Planning a diy Alaska hunt in 2028-9. Leaning towards caribou, possibly blacktail. Would prefer to at least be in the foothills, not flat bare tundra. Have done a lot of backcountry style hunts in the lower 48, comfortable living off my back. That being said, I’m starting from scratch on this.
Mainly looking for logistic and financial advice. Any insight or experience is appreciated! Since diy, assuming Outrider doesn’t offer this, but any tips or contacts would be awesome.
Awesome! I did a similar Alaskan hunt for caribou. You're going to love it! I flew into Anchorage, then chartered a bush pilot to fly me out to Tutna Lake on a Dehaviland Beaver.. they landed on the lake, dumped me off and said they would be back in 7 days. I didn't see another soul for 7 days... No cell phone, no nothing, just the voices in my head and tinnitus.
But what a great time! I saw the Aurora Borealis, swans migrating to and from the lake. I ended up seeing lots of caribou and harvesting one. I had brought a pack rod and some gear and caught northern pike from shore to augment my diet.. a couple of tips:
Take in the whole experience!
If you do end up in the tundra, (it's all tundra!) be prepared for black gnats (no see-ums) there's thick, choking clouds of them at times.
If you're near a body of water, bring some gear and take time to fish it.
Camp in some area with shelter from the wind and be prepared for soggy! ( I camped on an exposed knob on a bank near the lake and one day I heard the loudest jet engine.. I went outside to see WTF and halfway across the lake was literally a dark grey wall approaching..
I secured everything and went inside my tent and the roar got louder and louder untill my tent got hit with a blast of wind that didn't stop for a few hours).. unbelievable! I've never been in wind like that.. I sat huddled in my tent eating MREs before eventually the tent pegs tore loose and the tent surrounded my body like shrink wrap. Pieces of moss and twigs and tundra pelted me, with HUGE drops of incessant rain and occasionally what seemed like someone tossing buckets of water over me (I don't know if it was water from the lake or what?!) the storm subsided and I witnessed one of the most amazing sunsets I've ever witnessed...
Also, bring a good pair of insulated, hiking hip boots! And don't bring your meat or bloody stuff back to your tent! There's a story with that...
I got a respectable bull caribou some miles from the lake and broke it down and packed it across the tundra (I know you don't want to hunt the tundra but it's all tundra it seems! )
Making five trips back and forth because in Alaska they want you to pack everything out, across that tundra was physically exhausting and took several hours.
I set the game bags down quite a ways from camp and put all my bloody knives and kit just outside my tent. That night, sometime in the middle of the night, I awoke to something that apparently was making the shorthairs on my neck atand up, I unzipped my tent flap and shined a light out and all I saw was the hairy rib cage of a brown bear. I remember recoiling back in my tent and chambering a round in my 300 Weatherby and then believe it or not I apparently fell back to sleep (I was exhausted) because the next thing I remember is that I awoke with a start remembering the bear, it was bright daylight, the mosquitoes were humming around my tent, I still had the Weatherby lying beside me! I went outside and my knives and stuff were scattered everywhere, the son of a bitch had popped or chewed the cork on my "Bib and Tucker" bourbon and spilled what remained out and dragged off one of the game bags.
That basically concluded my trip because that afternoon the bush pilot returned, but what a terrific time! You will have a blast!
