Hello from Anchorage

Hecouldgoalltheway said:

Welcome sir. Tell us a little about your Alaska hunts? We all dream of making it up there some day to hunt.

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My hunts aren't very impressive, as I haven't done anything too adventurous or arduous. I hunted the Nelchina caribou herd by hiking into the non-motorized areas on the north side of the Denali Highway for a few years without success. During the winter hunt a few years back I hiked down a trapline trail and found a small group of cows. I managed to harvest the biggest from about 125 yards with my Savage 110 in 6.5 CM. The 143 gr ELD-X did its job. What I hadn't accounted for was the fact that I'd been walking a mile downhill. That was a long trek back up the hill with a sled! Thankfully a friend showed up and helped me pull her out of the valley.

This past September a member of my church invited me out to his cabin off the Glenn Highway for a moose hunt. His crew is experienced and well-organized with a catalog of proven strategies, so I didn't have to figure everything out. One our last full day hunting we spotted a mature bull with beautiful brow tines we'd seen the day before. After a little cat and mouse I took him with a double lung shot from a little over 200 yards with my same 6.5 load. I was very impressed with the bullet's performance so I wrote up a brief hunt story and submitted it to Hornady. You can read it on their site if you'd like more details.

I highly recommend coming to Alaska as there's no place quite like it. If you book with a guide service you'll have a great time. But hunting as a resident can be challenging. The biggest thing I wasn't expecting about moving here is how far I'd have to travel to hunt. It's a lot easier if you have a plane or ATV! Where I grew up in NW PA, I was always able to walk across the road during deer season. Now I have to drive at least 3 hours to hunt big game. And there's a ton of pressure on game near the road system. The Nelchina caribou herd was decimated by a couple of hard winters and that hunt is canceled for the foreseeable future. So caribou are about a 10-12 hour drive from Anchorage, unless you get very lucky with a draw tag. But I still love it here, and it makes me that much more grateful for the opportunities I've been able to have.