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Comments on your drop camp hunt
Posted by Michael Strahan on Nov 24 2005
Turner,
Thanks for posting this, and welcome to the Alaska Hunting forum!
There are a LOT of questions here, both asked and unasked. I'll hit on a few, but you might be better off just sending me a PM and we'll get together on the phone. You can do that by clicking on my name at the top of the post, which will take you to a page where all of my posts are listed. At the top of that page is a link to email me privately. Do that, and let's get together.
1. General Overview. Your overview is fairly accurate, but there are some variables from one service provider to the next. For example, some charter operators will fly over and check on you mid-hunt and possibly back-haul any meat you have. Usually you must pay extra for this service. In some cases, if you have a satellite phone with you (highly recommended), you can call them from the field if you have meat to haul. Some charters will even relocate you if you're not seeing anything, but again, you'll have to pay extra and you'll lose at least one hunt day because you cannot legally fly and hunt the same day up here.
2. Bear Protection. Use an electric fence to protect your camp and meat, but forget about pepper spray. Though recent reports indicate better than expected success, you're limited to only one four-ounce container on commercial flights. That's about the size that women carry in their purse to ward off attackers. The average container of pepper spray used for bear protection is around twice that size. Therefore, you won't be able to fly to Alaska with your pepper spray aboard the aircraft under current regulations. An alternative would be to have your air charter supply this for you if you feel you have to have it. As to the .44, forget it. This may open the handgun debate again (search the archives here, there's been a LOT written on this here in this site), but a lot of us draw the line at the .44. Just not enough horsepower there. Personally, I just carry my .375 for hunting, and no handgun at all. Those who know me know that I like to be prepared for most contingencies, but this is one area where a proper bear-stopping long gun AND a handgun just seem like overkill. Though there are certainly exceptions, it's been my observation that most folks who do that are relatively inexperienced in Alaska hunting. My comments are based on over 20 years of hunting and guiding in Alaska as a resident of the state. That said, if you're dead-set on pepper spray and you can get your charter to supply it, here's a link for you:
http://www.counterassault.com/Bear_Deterrent/bear_deterrent.html
Don't even THINK about trying to sneak this aboard a commercial aircraft! Your bags are being screened and you will have trouble with the authorities if you do.
3. The weather is highly variable! Therefore you must hope for the best and plan for the worst. Clothing should be synthetic or wool (preferably synthetic, because it's lighter and dries faster). Good rain gear is essential; here you have two options. A) Breathable. My observation is that though breathable raingear is improving in quality, it's just not there yet. When it's new it might work for your entire hunt, but eventually it seems to leak. B) Non-breathable. There are several varieties out there; my personal favorite is Helly Hansen Impertech. If you wear hip boots (recommended in most cases, at least in moose country), all you need is a parka-length jacket. This will hang down over the top of your hip boots, eliminating the need for rain pants. If you're just wearing rubber knee boots, you'll need either rain bibs or pants, coupled with a short-waisted rain jacket. All of these are available through Helly Hansen. What I like about their stuff is that it's light weight and very tough. It's also whisper-quiet in the brush, unlike laminated nylon fabrics such as Kool-Dri (which I used for many years). There are many other things to say on gear, but I'll stop here for now. This should get you started.
A final comment; you mentioned Outfitters. Just a word of clarification on this, so you don't inadvertently confuse anyone on what you're looking for. In your part of the country an outfitter may be a guide or even someone who just puts your hunt together and rents gear. It's not that way in Alaska. Here we have Transporters; they can legally provide transportation to and from the field, and some of them will rent gear to you which must be hauled out with you. In other words, they cannot legally rent you a camp that's already positioned in the field. They also cannot provide big-game hunting services unless they have a guide license. Then you have Guides. These folks can rent gear and camps already in the field, and can provide any level of service you want up to and including hunting advice and actually accompanying you in the field if need be. It's important for you to know the difference between transporters and guides, because there are some illegal operators out there.
Thanks again for posting here, and I hope you and your friend find the info you need. Best of luck on your hunt!
-Mike
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