For those of you that might want to hunt in Alaska and were not aware of this as I was not it just got a little cheaper. I read in Outdoor Life the other day that Alaska has wilderness cabins that you can rent nightly for $25 - $45 per night. Now the cost of getting there will be the same but you won' t have to spend $2000 - $5000 to stay with a guide for a week. If you can hunt on your own without all of the bells and whistles you might want to pick up this months issue of Outdoor Life. It has all of the information and contacts in the article.

Forest service cabins. From what I can remember, they' ve always been around that price and alot of them have been around for a long time now.

yeah, they are supposed to be nice. however, you really need to know what you are going for and if the cabin is in the area. also, you need to book as far out in advance as possible because they book up so fast. I tried 3 mo' s out and the cabin I wanted was already out. Plus, you may think they are accessible by boat, and if you plan for a black bear hunt, there still may be ice. Just be careful in your planning adn it should work out great for you. I know what cabin I am planning on renting next year already........

beej

Bigbulls,
How is it that the mere renting of the cabin gets one around the requirement of non-resident hunters being required to use a guide -- am I missing something -- or is this a valid loop hole?

If I had been going to the same area of Alaska a few times such that I didn' t fit in the " pure Alaskan greenhorn" category and the cabins were available for the same area as I' d hunted before and would thus allow me to run my own trip, then that would start too look attractive!

As much as I love Colorado -- I' ve been to Alaska and I have to admit it is a whole different ballgame at a whole different level of play -- truly wild, remote, and no place for the uninitiated -- makes my dear Colorado look like a walk in the city park.

I' m afraid, given my current Alakan hunting experience level (zero), the value of work time lost while away from home, and my preferred quarry -- Brown Bear, I will gladly pay the guide until I shed my raw (Alaskan) greenhorn status. After two/three times up I might start thinking differently. Just my take on it.

" Man' s gotta know his limitations." --- Dirty Harry [:-]

Never Go Undergunned,
EKM

Your partly right EKM, you only need a guide for brown/grizz bear, Dall sheep and mt goat. Most of those cabins are in areas that hunting is restricted!