combining hunts

[stevemiller]

I wanted to ask dont know if its allready been on here somewhere, cant find it.If you were to go to Alaska and do a hunt what would you combine on your hunt?moose,caribou,bison,goat,sheep,musk ox,and wolf.say for like a 2 week hunt.

[bobcat]

In Alaska I'd have to go for caribou and moose.

[lokidog]

Does Alaska have stats and harvest numbers for each hunt area?  If so, I would look at the hunt areas and find one that has high harvest numbers for more than one species.  When I was in the Yukon last year, I saw mountain caribou in the same area we were moose hunting but the sheep were up much higher and on the other side of the valley.  When I hunted caribou in AK about twenty years ago, I only saw some grizzes and caribou but no moose. 

A float trip where you cover more area might be a thought for doing a moose/caribou/wolf/black bear combo?

Good luck, I'm hoping my daughter decides to go to Uof A so I can be one of those one degree relatives.   

[runamuk]

I would go hunt griz and bou.... my sister is a resident and if I ever have the funds I have an idea in my head of what I want to do.  I dont travel and cant imagine having the money to go...but it is a dream.

[lokidog]

Have you looked here for info?

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=muskoxhunting.main

You can also look at range maps for the other big game species as well.

[littlemac]

In the Yukon we hunter moose, caribou, wolf, and grizz.  It was guided and it took a lot of effort to get to the moose, grizz, caribou.  They covered a lot of ground to get the hunters there.

Floated for moose retrieved by plane, horses for caribou and the grizz was an opportunity hunt.  We saw one your bear on the float trip, another hunter in camp got a bear.  I think all hunters that went for caribou got one.

I ended up hunting ten days with a partner for moose.  I tagged in day four and my partner didn't fill his.

[Karl Blanchard]

Personally If I was gonna do it I would do a float trip to target moose but have a caribou tag in my pocket just in case.  Odds aren't that great of scoring on both species but if your gonna spend 3k+  on a hunt whats another $350 for a caribou tag.

[highmuley]

In my opinion. ..moose is a gimme. Whatever else is available in your particular area would be my "bonus" animal. But moose would be my #1 priority. (Disclaimer: although I think moose are beautiful critters, my decision is primarily based on what animal puts the mmost meat in my freezer! ......BOOOOOOONE!!! Take me moose hunting dang it!)

[Karl Blanchard]

Personally If I was gonna do it I would do a float trip to target moose but have a caribou tag in my pocket just in case.  Odds aren't that great of scoring on both species but if your gonna spend 3k+  on a hunt whats another $350 for a caribou tag.

Great point  i just looked at some float hunts,pretty cool.

  works both ways as well.  Somer really awesome caribou hunts in Alaska that you would want a moose tag in your pocket as well.  Can't hurt to have a wolf tag as well.    My number one trip is gonna be dall sheep, but my little brother is an Alaska resident!   Someday he will be able to take time off and we can actually go (he's RANGER Regiment).  They are under constant deployments.  4 months in theater, 8 months home and so on and so on.  Doesn't leave much time for hunting.

[cohoho]

Well yes you can find Moose and Caribou in similar areas, but neither are going to be good areas for both.  Plan one week each and have a drop service pick you up and move, or do one of the northern river floats that snake through both areas...  Drawing for Goat, sheep and Griz will not be too bad, but guide fees will be through the roof, if that is acceptable then go for the hardest - Dall Sheep and a Griz.  Later on add Moose - which are are pretty easy and Caribou are give me's in the right areas.  Add a wolf tag to anything and have one available, cause you never know where you'll see those nasty creatures..

[highmuley]

I mentioned it in another post but, the December-January issue of Eastman's Hunting Journal has an article of a group that harvested a 60" moose, 392" caribou and a brown bear on the same drop camp, same week. Check it out. I thought it was cool.

[RadSav]

In Alaska you will need a guide to hunt a lot of those animals.  So that might limit your choices if planning a DIY hunt.  While some share the same terrain like moose, caribou and black bear many do not in equal numbers.  I personally would choose the #1 animal on your list and target that single species.  Often times that is a much less expensive way to book a trip as well.  Then have it set up with your guide that if you find success early you have options to continue hunting something else for the remainder of your trip.  If DIY find the package that works best for your primary animal and then have tags in pocket for the unexpected you might encounter in the same region that does not require a guide to harvest.

I always have a blackbear tag and a wolf tag in my pocket when hunting north.  Very seldom will you be in an area that does not have those two.  But success rate will increase dramatically if you pick an animal and specifically target that one species.  Then progress to choice number two after your harvest is complete.  Excluding the occasional suicide encounter you often find with wolf, black bear and caribou.

If I were planning a grizzly, brown bear, goat or sheep hunt and was paying the BIG bucks to do so.  Not sure I would want to waste too much time chasing a stupid caribou around that would take from my chances of tagging what I was paying out the nose for.  Plenty of time for that later.