That's an excellent point Posco ! Flying isn't cheap but it's the only way to go......literally......so you might want to ask people familiar with the area, just what would be a reasonable cost. Logistics in Alaska is rarely easy or cheap. Find out from your outfitter what type plane it will be. 4000 each sounds a bit excessive to me

Maybe A Newfie hunt would be better in your case but remember........you're not talking about the same species of moose as are in Alaska. An exceptional moose in Newfoundland may not even be a legal shooter in certain areas of Alaska. So if a once in a lifetime trophy is what you're hoping for, just consider what is a 'trophy' to you.

Things are a lot more expensive here because of the distances and logistics of getting everything where you need it. Alaska is 16 times the size of Newfoundland. You can't deliver gear and food etc by truck. Insurance for guides and outfitters is a huge expense as is maintenance and the risk to quarter million dollar airplanes.

We have some very reputable guides on this forum. Waggler comes to mind here in AK and Yukon254 in Canada. You might run some questions by those guys

Did you have have a car wreck and hit your head ?? Is that what made you want to hunt a moose ?

There is a couple moose hanging around the trap cabin.
I got enough moosemeat.I'll let them walk.
Probably cost $10 in skidoogas to shoot one.
I think a non resident moosetag here is around 2G,not sure though.
You dont want one of those big ones with the 70 inch rack-like eating shoe leather.
You want a 2 year old.
Moose is some of the best eating meat in the bush.

Here's a consideration while researching a trophy moose hunt. It seems to me that the whoppers tend be shot toward the end of season. At least in interior AK. For example, I know of one guide who books 2 hunts per season, an early and a late. 3 years in a row the early hunter has been skunked, the late season hunter got a 60" or better. I invite other moose hunters and guides to chime in here, as I'm not an expert moose hunter, and my idea of a great moose is a fork horn, (best eating!).

Just read Boco's post. He sounds like an Alaskan, at least the ones I hang with. However, saying "skidoogas " rather than snow machine gas is a dead giveaway of his Canadianess.

I've shot them of all sizes. But only one old guy tasted the least bit off. He was well into rut and had broken ribs, two split ears and a missing eye. He stunk to high heaven while butchering him. But he was neither tough nor bad tasting.........just a bit tangy

I agree with you about later being better to get a big moose but if I had to choose...........I would shoot a big one in the last week of August before they run off all that fat.

Does an out of state hunter need a guide in Alaska? For sure to hunt sheep, goat, bison, or bear. How about other big game?

Not for moose or black bear or caribou

Big ones have more meat.

I like to hunt late in the season when visibility is better (leaves falling from trees) and they're responding better to calls.

DO NOT shoot a moose very far from your boat or vehicle pick up. I like to sit in a lawn chair in camp and call them to me. It's worked twice for me.

Jim

I think you can shoot two on a licence in Newfieland.
Carried a lot of moose out of the bush over the years-hard work.Especially packing out of an old burn.

I am not interested in killing a trophy Moose, but would like to take one in my life for the meat. I love the meat. I think you have the right idea for someone like me, Boco.

Moosetrot

I moved to Alaska in 1984 so I could afford to hunt Alaskan critters.

Unless you're young, in shape and have time on your hands. Even then, don't do it. These two came from the base of the mountain in the slightly upper right side of the picture. The smaller bull I took and it was seven miles off the lake. My buddies was closer to ten miles. They came out on our backs. We lugged meat for days. The bull in the backpack was a short two mile hike.

If you are willing to do a lot of research you can do a good DIY moose hunt in Alaska. You will want to take a non hunting friend. Don't take a friend who also wants to shoot a moose.
Two guys shooting two moose would be a very bad nightmare.

I had a friend who wants me to help him plan a moose hunt for he and three friends; they all want to shoot moose, I told him that would be a nearly impossible feat and they probably would hate each other by the end of the trip regardless.

The logistics of a moose hunt aren't easy, but doable; remember if you shoot a moose you will most likely have an extra airplane charter just to get the meat out.

One of the areas that I would recommend is nearly 300 miles each way for your air taxi. So figure 2 hours each way. So that's 12 hours total flying time if you get a moose.
It's going to be really easy for two guys to spend a total of $8000+ just for air taxi charges. But if you want to have a good chance it will cost a bit of money whether it's a DIY hunt or guided.

I'm not trying to discourage you at all, just be prepared to spend a lot of money if you want to be successful.

One thing that can be confusing; there are two kind of flight operators; Transporters, and air taxi operators. The "transporters" merely organize, supply gear, and transport hunters out into the field. They are not guides, and legally can't do anything guiding related, not even suggest an area to hunt. They generally have places they drop off hunters but that's about it.

Usually a cheaper and imo better way to go is to find an air taxi operator in the region you wish to hunt in. After you do your research and have a few areas you would like to hunt you then suggest those places to your air taxi operator and see if they will land you there. Sometimes you may run into some resistance if the operator knows there are guides working the area (especially if he flies for them). But they will usually be upfront with you if you are reasonable with them.

There are other reasons you may run into resistance. One interesting one I personally heard from a taxi operator is that he doesn't like to fly moose hunters into a certain region after about September 18 because the "moose hunters are too successful between about the 18th and the end of the season". He doesn't like having a bunch of moose hunters with a bunch of dead moose all calling on their sat phones at the same time wanting to be picked up. There are all kinds of subtle behind the scene things taking place like this that most hunters aren't aware of.

If you do a float hunt don't expect to just leisurely float down a river and shoot a moose standing along the bank, but instead pre-plan (Google Earth, etc) a couple of places along your route to stop and camp for at least a couple of days at each location where you have a good vantage point over good moose terrain where you can glass and call.

Hunting and shooting moose is a lot of fun, but after that it is pure "H E double hockey sticks".

I did that. Once.

I've discovered that where I live there's pretty much no place I can't get to with my 6x6s.

My favorite time to kill moose was December.
Hardly no work compared to fall time.And if you know the country easy to go get one at that time.

Not an option for most folks to hunt Alaskan moose at that time.
Would be nice with hard ground under foot though!

I did two drop hunts to a small lake from Aniak. The pilots were great and we were in moose both times. 2004 and 2006. It was around $4,000 each time. The guy has since moved south of there and his drop hunts are now over 10 grand because he bought a large area with good moose numbers.

There are some guys who will take your money without a good area.I met two guys in the Anchorage airport who had booked with another guy in Aniak, payed more, and ended up being flown by my pilot. They ended up killing a monster bull.

Good luck,

Pete

For those of you dreaming of an Alaskan moose hunt and know you shouldn't do it, Idaho has itty bitty moose, and roads, just saying.