The problem with 'new' industry is the cost of energy. It just doesn't pencil out to open a new type of business when fuel costs are what they are now and rising.

come on now Yukon, not all of us voted him in! I voted for Ken!

Yeah !

Thats a very common comeback.......all I can say is somebody did! ......twice!

I know this is a stupid question but why don't people there in Alaska farm moose like people do cattle in the lower 48 ? Alot of the western states farm elk and sell its meat. I know there would be a market for the meat ?

they farm bison and tourists...isn't that enough?

They eat an awful lot ! Better to let them feed themselves and then hunt them

It's not a stupid question MAAA. IMO, there are places it could be done successfully, but it is against the law to farm them in Alaska.

And the beef industry would probably throw a fit like they did when did with the reindeer and lobbied to make it illegal for anyone but natives to raise them and that's probably why its illegal to raise moose as well.

I looked up moose farming on the internet and found that russia has been experimenting with moose farming for about the last 50 years. The way i understood the results was that moose tend to be a more solitary type animal rather than herd animals like cattle and would not fair as well farming them like you would cattle. But working with them on a larger scale like ranchers do was something that the russians were leaning toward. They were studying their milk production and other things.

I seen a documentry on TV years ago about the Inuit Eskimo's who managed herds of it was either caribou or reindeer and they were very successful at it. They traveled with the herds as they would migrate but what they were doing was a farming practice sort of like sheep farmers do in the lower 48 mostly in the Western states where they run sheep on National Forest lands. The herders move their sheep from one mountain meadow to the next.

yukonjeff, if that is the case to where it is only legal for the natives to raise reindeer and sell them, then if i was a native Alaskan I would take advantage of that and turn it into a money maker.

Actually there is probably nobody better than the decendants of the Eskimo's that has lived in Alaska over the last hundreds of years that would know what could be and how to farm Alaskas natural resources.

In my opinion alot of the old methods are better than the new ones.

Not as easy as it sounds refer to Dirts #9

The herds of Reindeer here in the state was impressive at one time now there are just a few small herds left not many people want to follow Reindeer around on the tundra 24/7

If you run it like a business and got herds big enough it looks like you could have crews work the herds in shifts. Work so many days on and so many off. No matter what kind of farming you do in order to make money you have to do it in numbers. The larger the herds the more money you have to operate with. All of your farming exspense's that you are out from paying crews to manage the herds, equipment you have to have, fuel and anything else involved with your farming operation is all tax deductible. There are alot of people who would really enjoy following Reindeer arround on the tundra. Now them dang mosquitoes is another story. You people have the worst mosquitoe problem i have ever seen. And big mosquitoes to.

yukonjeff, what has happened to the Reindeer herds that has caused them to dwindle down to just a few ?

Any Alaskans, do you have to live in the bush, or make 6 figures to have great backcountry hunts without running into anyone? I was told you do. They said I'll have to hunt the road system and fight the orange army to even tag out. That doesn't sound pleasant by any means.

And I don't want an outfitter, ever. Too pricey and wouldn't feel like I was the one that hunted it. I'd rather spend 1-2 weeks on a legal sheep (insert any big game animal here) until I seal the deal, ya know?

Thanks, Justin.

The government enacted a law that eliminated all non Natives ownership of Reindeer bought up the herds and they were turned over to Native ownership by anyone that wanted to take them.

According to the book "Alaska's Wolfman" by Jim Rearden very good read BTW

Hey! Now! I make sure all my hunters feel like they could have done it without my worthless no-nothin arse being there.
People skills.

You don't HAVE to make 6 figures. But it you will always bump into people any where near the road system. Everybody has vehicles, lots of people have ATVs, less people have boats, less have airboats, and even less have planes. The less people have the mode of transport you're using more area you can get where there will be less people.

You can't hunt sheep and a couple other species without a guide if you are a non-resident.

You could easily hunt moose or caribou or black bear and never see another soul for weeks or months. Charter a plane and get dropped off wherever you want (if landing/takeoff is possible). Maybe a couple grand depending on where you go and how much stuff you have.

Even paying an outfitter in AK is no guarantee that you wont see other hunters......we get hunters every year who have done guided hunts up there and saw lots of other hunters.... Im sure not all areas are like that but it seems like quite a few.

Rule number.....20??

Use the boyscout motto and "Be Prepared". It's the environment that will kill you, not the animals.