Alaska DIY Caribou Hunting

You can purchase these items anytime between now and 6 weeks prior to your hunt
They will be sent directly to your home and you will need to ensure you have them on your person when you arrive for your hunt.

Many times the AKDF&G sends out the Licenses, tags & harvest REPORTS, but they fail to send the Harvest Tickets. This has been an ongoing issue for years! So, when your packet arrives, please open it up and ensure that you have all FOUR items. If you don't have the Harvest Tickets, please log back onto the AKDF&G website and request a Harvest Ticket, then print it out on your computer and bring them with you. UNFORTUNATELY - THESE HARVEST TICKETS ARE NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL AFTER JULY 1ST WHEN THE NEW REGULATIONS ARE RELEASED. SO WE  WILL SEND A REMINDER TO YOU ALL AGAIN IN JULY TO REMEMBER TO PRINT THESE OUT! You are required to have these when you go into the field, have them on your person when hunting and punch it when you have an animal down.

AKDF&G website can be found at: AK Department of Game & Fish Licensing Store

Weather delays are a normal, sometimes every day, occurence here in Alaska - that's why we HIGHLY RECOMMEND Hunt/Trip Insurance.  There is no way to know what Mother Nature is going to throw at us & since we are flying into undeveloped areas (not airport to airport) it requires a healthy dose of humility to know when to allow Her to do her thing and the airplane stays on the ground.  

On that topic though, you as Hunters/Rafters/Clients, need to understand that if we are telling you we can't fly - there's a reason for it.  The safest place for us all to be is on the ground in inclimatic weather.  There is no flight to catch or hotel reservation to make that is worth the cost of someone's life.  We all have families to go home to .... so we will do all we can to ensure your safety both getting into the field and coming out.  

Here's a "general" list to use (but only as reference, as it may not be all inclusive):

• Meals, travel arrangements & hotel stays into/out of or while in Kotzebue. Sometimes we are unable to get you into/out of the field on the scheduled days due to weather related issues. This is something out of our control as Mother Nature here in Alaska seems to have a mind of her own! When the weather is bad, we simply don't fly due to safety reasons. If this should happen, we will do our best to assist you with finding a place to stay, but we do not pay for costs associated with these stays. These are at the sole responsibility of the hunters.
• Change fees associated with cancelled or missed commercial flights as mentioned above or due to mechanical issues out of our control. 
• Fees associated with purchasing your Hunting License and Tags.
• Purchasing food, fuel, extra items for your hunt that you did not bring with you or that are not provided in the Camp Gear Rental/Food Agreement. This is solely your responsibility.
  
• We are in a service related industry - if our Staff is working hard for you, getting you to and from the airport, assisting with your bags, boxes & meat, or our Pilots are working for you getting you into and out of the field in a SAFE manner and assisting you, please make sure you show them you are grateful at "tip" them appropriately. We all work hard for you guys to ensure you have a great hunt - please make sure you remember our staff members.

Detailed information for planning for an Alaska Caribou hunting trip or any other trip using a Transportation Service in Alaska, requires lots of planning and information gathering.  If you haven't seen what you're looking for on our website, please be sure to reach out to us on the Contact Us page and ask any questions you may have! 

When coming up for an Alaska Caribou Hunt, we understand that you guys want to take your meat, antlers and capes home with you.  Once you guys come out of the field with you animals, we will get you packing up the meat in Wet-Lock Boxes (Fish boxes), these you can take as excess baggage on the Commercial Flight home with you (by far the least expensive way to get it home).

HOWEVER, Antlers as of 2021 are becoming an issue that has a lot of people shaking their heads on what to do.  Although Alaska Airlines claims they allow oversized boxes (which is what an Antler box is), they will ONLY allow ONE/Jet and then any others are taken on a stand-by basis.  Otherwise you can use their "Antler Express" Service (which in Kotzebue is almost near impossible to abide by their time requirements and each must be a Known Shipper).  Their Antler Express Service is such a far fetched idea for these Bush Operations, it's almost embarrassing for them.  

THAT SAID:  We have aligned with Tundra Tanning & Taxidermy in Wasilla, AK.  They are taking all the antlers and capes (you can have them do as much or as little as you'd like ... from Tanning the hides/Velvet Preserve to Life size Caribou Mount, but he will then also expedite the antlers down to you. Please refer to their website for more information on their services TUNDRA TANNING & TAXIDERMY

Cost for Wet-Lock Boxes is $15/each (wax lined boxes for meat transport). Generally speaking, one caribou will fit in two (2) boxes and Capes can go in another or be rolled up and stowed in a checked/carried on bag.

Cost for getting your antlers down to Tundra Tanning & Taxidermy is a flat fee of $50/person which covers the cost of the antler box and shipping to Anchorage.  These shipments are made several times a week and once they arrive in Anchorage, Tundra Tanning & Taxidermy picks it up and gets it to their place for processing.  

Your meat boxes can be checked as additional baggage if within the airline guidelines and you will be charged according to your airline rules & regulations.  Please verify with whatever airline you book with what their luggage fees may be.  

YES ... we have a large supply of propane and jet boils available for purchase when you arrive (we will send out a request for an estimated # needed for your hunt).  the Costs associated with these are:  

Coleman Fuel (White Gas) One (1) Gallon: $10/each
Small Propane Canisters 1# Bottles: $10/each
Jet Boils: Large Canisters: $15 Small Canisters $10
As a reminder: You cannot bring any of these items on the Commercial flights with you and/or lighters, matches, etc.

BEAR SPRAY is sometimes available at our place if someone has left it - you're more than welcome to it.  Otherwise, there are a couple of stores in town that sell this product. 

All hunters are required to have a soft gun case/sock for their rifles.  Rifles/Guns will be taken out of their hard cases when you arrive in Kotzebue and will need to be placed into a soft case of some sort.  Don't worry, we've got plenty of room in one of our Connex's to leave anything you don't need in the field with you (i.e. hard cases, suitcases you brought that you don't need in the field, keys for the truck you left back home at the airport .... you know, the essentials). 

All weapons must be removed from the hard cases & transferred into a soft case for transport into the field (this includes PISTOLS). You'll want to bring a soft case for this transfer & your hard cases and anything that you pack that you don't want to go into the field with you, can be stowed in our buildings until you come back out of the field.

Many of you like to pack in LARGE Cabela's Bags or something of that sort for the Commercial flights to save on costs associated with checked baggage. This is perfect,

HOWEVER, when you arrive in Kotzebue, we are going to ask that any of these LARGE bags, be broken down into smaller bags as the smaller planes don't handle these large bags. So, if you pack your small/medium bags into your larger bags for your commercial flights - it makes pulling them apart easier when we stage you for your departure into the field.