I'd definitely check on hunting regs before I started hunting in AK. You said you were thinking about June. Not sure what you can hunt in June. I'd go with the 12 gauge - more versatile. If you are backpacking - kinda hard to carry two guns.
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I'd definitely check on hunting regs before I started hunting in AK. You said you were thinking about June. Not sure what you can hunt in June. I'd go with the 12 gauge - more versatile. If you are backpacking - kinda hard to carry two guns.
This might help:
Join the GetOutdoors Outdoor Network
http://www.getoutdoors.com/goshare/
About the only reason to carry a gun in most of the Alaska bush in June is for protection. You can still hunt bear and rabbit in allot of places. But almost everything else is closed to hunting. Better off carrying a fishing pole to provide food with.Quote:
Originally Posted by RBB
Hemingway,
I'd be interested in discussing the trip with you. I was also thinking of taking a trip out to Alaska this summer...I've got time after I graduate from college before I start my job. I was initially thinking somewhere between Denali and Anchorage but would like to find a place with decent fishing for food.
Welcome saluki (Carbondale?). Why not race over to the Introductions section and tell us something about yourself?
Saluki, I look forward to talking with you more about this.
normal, decent people eh. ...and you're looking here for that...
well, i suppose it's as good a place as any.
my first thought, if you are to be visiting alaska in the summer is that all the DEET you can carry would be a good start. a bear might try to eat you, but the flies and mosquitoes will.
alaska is a big state, big by any country's standards, and pretty diverse. forgive me if i missed it somewhere, but is there a region or area you had in mind?
he said, " I was initially thinking somewhere between Denali and Anchorage but would like to find a place with decent fishing for food".
Saluki, if you are serious about the trip, please message me and we can discuss this in greater detail.
Sounds interesting, but a bit of advice. Never head out on a trip with someone you don't know - haven't camped with before.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hemingway
After 20 plus years in a fairly sedentary job, I'm no longer in peak physical condition, but I've been amazed at how much poorer shape some folks are. In the last ten years I've done trips with a number of people who could barely manage an 85 rod portage, got the shakes from being out of sight of a building, and wanted to go home after three days. Physically and psychologically there are a great many people out there who can't handle themselves in the woods. If you are in any kind of situation where your only assets are you and the people who are with you - you don't want them along.
Go with people you've camped with before, people that you have some idea of their abilities and mental health.
That's one of the reasons I shy away from the "Hey, grab your bag and let's go hiking, Mr. Person I just met on the Internet."
Uh, no thanks. I don't know you and don't need to put my life in your hands. But thanks for the offer.
RBB, you make an excellent point and I appreciate it. It was not my ideal to search for a partner for Alaska online. Unfortunately, none of my friends are interested in this undertaking. If I can find someone who is serious about this, I will definitely meet the person and hopefully do some mini trips together before Alaska, so we can feel confident in each other's abilities.
Well, I guess Saluki was not that serious about an Alaska trip, as I haven't heard anything... oh well.
This will start a firestorm: I think the people who visit this and similar forums, have a hard time shifting from inaction to action. Why be cold, wet, and sore from physical exertion, if you can just read about it and pretend.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hemingway
This is where "the three" people who did a three month wilderness hike'about this year get indigent.
Most people won't go for a walk in the rain, if they can watch TV.
So my advise Mr. Hemingway is: "Just Do It".....people have been hiking'about Alaska "SOLO" for thousands of years. And if you are on the trail system. You will meet lots of nice people from "AMERICA".........:)
What is the worst that could happen....? You could be the one........."For Whom the Bell Tolls". If you have never read it, it is a great read about, believing in something, enough to take action.
Hopeak, your message is very encouraging. You're absolutely right. What I want to do is by no means unique. Although I don't think I am going to be strictly on trails though. I will need to be hunting, etc. for food..
So far, I've received 3 responses, one from facebook, Saluki, and another member here who messaged me, all of which I felt excited about, but simply went no where. It's become clear that it will be unlikely I will find someone as motivated as myself for this. Certainly, I don't want to "sell" the idea and convince someone that it will be great, as he wouldn't be able to handle it once conditions became less than ideal. I was hoping to find someone as excited about this sort of thing as I am, but it doesn't look like that will happen.
Regardless, this summer I will be backpacking in Alaska, with or without a partner.
There is lots of food on the trail system. All the Game Birds, and Fish, Wabbits. Look at it this way. Most Alaskans are lazy also. They mostly hunt on the trails and river beds, open country.
One very good Idea is get a summer job at one of the Remote Lodges, and hike on your days off, and after your employment is over.
Since it is very likely that I will do this alone, I am not quite concerned about the food situation. Let's say I am out there for 2 months. Pretty much, I need to bring my Mossberg 12 gauge because of bears... That being said... enough 12 gauge shells for 2 months worth of hunting, that's a lot of space. I am not experienced in preparing and preserving meat of large game, so it's not like hunting a big animal and making it last 3 weeks is an option.
A.) You can not shoot any game without a NON-RESIDENT hunting license.
B.) Small Game Lic.$20.- Hunting Lic.$85.- Hunting and Trapping $250.- Each Black Bear Tag $225.- Moose $400.- etc.
So I would think Small game Lic. and Fishing Lic. carry fishing gear, and "AGUILA" minishells, they are dwarf .12 Gauge shotshells and/or slugs. They do not cycle in all pump action shotguns, but you can carry regular 2 3/4" or 3" when hiking. And put a minishell in to shoot a spruce hen, or wabbit.
I still think you need to FIRST choose WHERE to go. And WHEN you are going to go. Many locations will cost more to get to from Anchorage, than you will pay to get to Alaska from America. It could easily cost you $1,500 or more to get dropped off in the bush and picked up later.
I would start with lots of books on hiking in Alaska.
Hopeak, I greatly appreciate your info. I think I better get a Hunting and Trapping license as well as fishing then. I want to use snares as on part of my food gathering. Although, price wise, I'm tempted to just get the 20 dollar small game one...
I will look into the Dwarf rounds. Do you know off hand if the Mossberg 500 can use those? I know I can use 2 3/4 and 3 inch. I will bring a few 3 inch slugs for bear purposes (not hunting bear, but if an unfortunate situation happened). I've never been to Alaska, so this might sound stupid, but I was thinking, as a standard, I'd leave 2 slugs in the shotgun for hiking, just in case. Then if I ran across something to hunt, I'd cycle those 2 shells out for smaller shot.
I know I haven't talked in great detail about location. I will be researching that more heavily in the next couple weeks. Off hand, I am thinking the greater Mt. McKinley area, but am by no means set on that. I have not adequately researched it enough. Time wise though, I am leaning towards starting May or June. I am not counting on it, but am still holding small hope that I might be able to find a partner for the trip in Alaska. I understand that the southern California culture is not keen on this sort of thing and I have virtually received no serious response on the subject.
Additionally, I plan on driving up. This also provides another issue that I have not found a solution of. I know I can't simply leave my car at some place for a month or two. I don't want to get it towed, but not sure yet where I'd be able to leave it. Unfortunately, I don't have family in Alaska to help me out on this.
Hemingway - driving up will give you another logistical concern. You may have to ship your weapons in advance, or purchase them in AK and ship them home when you are finished.
[QUOTE=Hemingway;80109] I've never been to Alaska, so this might sound stupid, but I was thinking, as a standard, I'd leave 2 slugs in the shotgun for hiking, just in case. Then if I ran across something to hunt, I'd cycle those 2 shells out for smaller shot.
That works, and if the tube holds 4 or 5 shells, just have less shells in the tube, and push a shot shell into the "Next-up" position in the back of the tube when you want a shot shell next, then just one cycle and good to go.
Don't know about the minishells in the Mossberg 500, but I think I did a thread on them and some people stated which firearms they cycle in. Try a search or start a new thread, I know they "did not" cycle every time in my Ithaca M-37 Featherweight.
I've driven to Canada twice with my shotgun. There was a fee.
It's been a while since I posted on the forum.
I just wanted to say hello again and am looking to head up to Alaska for part of this summer. I'm hoping to find a partner(s) for this.
good to hear from you, stick around for a while we need some friends in here.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hemingway
A few months back this thread had a lot of discussion on it. Is anyone interested in heading up to Alaska for part of this summer?
The: Alaska Outdoors Forum has whole sections on helping people moving to Alaska. And it appears that 148,MILLION out of work American-o's are moving to Alaska this summer to get rich, and have free everything, plus "Money for nothing, and the fish are free".
havent you watched "the deadlyest catch"? big crabs giant waves and a captain that calls you a fish.Quote:
Originally Posted by hopeak
lol. I'm bucking two trends in one. Instead of moving to Alaska, I'm going to jump the border from the American side to Mexico. Now I need to go work on my spanglish.Quote:
Originally Posted by hopeak
Via con pollo! You'll never go hungry.
I'm not planning to move to Alaska, just spend a month or so up there backpacking, hunting and living off the land.
The 12ga. with various types of ammo would work fine. Sobot slugs for anything large and cantankerous, steel bird shot for smaller animals. (I would use steel shot so that you don't have to worry about eating lead laden meat, and steel shot is much easier to find in the meat so that you don't break a tooth on a piece of lead shot).Quote:
Hemingway wrote: "As far as firearms are concerned, I am leaning towards bringing my Mossberg 500 12 gauge shotgun. I had been debating about this a lot but figure the protection against bears that the shotgun would provide is invaluable compared to smaller options. Since I am not an experienced hunter, I was considering a .22 rifle for small game. I figured small game would be much easier to prepare and tend to, but the .22 will offer no protection from dangerous animals. I guess the ideal for 2 people would be a 12 gauge and a .22, as it opens the doors of small game, birds as well as larger animals, while still giving protection. Any thoughts on this topic? I own a shotgun as well as two semi automatic .22 rimfires. As I will be spending more money on additional equipment and supplies I would prefer not to have to buy another firearm for this trip. Any thoughts?"
It would be pretty rare indeed to run across other hikers unless you are hiking in a high volume tourist area.Quote:
Hemingway wrote: ". . .I don't want to be 3 weeks into living off the land and see a family of hikers coming along while I am in the middle of hunting or cooking."
I have taken survival trips into Denali and have rarely come across other hikers. Maybe 3 times in 15 years?!
You can find reasonably prices air services and they will pick you up when you want, unless the weather is not permissive. Then they will come A.S.A.P.Quote:
Hemingway wrote: "As far as hiring someone to fly me in, I am leaning against that due to cost as well as the rigid timetable of the pilot's pickup. I want to be able to adapt to circumstances and if something negative happened, to at least know how I can hike back."
I have had to wait as long as 6 extra days to be picked up due to high winds from the tail end of a tsunami off the coast of Japan.
The Alaska back country can be a harsh taskmaster. It is much different hiking deep in the back country in AK than it is in the Sierras or Rocky mountains of the lower 48, albeit much more beautiful terrain!
Long sleeves and head net are a must during black fly season. Even if it is breezy the little buggers still come around.
Depending on where you go, May/June can be rainy, wet and/or snowy and you will need plenty fire starter (petroleum soaked cotton balls work well or Trioxane fuel bars) to get your tinder going. It is one of those JIC (Just In Case) items that is better to have and not need, than to need and not have.
I would also advise you get a 2-way hand-held short wave radio w/a solar charger. . .JIC, a U.S.G.S. topo map and a good quality lenstatic compass is another must!
If I can help in any other way just send me a PM. :)
Nativedude, thanks for your info. I appreciate it. What exactly is a enstatic compass? I have a regular compass but am not familiar with that term.
One of my biggest concerns is finding a partner for this. I think for general enjoyment, as well as personal safety, it will be a huge asset to go out into the wilderness with someone. My problem is, I can't find anyone who's even interested in such an ordeal or is willing to set aside the time to actually do it.
Here's a little bit about the lensatic compass, also called military field compass. http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/astro/lensatic.htm
Description of a lenstatic compass. Also known as a "sighting compass".
There are a lot of compasses that do not work up here, but the lenstatic type work the best of any of the compasses. And than work for more than just just reading directions. They work well for landmark navigation as well. :)
are you paying for the transportation of your partner? gust wondering. i cant go this year. i have to much planed for this summer but it sounds like it would be lots of fun.
I wasn't planning on paying for the transportation of my partner. I have a lot of gear and the tent, as well as the shotgun and rifle, so things like that are already taken care of.
What area of Alaska are you planning on going to?Quote:
Hemingway wrote: "I wasn't planning on paying for the transportation of my partner. I have a lot of gear and the tent, as well as the shotgun and rifle, so things like that are already taken care of."
And you could take the ferry across from Washington or go up the AK coast highway. Then you don't need to worry about Canada.
If you go through CA you need to make a complete list of everything you are taking or you will be stuck at the boarded for H-O-U-R-S!!!!!
I watched a young couple with a U-Haul have everything and I mean everything removed from their truck and trailer and piled out on the parking lot as the custom's folks went through it. Then they got to load it back up themselves. Sad but necessary these days, I guess.
As Native Dude said, you can take the Alaska water ferries just about anywhere you want to go along the coast.
http://www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/index.shtml
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick
I was driving a "Super Cub" Piper PA-18-150 over to Dawson, in Canada. And as I was clearing U.S. Customs in Northway, Alaska. I ask the agent what she could do in checking my aircraft. I was politely informed, she could fully disassemble it, take the engine apart, cut up the frame of the aircraft. I said the U.S. Government would have a big bill for reassembly. She said, she could, and would leave all the parts on the runway, and it would be my problem, and my expense to reassemble the aircraft. I love America, It is my Government I fear.
I have taken the ferry on several occasions. You can rent a cabin (they're kinda pricey) or pitch a tent (which I did) on the upper deck (though space is limited) on a first come, first served basis, but it is an inexpensive and fun way to travel from WA to AK and the view is spectacular!!
So, are you still alive?
Kidding of course....
but really.
I hope to take a trip like this someday but i need a few years worth of experience before, especially in the way of navigation so i know where i am going and exactly how to get back out. I think it would be cool to walk into the center of the deepest and most remote forest in the world