Total rookie: how to help him?

[2rocky]

My other half has a 19 year old son in Army Airborne school, headed to JBER in Anchorage.

His drill sergeants put the idea in his head that Alaska is a great place to hunt. He has expressed an interest in it, but has NO experience. His father doesn't hunt, and his mother's Brother never included him on his hunting trips.

This kid first handled a rifle in Basic Training. He grew up in the suburbs. Not sure if he "knows what he doesn't know". I do know that AK is very accommodating to military in terms of tags and licenses.

Ideally I'd like to get him some basic understanding of woodsmanship, that I had the luxury of learning over about 20 years hunting with family.

I myself am a little intimidated going to Alaska to hunt, so I'm not sure what I could offer in terms of good advice or guidance. Does the Army base host any Hunter Safety classes? Is there a recommended contact in Anchorage to sign up for an HS class?

Is it fair for me to ask a friend from North of Anchorage to mentor this kid when neither has met the other?

How do I help with out meddling?

 

[406LIFE]

I'd find an RMEF or the like chapter and find someone local there that would be willing to take him under their wing. That's gonna be the best bet in getting him hunting and shortening the curve .

 

[Deleted member 28227]

In a lot of ways I was that kid, I didn’t grow up hunting or shooting. If it’s something he really wants to do he will figure it out. I think the most helpful things you can do are act as a sounding board for him as he plans hunts and buys gear and then to help him network with other hunters.

You don’t need to ask your friend to take him hunting, just to have a cup of coffee with the kid, they can work things out.

I would advise him to start small and local and then work up. Small game, duck are great, and the deer and caribou... whatever he can do from the road system. Maybe do the nelchina herd hunt, or a black bear. I would avoid moose, brown bear, etc until he gets some seasons under his belt.

Also great excuse for you to go up to AK, it would be a huge adventure even if you don’t have a tag in your pocket.

 

[Gary]

Have him check out this site: http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/forumdisplay.php/2-Alaska-Hunting. Lots of good info.
One way to get started hunting in AK is to volunteer to help someone that has experience, usually as a packer. A strong back and a good pair of legs are always appreciated on a moose hunt.

 

[ntodwild]

He's young. He has the number one thing required to become a good outdoorsman/hunter. TIME! A good willingness to learn and someone to teach. No good outdoorsman/hunter/fisherman learned their craft in a year, two or even 20. Let the education begin.

 

[Bambistew]

If he can make friends, he'll figure it out along with others like him. Lots of guys move up here with intentions of figuring it out... and lots of adventures and misadventures to be had. ADFG offers a hunters safety course, I think about every other month, many local hunts require that you have it if you were born after 1986. Not a ton of active hunting groups up here. the Outdoor Council may coordinate a first timers hunt or course of some sort. SCI and the Sheep foundation offer some seminars during their annual banquets. I think the Great Alaska Outdoor expo also has a few seminars if you can brave the parking, traffic and BS that goes along with it. I haven't gone in years, the deals are far and few between anymore. What deals there are can be had the first day. Usually cheaper charters, and some gear deals.

Keep an eye on the ADFG web site, they usually offer a few hands-on courses for young hunters as well. such as field care, small game hunting basics, etc.

Outdoor Camps & Skills Clinics, Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Alaska Department of Fish and Game

www.adfg.alaska.gov

Outdoor Camps & Skills Clinics, Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Alaska Department of Fish and Game

www.adfg.alaska.gov

There is some small game hunting on Base. There are restrictions on weapons, and requirements for hunters safety. There is also a fair amount of people that hunt it as well... but it has lots of easy access and its pretty safe. Only the occasionally mauling/death.

There isn't a ton of "easy" first-timer type hunts here. Even road based hunts require a little knowledge of your prey and some serious effort to be consistently successful. It would be awfully easy for someone to get discouraged after a few times out, with out some help. Small game hunting near Anchorage isn't great, and the better spots are an hour or two away to the north. You have to work quite hard to kill ducks, the easy spots are mobbed, or you get to wade through a lot of BS mud and swamp. There really isn't that much duck hunting opportunity thats road accessible. Frankly I don't even both with ducks. The season is short, they're here one week and gone the next.

Deer hunting is possible if you want to spend some money and go south or have a friend with a boat. Outside a few places in SE, they are not easy to access from the road. There are drop hunts, or boat hunts out of south central area, but they run $1500-2000 or more, pp.

I would suggest he change his residency to AK. He will still need to wait a year to get resident licenses, but once he does he has lots of options, one being a guaranteed caribou tag for unit 13, north of Anchorage. This is probably the easiest hunt in the state for a novice, and in a years' time he can spend a few weekends getting to know the area, researching the hunt, and figuring out how to hunt caribou and chase small game in the area.

To be a young man, with obligations, meager wages, and not a lot of time off... it will be challenging to get a lot of hunting in, unless its off the road system. One thing I found when I moved up here, was how accommodating people where to help out. Very few people are from here, and we all had to learn/figure it out. Some came with more experience than others. Its not super hard, but the land is less forgiving, and animals can be hard to find.

 

[Werty]

First off, ask him if he wants help, then it is on him.
If I were him, try and find some old military guys up there. They are a wealth of info, and usually willing to share, if your willing to listen.

 

[NEWHunter]

Get him a Garmin InReach with a subscription as a gift. Should at least help keep him safe and give everybody a bit of peace of mind. The gift could also be a nice segue into you offering whatever help/advice he’s willing to take.

 

[Vek]

Others have been there longer and shot way more than I did in my 5.5 years there. But, my thoughts are as follows.

Affordable Alaska big game hunting mandatory items: road-trip vehicle with e-rated LT tires, a solid backpack and willingness to use it, solid hiking/mountain type boots, breathable hip boots or waders (I liked the sock-footed breathable hip boots) plus wading boots that can be walked in (think slightly oversized hiking boots...that worked for me), and time to figure out access and presence of game. Cheapest hunt I did was driving way the hell away from Anch for a walk-in caribou hunt in a controlled use area. Fun, fun hunt...saw wolves, helped friend's 13yo shoot a caribou and pack it out...it was a blast. The game was a solid half day's hike from the road, and it got way better the further you went in.

Elective but helpful items are those which provide an access advantage. I made good use of a fiberglass canoe for one road-based moose hunt (it's no longer all that viable due to game numbers and maturing of the old burned forest), and used a Pro Pioneer for two road-based walk-in / drag-in and float out moose hunts. The canoe moose was a full day of paddle/portage from the road. The two pro-pioneer moose were 2.5 days and 3.5 days of hike/drag from the road. Others can make 4-wheelers and powerboats work - I didn't pursue that because, right or wrong, that approach seemed crowded and required lots of time to figure out access when I'd rather be fishing...

My four sheep flyouts cost $1200 and the one moose flyout/float cost $1500 plus prorated cost of my Pro Pioneer that I spread across about five different major hunts. That's from 08-11; I'm sure costs have increased.

Recurring theme - all game except the flyout float moose died a long walk from motor vehicle access, measuring the walk using days vs hours.

There's a lot of learning curve involved with living out of a backpack and figuring out where you can walk or drive off the road without actually going to the spot. Takes practice. Young military guys with little prior experience are hamstrung by heavy issue gear they feel compelled to use, the boy-scout mentality of bringing the kitchen sink, infatuation with blowing all their money on new half-ton pickups with passenger tires, instruction from the well-meaning that $600 worth of kifaru pack is better than $75 worth of used Dana Design Arcflex pack, and other general ignorance.

"Hunting hard" in the Rockies to most folks means hiking 1000 feet above wheeled access to find game, or a BRUTAL 4-hour 2000 vert ft hike up the access trail to spike camp. That won't work up there, unless you get way lucky.

 

[ismith]

Tell him to latch on to one of his NCOs that likes to hunt. Best way to get on your way right there.

 

[2rocky]

ismith that is the kind of info that I hadn't considered....Good thought...

He did 3 jumps yesterday 2 more today to become a "5 jump chump". Not sure when he gets on the plane to move up to JBER. Could be ASAP.