How to Select 1 River From 12,000! Part I

More than 12,000 rivers, and thousands more streams and creeks don't have names in Alaska.
Alaska has about 9,728 officially named rivers, creeks, and streams.

Many of these rivers are not suitable for novice rafters. Many others are not suitable for finding both Caribou and Moose and even more of them do not offer suitable pick-up points or drop-off points, generally lakes at their headwaters.

Plan for Communications During your Hunt

Now's the time to start getting into the details of your Alaskan hunt. In previous posts I have mention A DIY hunt here for Moose or Caribou would cost you around $3K-$4K. That's close but it could cost more if you take both species and then fly all the meat and antlers out. They just weight too much or take up too much room to pack it all out in 1 or even two flights. That starts to get expensive.

Alaskan Brown Bear Hunting

Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game does a wonderful job of managing our Brown Bear populations. On the Alaska Peninsula for example, Brown Bear seasons are staggered on the odd and even years. On even numbered years Brown Bear hunting is open in the spring (May). On the odd years, it is opened in the fall (October). What this means is, it will be open the spring of 2010 on the Peninsula and not reopen until the fall of 2011. This gives our Brown Bear plenty of time to keep their population healthy. This is GOOD!

If All Else Fails, Hide In the Barrel!

Rooting large brown bear out of the Alaskan bush can be very dangerous. In my guiding days it was up to me to always back them up or worse go find the bruins after the client fired and it disappeared. My backup rifle is a .505 Gibbs. "Mr.Gibbs" as he is generally referred to, got his name from my friend and client Denny Crum, Hall of Fame Basketball coach from Louisville, Ky.

Dangerous Photograph at Home!

I go through this every year. My home sits next to the Alaskan wilderness on Bald Mountain and there is a salmon stream below my house about a mile. Brown/Grizzly Bears come through here every year on there way to that river,the  Little Susitna River. I never shoot at them around the homestead,  I generally let them be and go about my business. This day they got a little too close.