Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

I am planning a guided moose hunt to Alaska Unit 20D Sept. 5th-15th. I am looking for information from anyone familiar with this area. Moose numbers, trophy quality, Grizzly,and Wolf populations, as well as any other info anyone would like to share. This will be my first trip to Alaska, and any info would be greatly appreciated.

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

Good luck! Get a 70"! Rifle/bow?

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

This will be a rifle hunt. 70" would be terrific, but I'll be thrilled with any mature bull.

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

Since it's guided I'm sure you'll ask your guide all of that, sorry I don't have any personal experience to talk about, I would like to make my way to alaska fairly soon, I'm thinking maybe a sitka blacktail hunt on kodiak, a friend talked about a DIY hunt, I think this father lives there though, a moose floatrip down a river, though I think its for father/son, no friends, punk! They're talking bow as well. I know alot of those hunts you can combo a griz/caribou etc...if you see one, so def find out about additional trophy fees on those, also I believe in alaska your tag is valid for any animal of equal or lesser value.....so you're moose tag would be good for a caribou, etc....etc...whatever tags cost less, have fun.

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

Hi!... I'm new here...glad to see these forums...and welcome to Alaska this coming season!!...We are going to be sheep hunting in that same area, in the Delta Controlled Use Area...(I won a permit this year!!)
20D is a huge area....are you asking for info on it, to make a guide selection....or do you have a guide already picked out??Almost all the areas have subunits, that then have varying characteristics/ statistics by drainage.
The broad answer to your question is YES, YES, and YES!!!!Everything up here is about BIG, and LOTS OF IT.
We feel fortunate to live on the top of the world!!... I will be getting back to you soon... I can gather some real insightful, useful material for you...and yes;you can combine hunts. The best one would be a combo moose/ grizzly hunt....a Toklat grizzly, a smaller but beautiful blond type, is unique to that area. Knowing what you want for your dream hunt, then researching/choosing your guide from that decision,then CONSTANT VISUALIZATION of that moose you want-(and, start/keep hiking!!!!)..will bring your hunt to reality.
Oh: you WILL need comfortable, insulated, broken-in hip waders with good tread that you can hike in (we also use ours,NOW, for checking traps)...another pair of good hunting boots(we wear nothing but Danners with 600 gram ins., and airbob soles)....bugdope:Take vit B, and lots of garlic...in addition to the Deet the outfitter will provide for you....and multiple ziplock bags to put changes of socks, camera, everything in.And a pack you are comfortable with with an OUTER frame.
I highly recomend purchasing, breaking in,and flying your own hip waders (and pack) up with you, regardless what the outfitter says.These are normal items to be flown in, even to aguided remote camp.Are you flying your riflewith you ? What caliber(s) do you own???Footwear,and staying dry, I think are the most crucial, up here. Also: layers......it can be hot during the day, freezing temps at night....but you have probably figured all this, or read/known it already....I'm just excited for you, and eager to be of any more help......any tidbits of vital info, or people we can hook you up with...it would be our pleasure. We are not guides, never have been on a guided hunt....we have always hunted do-it-yourself...for sheep,moose, black bear, and Kodiak Brown bear.....but we are familiar with a lot of guides, and their outfits and families, and we have hunted up in 20D before. We used to live in 20B.
Now....sometime soon, I'll be back here with more info for you,or you could feel free to e-mail me; and we have some interesting Kodiak deer / halibut fishing info...for anyone who is curious...;)have a good day!!!

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

Hi...I'm trying to figure out how to scan and get the picture of this 68" moose our friends from hereharvested up there last season...it was taken in the mosquito flats area... a little NE of where you will be. (in 20E). Bear with me, I am fairly new to computors . I noticed from one of your previous posts, you own/appreciate the sako??... I love my Browning .338...but my guy thoroughly enjoys his Sako .338. It is a sweet gun. You seem like youare knowledgable on calibers/ballistics...you and he (I call him Bearhunter)....would have a lot to talk about....if I could ever convince him to get on a computor. He will be gathering a lot of info for you, I will pass it on.... We and our 5 children are members of the AGCA(Alaska Gun Collectors Association), and have started with display tables at the shows. My guy has been an avid gun collector for 30 years; years ago, with the Colorado gun collectors, and going to some of the Las Vegas shows. He ahsactivley bow hunted in Colorado and Montana;and we both have shot black powder for years.(before we even met). I'll try to get this picture(s)/ more info up on here for you...I have to finish dinner, and get the kids to bed.
Hey...we caught a wolverine the other day in the 330!....Take care.

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

aksheephuntress - I appreciate your info and your enthusiasm. I have only been on one guided hunt myself. I hunted Wyoming with a guide about fifteen years ago. We hunted public land and I quickly figured out that the only things he had that I didn't were gear and local knowledge. So I bought the gear I needed and I have been hunting DIY out west on my own ever since. There is more than a litlle differnce in the requirements though when you start talking moose and Alaska. The distance factor alone makes ittotally impractical to haul all of the gear I normally take out west all the way to AK,throw in dealing with the meat and pack in/out requirements, the vastness of the territory, etc.,and a guide isalmosta requirement for me.

Ihave a guide setup already.I was refered to him by a friend that will be tagging along on the trip. My friend has hunted with him numerous times over the last twenty years and has taken 2 big bears, sheep, and caribou with him.

The area we will be hunting is near/along the Johnson River in 20D. The guide has told me we should see several legal bulls during the ten day season, and that there is a good chance of seeing grizzly. Healso told me that they do not normally see black bears, and only rarely see wolves. He said we would probably hear wolves and evensee their tracks, but it was notlikely to see them.

I do most of my western hunting with a 7mm Remington Magnum. I also own a .300 Win Mag and a .300 Wby Mag. I do not currently own a .338 WinMag, but I am strongly considering acquiring one before my AK trip. I am also considering getting rid of the .300s and purchasing a .300 Remington Ultra Mag to replace them.

I am really looking forward to my first Alaska adventure and appreciate your information/help. I hope to make it back up in 2010 to hunt Sitka Blacktails on Kodiak.

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

Hi!....thank you for responding back...I was beginning to think I had offended you a little when I realized that the main content of my info for you wasleaning toward hunting 101(didn't intend on that)....I was waiting to find out if you had a guide already, since a lot of the possibility of combining species/where you were going to be in 20Din a hunt would depend upon the outfitter. You are definitely a hardy hunter if you do-it -yourself out west for elk, antelope,mulies,etc.....you really could do it yourself up here for moose....but it sounds awesome that you have a connection up here already set up. We hunted sheep in the Tok Management area 2 years ago...my guy harvested a beautiful ram in there.We were dropped off at the head of the Johnson Glacier, and hiked up from there. We camped up on the glacier, climbed up to the rams.
This year, we are investing in a raft and having it flown into July Creek; we are hiking in to it, and floating the Gerstle , and hunting up in there so I can harvest my sheep( I drewan early season tag...DS203)....my first draw-win ever!!!!....
I know it probably sounded corny to you...but it does work to put that picture of that Alaskan moose you want up on your wall and look at it everyday....(if you don't do that, already)....and I recently found out that manyawesome 60" moose have come out of that area. Although you might not see a wolf ( it does happen!!), you have a possibility of seeing a wolverine. In broad daylight, regardless what someone in Alaska might tell you.
This is your Alaskan dream hunt. Don't let anyone deflate any child-like, openminded excitement you have when you come up. I have been up here since 1994, since I first came up to commercial fish.....and I still get feel in awe of being blessed in living here, each and every day.
....I would still flyyour hip waders upwhen you come for your trip, if I were you...
I will post pictures, soon....Take care!!!:)
ps... when I was little, my family lived in Bay Villiage, OH (Lake Erie) for one winter-1977....there was a terrible blizzard!!!

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

aksheephuntress - Sorry it took me so long to reply initially. My work schedule has been kind of goofy as of late - lots of 12hr+ days - which hasn't allowed much time for cruising the internet. I really do appreciate all of the info and advice.

I am sure there are some things that are considered Hunting 101 in AK that we would never think of in the lower 48. For instance I've never hunted in hip waders, the only pair of waders I own are stockingfoot chest waders to wear while fly fishing. I do have a Cabela's Alaskan pack and frame thatI use for packing meat and to hunt out of when I am hunting mulies or elk.

The only moose I have ever seen in the wild are Shiras Moose in Wyoming. There are a few of them in the area I hunt and I have managed tocall in or stalk in on a couple. They are considerably smaller that the Alaskan variety.

I also did not know the information about a higher priced tag being good for an animal whose tag cost is lower. If I were to shoot a big bear would I then have to go back out and buy another moose tag before I could take a moose?

Congrats on your sheeptag! Sheep hunting has got to be a great adventure. I hope tochase them myself someday. I've been applying for a Bighorn tag in WY for 8 yrs., hopefully I'lldraw before I'm too old to climb the mountains.

Looking forward to seeing the pictures. I've only been in OH for a few years myself. I came here for my job in the fall of '05. I can't say I like it all that much and the family hates it. It's one redeeming quality is that there are some monster whitetails here!

Again, thanks for the info.

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

You're definitely headed to a good area. One of the few areas in Alaska where the moose population is still healthy. Just FYI, the moose population in general statewide is hurting. On any gear questions or concerns I would strongly suggest talking to the gentleman you booked the hunt with. He should be able to provide you with a list of everything you need to take with you. Not to discount what the huntress is saying, but having been in the guiding business up here for nearly twenty years, my advise is to trust your guide. From now until the hunt is over. That's why you're paying him. If you don't mind me asking, who are you hunting with? The best of luck to you.

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

....Hi, I can understand about a work schedule like that....I recently became a stay-at-home mom for our 5 kids after working 60 hrs a week for the past few years.Nuts!! My guy is still putting in 60-hr work weeks,himself....so we understand . I have just recently discovered this site , and am fairly new to computors...I will add more later, but I wanted to let you know that you canpurchase a griz tag($500 non res) and it would still be good in the fieldfor moose(value of that, $400 n.r.) I forgot that n.r. hunting in Alaska are req. to have a guide for griz....so the fact that you are going guided for moose is a wise choice. Question: did you win a permit for 20D, or is that where the person guiding hunts?? ...the areas delineated legal for non-res vary within 20D.(spec around the Johnson R).

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

I hunted in unit 20 ,I think B in 03 and 05 .The 03 hunt my buddy killed a 58"er and my other buddy got a great carbou. The 05 hunt I shot a 57 1/2 "er and a black bear. You are going to love the place .The first hunt I spotted 15 grizz in 14 days mostly out of my spotting scope.We did it DIY ,hired a air taxi out of dillingham.I would buy a grizz tag and a moose tag so you could shoot any thing you like ,black or grizzbear ,moose ,bou ,wolverine,wolf. do not scrimp on waders or rain gear .We came up with a saying ,if you don't like the weather wait an hour it will change. I wish you luck on having surf and turf every night for dinner.We did.


[/align]

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

aksheephuntress - I am not sure as to the exact area along the Johnson R. I have only talked briefly with the guide and it was my conclusion from looking at the unit maps that the area was 20D. I guess it could also be 20E depending on which side of the river he is talking about.

FarNorth - I will be hunting with Joe Want from Fairbanks.

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

photo


[/align]

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

dayna0306 - Great moose! How big was he? What cartridge/rifle did you use?

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

Thanks He went near 58" and shot at 440 yards with a 300 win. mag. hunted near the red hills.He was fighting with a 45" bull while an older bull watchfrom hisbed, the older one curvered in tight about 50" all had forked brows.The pack was 2 miles up a river from bace camp on a lake called nuykaka or somethink like that. RuRu12 hows your deer hunting in landcaster ,didn't hunt ohio the last 2 years .Been driving passed to hunt illinios. Never hunted with a guide but I wish I could of had one to shoot the grizz that stole 1 hind quarter,2 hams and 2 racks of ribs.while buchering the bull a black bear came running in and started eating the fat I was tossing to the side ,lucky I had a caribou tag in my pocket to take care of him. Then 2 days later the grizz took overthe kill sight and stole the meat .My buddy stood gaurd while I caped the bull and got out of there. Never ever step away from your rifle up there.


[/align]

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

dayna0306 - I don't hunt around Lancaster. Not because I wouldn't like to, but it is next to impossible to find someone that will give you permission to hunt. It seems that most have friends & family that hunt, have their places leased, or "wouldn't think of letting someone kill their deer". I have hunted south of here in Vinton Co. and north of here in Coshocton Co.. I have seen great bucks in both areas, but have yet to take one. I do most of my whitetail hunting on my farm back home in WV.

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

Sheephuntress,
I saw your nice note on the hunters forum when i googled unit 20D. I was looking into a hunt with 40-mile air service. They have a lake hunt usind a cessna 185 and drop you in either unit 12 or 20D. I did a DIY hunt on the Innoko River in 98 and got a 61" moose. It was a tough trip and would rather hunt from a compfortable stationary camp. I was wondering if there is a place where we could camp and hunt both moose and caribou at the same time and have fresh water and firewood. What do you think?
Steve

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

good luck
i wish i was you:D

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

Got reading your post, I am also going for moose this year but on the peninsula. I read you were thinking about getting a 300rum, I have it and I am taking moose hunting but you might want to consider a different cal. Finding ammo for the 300 rum is hard. I had to buy reloading dies and evrtything else needed, I almost did not find the brass, only rem, and nosler make the brass for that cal. And every reloading store is out of stock with no back order avilable. Federal,Rem. all of there 300 Rum, big game rounds are on hold, Federal is 3 months away before there ammo is out in stores. So just know what your in for!! Good luck in your pick.

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

EcoastHunter - That is interesting info about the .300 RUM. I am already a reloader, so that wouldn't be a big deal for me to setup for another cartridge. I don't really need another rifle, but I was kinda looking for an excuse to buy on of the Ultra Mag's. I already have a .300 WinMag, .300 Wby Mag, and a couple of .7mm Rem Mags, any of which would be fine for moose and adequate for inland grizzly. I think I will buy a new gun though, but not a .300 RUM. I'm seriously considering a Wby Vanguard Stainless Synthetic in .338 Win Mag.

I still want a .300 RUM, but I think I'll wait to see how the ammo situation settles out.

Good Luck on your your AK hunt!

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

Bump - any new info?

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

Your guide basically summed up the area:

"The area we will be hunting is near/along the Johnson River in 20D. The guide has told me we should see several legal bulls during the ten day season, and that there is a good chance of seeing grizzly. Healso told me that they do not normally see black bears, and only rarely see wolves. He said we would probably hear wolves and evensee their tracks, but it was notlikely to see them."

There are lots of grizz in the area as well as wolf. Wolves are hard to spot due to the terrain but they are there and in good numbers too. Years back I watched a pack go after a cow moose on the Johnson as it enters the Tanana.I mainly hunt & trap 12 & 20E as I live in the area. Yeah you should see moose and you'll be there as the rut starts getting in to full swing. I called in two bulls & a griz last year (about the 15th) just sitting on the deck of my cabin which sits in theTMA. I was just playing around enjoying the evening. Yes there are critters there. Trust your guide.

Good luck on your adventure

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

Thanks for the info John/Alaska. What is the terrain like?

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

It varies greatly within that unit.The terrain can bedense black spruce on rolling hills to sparse vegetation in the more open flat & usually wet areas. There are lots of ponds and swamp like locations that are surrounded by the black spruce. But if you go high then it can be dry and somewhat open. That is about as close as I can get with out knowing exactly where you'll be. Enjoy.

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

What type of footwear would you recommend? Are leather boots OK? or are knee high rubber boots or hip waders a necessity?

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

I am flying in to unit 20d, actually on the border of 20d and 20e in 1st week of june to help a friend on a grizzly hunt. I can let you know about the moose/bou we see. I am hoping to pick up a few moose or caribou sheds to bring something home formyself since i cant bear hunt, can one of you guys who hunted 20d tell me if you saw sheds? Im interested in theguy that was at mosquito flats.

thanks.

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

Rimrock,

You can hunt black bear as a non-resident without a guide. Get a tag and hunt as well.

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

From the looks of it you should be in the general area where the Nelchina herd winters, so you might find some 'bou sheds. I wouldn't hold your breath about finding any moose sheds. You may, but they're few and far between. That and there's no shortage of gnawing rodents up here that love to chew them up. If you do find 'bou sheds don't be surprised if you find a bunch. Whenever I've found them there always seems to be quite a few in the general area.

Do like bearhuntr said and get a black bear tag so you can do some hunting on the trip.

AK Jeff

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

Thanks for the advice guys. I looked at the regs quickly and for residents it said no black bear tag required im that area. Ill have to look closer for nonresident rules. Have you ever been in the vicinity of harper mountain? thats the closest name to where we are going. I would be bummed not to find a moose antler.

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

You must mean no resident grizzly tag is required in Unit 20D. Residents don't need black bear tags anywhere in Alaska. For black bears in all of Unit 20 there's no closed season and the bag limit is 3 bears per regulatory year. As a non-resident you'd need a hunting license ($85) and however many black bear tags you care to buy ($225/each).

If you're going to be bummed if you don't find a moose antler prepare yourself to be bummed. I've never found one in all my years of bumbling around through the boonies up here. I've found a ton of caribou sheds though. I've never been around Mt Harper though so maybe the moose sheds areall over there. In general the combination of the very low population densities of moose (compared to other big game animals), their tendency to live in very brushy areas, and all of the gnawing rodents such as squirrels, voles, porcupines, etc. means that the odds of finding moose sheds is pretty slim. People that do it with any regularity general use planes to spot them from above and they know the areas where the bulls tend to yard up in the early winter when they shed.

AK Jeff

RE: Alaska Moose Unit 20D any info?
 

Thanks for the info again Jeff. Ill change my expectations to black bear hunting and helping my friend brown bear hunt.