Unit 23 reports

[Sawtooth]

Looking for another 23 update out of Kotz.

Heading up next week, booked with GE. It looks like more rain this week and I noticed today there are flood advisories in some areas so I'm not expecting water levels to drop much.

Should I plan to be in waders the entire trip, seems everything will probably be just about saturated?

We are heading up to Kotz on September 18th. Also booked with GE. Maybe see you up there!

 

[Sawtooth]

Looking for another 23 update out of Kotz.

Heading up next week, booked with GE. It looks like more rain this week and I noticed today there are flood advisories in some areas so I'm not expecting water levels to drop much.

Should I plan to be in waders the entire trip, seems everything will probably be just about saturated?

My plan is to take chest waders and wading boots, plus knee high waterproof neoprene socks to wear with my wading boots if the tundra is soggy. I'm taking my normal backpacking boots too, but I wonder how much I'll wear them!

 

[Sawtooth]

I'm curious for you hunters who recently traveled in and out of Kotzebue. I'm trying to find current COVID-19 guidelines for Kotzebue, but I'm running into dated guidelines and/or dead links. What were the restrictions the past couple of weeks (I know things can change at any time)?

 

[Chuckybmd]

I'm curious for you hunters who recently traveled in and out of Kotzebue. I'm trying to find current COVID-19 guidelines for Kotzebue, but I'm running into dated guidelines and/or dead links. What were the restrictions the past couple of weeks (I know things can change at any time)?

We were up there the first week of September. Basically they’re pretty serious about masks in the towns in the businesses but they never required any testing or any other restrictions.

 

[Sawtooth]

Thanks. It's interesting how piecemeal and dated the info is on the city of Kotzebue's website, dead links, etc.

 

[Chuckybmd]

Thanks. It's interesting how piecemeal and dated the info is on the city of Kotzebue's website, dead links, etc.

After you visit there it will make more sense to you. It’s kind of a shantytown. If you’re staying in the Nullagvik Hotel they will pretty much demand that you wear a mask. Apart from wearing masks nobody gives you too much trouble about Covid.

 

[Sawtooth]

After you visit there it will make more sense to you. It’s kind of a shantytown. If you’re staying in the Nullagvik Hotel they will pretty much demand that you wear a mask. Apart from wearing masks nobody gives you too much trouble about Covid.

Did you have to provide proof of vaccination and/or proof of a negative test upon arrival at the airport?

 

[WildGooseChase]

Did you have to provide proof of vaccination and/or proof of a negative test upon arrival at the airport?

No

 

[KID]

So after reading a lot of these posts. I'm hear to say that I'm damn glad I cancelled my trip with this, Carney clown operation. This is the second year my group has had to cancel with Arctic Air. First year due to covid. Insurance screwed us over wouldn't cover any refunds. So Sheila gets another 1087.00 from the three of us obviously crams us onto the schedule for this year. Gets a bad week of weather, can't keep up with everything and screws everyone up there. Gives us a ( don't come up email ) and tells us to stay home. Bad thing for us we're all out about 5,000 dollars a piece with this outfit. We rolled the dice and got screwed. This process was a complete failure. Went through a booking agent got insurance trusted this Arctic Air the whole way through and got f@#$&$ in the end. For her to profit off of not doing a service is wrong. I'm ok with loosing a little money and learning a lesson. But to profit off of a few emails over the course of 2 yrs. What a joke. This is my first post of many. And I will be loud on other platforms if we don't get any money back. We will never attempt this again. I hope people reading take this seriously. Get yourself insured with someone that will cover it. And do your own research and planning!!!

 

[Chuckybmd]

So after reading a lot of these posts. I'm hear to say that I'm damn glad I cancelled my trip with this, Carney clown operation. This is the second year my group has had to cancel with Arctic Air. First year due to covid. Insurance screwed us over wouldn't cover any refunds. So Sheila gets another 1087.00 from the three of us obviously crams us onto the schedule for this year. Gets a bad week of weather, can't keep up with everything and screws everyone up there. Gives us a ( don't come up email ) and tells us to stay home. Bad thing for us we're all out about 5,000 dollars a piece with this outfit. We rolled the dice and got screwed. This process was a complete failure. Went through a booking agent got insurance trusted this Arctic Air the whole way through and got f@#$&$ in the end. For her to profit off of not doing a service is wrong. I'm ok with loosing a little money and learning a lesson. But to profit off of a few emails over the course of 2 yrs. What a joke. This is my first post of many. And I will be loud on other platforms if we don't get any money back. We will never attempt this again. I hope people reading take this seriously. Get yourself insured with someone that will cover it. And do your own research and planning!!!

How much do you wanna bet they’re putting us off until November so they can declare bankruptcy.

 

[VernAK]

It's obvious that there is some money to be made in this fly-in hunting and others are wanting to get in on the game. I'm seeing new Fly-by-nighters cruising the backcountry looking for camps on another operators strip that they may have built or improved decades ago. These sites are being GPSd so they can drop unknowing new clients in another's area. Soon there are multiple disgruntled hunters from both outfits. It's getting ugly out there!

How long has your outfit been in business?
How many airstrips have you built and how long ago?
Does another operator use this area?
Do you own these aircraft or have you recently recruited independent pilots and aircraft?
Do you have multiple pilots in case of Covid or other illnesses?
Do you have mechanics on duty?
Do you have multiple aircraft?
Do you use a booking agency and if so, why?

 

[AKBorn]

So after reading a lot of these posts. I'm hear to say that I'm damn glad I cancelled my trip with this, Carney clown operation. This is the second year my group has had to cancel with Arctic Air. First year due to covid. Insurance screwed us over wouldn't cover any refunds. So Sheila gets another 1087.00 from the three of us obviously crams us onto the schedule for this year. Gets a bad week of weather, can't keep up with everything and screws everyone up there. Gives us a ( don't come up email ) and tells us to stay home. Bad thing for us we're all out about 5,000 dollars a piece with this outfit. We rolled the dice and got screwed. This process was a complete failure. Went through a booking agent got insurance trusted this Arctic Air the whole way through and got f@#$&$ in the end. For her to profit off of not doing a service is wrong. I'm ok with loosing a little money and learning a lesson. But to profit off of a few emails over the course of 2 yrs. What a joke. This is my first post of many. And I will be loud on other platforms if we don't get any money back. We will never attempt this again. I hope people reading take this seriously. Get yourself insured with someone that will cover it. And do your own research and planning!!!

That flat out SUCKS. If it were me, I would call the AK Dept. of Fish and Game and ask who I could file a complaint with. Not sure if it will help you get your money back, but maybe it can ensure that these guys don't continue to operate a farce of a business.

 

[eamyrick]

Was in Kotz on a 7 day fishing trip with Golden Eagle mid August. Really no Covid restrictions in place but they were pretty serious about masks on all of the flights there. No testing.

 

[VernAK]

That flat out SUCKS. If it were me, I would call the AK Dept. of Fish and Game and ask who I could file a complaint with. Not sure if it will help you get your money back, but maybe it can ensure that these guys don't continue to operate a farce of a business.

File complaints with the Commercial Services Board.

 

[KID]

That flat out SUCKS. If it were me, I would call the AK Dept. of Fish and Game and ask who I could file a complaint with. Not sure if it will help you get your money back, but maybe it can ensure that these guys don't continue to operate a farce of a business.

File complaints with the Commercial Services Board.

Yea we've contacted the attorney general office. We're going to try and settle something through a civil suit. There is a large group of us from talking to other hunters in this forum in the same boat. You know I get them keeping some overhead money to pay the bills the business is a big risk but to profit off of this is wrong. Sounds like Arctic Air has a history. We're really just bummed that our dream Hunt has turned into a nightmare. The money is one thing but it's the hunt we'll probably never go on. Thats the real upset. You sacrifice a lot to do these trips it's not an easy thing for a blue collar family man. It just makes the whole process look bad and really not worth it.

 

[Sourdough]

What "bewilders" me is why non-residents have this misguided "cult" belief that the Caribou is even remotely a "Trophy" Alaska Big Game Animal.....???

The solution to this "craziness" is for non-residents to "STOP" this silliness. I don't fault the businesses that see an endless supply of silly wabbits, foaming at the mouth, with money in hand willing to pay to shoot the "dumbest" non-trophy animal in Alaska.

You want a solution........stop this "cult" silliness, and invest in the pursuit of a trophy wilderness experience.

I would be very interested to read when and how things shifted, to encourage the hunting of Caribou as a "Trophy". I am stunned that people are incurring the expense and B.S. to go afield and harvest a Caribou.

Note: I am "Not" trolling the members here, I really am "bewildered".

 

[LongWayAround]

What "bewilders" me is why non-residents have this misguided "cult" belief that the Caribou is even remotely a "Trophy" Alaska Big Game Animal.....???

The solution to this "craziness" is for non-residents to "STOP" this silliness. I don't fault the businesses that see an endless supply of silly wabbits, foaming at the mouth, with money in hand willing to pay to shoot the "dumbest" non-trophy animal in Alaska.

You want a solution........stop this "cult" silliness, and invest in the pursuit of a trophy wilderness experience.

I would be very interested to read when and how things shifted, to encourage the hunting of Caribou as a "Trophy". I am stunned that people are incurring the expense and B.S. to go afield and harvest a Caribou.

Note: I am "Not" trolling the members here, I really am "bewildered".

Sometimes people fail to appreciate the things they have the easiest access to.

 

[AKBorn]

What "bewilders" me is why non-residents have this misguided "cult" belief that the Caribou is even remotely a "Trophy" Alaska Big Game Animal.....???

The solution to this "craziness" is for non-residents to "STOP" this silliness. I don't fault the businesses that see an endless supply of silly wabbits, foaming at the mouth, with money in hand willing to pay to shoot the "dumbest" non-trophy animal in Alaska.

You want a solution........stop this "cult" silliness, and invest in the pursuit of a trophy wilderness experience.

I would be very interested to read when and how things shifted, to encourage the hunting of Caribou as a "Trophy". I am stunned that people are incurring the expense and B.S. to go afield and harvest a Caribou.

Note: I am "Not" trolling the members here, I really am "bewildered".

The barren ground caribou is the last great herd/migratory large game animal in North America. That alone makes it a worthy hunt experience unlike almost any other.

Most guys that come up from the lower 48 have access to better deer and elk hunting than they would experience in Alaska. They can even draw moose tags in many Western or Northeastern states. Caribou are an animal that you can only hunt in Alaska, no other state even has any to my knowledge.

I was born in Alaska, we used to hunt moose and caribou at Hatcher Pass and the Denali Highway when I was a boy in the 60s and 70s. I've been up to Alaska to hunt as a non-resident 12-15 times in the past two decades. Several of those hunts were to hunt moose and caribou, several others were to hunt caribou only. I would jump at the chance to have a griz tag and hunt bear, but I can't do that without a guide and I am mostly a meat hunter.

On a remote caribou hunt, a non-res hunter has the potential opportunity to see caribou, moose, grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, wolverines, and maybe even a musk ox in some areas. That alone is worth doing remote caribou hunts in my eyes.

As a longtime guide in Alaska and a resident of the Kenai Peninsula, you've seen many things that non-residents will never have the chance to see. That may affect your perception of caribou somewhat. I will say that I am 60 years old, and I still dream of and look forward to remote AK caribou hunts as much as I did when I was 6 years old and we were heading to the Osar Lake Trail on the Denali for 2 weeks. There's a magic about it that I probably can't express in words.

Hope the fall is good to you and everyone on the Pen -

Michael

 

[KID]

What "bewilders" me is why non-residents have this misguided "cult" belief that the Caribou is even remotely a "Trophy" Alaska Big Game Animal.....???

The solution to this "craziness" is for non-residents to "STOP" this silliness. I don't fault the businesses that see an endless supply of silly wabbits, foaming at the mouth, with money in hand willing to pay to shoot the "dumbest" non-trophy animal in Alaska.

You want a solution........stop this "cult" silliness, and invest in the pursuit of a trophy wilderness experience.

I would be very interested to read when and how things shifted, to encourage the hunting of Caribou as a "Trophy". I am stunned that people are incurring the expense and B.S. to go afield and harvest a Caribou.

Note: I am "Not" trolling the members here, I really am "bewildered".

We were just looking for a different experience. I have harvested my fair share of quality elk and whitetail deer. The same fools like me spend obscene amounts of money to by deer and elk tags, much more than I spent to attempt a Caribou hunt. Hunting is changing quickly it's a pay to play game. I just put my story out to warn those who have the same ideas as I do. It's a cruel world.

 

[Sourdough]

Sometimes people fail to appreciate the things they have the easiest access to.

That is "NOT" my point even remotely. When I read through this thread I read a lot of sad stories, a lot of frustration and anguish. I read about hunts that were largely nightmares, I don't read much about members have "Dream" wilderness experiences.