The first-season checklist for an Alaska outfitter

The license itself, with species in mind

Confirm the license class you hold actually covers the season you are selling. A registered guide-outfitter first licensed after July 30, 2006 must have sheep, moose, brown bear or mountain goat named on the license to contract for those species.

Each species endorsement requires a minimum of three harvests on guided hunts for that species, so a first-season guide's list of bookable species is exactly what the license names. Selling a brown bear hunt the license does not carry is a discipline case before it is a season.

Carry the license number into the contract, where the statute requires it stated. The classes and what each authorizes are in the license comparison.

3 harvestsA registered guide-outfitter first licensed after July 30, 2006 must have sheep, moose, brown bear or mountain goat named on the license to contract for those species. — Alaska Big Game Commercial Services Board statutes and regulations, retrieved 2026-09-29

The use area and the land under it

A registered guide use area, not just a license, is what authorizes operating in a place, and it needs written land use authorization from the landowner for at least 5,000 contiguous acres of uplands.

Allow the lead time. A registration becomes effective 30 days after submission or completeness, whichever is later, and a federal permit behind it takes longer still. Count the federal track, laid out in the federal land guide, in months.

Check the expiry date on the registration against the season dates. A registration expiring December 31 mid-season is a renewal problem arriving mid-hunt, and the renewal calendar is in the filings page.

5,000 acresA guide use area registration needs written land use authorization for at least 5,000 contiguous acres of uplands and becomes effective 30 days after submission or completeness. — Alaska Big Game Commercial Services Board guide use area registration application, retrieved 2026-09-29

Financial responsibility certified before contracting

The $100,000 certification must be in place before the first contract, not after the first booking. It lists assets at fair market value less liens, or the insurer or bond company with the policy number and coverage.

A guide who told the department they would not contract and then starts must notify the department and provide the certification before contracting, and any change to what is listed must be reported within 10 days.

If park land is in the season, the National Park Service requires general commercial liability insurance of at least $500,000 per occurrence with proof provided to the park, which sits well above the state floor. What sits behind both numbers is covered in the insurance page.

$100,000A guide must certify financial responsibility of at least $100,000 before contracting a hunt, and report any change to it within 10 days. — Alaska Big Game Commercial Services Board statutes and regulations, retrieved 2026-09-29

$500,000A National Park Service commercial use authorization requires general commercial liability insurance of at least $500,000 per occurrence, with proof provided to the NPS. — U.S. National Park Service, retrieved 2026-09-29

The contract, signed before the field

Every client carries a written contract stating the guide's name and license number, the client's name, the big game to be hunted, the approximate field dates, the transportation provided, whether field accommodations and meals are provided, and the amount to be paid.

Fill in every field before the deposit clears. A contract with a species list that does not match the license, or dates outside the use area registration, is paper that incriminates rather than paper that covers.

Draft the deposit, cancellation and refund terms into the same document, because the statute does not write them for you. The full contract rules are in the contract page.

A registered guide-outfitter may not provide big game hunting services without a written contract stating the guide's name and license number, the species, dates, transport, accommodation and price. — Alaska Big Game Commercial Services Board statutes and regulations, retrieved 2026-09-29

Hunt records printed and ready

The hunt record is a field document. A copy must be with the client for the duration of the hunt, the pre-hunt portions completed before the start, the rest completed at the end, with the client receiving a copy and the guide retaining one for four years.

Print more than you think the season needs, and carry them in the field kit, not the office. A season with no completed hunt record is a renewal affidavit that cannot be honestly signed two years later.

If a client books with a second guide-outfitter for another hunt, each guide keeps a separate record. The department rejects records signed by more than one guide-outfitter.

4 yearsA hunt record copy must be with the client for the whole hunt, and the guide retains one completed copy for four years, with a separate record for each guide-outfitter involved. — Alaska Big Game Commercial Services Board statutes and regulations, retrieved 2026-09-29

Crew, aircraft and the supervision rule

Every assistant and class-A assistant guiding the season needs their own current license, and the supervision rules decide who can run camp when you are in the field. An assistant guide may not take charge of a camp unless you or a class-A assistant is physically present and supervising.

If you personally fly clients during the hunt, the license needs a commercial pilot's rating or at least 500 hours of flying time in Alaska behind it, and the transporter side of the operation files its FAA and Coast Guard license copies with the state.

Remember the responsibility rule when hiring: a violation committed by a person working for you on your contracted hunt is equally yours, in a disciplinary proceeding no insurance answers for you. The insurance position is in the insurance page.

500 hoursA guide who personally pilots clients during big game services must hold a commercial pilot rating or at least 500 hours of flying time in Alaska. — Alaska Big Game Commercial Services Board statutes and regulations, retrieved 2026-09-29

The client's paperwork checked at the airport

Verify the client's license and locking tags before the flight to camp. The prices are state-published: $160 for a nonresident hunting license, with the big game tags on top, such as $1,000 for brown or grizzly bear, $850 for sheep, $800 for moose, $650 for caribou and $600 for goat.

A nonresident hunting brown or grizzly bear, sheep or goat must be accompanied by a person qualified to guide under the licensing statute, and a nonresident alien must be guided for all big game, which is the demand that keeps the outfit booked in the first place.

Check the draw results too, if the season rides on one. A use area registration is used by the draw year and the hunt year, and unwinding a draw is not possible after the application. The full demand-side picture is in the contract page.

$160A nonresident Alaska hunting license costs $160, with big game locking tags including $1,000 for brown or grizzly bear, $850 for sheep, $800 for moose, $650 for caribou and $600 for goat. — Alaska Department of Fish and Game, retrieved 2026-09-29

The night before the first flight

The last check is short. License in the wallet and number in the contract. Use area registration effective and expiring after the last client flies out. Land authorization letter with the paperwork. Insurance or bond certification matching what the department holds. Hunt records printed. Crew licenses current.

First aid cards current for you and any assistant, because the license classes require them. The contract signed by every client before wheels up. The season's costs booked as they happen, because the tax calendar in the seasonal income page starts the day the deposits clear.

Everything on this page is also the pre-season half of the setup guide, compressed. Run it twice, once in spring against the bookings and once the night before the first flight, and the paperwork stops being the part of the season that can go wrong.

first aid cardAssistant guide and class-A assistant guide applicants must possess a valid basic first aid card issued by the American Red Cross or a similar organization. — Alaska Big Game Commercial Services Board class-A assistant guide application, retrieved 2026-09-29

Questions