Alaska Trophy Adventures
BIG GAME HUNTS
Brown Bear
Grizzly Bear
Black Bear
Dall Sheep
Mountain Goat
HUNT AREA
Chugach Mountains
HUNT TYPES
Rifle
Handgun
Bow
TRANSPORTATION
Outfitter-owned bush planes
Jet boats and rafts
ABOUT THE OUTFITTER
Master Guide and pilot Dan Montgomery has lived in Alaska for over 35 years and has been guiding for sheep and goats since 1985.
Born in Eastern Washington at the foot of the Cascade Mountains, the small isolated town of Winthrop (pop 300) was home. I grew up outdoors, exploring, hunting and fishing every chance I could with my father and my twin brother. I took my first buck at 13 years old; almost all of our family’s red meat was deer or elk. As an adult, I was lucky enough to hunt other western states when you could still buy most tags “over the counter”.
I moved to Alaska in 1982 to join my partner Loren Karro, and we took our first mountain goats that year, as there was no guide requirement then, and our first rams in 1983. We lived in Southeast Alaska for 3 years, then spent 8 years in Kotzebue in the Northwest Arctic, before moving to the Matanuska Valley in 1993. We have hunted rams in all five major mountain ranges in Alaska and I have taken at least one ram in each one. I became an assistant guide in 1985, guiding for sheep and goats in the Wrangell Mountains. I still personally guide hunters every year. I got my pilot license in 1990, and now have two super cubs, one on floats and one on wheels. I have logged over 9,000 hours of Alaska flight time.
After I took a big B & C ram in 1991 in the Chugach Mountains, I knew that these rough and inaccessible mountains, with their huge rams, was where we wanted to start our own guiding business. That is what we did in 1993, and we’ve never looked back. Loren got her own Registered Guide license a few years later. We guide for sheep, mountain goats, black bear and brown/grizzly bear and an occasional moose throughout most of the Chugach Mountains.
In 1995 we started guiding for brown bear on the Alaska Peninsula, out of Port Heiden. The area has its own set of unique landscapes, attractions, and challenges with weather and swampy terrain, that we really embrace. Finding good populations of big game in difficult places to access, with little or no hunting pressure, and then figuring out how to hunt them, has been a key to our success. We have at least a 95% success rate on all species.
We have a small staff of dedicated guides who have hunted these areas with us for years. We can’t say enough good things about their experience, dedication and positive attitudes; they have been an integral part of our success. I do all of the flying and have an active hand in every hunt I book. From the time we pick you up at the airport in Anchorage or Port Heiden (brown bear hunters), until your hunt is complete, we provide everything except for your personal gear, rifle and ammunition, and hunting license and tag(s).
ABOUT THE HUNTS
Brown Bear
We hunt the giant coastal brown bears on the Alaska Peninsula, out of the small village of Port Heiden on the Bering Sea Coast. This is the west side of the peninsula, halfway down between the towns of King Salmon and Cold Bay. You seem to go back to an almost prehistoric environment there, with black sand beaches, active volcanoes, treeless landscapes and huge bears.
Bear season in our area on the Alaska Peninsula is only open once a year. In odd number years, say 2015 or 2017, there is a fall season that is open from Oct. 1 to Oct. 21st. In even years it is a spring season, running from May 10th to May 31st. We book all of our bear hunters for the entire season, 21 days of potential hunting in the fall and 22 in the spring. We prefer to do the hunts 2 clients with one guide. By getting everyone in the field at the start of the season we give our hunters the maximum opportunity to take a great trophy. Some of the areas we hunt have a good number of big bears at the start of the season, but once the airplanes start flying and the shooting starts, they quickly disappear. They didn’t get big by being dumb! By having 2 hunters in the field with a guide, while all the big bears are still out, we can get 2 big bears fast. On numerous occasions both hunters have taken big bear on opening day. One time both hunters took B & C Record Book bears in the first 2 hours of opening day. On traditional one on one, 10 day hunts you can’t do this. All of our brown bear hunts are over the counter tags and registration permits. You do not have to draw a permit.
We take fewer hunters in the spring because we don’t see as many bears without the salmon running. During some spring seasons, finding a good bear with quality hair can take longer.
We have taken at least one or more 10’ bears, during the fall season, for the last 20 years. Our best B&C scoring bear had an officially measured skull that went 29 5/16 and is tied at #71 in the 13th edition of the Boone and Crockett Record Book. We have taken 10 bears in the 11 fall seasons that make the all time B&C record book minimum of 28”, and numerous others that have scored at least 26”, the minimum for the B&C Awards books.
Hunting these big coastal giants in this unique place is a hunting classic, and we would love to provide this experience for you.
There are commercial flights from Anchorage to Port Heiden, through King Salmon. We pick you up at the Port Heiden airport and provide everything from there. Our base camp has electricity, hot water and home cooked meals, as well as some great ocean views. We will fly you out to your hunting area by super cub, where you will spike out in 8 X 8 Bomb Shelter tents right in the bear country. Warm clothing and good rain gear are essential in this environment!
Grizzly & Black Bear
We do these brown bear/grizzly and black bear, over bait, hunts in unit 13 at the base of the Chugach Mountains. SCI considers the bears in this area grizzlies, and Boone and Crockett considers them brown bear. We hunt these bears about 60 miles inland from the ocean and the boundary for Boone and Crockett is 120 miles inland. Unit 13 doesn’t touch the ocean and that’s why SCI says they are grizzlies.
We have been able to bait back bear in this area for years, but the state just started allowing us to also take grizzlies over bait in 2014. We have a very high success on these hunts for everyone that hunts the full 10 days. There are a lot of bears to watch, and some of them seem as if they have never seen humans before.
Our grizzly/brown bear in our area have a classic grizzly coloration. Most are a shade of honey blonde and brown with darker legs. They generally square between 7 and 8 ½ feet, with 20 to 23 inch skulls. We took one monster in 2014 that was 9 ½ feet, with a 26 ¾“ skull.
We have the three main color phases of black bear; cinnamon, chocolate and black, and they are very abundant. Our big male blacks in this area square 6 to 7 feet with 17 ½ to 19 inch skulls. We have always had 100% success on all of our back bear over bait hunts.
All of these hunts over bait are fly-in hunts, and we are allowed to hunt the same day we fly. The only restriction is that on the day you fly, you have to hunt only bears that are at the bait station. We camp close to these bait stations so we can watch them all day, but not so close that we might disturb the bears. Our camps are very comfortable 8’ X 8’ or 10’ X 10’ Bomb Shelter tents with cots, chairs and heaters. These are not difficult hunts and usually require hikes of less than 500 yards. If you have physical limitations and can’t walk far, or just like to watch LOTS of bears, this is the hunt for you.
Dall Sheep
We guide for all of our Dall sheep in the famous 14C and 13D units of the majestic and beautiful Chugach Mountains. These mountains are some of the steepest and most rugged sheep habitat in the world. They are also home to some of the largest and heaviest horned Dall rams in North America.
We have hunted and guided in these mountains since 1991. Within our areas, we know every nook and cranny where the big rams live, and know how to access them. We have had hunters range from young teenagers to veterans in their 70s, and we have maintained a success rate of over 95%. By hunting and scouting these areas annually, we have literally watched some of the big rams grow up into real monsters over a 4 or 5 year period. There are big 40 inch plus rams here every year. As of the end of 2016, we’ve taken 168 sheep hunters over 24 years, with only six not harvesting rams. We have taken 12 rams that make the all time Boone & Crockett Record Book.
All of our guides have years of experience with us in these mountains. They are very easy going and get along with everyone. They all have very positive attitudes and will work tirelessly to make sure that your hunt for one of these great rams is one of the most enjoyable, successful and memorable hunts of your life. We will be thoroughly prepared and always willing to go the extra mile for you!
Mountain Goat
We hunt all of our mountain goats in the Chugach Mountains. The area we hunt them in has some of the most spectacular scenery in Alaska; flowing glaciers, snow fields and high mountain goat pastures. Our mountain goats have very good hair early in the season, because they live right in the middle of the glaciers and snow fields. We generally hunt these goats the first 2 weeks in September. We land up high, on the glaciers, and make our camps right in the middle of the goats. By accessing this country so high in the mountains, we never have to go through any brush. In fact, we have to hike down hill to hunt them the majority of the time. We consider our mountain goat hunts to be the some of the easiest, if not the easiest, in North America. That said, being in at least moderately good shape is recommended. We only take billies, and our horn lengths have averaged 9” or better every year. We have taken several over 10 inches.
Our goat hunts are seven day hunts, and we have never had a hunter who hunted all 7 days that hasn’t harvested a goat. We also have excellent archery goat hunts with a high success rate. Most of our camps are in 8 X 8 Bomb Shelter tents with cots, chairs and heaters. The archery only season runs August 16th to August 31st, and the rifle season runs from September 1st to October 15th.
All of our goat hunts are currently by draw permit only and require a guide/client contract before you can apply. View client contract form HERE. The application period is the same as for sheep, from November 1st to December 15th.
SCHEDULE AN EXCLUSIVE MEETING WITH DAN MONTGOMERY
An event password is required to view the outfitter’s schedule.
Please enter the password after clicking the button above.