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We are an air taxi and not a guide service or an outfitter. We supply transportation only to and from the fishing and hunting areas best known to us. You can direct us to specific drop-off or pickup points if you desire. If you are unfamiliar with the area, we can suggest rivers or lakes based on our experience over the past years. As you begin to plan for your fishing or hunting trip, let us know if you are interested in camping at a stationary camp or if you would like to float a river. 1. Stationary Camp. We fly you and your equipment to a river or lake, large enough to safely operate out of, and at your specified date. We return to pick you up at the same spot you were dropped off. 2. River Float Trips. We fly you and your equipment to the headwaters of a river and pick you up at a predetermined pickup point down river. Your base camps would be set up wherever and as many times as you like. This method offers a larger variety of scenery and fishing at the spots your find best. Advantages and disadvantages: It is seldom productive to hunt both caribou and moose from the same base camp because of the different nature of their habitats. We suggest a move from a typical caribou area to a typical moose area if you want to hunt both species. I might add- it doesn't hurt my feelings if you only want to hunt caribou. They are easier to find, hunt and pack out. Moose are not as abundant, harder to hunt and more difficult to handle when it comes time to packing out ALL the meat. Remember, it is your responsibility to be sure all the meat comes out of your camp. (Consult the current hunting regulations for details.) Percentage of success based on the last ten years at base camps is about 90% on caribou and about 20-25% on moose. The float trips seem to have a better moose success rate because moose are most commonly found around water or back-water boggy areas. Although... it takes a lot of work and effort to keep the meat from spoiling when transported in the rafts. This area is excellent for fishing since it is in the Bristol Bay Trophy Water Shed, the Mulchatna and Nushagak River drainages, the Lake Clark and Katmai National Parks. We are currently flying DHC-2 Beavers on floats. Your charter time starts from the lake in Iliamna and continues until the aircraft returns back to Iliamna. Any charters with the Beavers have a minimum charge of one hour. If you want to look around at scenery or animals en route, that's fine by us. The cost of the hunt per person will vary depending on how far you have to hunt, how many people are in your party, the weight of you and your gear and the types of animals that you are hunting. For planning purposes, the average hunts will generally have extra time due to the weight of the animals that you will be bringing back, which might necessitate an extra flight. We use 1200 pounds as your payload and that includes the body weights of all passengers and the weight of all, even your carry-on gear that goes in the aircraft with you. Three or four people usually fit into one Beaver load. Since we are very concerned with your safety and ours, we pay close attention to weight! Once you get your dates confirmed, we would like to help you make arrangements to get from Anchorage to Iliamna. We now offer daily flights in our new, beautiful pressurized Pilatus PC-12s. Upon your arrival at our Iliamna base, you will be transported to the float planes for your flight to the hunting areas. One item you will need is hip boots since all out hunting and fishing flights operate by float aircraft. Please pack them on the top of your pack - not the bottom - because that will be the first item you need to keep yourself dry while getting in and out of the float planes. Good rain gear, bug repellant, and head nets are a necessity. Thank you and please call if you have any questions. Iliamna Air Taxi, Inc.
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