife with me I'd have had a room with a shower/toilet. You can skip the room and sleep on deck.  People are not allowed to sleep on the inside on the seats, but some did.  It was, I think, the first long trip of the year and there was  lots of room for people, but the vehicle deck was pretty full of cars, trucks (a UHaul), and boats.  Once we hit the open gulf the weather got cold, windy, and rained.  It looked cold sleeping on a tent on deck! The food was OK, seemed spendy to me.  They ran out of the special of the day pretty quick.  They had hot water available for my tea and oatmeal instead of their big breakfast.

The price took a huge jump after I made my trip.  Not sure what's going on with their budget and how many sail dates there are.  It seems like they have had some breakdowns as well.  I don't know what you do if the Ferry breaks down at XYZ.

IF you fly up, Alaska Air is very gun friendly.  Canada was OK.  We only had guns on one trip through Canada and didn't have anything that was even a question if it was OK with them.  Yes, there is a S/N record of them.  The only trip we didn't have powder and primers is when we had the guns; we got asked several times why we had P&P but no guns.  The virus thing is going to compound the problems going through Canada.  It's going to suck coming up with a plan B if they won't let you cross the border.

On all our trips Canada has always been nice to us.  On one of our fun trips to Canada we had a problem with US (in Washington) coming back.  Just total jerks.  We never had any problems with US border folks when coming into Alaska.

Edit: a drive through Canada, into Alaska, and then down to Homer is going to burn up several days as well.

Just fly and check them.

That's a wealth of information! Thanks! Yup, I suspect our first trip will be to check it out and see what the land looks like. I'd like to drive my truck up there, so we can drive around a bit instead of being stuck in whatever shitbox rental we get. We plan on heading out there at the end of March - is everything still fairly packed up or is it complete slush around the Homer area? The place we are looking at is about 45 minutes outside of Homer.
Another question I had, concerns hunting. I doubt I'll hunt anywhere except on my own property. The regulations are a bit interesting from what I can see...am I allowed to hunt on my own property or will I need permits, licensing and all that?

Yes in order to heed the letter of the law you will need a hunting license even on your own property. Read the fines for not complying with F&G and see they don't play around and have the personality of a brick. I thought there was a thread about " I want to move to Alaska 101". Unless you are independently wealthy you will find living 45 minutes from Homer will suck. Most of the KPB has had terrible fire hazards the last few years and if you are looking at property I suggest a quick check of the fire maps, flood/tsunami inundation maps and check the wells in the area. All of this information is available online.

Thanks! Will check it out. The hunting license part sucks...I think most F&G and DNR folks are like that Didn't think about fire or tsunami problems...sheesh! Guess that's how y'all keep the rifraf out? hehe

The car rental game.  Good luck with that$$$  The rental expense was one of the reasons I needed to move the little truck to AK.  The rental got to be the major expense for my summer trips to our property.  Our plans changed and the truck ended up being here for 4 winters by itself.  It was great to have my own rig and all the goodies I brought up with it.  The Ferry ride by itself was a great experience!

Summer rental rates are HIGH (Gouge!). And ANC charges HIGH taxes (Gouge!).  Be sure you know where the car company will let you drive if you plan on getting off the blacktop.  At check-in they will go over the windshield very closely to see if you just bought a new one for them because of a rock chip if you did not buy the extra insurance.  Like wise, be sure YOU go over the entire car when you get it and document any and all scratches, dents, and chips before you drive it.  It might be "normal wear and tear" when you get it, but "damage" when you take it back.

I got off the Ferry in Whitter.  It was snowing sideways and I think it took a couple of tries and several hours before we got docked.  The Captain did an outstanding job!  Getting off at Whitter may not save you money off the trip, but you get to drive through the tunnel.  Another of those experiences!

? How are you going to get from the airport to your truck/property on future trips?

Somewhere in your plans you might consider theft.  Our cabin was broken into before we bought it.  In the 20+ years we owned it it was not broken into, but we always had a $ limit on what we left in it.  2 of the years the truck was up here by itself it was stored in fenced storage, 1 at a friends, and 1 just parked by the cabin.  It was OK other than being moved 2X with a flat/low tire.  One neighbor had his cabin broken into a couple of times, a battery taken from his truck, etc.  Several of the summer homes/cabins in the area have been broken into.  Often while I'm out working in the yard someone will stop and ask if we've seen XYZ that was stolen from nearby.  Last summer a lady was looking for a large portable sawmill that had been taken from their place.  Several times a year we see rigs that were stolen, stripped, and left along the road.  Some folks from ANC bought a house by a lake nearby and moved a RV trailer out there; someone tried to steal it and got it stuck in the snow...$$$ to have it removed from the snow/ditch and repaired.  When our house was built both we and the contractor had theft insurance on the materials/structure and most of the materials were delivered "just in time". The ANC paper just had a story about the Troopers catching a pair of criminals breaking into cars at local trail heads (Edit: they found stuff from at least 17 thefts).  MOST people here are wonderful when you get to know them...but there are some truly bad people as well.

Move here, get a place and fly them up with you.

I work in disaster related field as a profession so I tend to look at all the data that is out there on my potential place to live. also consider before you move up that the KPB as well as many areas of the state will most likely be looking at new fees, taxes, and increased property taxes to offset the loss of seasonal revenue the last 2 years ago the shrinking tax base. This is more evident in areas like the KPB and anywhere in Southeast Alaska that use to heavily rely on seasonal tourism. If you have never lived in Homer or the KPB ask anyone there are 2 seasons, Tourism and Non Tourism. You will see traffic on the KPB explode from May 1 till 1 October usually with tourism and people from the rest of the state coming to the KPB to recreate. Homer is not like the TV shows I promise you

Flying them up with you is probably the easiest, at least if you use Alaska Airlines.

But.....the hassle might well come depending on which airport you depart from. I've flown with some....mmmm....interesting items out of LAX, and I got lucky with getting out. California laws, etc. TSA idiots fingerfucking shit in plain view of all the mouthbreathers waiting in line. Etc. A bit tense.

The last half dozen times we drove up, I sent the guns to the FFL in Tok, and picked them up on the way home. Easiest way so far. Least hassles.

Alternately, if you know someone up here, send the firearms c/o and pick them up when you get here.

You are able to mail rifles and shotguns from yourself, to yourself, using USPS. Handguns unfortunately have to go to an FFL by air mail. So I would mail all your long guns to yourself, and then next time you fly bring your handguns.

Handguns can be sent by common carrier (UPS, FedEx) from yourself to yourself. You can send them to yourself c/o someone else; they just can't open it. It's not cheap, but that is true of all handgun shipping via those companies.

I apologize for the lack of response on this thread. Life got in the way. Thanks for the advice everyone. Looks like the easiest is to just eat the fact that there will be a paper trail and ship them or check them in luggage.
Things are coming together, finally!

Good to hear things are progressing.

Unfortunately, some kind of paper trail is gonna happen. Only way I can think to get around that is finding a private boat that's going to AK without any stops in Canada along the way.  Or, of course, if someone is doing a private plane.

"Back on track."  I can relate, our move did not go according to our original time line.  Good luck!

Other than you have guns in checked bags, I don't think there is any paper trail.

Going through Canada you will have to fill out a form listing each firearm by information including S/N.

We aren't moving permanently - yet! if all goes well, we'll close in a month or so. Then get a driveway put in then we can start work on our place.
Did have a moose encounter on the property when we walked it a few days ago. Got the same "vibe" I felt in Africa. Felt like I belonged there.
Anyways, yup, checked luggage it is.

Don't forget to bring ammo too...if you're on Alaska Airlines, last time it was up to 50# ammo per passenger, no problem.  I should have brought more, but of course I didn't and a crap ton of it is in storage down south.