Alaska Hunt Planning
“Alaska Hunt Planning” is the first course in a series developed by Michael Strahan, author of "Float Hunting Alaska's Wild Rivers." This video series is based on Mike’s popular seminar series by the same title, and has been substantially expanded to include all aspects of the hunt-planning process, plus field techniques for river navigation and the essentials you need to know to hunt moose, caribou, and bear in Alaska.
Alaska Hunt Planning” the first of the four units in the series, is a comprehensive look at the Alaska hunt planning process, with 30 hours of instruction packed into four modules.
Topics include Hunt Planning Strategies, Costs and Money Saving Tips, Finding the Best River for your hunt, and Choosing and Mapping Your Trip. Future advanced courses will include Alaska Hunting Logistics, Alaska Hunting Boats and Alaska River Gear, and Alaska Hunting Field Techniques.
Host Michael Strahan developed the tools and techniques taught in this series over the last 25 years as an Alaska registered guide and commercial hunt planner. The tools and methods taught here are designed to equip you to plan and execute a wilderness hunt in Alaska. The methods taught in the Hunt planning series can be done from your home computer and will help you put together a successful Alaska hunt, regardless of whether or not you’ve ever been there before.
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Strategies for Successful Alaska Hunts
This course applies to all Alaska Hunts. Alaska hunts fail for a variety of reasons. Avoid several common mistakes with this series that deals with the six elements of a successful Alaska hunt, expectations versus reality, taking an organized approach, physical training and preparation, and common misconceptions about hunting in Alaska.
Alaska Hunting Costs & Money-Saving Tips
One of the first things Alaska hunters need to consider when they’re still in the planning stages of their hunt is the budget. Alaska hunts can be expensive, and it pays to line out all the details, to avoid unexpected, expensive surprises later. These sessions outline the entire budget for an Alaska expedition float or drop-camp hunt, and provide you with the tools you need in order to trim costs without cutting safety or value. A final session on inexpensive hunts completes these sessions in a way that provides opportunities for all hunters, regardless of most financial limitations.
Choosing the Best River for Your Hunt
These sessions walk hunters through the process of researching both perishable and non-perishable information, along with key information resources, mapping tools, the importance of aerial photographs as a hunt planning tool, and working with guides, outfitters, transporters, and air charters as you research the best river for your group. The sessions conclude with instructions on how to interpret, track, and organize the information you will collect as you develop a viable hunt plan for an Alaska hunt.
Mapping Your River
One of the critical components of your hunt plan is a set of paper maps marked with the drop-off and take-out locations, along with alternate landing spots, river hazards, potential campsites, and the best hunting and glassing locations from which you can spot game. These sessions coach you through how to collect all of that information, and they finish up with how to mark all of it down on your maps. These maps are essential tools for your success.