Kelly Vrem of Rough & Ready Guide Service (907-688-3736; www.vrem.com) has just secured an important hunting area in Unit 11 of Alaska’s Wrangell Mountains, specifically in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Vrem has been guiding in Alaska since 1973 and outfitting there since 1980. He has maintained a small operation to provide clients with a quality, personalized hunting experience. Although he intends to continue operating that way, his new area will allow Vrem to expand his selection of hunts to include Dall sheep, mountain goat, grizzly bear and moose. What’s more, the seasons there allow for a combo hunt that includes all or any combination of these species. There are few places in Alaska, where the seasons overlap like this.
Vrem hunted his new area last season on an experimental basis and says it is rich with game. Hunters can expect moose to average 63 inches, with many qualifying for the record books. Sheep there have strong genetics favoring wide-flaring horns, and while the average ram has curls between 35 and 37 inches, bigger rams have been harvested there. Grizzly bears average eight-foot-squared, but some nine-footers have been taken. A nine-foot grizzly is huge! What really surprised Vrem, however, is the quality of the goats he found. This area is known for good mountain goats, anyway, and although Vrem did not hunt them last year, he says he saw a number of good ones.
Access to the area is restricted, not just because the number of hunters allowed in the park is controlled but also because of the difficult terrain. This is one of the features that attracted Vrem to the area in the first place, as the difficult access only adds to the hunting experience. There are only two landing strips in the area, which means air support is limited. Most of the high-country hunting camps are accessed by horseback with the hunting done on foot, but Vrem says that the majority of the moose and grizzly habitat can be hunted using horses.....
