Mountain Man Jack
New member
Does anyone know of a resource that shows where all the sheep hunting guide lease limits are for the Alaska Range? I'm just looking for boundaries pretty much.
Registered Hunting Guide Locations
- Thread starter Mountain Man Jack
- Start date
Mountain Man Jack
New member
Learn something everyday. I guess I had some different idea in my head about how it operated. Nevermind.
Thanks!
Thanks!
That's not exactly true. I have the link on home computer but if u go to state website. Then look for prof licensing then big game comm services then guide use areas. Each gets 3 areas. Also look for map of areas. Not the same as gmu's in the hunting regs either.
If u can't find it then pm and I'll send links this weekend. Again 2 links. One for the area maps and one for assigned areas.
If u can't find it then pm and I'll send links this weekend. Again 2 links. One for the area maps and one for assigned areas.
On Federal land is where the guides have to get the concessions, so there will only be a limited number supposedly in any Federal area. There used to be state guide areas but those got removed long ago. Where a guide would have an area and want to be a good steward of the resource and be sure to have a balanced take so there would be animals in his/her area for years to come for his/her future clients. Now they can swap an area as soon as they have pillaged it.
AlaskaTrueAdventure
New member
Mt Man JACK,
I don't think it is the "free for all' that AKDoug suggested. But it is VERY complicated.
Federal land is divided up into Federal Guide Use Areas, usually "occucpied" or worked by only one, possibly two, regestered/master guide-outfitters. State land is not yet divided up into "concession areas", where only one to three guide-outfitters will be permitted to conduct hunts. On state owned DNR land, and much of the Alaska Range is DNR owned land, many competing guide-outfitters could, in theory, be working the same patch of land. Therefore, it is difficult to predict who will be working within any area. Note that this "free for all", or multiple competing guides, is a major discussion item within the guide-outfitter commercial services industry. Some guides complain constantly about new competition. While I, working on state owned DNR land, have not seen another hunter, resident or non-resident, in the last six seasons. While guiding for brown bears I have not even seen another aircraft that was not under contract with me. The guides actively pursuing sheep seem to see each other more often.
So all I'm saying is that your original question is a giant conversation item within the commercial services guide-outfitter industry with many vocal opponents and proponents on both sides of this state-land-DNR concession area debate. Seems like there ain't nobody completely right or wrong regardless of which side of this "Grand Canyon" size debate they stand on. Seems like we all got ourselves all puffed up on both sides.
Perhaps another guide-outfitter can answer your original question with some pertinent information for you.
I do believe that if you can isolate which guides are working within any given area that they will attempt to persuade you to search for another place. I do believe that air taxi operators may attempt to keep you away from areas being heavily guided also. Again, this is a giant, hot topic within the guiding-outfitter and air taxi commercial services industry and among serious (resident) hunters as well.
My sheep hunting policy has always been similar to surviving a nuclear blast. Distance and shielding.
Distance... by out-hiking, out-working the other hunters, by developing both physical and mental toughness.
Shielding...by putting barriors or "sheilds" like mountains and rivers between myself and those other hunters.
Good luck with your research. Hopefully some other forum members will PM you with information. Many of us are reluctant to post information on an "open forum". Information often earned through sweat, worn out boots, sometimes blood, always precious "off-work-time". (And time off from a regular job is always a factor.)
You can definately start with the information above provided by AK-HUNT to get an idea of who might be working within a GMU (game Management Unit) and/or GUA (Guide Use Area).
AlaskaTrueAdventure/Dennis......still an opponent, objector, of the proposed DNR Guide Concession Plan that could put a hundred honest and hard working Alaskans out of business simply on the strength or weakness of the projected application process.
I don't think it is the "free for all' that AKDoug suggested. But it is VERY complicated.
Federal land is divided up into Federal Guide Use Areas, usually "occucpied" or worked by only one, possibly two, regestered/master guide-outfitters. State land is not yet divided up into "concession areas", where only one to three guide-outfitters will be permitted to conduct hunts. On state owned DNR land, and much of the Alaska Range is DNR owned land, many competing guide-outfitters could, in theory, be working the same patch of land. Therefore, it is difficult to predict who will be working within any area. Note that this "free for all", or multiple competing guides, is a major discussion item within the guide-outfitter commercial services industry. Some guides complain constantly about new competition. While I, working on state owned DNR land, have not seen another hunter, resident or non-resident, in the last six seasons. While guiding for brown bears I have not even seen another aircraft that was not under contract with me. The guides actively pursuing sheep seem to see each other more often.
So all I'm saying is that your original question is a giant conversation item within the commercial services guide-outfitter industry with many vocal opponents and proponents on both sides of this state-land-DNR concession area debate. Seems like there ain't nobody completely right or wrong regardless of which side of this "Grand Canyon" size debate they stand on. Seems like we all got ourselves all puffed up on both sides.
Perhaps another guide-outfitter can answer your original question with some pertinent information for you.
I do believe that if you can isolate which guides are working within any given area that they will attempt to persuade you to search for another place. I do believe that air taxi operators may attempt to keep you away from areas being heavily guided also. Again, this is a giant, hot topic within the guiding-outfitter and air taxi commercial services industry and among serious (resident) hunters as well.
My sheep hunting policy has always been similar to surviving a nuclear blast. Distance and shielding.
Distance... by out-hiking, out-working the other hunters, by developing both physical and mental toughness.
Shielding...by putting barriors or "sheilds" like mountains and rivers between myself and those other hunters.
Good luck with your research. Hopefully some other forum members will PM you with information. Many of us are reluctant to post information on an "open forum". Information often earned through sweat, worn out boots, sometimes blood, always precious "off-work-time". (And time off from a regular job is always a factor.)
You can definately start with the information above provided by AK-HUNT to get an idea of who might be working within a GMU (game Management Unit) and/or GUA (Guide Use Area).
AlaskaTrueAdventure/Dennis......still an opponent, objector, of the proposed DNR Guide Concession Plan that could put a hundred honest and hard working Alaskans out of business simply on the strength or weakness of the projected application process.
i guess i'm still "pillaging" "my" area, haven't moved yet.
good information offered here, if your looking for an uncrowded sheep area, or an area with less successfull hunters in it?, there might be other ways to go about it. even boundry lines on a map will tell you very little about actual activity in an area. maybe you can reword your question to help get more specific information on what your really asking?
good information offered here, if your looking for an uncrowded sheep area, or an area with less successfull hunters in it?, there might be other ways to go about it. even boundry lines on a map will tell you very little about actual activity in an area. maybe you can reword your question to help get more specific information on what your really asking?
muskeg
New member
A guide is allowed 3 Guide Use Areas. There is like 160 or so GUA's I believe.
I work Unit #1 which is broken into 11 GUA's and unit #2 which is broken into 4 GUA's ...
A guide can test for as many units that you qualify for but you are still only allowed 3 GUA's. Unit qualification is much harder now than it use to be.
I work Unit #1 which is broken into 11 GUA's and unit #2 which is broken into 4 GUA's ...
A guide can test for as many units that you qualify for but you are still only allowed 3 GUA's. Unit qualification is much harder now than it use to be.
Mountain Man Jack
New member
Thanks all for the info. My intent in doing some upfront research is to eliminate some of the locations that have heavy guide use for a few reasons.
I don't want to create unnecessary conflict as I know most guides aren't pillagers and do put in a lot of work into an area. (We have a few family friends that are guides).
I want to increase my odds at harvesting my first sheep in an area that has pretty good numbers without a whole lot of traffic if possible anymore. (We have lots of rubber on our boots)
We'll be doing some aerial scouting over the next year, but fuel is spendy and it'd be nice to know what locations we don't really want to hunt first.
Sorry for the broadness of the question, but broad answers are ok just to get an idea of the business as I really have no experience in the matter of guiding.
I don't want to create unnecessary conflict as I know most guides aren't pillagers and do put in a lot of work into an area. (We have a few family friends that are guides).
I want to increase my odds at harvesting my first sheep in an area that has pretty good numbers without a whole lot of traffic if possible anymore. (We have lots of rubber on our boots)
We'll be doing some aerial scouting over the next year, but fuel is spendy and it'd be nice to know what locations we don't really want to hunt first.
Sorry for the broadness of the question, but broad answers are ok just to get an idea of the business as I really have no experience in the matter of guiding.
Thanks for the information, I was licensed for about 1/2 of the 25 game units. It was handy for being able to run someones operation, if they got hurt or killed. (And I know someone will say, "there are 26 game units, not 25").
My advise is go in (4) Four days before the season starts. And be with-in striking distance of the Ram you want the night before the season opens, and at 4:15 AM on Aug.10'th get'R done.
bushrat
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Online Harvest Information
Online Harvest Information
Jack et al,
I've been using the ADFG online harvest lookup to gather information for a sheep hunting proposal our org has before the Board of Game next spring.
There are several ways to go about getting to the right lookup page, you'll need all the links to know where to start and where to end up.
Start here:
https://secure.wildlife.alaska.go/index.cfm?fuseaction=harvestreports.main
Choose a year and choose Sheep, click on "Get Reports." (open in a new tab)
That takes you to a new page where you can lookup harvests based on residency and other options. The one with residency will allow you to mine the data to tell how many guides may be working a subunit. For example, you mentioned interest in the AK Range. Well on the Get Reports link I chose the harvest by residency for Unit 20A, and chose General Season, and got this data:
So there were 90 nonres (guided) hunters total for the 2008 season in 20A (years are regulatory years and run July-July, so data will appear to be a year behind). That gives you a clue to how many guides may be working 20A for sheep. You can also see resident numbers as well. You can also search by drainage, hunter effort etc.
There is also another link that is helpful for more detailed harvest info and to see which subunits are in the AK range if you aren't sure. Here is a more advanced harvest lookup page:
https://secure.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=harvest.lookup
Choose a year and choose Alaska Range West or Alaska Range East. I chose 2009 and Alaska Range West and it brings up all the harvests in Units 9, 16, and 19. That also has some horn size info that is useful.
You can use the two links to combine/gather info to see what might be going on over the years. Tons of data, just takes a bit of time to wade through it all, I have been copying it all over to my hard drive with screen shots, then printing it out. Good luck,
[addendum: just an fyi, guides can also be licensed in a 4th GUA if it is an Intensive Management control area]
Online Harvest Information
Jack et al,
I've been using the ADFG online harvest lookup to gather information for a sheep hunting proposal our org has before the Board of Game next spring.
There are several ways to go about getting to the right lookup page, you'll need all the links to know where to start and where to end up.
Start here:
https://secure.wildlife.alaska.go/index.cfm?fuseaction=harvestreports.main
Choose a year and choose Sheep, click on "Get Reports." (open in a new tab)
That takes you to a new page where you can lookup harvests based on residency and other options. The one with residency will allow you to mine the data to tell how many guides may be working a subunit. For example, you mentioned interest in the AK Range. Well on the Get Reports link I chose the harvest by residency for Unit 20A, and chose General Season, and got this data:
So there were 90 nonres (guided) hunters total for the 2008 season in 20A (years are regulatory years and run July-July, so data will appear to be a year behind). That gives you a clue to how many guides may be working 20A for sheep. You can also see resident numbers as well. You can also search by drainage, hunter effort etc.
There is also another link that is helpful for more detailed harvest info and to see which subunits are in the AK range if you aren't sure. Here is a more advanced harvest lookup page:
https://secure.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=harvest.lookup
Choose a year and choose Alaska Range West or Alaska Range East. I chose 2009 and Alaska Range West and it brings up all the harvests in Units 9, 16, and 19. That also has some horn size info that is useful.
You can use the two links to combine/gather info to see what might be going on over the years. Tons of data, just takes a bit of time to wade through it all, I have been copying it all over to my hard drive with screen shots, then printing it out. Good luck,
[addendum: just an fyi, guides can also be licensed in a 4th GUA if it is an Intensive Management control area]
also remember if you can see it from the air....everyone else can as well. so scouting from the air is only as effective as the speed that you can get to the sheep. if you find a good sheep area with a good chance at getting a ram or having several to look over, the odds of being alone are slim.
maybe instead of thinking you will find an area with less pressure and more sheep (thats the fantasy right there for all sheep hunters) maybe think of it as an area with lots of sheep. period. even with pressure ifyou have more sheep around the pressure will be spread out by default. be in shape and like it was mentioned get in early and try to get him patterned if you need to and be ready to roll on him aug 10th first thing!! be sure to have fun in all this...don't let other hunters/guides in the area get you disapointed...someones gotta get the sheep! might as well be you.
maybe instead of thinking you will find an area with less pressure and more sheep (thats the fantasy right there for all sheep hunters) maybe think of it as an area with lots of sheep. period. even with pressure ifyou have more sheep around the pressure will be spread out by default. be in shape and like it was mentioned get in early and try to get him patterned if you need to and be ready to roll on him aug 10th first thing!! be sure to have fun in all this...don't let other hunters/guides in the area get you disapointed...someones gotta get the sheep! might as well be you.
Mountain Man Jack
New member
Fun is a must! Those are some good points. I guess this day and age, I should assume that anywhere I go there is a potential for pressure. Oh well, like I said my boots will have plenty of rubber and I don't mind hiking.
