If you booked a Moose hunt in Alaska with an outfitter. The hunt was fully guided, and you were in semi-decent shape. I am not talking Lance Armstrong shape, but good enough shape to be able to climb mountains, ride horses, and carry a pack and gun combined everyday all day.

You then hunted for 10 days for moose. And NEVER saw even a moose, (Bull or Cow) in 10 days of hunting. I am not talking you see one but its in a distance. I am talking zero moose SEEN.

What would you do?

Would you ask for part of your money back?

Request another hunt but discounted to make up for the hunt?

Any input would be appreciated.

Well in 2005 my brother and I booked a 10 day drop camp that turned into 13 days cuz it rained about a solid 12 days on a 10 day hunt. between the 2 of us we saw a cow a calf and 3 small bulls, now mind you this was supposed to be Moose haven, remote no people lightweight fly-in camp only all that stuff and I was sure we would see tons of Moose but we didn't. Instead I reflect back on it as a great experience that could have only been better if we would have seen some shootable sized Moose.
Do you feel like your Outfitter did a good job or was he a lacky?
If the guy did the hunt by the numbers and lady luck dealt you no Moose I'd say it was just that bad luck. If the guy was slouching on the hunt or didn't know his area or wasn't trying hard thats another story.

i had this exact thing happen to me once.

a thought, if you did not see any moose on the first trip, what makes you think you would see any on the second trip?

fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

sorry you had a lousy zebra hunt.

Tough one. If I seen zero moose on a guided hunt I would ask for some money back. I'd be hesitant to hunt with them again.

Snell, as for the amount of animals you seen, considering the weather you guys had, be happy (well, as happy as can be expected). sounds like you had a pretty good front come in and in my expieriance, most critters dont move a whole lot when theres that much of a pressure system on them. Hate to hear about that kind of a hunt, but mother nature can be cruel.

Had a similiar expieriance on a sheep hunt. spent the day hiking in and seeing sheep. the next morning was the start of 4 days in a tent (high winds and rain), on the 5th day of the hunt (not including the day hiking in) we didnt see a dang sheep to save our ass. on day 7 we had to pack up and head out. Spend 4 days in a northface 3 man tent with 2 other guys and thats something to bitch about...lol

I dont know the specifics of your hunt, but it sounds like things did not go well. I might offer a comment thought. In todays world with sooo many outfitters out there, and many hunters thinking if they pay enough money they are almost guaranteed a great world class torphy, I think expectations sometimes run tooo high. read some of the old writers. Yes, they did get fantastic trophies, but they also hunted for weeks at a time, not just days. They also came home empty handed at times.

I am sorry for your bad experience, but maybe we all are asking too much.

I think our expectations may be too low.

Let's see; Alaska home of moose and abundant wildlife. An outfitter who is supposed to be an expert on local hunting and 10 days looking for a moose. I would think at least some version of a moose should have been seen.

I certainly wouldn't use the same outfitter again. In fact, forget the moose. Go to Africa; it's probably cheaper and you'll at least see stuff and it's warmer.

Just a couple of thoughts. The moose population in Alaska has dramatically declined in the last decade. There are lots of folks that have been hunting up here for decades that aren't taking moose, and often not seeing them.

Hunting early in the season is a bad plan, you should always opt for the last week of the season so the guide can call them in. Early in the season they won't be responsive to calls.

I understand your disapointment, and would certainly be chapped if I paid for a guided hunt and didn't see a single moose. That said, the reality of moose hunting in Alaska at the present time is that there simply aren't that many animals for the number of folks hunting them.

quote:

Originally posted by Grumulkin:
I think our expectations may be too low.

Let's see; Alaska home of moose and abundant wildlife. An outfitter who is supposed to be an expert on local hunting and 10 days looking for a moose. I would think at least some version of a moose should have been seen.

I certainly wouldn't use the same outfitter again. In fact, forget the moose. Go to Africa; it's probably cheaper and you'll at least see stuff and it's warmer.

I guess that is why they call it hunting - if the guides busted their humps to locate moose and did as good of a job as they could have - hey, that is the roll of the dice on any trip.

However, I agree with Grumulkin - go to Africa. Costs the same, have more fun, eat better food, see tons more animals and shoot a lot more animals. PH's are great, trackers are superb and you hunt in shorts.

Another thought - I would book via an agent just for this type of circumstance. The agent has more stroke with the outfitter than you do as he books a lot of hunts. I doubt I ever book a hunt without an agent....

You should have went bear hunting, no shortage of them up here right now.

quote:

Originally posted by sierrabravo45:
If ...You then hunted for 10 days for moose. And NEVER saw even a moose,...What would you do?

Would you ask for part of your money back?

Request another hunt but discounted to make up for the hunt?

Any input would be appreciated.

From just what's written, I see no justifiable reason to ask for money back. You hunted. You didn't see anything, but you hunted. That's the nature of the sport.

As far as rebooking, did your guide bust his butt looking for those moose? If so, have you any reason to suspect he'll do less work next time? Do you have any reason to believe that someone else is luckier?

If the hunt has a guarantee, it ain't a hunt.

quote:

Originally posted by Paul H:
Just a couple of thoughts. The moose population in Alaska has dramatically declined in the last decade. There are lots of folks that have been hunting up here for decades that aren't taking moose, and often not seeing them.

Hunting early in the season is a bad plan, you should always opt for the last week of the season so the guide can call them in. Early in the season they won't be responsive to calls.

I understand your disapointment, and would certainly be chapped if I paid for a guided hunt and didn't see a single moose. That said, the reality of moose hunting in Alaska at the present time is that there simply aren't that many animals for the number of folks hunting them.

Well Said!!

Someone from out of state might not have any knowledge that the moose hunting in Alaska was so poor/challenging. Do you think the outfitters tell the potential clients of the grim prospects? I doubt it.

Having someone bust their butt to find me a moose where there really aren't any wouldn't give me much satisfaction when I'm paying a few thousand for the priviledge. I can just bust my own butt to find a moose in Ohio and spend less money with similar results.

the moose numbers in alaska are really bad right now, this will be the first year that none of my hunting buddies or I have not gotten a moose. My one buddy hunts just about every day of the season and still hasn't been able to find a legal bull this year. I saw a couple spike forks but didn't have a shot at one of them and the other would have been nearly unrecoverable where it was. If someone is after a trophy bull they are much more likely to have a good hunt in parts of BC or the Yukon in canada. Probably cheaper too.

Anyone who goes on a guided hunt should thoroughly research the guiding outfit, and the condition of the area that is being hunted. Doesn't matter if it's Alaska or Africa. Game populations the world over have peaks and valleys.

well you lose some and win some-the only gaurantee in life is your own mortality-money - who has enough of it any way? When is hunting a sport when your are gauranteed anything? Predation is high and is always pushing some species away. Tough Luck. What makes a hunter anyways? How about some cheese with the wine.

grizz007, the original poster didn't even come close to whining, he asked a serious question. Your reply is just about as close to worthless as anything I've read here today, and that's saying something.

I'm with those that would like to know more about the outfitter's performance - how hard did he work and how did he explain the lack of game sightings?

You can't tell me an Alaska outfitter wouldn't know the moose hunting in Alaska was bad. If said outfitter discloses that fact and an intrepid hunter wishes to try anyway, than said intrepid hunter has only himself to blame for poor results. If the outfitter is selling moose hunts in a in a poor area without disclosure of that fact, then the outfitter is dishonest.

I agree, it's best to research an outfitter before cash changes hands.

quote:

Originally posted by Paul H:
Just a couple of thoughts. The moose population in Alaska has dramatically declined in the last decade. There are lots of folks that have been hunting up here for decades that aren't taking moose, and often not seeing them.

Hunting early in the season is a bad plan, you should always opt for the last week of the season so the guide can call them in. Early in the season they won't be responsive to calls.

I understand your disapointment, and would certainly be chapped if I paid for a guided hunt and didn't see a single moose. That said, the reality of moose hunting in Alaska at the present time is that there simply aren't that many animals for the number of folks hunting them.

+1, spot on.

research, research, phone calls, huntings reports and more research.

I don't care how low our moose numbers are. A guide should of been able to at least get you in position to see some animals. If they didnt then they are not worth diddly!

Sierra

If a client sees no moose in a ten day hunt and the guide is making an effort to get you out looking everyday something is wrong. Often early in the season when the weather is warm moose movements are not what they are later as the rut comes on but you should see something. Without being on the hunt you spoke of it would appear the moose numbers may have been very low in the area. I personally think some sort of compensation might be in order if the real story is as cut and dried as you have said.

Unfortunately some outfitters are selling moose and bear hunts knowing full well that your chances of connecting are very slim. That is why I only work with 3 operators in Alaska. With these guys I personally can sleep soundly at night knowing that my clients have a REAL chance at getting their game.

Mark

P.S. Paul H is correct about moose numbers in a lot of western Alaska but not all of the state is in a decline. A client this year told me he saw 20 + bulls the first day of his hunt in our outfitter's area south of Fairbanks. The moose are there but choosing an outfitter with a long and successful record takes some careful research.

sierrabravo45, I'd say you got screwded bud. I live in alaska and although I didn't hunt moose this year I know I could have killed one if I had tried. It was a tough season with extremely warm conditions which sometimes keeps the bigger bulls up high in Timber but to not see a single moose in 10 days sounds to me like you hunted in a less than opportune location at least. Buddies of mine saw as amny as 20 bulls in certain areas they hunted, trying to find the right one or a legal one posed a challenge but they got a couple. One group had 3 over 50". If your in the business of putting hunters on moose then you better put the hunters on moose. if I paid for a guided deer hunt in Kansas and I spent 10 days on a farm and didn't see a single deer that wouldn't be whining that would be getting screwed. That monster trophy is not always there to be had but if you see no species of the criter your looking for , the guy helping you look didn't do his job. Thats my $.02. I went on 3 different sheep hunts this fall, one fly in and 2 walk in. Saw a total of 9 rams with more than half of them being 3/4 but I never got a shot at a legal ram, thats Hunting!