Outdoor calendar

June 3-12 Valdez Halibut Hullabaloo (valdezfishderbies .com/halibut-derby/halibut-hullaballoo) June 10-18 Slam’n Salm’n Derby, Ship Creek, Anchorage (slamnsalmnderby.com) June 15 Brown bear hunting season ends in several units June 30 Black bear hunting season ends in several units June 30 Last day 2021-22 hunting regulations are valid July 1 2022-23 hunting regulations take e ect July 4 Mount Marathon Race, Seward (mountmarathon.com) July 23 Valdez Kid’s Pink Salmon Derby (valdezfishderbies.com/kids-derby) July 23-Sept. 4 Valdez Silver Salmon Derby (valdezfishderbies.com/silver-derby) July 29 Valdez Big Fish Friday (valdezfishderbies.com/ silver-derby/big-prize-friday) Aug. 12-Sept. 4 Valdez Tagged Fish Contest (valdezfishderbies.com/tagged-fish-contest) Aug. 13 Valdez Women’s Silver Salmon Derby (valdezfishderbies.com/womens-derby) Aug. 13-21 Seward Silver Salmon Derby (seward.com/ event/67th-annual-silver-salmon-derby/10)

June 15 marks the end of spring brown bear hunting season in several of Alaska’s game management units.

(ZAK RICHTER/NATIONAL PARK SERVICE)

For more information and season dates for Alaska hunts, go to adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=hunting.main. Note: Check with local contacts on events that could be a ected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Alaska Elite Outfitters –

Conquer The Wild

Alaska Elite Outfitters (AEO) was started by Mike Vanstrom, who is an experienced hunting guide and fisherman. Born and raised on a farm in Southeast Minnesota near Rochester, he grew up on the farm, spending his summers fishing and his falls bow and rifle hunting whitetail deer throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin.

After moving to Alaska in 2002, he began packing that same year and began guiding in Alaska in 2004. Michael is an avid rifle and bow hunter and has guided in Alaska for many years, where he has led hundreds of hunters and fishermen through the Alaskan wilderness for their adventure of a lifetime. Taking his lifelong passion for hunting and fishing, he specializes in trophy brown bear, moose, and king and silver salmon adventures. Past clients that continue to come back can vouch for Michael’s expertise, knowledge of the area, and the guarantee of a great Alaskan experience.

Alaska Brown Bear Hunt

AEO utilizes various hunting methods to harvest Alaska brown bears. Besides hunting moose carcasses, spot-and-stalk hunting, and floating the river where they travel, they also utilize several calling methods to bring big bears in close. AEO also utilizes vantage points for spot-and-stalk hunts as these bears move from denning areas to the river drainage. Hunting by jet boat, they travel up and down the river corridors.

Hunts are conducted in Southwest Alaska in the Game Management Unit 17 near Bristol Bay. Their bear hunting season is open for over nine months per year. As a result, AEO o ers four months (April, May, August and September) of prime bear hunting opportunity. They hunt brown bears in the spring and fall every year with a limit of two bears per year.

Their historical success rate is 75 to 80 percent, depending on the year and weather.

Alaska Moose Hunting

AEO o ers a fully guided top quality moose hunting experience. By taking a limited number of hunters into their vast area, they keep the quality high. AEO e ciently uses jet boats for hunting the trophy bull moose in the area. Cow calling, bull grunts and brush thrashing are the primary methods of getting big bulls within gun and bow range.

Moose hunts are held in early September during the pre-rut, when the bulls are very receptive to calling.

Alaska King Salmon Fishing

Alaska Elite Outfitters provides its clients with a fantastic opportunity to fish on the famous Nushagak River for the most massive Alaska king salmon (Chinook) run in the world.

King salmon fishing packages are all-inclusive once you arrive in the main camp, 20 miles downriver from Ekwok, Alaska. In the field, AEO provides three meals a day plus snacks for all their guests. In addition to that, they set you up with all the gear, bait and freezer boxes, as well as fish cleaning and packaging, for your fully guided fishing trip.

Hunting and Fishing Camp

Alaska Elite Outfitters is located overlooking the Nushagak River. There is a wooden cooking lodge at the hunting and fishing camp, with a stove, freezer, refrigerator and icemaker, where meals are prepared and served. The field has showers with hot running water and electricity for clients to clean up at the end of the day.

Their main hunting camp is a wooden cabin with kitchen, steam bath and outhouses. The other main hunting camps are tents with wood stoves or propane heaters.

Contact Mike Vanstrom, owner-operator, at 218-434-0068 or email mike@ alaskaeliteoutfitters.com to reserve your adventure. For more information, visit alaskaeliteoutfitters.com.