I got drawn for a bison tag!!!

Erik in AK

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not killing a ram
I just had to share....

The Alaska Drawing Permit results were posted Sunday the 6th and as dumb luck would have it...I drew one of two bison tags for the Chitina river unit.

The season runs from 6 Sep to 30 Nov so I have a fairly long window to work with.

Alaska has several wild herds from Canadian stock reintroduced in the 60's. The odds of drawing any bison tag are really low but the odds of filling the tag are high so I am lucky both ways.

Now for the planning...
 
Thats Fetchin' AWSOME man !!!! Whats the terrain like ? Posta picture.

When ya going scouting, Whats your plans ? Are ya driving ? Flying back in or what ?~?~?

Cough up some details to me, I got no clue about bison in AK at all !!
 
Erik, That is too cool, a bison hunt is real high on my to do list! but remember, after the bison is down you gotta eat part of the liver RAW!!! It's spiritual or something like that, plus it will probably give you the sh*ts!
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Moosie, gang...
I already talked to the area biologist to get some info. The Chitina river forms a broad braided flood plain as it flows west through the center of Wrangell/St Elias National Preserve which is in itself part of, and surrounded by, W/SE Natl Park. The Preserve portion is open to hunting. My hunt area is pretty remote so I'll fly in most likely. Another option is to wait until late November and snowmobile in but thats risky. Last year the river didn't freeze until January. Even though the the bison hardly, if ever, see people they spend much of their time on the flood plain which is several miles wide. If I wait and the river doesn't freeze I might miss out all together.

Tentatively, I'm planning on 27/28 Sep to 4/5 Oct. Fly in with my cataraft and float hunt back to the road(about 70 miles). If I don't kill a bull then I still have nearly two months to try again.

I don't have any pics of the area yet but I will post as things develop.

Good Luck to any of you still waiting for notification.
 
Erik

Congrats on your tag. I know of an individual whose son guides for buff on the river using air-boats. Have you thought of that as an option? If you would like me to put you in contact with him, let me know.

Jim
 
Erik -

Luck SOB - My SIL & me have been trying to draw either that tag or the Copper herd tags. The country is awsome and tough up that way. I've get up there occansionally. Yeah the Chitna herd is one tough hunt. Should be a good one if you can arrange access in & out. Don't wait too long to go.

Ovis - If you are referring to Dean, Yes his son Dean jr. hauls hunters via airboats primarily for the Copper river herd. Has two boats which I've spent lots of hours in. Was up the Chitna in his new boat on its maiden voyage a couple of years ago.

Later -
 
John

Welcome to HT. Glad you made it over. I haven't seen you post anywhere lately and it isn't even tax season
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Anyhow, you were the POC I was going to point Erik to, but he never replied to the post, so I figured he wasn't interested.

Let us know how you make out this season. Will be up in Sept, but not through Tok, although it sure would be nice to stop over at Fast Eddies for a bite to eat. Gotta go, thinking of that trucker food just makes me hungry
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vis
 
Ovis -

Yeah I was really hoping for a buff tag on the Copper. we have a fish camp about 20 miles up from the Chitna bridge. The herd is all around us. Even have some wallows next to the camp as well as fresh piles in camp. When I was rebuilding the fish wheel this spring I watched 2 buffalo swim the Copper. Was amazing to watch as the current didn't affect them all that much.
 
Update:
I've decided to fly in and float-hunt the Chitina. My jumping off point will be McCarthy AK. For those who don't already know, McCarthy has a post office so officially its a town but its pretty much just a couple of lodges and an airstrip at the deadend of a 60 mile dirt "road". I called the two air taxi's that operate out of there for info and prices. I booked with McCarthy Air. They're taking me in with a Pilatus Porter(a really good bushplane) to the snout of the Bernard Glacier on 23 Sept. I already arranged for extra flight time on the way in to look for the herd. If they stay in the river bottom then we should overfly them on the way in, but...its been raining alot since the middle of July and most of the rivers are high which means the bison might be higher up and out of the river bottom. If they go south I'm screwed. I said earlier that the Chitina runs east-west, well the natural highwater mark along the southern edge of the river bed is the Nat'l Park boundry. I've got more research to do and biologists brains to pick.

Ovis, I'm sorry for not getting back. I do appreciate the offer. I haven't been able to get Dean on the phone as yet so I don't know what he offers. He has a good reputation from what I've heard but I really don't want to get driven right up to them. I don't mind taking my chances(a little)

John, I'm looking to find a home for about half a bison. If you're interested let me know and we'll work something out.

thanks for all the congrats and input--more to follow
Erik
 
Erik -

I'm always interested in buff meat. Also call Dean (907-822-3272) or you can email him through his site (www.copperrivertours.com, hope that is right!)and see if he can help you at all. Atleast he might be able to give you a bit of information. He knows the Chitna river well having floated it himself as well as running his boat up it.
 
Update II

Now that all the excitement over Moosie's moosie is tapering off...I thought I'd touch base with the gang on my buffalo hunt.

I never did get out at the end of Sep as hoped. Work took care of that. I drive to McCarthy next friday and fly out saturday morning, weather permitting. I originally wanted to go at the end of Sep/early Oct because historically the weather is good. I was concerned that if I went later I'd get caught by winter's first dump. According to the weather guys its supposed to get steadily colder over the next two weeks but no snow.

I'm genuinely sorry for Oscar losing his moose meat but thats a risk of early season hunts...its often warm. Whether it snows or not it'll be cold enough for my buff meat to keep. My only concern is losing my animal to the current. The Chitina is a big, fast river so if I can, I'm going to try and locate a bull who's pretty far from the water when I shoot him. I'm also pretty sure I'm going to have to shoot more than once. I'll be shooting my .06 which has drawn me some critism. I'm comfortable with it and shoot it well. I've been practicing making quick follow up shots and I can put three shots into a paper plate sized target at 200 yards in 5 just under seconds. William Cody I ain't but my intent is take my time and make my first shot count...right in the boiler room.

My photo track record sucks so I'm bringing two cameras just in case. When this thread started Moosie asked for pics of the area which I still don't have, but, if anyone's interested, McCarthy Air has maps of the area on their website http://www.mccarthyair.com
 
Congrats and good luck. You think a moose is BIG, wait till you get that buffalo. I got one back in 1994 in South Dakota . Hanging on the rail, with head, hide and guts out it weighted 2368 pounds. Beautiful mount--19 1/2 in. horns ea. side and a very nice tanned robe w/hair on.

All the best!!
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