Ok, so my friends and I are starting to plan for a caribou hunt next summer, one or two of my buddies from the lower 48 will be coming up, timeline's looking to be somewhere between 10Aug13 and 25Aug13. Before my lower 48 friends got in on the fun, we were just planning on running up to the Dalton with our longbows and bagging one or two for the freezer. Given the restrictions on hunting in the area, and that I want my friends from outside to get the most out of their trip up, we're looking at flying out into the bush, near larger concentrations of Caribou to increase their chances of bagging a nice trophy (and filling my freezer). so here's my questions:
What size aircraft would we need to go out with to carry 4-5 guys, with gear, and return with 2 caribou(possibly even a Grizz, my roommate's really wanting to fill his tag next year), and what kind of operating costs are we looking at?
where to fly out from? (anaktuvuk, etc)
what areas should I look at for the camp/hunt? Its a bit of a patchwork up here with state, federal, private and native corporation land, are there any places that aren't a headache to deal with? I'm planning on heading down to the DNR office here in Anchorage to talk with Cathy about getting some maps and such, so a shotgun blast area would be just fine
Is there anybody I should go to/stay away from when it comes to chartering a flight?
Any part of the state is game, I'm even open for flying out of King Salmon into Aniakchak (I'm planning on going there at some point anyways, but the chances of getting caught in the jaws of hell and not being able to get the guys back to Anchortown in time for their flight home put it pretty low on the list)
also- we're all Afghan campaign vets used to skittering around some crazy terrain with heavy loads, so fitness should not be an issue.
Looking forward to your wisdom, gentlemen.
Thanks
Tien Bien
What size aircraft would we need to go out with to carry 4-5 guys, with gear, and return with 2 caribou(possibly even a Grizz, my roommate's really wanting to fill his tag next year), and what kind of operating costs are we looking at?
where to fly out from? (anaktuvuk, etc)
what areas should I look at for the camp/hunt? Its a bit of a patchwork up here with state, federal, private and native corporation land, are there any places that aren't a headache to deal with? I'm planning on heading down to the DNR office here in Anchorage to talk with Cathy about getting some maps and such, so a shotgun blast area would be just fine
Is there anybody I should go to/stay away from when it comes to chartering a flight?
Any part of the state is game, I'm even open for flying out of King Salmon into Aniakchak (I'm planning on going there at some point anyways, but the chances of getting caught in the jaws of hell and not being able to get the guys back to Anchortown in time for their flight home put it pretty low on the list)
also- we're all Afghan campaign vets used to skittering around some crazy terrain with heavy loads, so fitness should not be an issue.
Looking forward to your wisdom, gentlemen.
Thanks
Tien Bien