Alaska’s Lonesome Dove Outfitters
Welcomes you to Alaska 2005 Hunting Parties

Once again, we want to thank all of the clients who came up and hunted with us for the 2005 season. Without you guys there would be no business and we would all have to work regular jobs. We continue to be very grateful to do what we do and to have the opportunity to be able to spend as much time as we do in the wonderful wilderness of Alaska. The spring bear hunting was hit and miss with a lot of bears spotted but many frustrations with trying to connect on them. John Ray and I spotted 16 bears on the first 8 days of his hunt, but all 8 of the big shooters managed to give us the slip. We did have one bear hit and lost which brings up the wounding loss policy. There is more information about this on the F.A.Q. page. Tom Burgess took a large 25 ½ inch skull boar and we had 3 black bears taken with skulls over 18 ½ inches. The sheep season was also fantastic taking 4 rams that were all over 10 years old. Two of the sheep were taken in the Alaska Range by a couple of Lonesome Dove Guides, James Dundas and Chris Bourgeois, while we were scouting out some new country. Dennis' twin brother, Danny also came up and took a nice ram in our usual hunting are in the Chugach Mountains along with Bill Albright. None of our early fall bear hunters drew a moose tag, so guide Chris Johnson took a nice 54 inch bull on the first day of season to give us a gut pile to hopefully set up for an archery brown bear. Unfortunately a large bear was hit and lost on the fourth day of the hunt. 9 mountain goat hunters took 8 billies including 2 archery kills. The ninth billy was also hit and not recovered. Ted Jaycox (World of Hunting) and outdoor writer, Patrick Meitin filmed their archery mountain goat for a spot on the Men's Channel. Dan Power of Kansas also took a beautiful 9 ½ foot brown bear after his goat hunt, and 69 year old archery hunter Bob Miller of Pensylvania took a nine inch goat at 32 yards on the first day of his hunt. The goat made it less than 30 yards after a perfect double lung hit. Finally. veteran guide, Zach Richardson took a 10 foot brown bear with a 26 ½ inch skull at the end of the season after the clients had departed. I also included a couple of pictures of the bull elk that Chris Bourgeois and I took in Colorado after the guiding season in Alaska. With more than two straight months of hunting, it was a good way to finish the season.

In 2005, the Governor of Alaska, Frank Murkowski, authorized the re-establishment of the Big Game Commercial Services Board, or the "Guide Board" as it was formerly known. I believe this is a definite step in the right direction for the guided hunting industry in Alaska. The Alaska Professional Hunter's Association was instrumental in getting this Board back in place, and we now have a mechanism to address and correct many of the problems that have been plaguing our industry for quite some time. Over crowding, unchecked use and expansion by transporters, and unethical conduct by certain operators has created a less than ideal hunting situation for many of the non-resident hunters. It is still the responsibility of the client to do his homework and check out the qualifications and reliability of any Outfitter he is considering. The F.A.Q. page once again gives you some guidance on what to look for.