Unguided Moose hunts

Alaska UNGUIDED MOOSE HUNTS

UNGUIDED FULLY OUTFITTED RIVER FLOAT HUNTING TRIPS FOR ALASKAN MOOSE

ALASKA OFFERS A VARIETY OF HUNTING OPPORTUNITIES, MANY OF THEM WORLD CLASS. MOOSE ARE HEAVY BODIED AND LONG-LEGGED. WITH A DROOPING NOSE. MOOSE ARE THE LARGEST MEMBERS IN OF ALL THE DEER FAMILY. THEY RANGE IN COLOR FROM GOLDEN BROWN TO ALMOST BLACK, DEPENDING UPON THE SEASON AND THE AGE OF THE ANIMAL.

Moose occasionally produce trophy-size antlers when they are 6 or 7 years old, but the largest antlers are achieved around 10 – 12 years of age and in the wild, moose rarely live more than 16 years. In Southwestern Alaska where we hunt, they are abundant where willow and birch shrubs grown well, along the back water sloughs and oxbows of these river systems.

Alaska Unguided Moose Hunts 

We offer our clients a fully outfitted, DIY, unguided float hunting trips for Alaska Yukon Moose on Southwestern Alaska’s secluded river systems. You may also hunt for Black Bears, Wolverine, Wolves and enjoy great Sportfishing as well. We provide fully outfitted hunting camps with ample provisions and sustenance required to undertake an extraordinary, rewarding river float hunting trip for Alaskan Yukon Moose. Moose regrow their antlers a few months after shedding, making their growth rate impressive. Antlers are the fastest growing tissue in any mammal and a bull moose in his prime can grow up to an inch and a pound of antler per day! Genetics and age do play a role, but the driving force behind their large antler growth is genetics and good nutrition

We furnish high quality durable14’rafts with air pumps, rowing frames with oars, 80-quart ice chests, cargo platforms, life jackets, and other misc. rafting tack. The camping or shelter accommodations are 6 man Alaska Guide or 6 man Extreme Weather grade style tents, folding cots, camp chairs and a small table. We include a well-stocked variety of nutritional food/beverages, all cooking/eating utensils, collapsible 3 or 5 gallon water jugs, a 2 burner propane or white gas cook stove with fuel, LED lanterns, freighter pack frames, rope and maps of the river with the GPS coordinates of the take-out marking the basecamps location. Long ago we realized the importance of a healthy well-balanced diet, a proper night’s rest which are necessary to aid in retaining the energy level essential to put in a respectable effort each and every day of your hunt. We have included these concepts into our operation for the rewards they offer everyone and the overall impact they provide to the experience of these trips. Since we outfit our clients with substantial, wide-ranging, hunting camp equipment and supplies along with the river rafting/float gear equipment, your personal gear/equipment is all you should need to bring. We allow each hunter a weight allowance of 70 lbs. per person and we supply a “Suggested Equipment/Gear List” that will help you with recommendations of what “personal gear” you need to bring. You are provided a complete & thorough Itinerary covering the logistical information, contacts needed to secure other essential parts of your trip, including different options available to take care of your harvested game once you return to Anchorage and shipping it to your final destination.

Unguided Moose Hunting Information

We offer 4 or 5 Fully Outfitted, Unguided Moose float hunting trips per season. If you purchase Tags for Black Bear and Wolverine, you may hunt for them at no extra cost. There is a minimum of two hunters in order to book this hunting trip with us. The only other hunters you may encounter on the river, will be of ours as we are the sole Outfitter in this area of Alaska. Other than fresh food for meals, all of the rafting equipment, gear, tackle, and camping supplies necessary for these trips are stowed or cached in the field at our river base campsite during the off-season. Storing all of this gear in the field enables us to save the expense of the air charter flights required for hauling all of this equipment back and forth from Anchorage. Because our hunting area is a great distance from any community, caching all of this hunting supplies and equipment helps us to keep the price more affordable and take the advantage of being in a remote, isolated part of Alaska. Over the years, we have continued the upkeep and maintenance for our landing strip on the river for a float plane in order to provide a safe arrival and departure.

The flight from Anchorage to the starting point of your float trip is over two hours. The flight back to Anchorage at the conclusion of the float trip is a 2-1/2 hour plus flight to Anchorage or over a 5 hours flying time. To reach this far out, we use DHC-2 De-Havilland Beavers capable of the extended flying time, by utilizing additional wing-tip fuel tanks in order to safely reach these distances. The lack of other developed landing strips in this remote part of Alaska and the substantial distance from any major city or rural community prevents Air Taxi/Transporter Flight Service Operations from bringing their hunters out anywhere nearby.

 

Hunting for Moose in this Game Management Unit 19, allows hunters to enjoy an Intensive Predator Management Control System reinstated in 2004 after 12 long years of suspension. Fortunately for us, our Guided and Unguided hunts take place in GMU 19. Due to the reinstatement of the Predator Management Program in our area, Moose survival is now much higher than it was during the years of abandonment of the Predator Management Program. We have observed an impressive and balanced increase of all Wildlife, including Moose. Since then, the number of these successful programs have been expanded some in other areas of the State. Where implemented, they are currently bestowing additional steady and balanced Ungulate population growth. Fortunately, we are again able to enjoy Moose populations like they were before the Predator Management program was halted. The sound benefits of these sensible and successful types of Game Management programs afford a good balance for all Wildlife species and provide us with some great Moose hunting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unguided Moose River Float Hunting Options

We have 2 options of our Unguided DYI river float hunting trips for Alaska Yukon Moose.

Even though these rivers are rated as Class I, rafting experience is recommended for our Unguided Hunters.

The longer of the float hunting trips begin on a very small lake in the upper reaches of the headwaters on the river where a floatplane will drop you off, with your personal gear, the rafting equipment, camping and hunting supplies that we provide. The lake is so small that the float plane will not attempt to take off with any kind of a load.

This float trip is roughly 110 actual river miles long but only around 70 statute miles from point to point or “as the crow flies”. Our Base Camp is the take-out location on the river where an extended stretch of the river is deep, long, and straight enough to land safely and the only spot on this stretch of the river within Sub Unit 19b, where you can safely take out a good load of Moose and Hunters. Many years ago, we enhanced this entry/exit strip by cutting and clearing out obstructions and debris making it possible to have access to hunt and fish this river system efficiently. Alaska State Hunting Game Regulations requires anyone hunting Moose in Game Management Unit 19b, must also exit within Unit 19b. Because our landing strip is within Unit 19b we are able to satisfy this Regulation by providing a way to both access and exit the river system where none existed before. The flight time from Anchorage to this river

coupled with the substantial expense required to travel this distance has been an important factor as to why we still enjoy having the area to ourselves. The benefit of being out beyond where any local Town or Village Air Charter Services operate provides our hunters an increased opportunity for success and a great hunting experience.

The shorter trip is about 40 river miles on a tributary off of the main river system.

These river systems have numerous bends as they meander along so the actual miles covered is a much shorter distance overall. The meandering nature of the wide flat river corridor produces great habitat conditions for the type of browse that moose survive on. Birch bark from birch trees, aspen leaves, twigs, sedges, pond weeds, and dense stands of willow that provide moose with a great nutritional habitat to do well.

During the planning stages preceding your trip, we will devote time to discuss moose hunting techniques, strategy and to look over maps with you of the river and surrounding countryside using Google Earth or an equivalent online Satellite map program to reveal various areas to camp and focus your efforts hunting moose. We will endeavor to arm you with valuable insight, suggest areas and reasons why where to set up campsites that have proven to be productive in the past for harvesting bull moose and other big game species.

The longer trip takes approximately 34 plus or minus hours of actual floating time determined by the varying water levels. These rivers are rated as Class I and the actual current is about 3 miles per hour. There are about 14 hours of daylight at the start of Moose Season and over 12 hours the last few days of the season. Considering the amount of daylight available, you could cover the 110 mile float trip in a little over 3 days on the river. We strongly recommend you only set up your camp at two to three locations. It really pays to take your time hunting the area by raking, bull grunting and cow calling before you progress down the river corridor to another location. Patience and perseverance are very important virtues to practice when hunting for bull moose as it will increase your chances of success. Before we had an established base camp at the location where your float trip will end, we provided Guided Moose float hunting trips on these same river systems. Often after a short time we felt the urge to pick up camp and move down river a ways if we had not yet harvested a bull moose. Then it seemed that every time we picked up and moved down the river to another location we wished we had given that campsite a longer timeframe to produce. We thought that we had not moved on so quickly and regretted not staying put and practice “patience and perseverance.” Over the years, we’ve learned how patience and perseverance is an effective trait to practice when hunting for bull moose in Alaska.

2025 Rates:

There is a $2,500 per person Alaska bush plane charter flight from Anchorage to the field & back to Anchorage.
There is a personal gear allowance of 70 pounds each hunter.

Moose, Black Bear, Wolf, Wolverine & Fishing Float Trip. Minimum of two people $11,900 each 12 days or less

 Moose, Black Bear, Wolf, Wolverine & Fishing Float Trip. Minimum of two people $12,900 each 14 days

 Caribou, Black Bear, Wolf, Wolverine & Fishing Float Trip. (All-inclusive Cost) Per Person $11,600 each 10 days

 Non-hunters/Observers on Unguided Hunts $500 per day

Moose Tag $800

Black Bear Tags $450

 Wolverine Tag $350

 Wolves $0 in Unit 19

 Non-Resident Hunting License is $160

 14 – Day Non-Resident Sport Fishing License $105

 7 – Day Non-Resident Sport Fishing License $70

 3 – Day Non-Resident Sport Fishing License $45

 Hotel rooms in Anchorage for the day of your arrival to Anchorage & the night you return from the field from

 your hunting trip. Single and or double occupancy averages $175 to $200 per night.

Client References for Unguided Outfitted Moose Hunts

2023 Wayne Waite 937-477-4212 Pa,

2023 Daniel Waite 610-310-2874 Pa.

2023 Seth Maefsky 509-879-6731 Wa.

2023 John Scott 602-8821432. Az.

2023 Tim Littleton 480-283-5974 Az.

2022 Sonny Sanders 805-550-6803 California

2022 John Scott 602-695-3842 Arizona

2022 Will Willitts 541-610-5398 Oregon

2022 Ryan Chadderdon 507-461-0888 Minnesota

2021 Hunter Webster 717-337-5252 Pennsylvania

2021 Chris Lerch 210-559-9712 Texas

2021 Kieran Flemings 231-203-3119 Michigan

2021 Korey Eppinette 717-940-8654 Pennsylvania

2021 Brandon Gingrich 717-917-5703 Pennsylvania

2020 Tom Hyde 518-891-0634 New York

2020 Tim Campbell 518-891-6250 New York

2020 Russ Carnell 518-891-1917 New York

2020 Hunter Webster 717-337-5252 Pennsylvania

2020 Randy St Marie 503-702-4628 Oregon

2019 Erik Talaski 989-225-3962 Michigan

2019 Greg Talaski 989-550-4620 Michigan