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Official language(s)	None
Spoken language(s)	English 89.7%, Native North American 5.2%, Spanish 2.9%
Demonym	Alaskan
Capital	Juneau
Largest city	Anchorage
Area	Ranked 1st in the US
- Total	663,268 sq mi (1,717,854 km²)
- Width	808 miles (1,300 km)
- Length	1,479 miles (2,380 km)
- % water	13.77
- Latitude	51°20'N to 71°50'N
- Longitude	130°W to 172°E
Population	Ranked 47th in the US
- Total	686,293 (2008 est.) 626,932 (2000)
- Density	1.03/sq mi (0.4/km²) Ranked 50th in the US
- Median income	US$64,333 (4th)

Location and size

Alaska is the largest state of the United States of America by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait. As of 2007, Alaska remains the least densely populated state, with a population of 683,478 with approximately 50% residing along the Anchorage metropolitan areas.

The American bison is one of several big game animals in Alaska. The bison was transplanted to Alaska from Montana in 1928, after becoming almost extinct in America. Twenty of these animals were delivered to an area around Delta Junction and by 1985 the population had grown to approximately 700.

These animals are natural grazing animals, but in Alaska, their food is only found along rivers and areas where fires have burnt old vegetation growth and created fresh foliage. They eat various grasses, also silverberry, willow and ground birch. Since Alaskan winters are extremely severe, it can be hard for the bison to survive. Their thick layers of hair and plenty of stored fat are an advantage to them in surviving the cold winds and temperatures. In fact, strong winter winds tend to benefit the bison, as the winds will blow the snow, preventing it from accumulating and becoming too deep. The healthy bison usually survives the winters.

They migrate to a winter range in the northwest around Farewell Lake, where there are many small rivers and ponds with vegetation available for them to eat. They are able to smell food beneath deep snow and they use their huge bodies to push the snow away to get to the food.

River otters are amphibious animals that are related to the weasel family; sea otters are their cousins, along with mink and wolverines. A river otter has a strong neck and a jaw that is capable of cracking shells of crustaceans plus teeth for ripping meat. An otter has a long narrow body with short legs and webbed hind feet. The otter's tail is also useful; it is powerful and it pushes the otter from side to side while swimming. The river otter has a soft pelt that it grooms itself; sometimes another otter helps with the grooming, while in a social group. Its thick undercoat is the bulk of the fur and it has a thinner guard coat on the outside. Its whiskers help sense obstacles while swimming or while on land. Hearing and smelling are otters' best senses and sight is the poorest; they can see a bit better while underwater.

River otters are omnivores and they eat a variety of insects, birds, crustaceans, small mammals and plant matter. When an otter cannot finish eating its prey, it will leave the meal for other animals.

Otters are social animals that live in groups containing combinations of males and females. Some groups can have all males, males and females with pups, or females with pups from their current or previous litter. All of the otters are friends with one another and fights never occur within a group. Each otter goes out and finds its own meal, which helps reduce the risk of fights over food supplies. Both young and older otters like to play with each another by chasing, hiding, swimming and vocalizing; otters spend half their day playing and the other half sleeping. They sleep piled up on each other and once they are all awake, they begin grooming.

Alaska brown bear hunting is by snow machine and snowshoes, in late March and early April. This bear hunt can be fairly demanding physically, but the size and quality of a brown bear that can be taken makes up for any hardships and effort during this Alaska brown bear hunting experienced. In May brown bear are coming down to the rivers and tide flats where Alaska brown hunting is much easier, as all brown bear will be out of their dens and moving a great deal, with the brown bear rutting season starting the middle of May. The Alaska weather on these spring brown hunts is usually very good– and we are getting long Alaska days like 20 hours of daylight in May. As the snow goes away, the brown bear hunting is on foot and hip boots are required.

Alaska Dall Sheep Hunts

Our dall sheep hunts are in a nearly inaccessible area of the interior where we have hunted for over 28 years. It is very mountainous with a fair population of sheep, they run a natural cycle of ups and down in relation to weather and predatory conditions, to date we have seen no other hunters within this area so hunting pressure is very small. The rams our clients take average a great deal larger than the average taken from more easily accessible areas.

Alaskan Moose Hunts

Moose season starts August 20th and goes through September 30th. Some backpacking is necessary while hunting but we use pack animals to get the meat, antlers and cape to airstrip. All actual hunting is on foot. Moose range throughout our area where there is timber and bush. The average size taken is in the 60” / 64” range, with a lot of mass and long points.

The cost of getting meat out will involve an extra flight, and this depends on where the moose was taken. If a Super Cub is used a number of flights may be necessary; a 206 can get by with one flight. Again hunt price dose not include any flying cost. Moose are not hard to kill so any rifle you use on deer, sheep and the like is OK if the heaviest bullet is used.

Coyotes have a range of fur colors and thickness levels, which vary depending on how cold, or how warm it is where they live. The summer coat looks gray, along with tan on the belly area, muzzle, ears and lower legs. Many coyotes live in or near city areas close to human contact, which sometimes lead to problems for people. Coyotes are normally afraid of humans, however if they need food, they will take their chances and go near a human to find a meal, which will give them courage to face humans all the time. Coyotes can live to 15 years old in the wild and their life span goes to 20 years in captivity.

When coyotes hunt in the wild, they are opportunistic, so they will eat whatever they find during their hunt. When they hunt prey, they go after deer, birds and small mammals, however they also eat berries when these prey are not around. Once a coyotes finds a large animal, it will use its speed to chase it. Coyotes are similar to foxes, both having great endurance, which helps coyotes to catch prey. Once the prey gets tired from running, the coyote ambushes and eats the animal. Foxes and coyotes have another trait in common; whenever one of these animals catches smaller prey, it waits and pounces to capture the prey using its front feet. Coyotes hunt by themselves, in pairs and in groups; they work together and chase prey using relay techniques for animals that can outrun a single coyote.