How common are antlers this size?

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15 January 2019, 23:22

BrettAKSCI

I'd imagine the number of outfitters that shoot more than one 70" moose in a year varies from 0-3 in any given year, but of course this is just a guess.

Brett

15 January 2019, 23:55

Alaska Hunter

A 70" spread on a moose is very rare. An Alaskan Moose with a spread of 55" is considered trophy class, but width is just one part of the variable. I've seen 55" moose that are much more appealing than 2 different 70" moose that I've seen just because those 70" were very "thin" and scrawny looking. Mass and size of paddles, front mass and points all affect the appeal. Mass and dimension make the real difference.
In 35 years of hunting moose, I've never seen a 70" I could get to for a shot. I remember seeing 1 from the air that I judged to be in that class and he was certainly record book, but he was in a location I just could not get to.
I think Brett is telling you straight, some outfitters in great areas might take 1 or 2 a year, but remember these outfitters are out there all the time, they know their areas and how, when and where to hunt those big guys. Most of all they're just blessed to have the habitat and genetics in their areas to produce that spread and hopefully the mass to hit the B&C minimum.
I'd say a reasonable expectation with a good outfitter in a good area would be a shot at a 58" to 60" maybe plus animal. Believe me, those can be massive brutes.

16 January 2019, 04:02

Johnny reb

Speaking of big moose on the newest episode of Jim shockers show his son in law took a toad of a moose.

16 January 2019, 04:42

Use Enough Gun

Yes, I saw that episode yesterday. Jim said that it was the biggest moose that he had killed or seen in 40 years. Eva was jealous of Tim's (her husband's) kill.

16 January 2019, 12:14

BrettAKSCI

quote:
Originally posted by Alaska Hunter:
A 70" spread on a moose is very rare. An Alaskan Moose with a spread of 55" is considered trophy class, but width is just one part of the variable. I've seen 55" moose that are much more appealing than 2 different 70" moose that I've seen just because those 70" were very "thin" and scrawny looking. Mass and size of paddles, front mass and points all affect the appeal. Mass and dimension make the real difference.
In 35 years of hunting moose, I've never seen a 70" I could get to for a shot. I remember seeing 1 from the air that I judged to be in that class and he was certainly record book, but he was in a location I just could not get to.
I think Brett is telling you straight, some outfitters in great areas might take 1 or 2 a year, but remember these outfitters are out there all the time, they know their areas and how, when and where to hunt those big guys. Most of all they're just blessed to have the habitat and genetics in their areas to produce that spread and hopefully the mass to hit the B&C minimum.
I'd say a reasonable expectation with a good outfitter in a good area would be a shot at a 58" to 60" maybe plus animal. Believe me, those can be massive brutes.

I'd second a lot of this. When I've gone or taken people to trophy areas for moose I tend to think 60" plus in my brain, but there's a lot of "quality" variance at different widths. A 62-65" bull with great mass, palms, and points can crush aesthetically and score wise a lanky wider bull. The one bull I've seen in the 70" class however had it all. It was exceptional and likely B&C. You never know, but I really doubt I'll ever see any like that again.

Brett

16 January 2019, 18:45

buckeyeshooter

Thanks Guys, this was the biggest and most impressive one I have ever seen. I thought pretty rare.

16 January 2019, 20:06

cal pappas

I've a shoulder mount at my place that was scored to nubmer 25 in B&C but not entered. It's 72-73 wide and huge. I want to get rid of it as it's too bigfor my cabin but Alaska F&G tells me it's illegal to sell Alaska taxidermy so I'm stuck with it unless I move out of state.
It's amazing how moose this large can walk through brush that is a pain for a person to walk through. And, so silent!
Cal

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16 January 2019, 21:53

458Win

Horns over 70 inches are almost non-existent.

But antlers, which grow and are shed every year, are not that uncommon.

16 January 2019, 23:25

SCHALL53

quote:
Originally posted by 458Win:
Horns over 70 inches are almost non-existent.

But antlers, which grow and are shed every year, are not that uncommon.

Thanks Phil, I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one that was bothering.

17 January 2019, 01:49

p dog shooter

quote:
Horns over 70 inches are almost non-existent.

You need to visit some long horn cattle ranches 70 inchers not that un common.

17 January 2019, 04:17

69deer

I got lucky and shot a 73 5/8 inch wide one last year on a self guided hunt.. The first time I pulled the trigger on many moose hunts,all unguided.

17 January 2019, 07:55

AnotherAZWriter

quote:
Originally posted by Alaska Hunter:
A 70" spread on a moose is very rare. An Alaskan Moose with a spread of 55" is considered trophy class, but width is just one part of the variable. I've seen 55" moose that are much more appealing than 2 different 70" moose that I've seen just because those 70" were very "thin" and scrawny looking. Mass and size of paddles, front mass and points all affect the appeal. Mass and dimension make the real difference.
In 35 years of hunting moose, I've never seen a 70" I could get to for a shot. I remember seeing 1 from the air that I judged to be in that class and he was certainly record book, but he was in a location I just could not get to.
I think Brett is telling you straight, some outfitters in great areas might take 1 or 2 a year, but remember these outfitters are out there all the time, they know their areas and how, when and where to hunt those big guys. Most of all they're just blessed to have the habitat and genetics in their areas to produce that spread and hopefully the mass to hit the B&C minimum.
I'd say a reasonable expectation with a good outfitter in a good area would be a shot at a 58" to 60" maybe plus animal. Believe me, those can be massive brutes.

I would rather shoot a 65 inch moose with huge palms than a 75" with fork horns out the front.

17 January 2019, 19:59

Atkinson

About like a 42 inch Mule deer, or 50 inch cape buffalo, or a 100 lb plus elephant, Once in a lifetime trophys..That said they do exist...

17 January 2019, 21:21

458Win

quote:
Originally posted by p dog shooter:
quote:
Horns over 70 inches are almost non-existent.

You need to visit some long horn cattle ranches 70 inchers not that un common.

Are those legal game animals ?

18 January 2019, 02:48

p dog shooter

quote:
Originally posted by 458Win:
quote:
Originally posted by p dog shooter:
quote:
Horns over 70 inches are almost non-existent.

You need to visit some long horn cattle ranches 70 inchers not that un common.

Are those legal game animals ?

Depends on how much the rancher charges and you want to pay.

18 January 2019, 04:40

buckeyeshooter

quote:
Originally posted by SCHALL53:
quote:
Originally posted by 458Win:
Horns over 70 inches are almost non-existent.

But antlers, which grow and are shed every year, are not that uncommon.

Thanks Phil, I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one that was bothering.

Thanks for the correction. I forgot, one must be precise here or one will be flayed alive

18 January 2019, 05:10

A.J. Hydell

Chuke & his hunting buds have taken a couple like that.

Just have to be in the right place at the right time.

18 January 2019, 05:13

JBrown

quote:
Originally posted by Atkinson:
About like a 42 inch Mule deer, or 50 inch cape buffalo, or a 100 lb plus elephant, Once in a lifetime trophys..That said they do exist...

I'm not trying to be smart, but it seems to me that we hear/see a of a lot more 70"+ moose taken each year than we do 42" mule deer, 50 in buffalo or 100 pound elephant.

Am I wrong on this?

Jason

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18 January 2019, 19:11

buckeyeshooter

That was why I asked. I guy out tooling around the wilderness finds a wolf kill, then looks around and finds a huge skull and antlers. Kind of like me walking the back field on the farm and finding a 250 whitetail skull. You know there a some, but how common? My guess is near a day flight to a road, the game would probably die of old age or being eaten... so it might be possible they have more time to grow. But, folks that live there would have the insight.

18 January 2019, 20:41

MARK H. YOUNG

Southwest AK has some giants but in 22 years of living there the largest we shot were 63"-65" with the 63" being a far bigger moose in all respects. I had my hands on a genuine 69" and saw 2 of that size and larger in the wild. One of those monsters I tried to kill but no cigar. Personally I think 70 inches is a monster and far from common.

Mark

18 January 2019, 22:14

Frostbit

quote:
Originally posted by buckeyeshooter:
That was why I asked. I guy out tooling around the wilderness finds a wolf kill, then looks around and finds a huge skull and antlers. Kind of like me walking the back field on the farm and finding a 250 whitetail skull. You know there a some, but how common? My guess is near a day flight to a road, the game would probably die of old age or being eaten... so it might be possible they have more time to grow. But, folks that live there would have the insight.

I could be wrong but "old age" isn't a factor as much as genetics. Moose antler size decreases annually as advanced age occurs.

Moose antler size

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19 January 2019, 03:45

Antlers

Over the last 17yrs, I have seen 4 bulls that I am confident were 70"+. I killed two of those (70&6/8" and 73&2/8"), and I believe one of those 4 bulls was in the 80" range

They are not common, but I think they are more common than a 250" whitetail, a 100# ele (at least in this century), or a 50" buff.

25 January 2019, 23:02

justanotherhunter

You can always spend some time digging in the harvest records on the ADFG site. There is a particular outfitter that hunts an area not really hyped about, and that consistently has one or more clients harvest +70" moose each year, and the rest are usually in the mid 60's. The guy charges around $30k for those moose hunts though!

26 January 2019, 06:29

sage

quote:
Originally posted by Antlers:
Over the last 17yrs, I have seen 4 bulls that I am confident were 70"+. I killed two of those (70&6/8" and 73&2/8"), and I believe one of those 4 bulls was in the 80" range

They are not common, but I think they are more common than a 250" whitetail, a 100# ele (at least in this century), or a 50" buff.

Any chance you could post some pics of these bulls.
Thanks

26 January 2019, 08:50

Antlers

quote:
Originally posted by sage:
quote:
Originally posted by Antlers:
Over the last 17yrs, I have seen 4 bulls that I am confident were 70"+. I killed two of those (70&6/8" and 73&2/8"), and I believe one of those 4 bulls was in the 80" range

They are not common, but I think they are more common than a 250" whitetail, a 100# ele (at least in this century), or a 50" buff.

Any chance you could post some pics of these bulls.
Thanks

A pic of each is in this thread:

http://forums.accuratereloadin...043/m/9041075922/p/2

26 January 2019, 21:30

69deer

A pic of mine is under this heading, Look at My Dillingham Moose. Oct 1 2017 73 5/8 wide

26 January 2019, 21:39

MARK H. YOUNG

I know where those monsters came from! If I'm right it was not just dumb luck that got you those bulls.

Mark

27 January 2019, 07:27

sage

Wow some great moose there (antlers) I couldn't find yours (69deer) found it another wow very impressive moose
Thanks for the links guys.

29 January 2019, 01:12

BushPeter

Here is the thread 69deer refers to, huge antlers!

My Dillingham Moose

06 February 2019, 22:33

vicvanb

Here's my analogy:

60 inch bull=6'4" man--big but quite common
70 inch bull=6'8" man--very big and uncommen
80 inch bull=7' man--very, very uncommon but makes 60 inch bull or 6'4" man look small

The John Crouse bull taken north of Tok that used to be the Number 1 Boone and Crockett head had a 65 inch spread so spread isn't everything.

I think there are only one or two 80 inch heads in the B&C record book. I knew (and measured) one in the 1996-1999 time period. He had it all--huge spread, wide palms, big brow tines, long tines, etc. Truly exceptional. I've seen only a couple similar bulls in 50 years of looking at thousands moose.

07 February 2019, 20:46

Atkinson

JBrown,
If you want to get technical you might be right, who knows for sure. your post was as pointless as mine!

Ive seen a 42 inch buck mounted, and a 100 lb elephant tusk, and shot a 19.5 inch pronghorn with my camera and later found him dead on our ranch growing up, so these animals do exist. Ive never seen a live 70 inch moose.

08 February 2019, 10:56

JBrown

Neither of our posts were "pointless". You were making a comment on the rarity of 70" moose and I was asking if your comparison might be a slight exaggeration.

It is my impression that 70" moose are rare, but not quite as rare as the three trophies you mentioned. I was just hoping that some of those who are more knowledgeable than me might be able to fill me in.

16 February 2019, 04:44

eezridr

about 30 years ago a few were coming off the Kelly river up off the Noatak.
I shot a nice +55" up there. There was a 58"taken while I was up there at the airport in Kotzebue that looked like a porcupine with 14-18" Spines / tines coming off his heavy heavy paddles. He had 5 spine coming of what I would call his bez. I believe I have some pics somewhere. Most impressive moose antlers I have ever seen. Bet he was a fighter with all those long tines going straight up.
Super massive.

23 February 2019, 05:20

deadibob

Last week at the Hunt Expo in SLC there was a booth (Wild Alaska hunts/Chad Reel) that had a huge European moose head. I asked how big and he said it was 75". I didn't measure it, but I also didn't doubt it.

23 February 2019, 19:06

Grizzly Adams

It's a Reality show. How many women out there with 50 inch boobs ?

Grizz

25 February 2019, 20:28

69deer

I knew I was lucky but now I know just how lucky!!

27 March 2019, 21:50

Atkinson

I think it was a fairly good comparison, but how could anyone know for sure as many were never reported back in the day, I know some 40 to 42 inch mule deer have been shot, Ive seen pictures, mounted head, and read about it. I know a larger number of 50 inch buffao have been reported in a certain area boarding parks and 100 pound and heavier elephant were all but common plaice at one time in some years past, and one or two, maybe more still crop up from time to time today..Its a moot question to start with..