Costs For DIY Moose?
Moose
Been dreaming on some hunts while I'm on sick leave from work.
Anyone doing non resident DIY Moose in Alaska this year? What's the costs of everything looking like?
Float vs fly in? Recommended addon tags, or anything?
Thanks.
Most transporters are booked for years.
Dyjack
Don't be deterred by negative posts. The world is what it is not what some think it is
You will get some good info on here. Good luck on that, hope your recovery goes well and eventually post pics of your Moose
In 2012 I spent 10 grand on a DIY. That includes taxidermy and meat shipping/processing. My boat rental/transport fee was pretty darn high ( 4000$) cause he was pretty much the only option for Koyukuk NWR and he knew it.
I will be hunting out of Bethel 9/11-9/22 this year on a drop camp moose hunt. Hunt alone is putting me out nearly $10k. Airfare is looking like around $1K round trip from Indiana. Haven't priced taxidermy costs yet, gotta kill one first!
door to door 10-13k is what I came up with before moving up here. The guys fill up quickly so it will more than likely be a few years out.
Right on just getting ideas, and gears turning. Starting to realize my dream hunts are attainable.
Thank you guys.
i've never done it but was interested at one time and looked into this before covid. at the time I figured $8-10K was doable. not so sure it is now and i would guess and expect $12K-$15K.
of course location and type of hunt play a major role in the price, as it always does.
AZelkhntr, inflatable is used, because of gear storage. You be surprised how much the costs are, just do to logistics.....................
Ive gone to Alaska moose hunting twice in the past 5 years. Last fall was the most recent.
Its been ~$5500 door to door for me. But what works for me probably wont work for you.
Each time you go to Alaska, you learn how to cut costs, and ways to to streamline you trip.
If you want to go to a primo area with a great outfitter/transporter the above costs are accurate. Those prices are not going to drop anytime soon with pilot shortages. If you plan ahead and look at NR draw tags you can do a decent hunt relatively inexpensive.
The logistics is the biggest cost which increases exponentially if you get out into the villages as a launch point.
Never spent as much as most on here said. More like cnelk. Also don’t account for every pizza and beer. As I also eat at home.
I’m taking my son and his friend: 3 flights to Alaska: $2000 Flights to village $1200 Two RT Bush flights $10,000 Hotel stays and car rentals coming and going: $1500 Tags, food, shipping gear, excess baggage up and back, new equipment, etc. $$$. It all adds up.
You could do it cheaper and I have. This is for three people taking two Beaver trips in and out. We have a super comfortable camp and are very remote. We have excess capacity on way back to have extra meat and antlers on one of the flights.
So, I guess in my example above, if we split three ways we could easily make it for $6000 each. Less if we go light and hunt closer.
Where ever you decide to try it DIY I suggest calling the game biologist in the area and ask them what they think of your plan. I’ve had great success getting info from AK biologists. First DIY I planned seemed like a great idea to me but one conversation with the local biologist changed my mind easily.
I went and dug up our DIY Alaska moose hunt recap from last fall - see link
If you want to hunt moose in Alaska, dont let anything but fear hold you back.
Went up in 2016 for Caribou for about 6k all in. Headed back this fall and am anticipating to be well under 10k that is being referrenced.
However the first trip there were six in the groups so hotel, gas, and vehicle rental split amongst that big of a group helped. This time around I've been saving credit card points for this trip for several years. Commercial flights and truck rental are both covered by those.
x2 Cnelk's comment. If it's a hunt you want to do, make it happen!
Just read cnelk's moose hunt thread from last Fall. That was great! Don't know how I missed it but was during September month of guiding so missed a bunch. great story Brad, enjoyed it on this Sunday evening. Little insight on how Brad can still pack moose quarters in those bogs, he grew up chasing girls through the Roseau bogs in northern Minnesota in his younger days.
Those Roseau girls were the best ones to chase, Warroad girls were OK, Baudette didnt have nearly the selection lol
I chased Bemidji girls. Paul Bunyan never had a chance!
Just remember incidentals can add up. If you’re driving shipping isn’t a factor. Meat processing or cold storage if necessary can be. If you fly make sure meat hauls aren’t extra. Whatever you don’t cut corners on the hunt itself. Moose gets expensive when you have to go back a second time to do it right.
I completely agree with mulepower. Hire a good transporter and triple check them. If your transporter is under $5k I would be nervous.
2012 numbers but we went 2 for 2 just under $5000. Would have been cheaper but we shipped the racks home and found we could have flown them as baggage. Not sure what the prices are these days? $10,000 for a DIY with transport seems very pricey.
For people going this year, check into the wildlife gallery depot. They have drop off depots in most of the key airports in AK. They prep and ship your hides and antlers to Michigan then to your taxidermist. I think they prep them all in AK then drive them all back at once. Saving costs. Very very reasonable
My transporter charges $850/person & $850/moose. He’s probably forgot more about flying in Alaska than most will ever know.
And no, I won’t mention his name
Where ever you decide to try it DIY I suggest calling the game biologist in the area and ask them what they think of your plan. I’ve had great success getting info from AK biologists. First DIY I planned seemed like a great idea to me but one conversation with the local biologist changed my mind easily.
