2019 AK Moose

[Kevin Dill]

I'll be the outlier and say it can be done for $5k, but you'd better have a tight grip on your billfold AND be willing to work hard/cut corners wherever possible. Some guys count flying on 'miles' as being free. Best commercial rate I ever got to AK was this year at $665 from the midwest. I've seen guys pitch a tent in a yard in Fairbanks to avoid hotels. Stay out of restaurants as much as possible; eat grocery store food until you get flown in. Avoid the $3k-$4k (per man) air taxi...meaning base rate before adding hundreds to fly out a moose load or two. Deal with your own moose meat, but good luck getting it home without tossing out several $100 bills. Easiest way to save there is to give all that delicious meat to someone deserving. That's not happening for me though....I kill it, I'm eating it. Split your antlers and fly them home in baggage. No shoulder mount or cape.

I actually think it would make for a decent story. "How I Hunted Alaska Moose for $5000".

Bartlett, you're missing out on an easy revenue stream. Put some tents in your backyard and rent 'em out reasonable....barbecue some free moose meat....I'll drop by with a sixer....

 

[Robinhood21]

I bought all the gear you'd likely need for my trip and don't live to far from you. Don't forget to hit me up before buying for your trip, and if I'm not using it you are welcome. We don't all need to own everything!

Thanks again mcseal! When that time comes I’ll definitely give you a shout. Some good dudes in here.


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[Robinhood21]

Avoid the $3k-$4k (per man) air taxi...meaning base rate before adding hundreds to fly out a moose load or two....

Kevin, you hit the nail on the head in this one. This will be my biggest cost savings. Going with an air taxi that charges by the hour and not a flat rate of at least $4k per person saves a lot of money. It’s trying to find the outfit that’ll do that. There are a lot of Moose Drop Hunt services around anchorage and Fairbanks that can easily charge that because it makes things easy for the customer.

We will get flown out on a Beaver with Floats so the 3 of us will be able to fly all at once and split that cost. The beaver will haul 1200 lbs so multiple trips out for extra gear won’t be an issue for us as well. I already spoke to the outfit about having a station set up for us to process our own meat when we get back in (or semi process). We’ve always butchered our own game meat so no processing fees as well.


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[VernAK]

I'll be the outlier and say it can be done for $5k, but you'd better have a tight grip on your billfold AND be willing to work hard/cut corners wherever possible. Some guys count flying on 'miles' as being free. Best commercial rate I ever got to AK was this year at $665 from the midwest. I've seen guys pitch a tent in a yard in Fairbanks to avoid hotels. Stay out of restaurants as much as possible; eat grocery store food until you get flown in. Avoid the $3k-$4k (per man) air taxi...meaning base rate before adding hundreds to fly out a moose load or two. Deal with your own moose meat, but good luck getting it home without tossing out several $100 bills. Easiest way to save there is to give all that delicious meat to someone deserving. That's not happening for me though....I kill it, I'm eating it. Split your antlers and fly them home in baggage. No shoulder mount or cape.

I actually think it would make for a decent story. "How I Hunted Alaska Moose for $5000".

Bartlett, you're missing out on an easy revenue stream. Put some tents in your backyard and rent 'em out reasonable....barbecue some free moose meat....I'll drop by with a sixer....

I hope all of you realize how compassionate my fellow Alaskans are.......Larry setting up tents in his yard and Kevin flying out his moose meat for this senior citizen.......incredibly compassionate guys!

 

[CO_jakrabt]

Co-Jack, one last note about your budget...it's 30% light for an average expense sheet for here and back home. Most guys forget to add the convenience taxes, meat or antler ship costs, meals on the road, food for hunt, new bed roll, survival items. Hundred dollar bills is the remedy for all that ail's ya in state. If you think you'll spend $5K it'll settle somewhere closer to $7500 if you do it by next year. Bump that figure up to $8K per person by 2021.

I've noticed price increases all over the map with businesses this past three years, subtly increasing by 4.5% each year (3 X 4 = 15% higher prices in short order). Today to fly gear and meat cargo, it's often over $1/lb for timely service...five years ago average was $0.50/lb for the same service.

the small hikes add up, just hoping to give ya some realistic goals. This way if you come in less than that, score one for the home team!

My budget is 100% based on the hunt alone. No shipping or gear involved in that price as you stated. I'm good on gear would only need to buy my meals to make. I do alot of self-dehydrating meat etc. I've found that save smoney and beats the taste and aftermath of a MH. I do alot of backcountry elk and sheep hunting...I'm confident my gear will be able to withstand a moose hunt as well.

 

[ckleeves]

Just to give you an idea, a buddy and I went last year and from the time we left Anchorage to the time we got back (with two moose) we spent 3550.00 apiece on bush flights. We split a flight with two other guys on the way in to the strip where the cub picked us up. That saved us around 600.00 each.

So that’s not including commercial air travel, tags/licenses, meat/antlers home, rental cars, hotels on each end, the massive quantity of food we consumed after we came out, etc.


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