A good friend's brother has lived in AK for 15-20 yrs and keeps telling us the hunting tales and its got my back up and I wanna go, specifically for moose. My friends and I talked it over, its still in the beginning stages and I wanted some imput. My friends brother said buy a permit and an airflight and he will provide the rest. Well I got questions and he cant be reached, probably because he's hunting moose!!

First, How can you get 2 or 3 moose (carcass)back home to Texas? I am sure they will waive extradition , but will it bankrupt us to ship it back, should someone plan on driving and bringing it home. There are 3 hearty Texas men planning on going on this sojourn and thats a lot of moose meat.

Next, specifically for me, caliber? I have a LH 416 Taylor with 300 gr TSX, LH 30-06 with 180 gr TSX or NP, LH 7 RM with a bullet TBA. I also have a RH 35 Whelen, but the LH is getting the nod as Im a lefty. Suggestions?

Antlers, I assume from reading here the wise bet is to ship antlers back via frieght, right?

Airfare, any particular thing I need to know reference taking our rifles to AK? I would love to take three weeks, a month and drive out, hunt a week-ten days, and drive back, but the job wont let me off that long.

What am I missing? Any pointers glaring at you guys that I need to know? I browsed looking for some answers but thought the direct approach is better.
Thanks in advance,
Eterry

Did you plan on heading up this year or next? How will you get to where you are hunting and where will you be hunting?

We are planning on next year, cant put it all together this year. Steve told me where he hunts, I think he lives close to Anchorage, and at this time all I recall its somewhere off the pipeline, which is probably like saying its somewhere in Texas. When I get more info, area, ect. I'll post. I know Steve uses a 338 WM, Sorry I dont have more info, been a while since I spoke to him, his brother is in contact on a regular basis.
Eterry

Shipping meat and antlers will be easier from Anchorage than the "Bush".

If you don't mind me saying, moose are heavy and in my experience half a bull per family is plenty of meat for the year. If you take other game adjust freezer capacity accordingly. For me that means giving away half a moose every year. Easy to do in Dillingham, I'd think the same in Anchorage.

If you don't want to immediately ship the meat home upon your departure from Alaska perhaps a shop like "Indian Valley Meat" could process and ship for you? I have only a little experience with that shop in particular but highly recommend them.

I was thinking that maybe sawing the skull plate in half could reduce the shipping cost of the antlers home for you. If you are interested in scoring and recording your trophy that is out of the question but if not any reputable taxidermist can repair the cutting with no noticable after effects.

I suspect your 416 is a very poor choice to use on moose and really poor for you to own. I would grudgingly take the burden from your shoulders.

I used my -06 to take the biggest bull I ever have.

I fly with firearms frequently and Alaska Airlines seems the simplest airline to use. I think they fly to Dallas?

we live outside fairbanks about 30 miles north. when you are not looking for moose, they will be in your yard just brousing and being in the way. when you plan a hunt, they mysteriously dissapear....sound familiar???
iv spent thousands of dollars on hunts here and spent just a few dollars with the same results,,,moose in the freezer. just depends on where and how your brother plans to take you for your hunt.
ive hunted with a 338wm, 375ruger, 45/70, 30-06 and 270w. all put the moose down in a hurry. just need to be able to place your shot every time. they are not hard to kill if you put your bullet in the boiler room at a good angle. gotta wait for the best shot tho as ive seen moose shot with a 416 and it walked off as if nothing happened. i also have had moose walk off with a 375 lodged in the other side hide after tearing thru the heart lung area. but they dont go far but will make you think you missed at first.
short storie is the 06 will do fine and its better with 180 gr boolits and a good hit every time.
now the other storie.......brownies!!! they are tuff and if you stumble on em when they are guarding a gut pile or other food,,,they will be very angry and the ferosity of their attack is something you will never forget!!!
guns that take the fight outta them range from 375 up. 12 bore sluge mixed with 00buck work well also. not trying to scare anyone as these seem to be few and distant occurances. but...when you do encounter them....better be prepared to shoot and keep on shooting till the beast is laying there dead.
have fun with your hunt and good luck

Not trying to be discouraging but you really need to find out where you will be hunting, how you will camp, and how you will get to the hunting area before meaningfull advice can be offered.
Backpacks, tents, all types of gear, etc need to be considered. How far from camp will you hunt? On foot? Can you carry a 150 pound hindquarter on your back pack? You have a year to research so you will do fine but you have to know the basics before you can start to plan.
Only plan on taking half the moose back with you. They are simply to large for the average family to eat in a year unless that is your only source of meat.

Eterry,

I went up north of Nome last year for Grizzly and came back with a 62" bull moose. Took my 9.3x62 but shot him with my 4-5/8" NMBH in 45 LC & 335 gr cast lead boolits. Any of the rifles you mentioned will cleanly drop a moose. I paid around $300 to get my intact rack to Salt Lake City. It was flown from Nome to Anchorage and trucked to Utah. Arrived sometime in mid to late Oct. I wasn't prepared to bring back any meat so it all went to the locals in Nome and Teller. Good luck and have fun.

Alan

Scott, it took me 5 years to get the 416 up and going, not ready to part with it just yet, but I'll keep you in mind. Thanks for the tips.

Ted, I know Steve mentioned he was hunting off the pipeline a few years back and a fellow hunter had drug a moose quarter under his truck and had a dog staked out to protect his kill. He returned to find his moose quarter and dog missing with griz sign everywhere.

I hope to have more info soon so this will make more sense, I want to use my 416, but logic says my 06 gets the nod.

More to follow.
Thanks, Eterry

You will be fine with the '06 for moose. While shipping meat and antlers back to the lower 48 is expensive, the drive up to Alaska will be far from free, both in gas and time. Plan to fly into Anchorage or Fairbanks and go from there.
Depending on how you are getting to the camp area (truck, bush plane, boat, etc.) you will have initial costs to get the meat back to civilization. It is very expensive to ship much moose meat back home. Even checking 50 pounds of frozen meat as checked luggage isn't cheap anymore. Planning to frieght cut and wrapped meat home is still very expensive. It is generally best to plan to leave most of the meat with locals, and bring back small quantities. If you all ship antlers together you can share the costs, but $300 per rack is really not that bad. Understand your meat cannot accompany them, as it must go air freight to avoid spoilage.

While I love moose meat, you can buy some of the finest Texas steaks for the price per pound just in shipping costs, when all is said and done. Enjoy the meat in camp, bring a few pounds home with you, and donate the rest. You will be far ahead in the game.

Bill

Getting to AK via plane with your gun is a breeze. You're not travelling internationally. Any of your rifles are fine. The only consideration is what you'd feel comfortable with if you encounter a bear.
Man, shipping the meat is going to cost a small fortune. Call one of the shippers in AK and find out about what it'd cost. You'll be shocked. And I'd think driving up there would be nuts also. The gas and mileage on your truck would exceed a plane ticket.
And bringing back three moose? Do you own a Ryder cargo truck? That's like bringing home 3 Bramha bulls. You'd have to have a trailer or something similar to bring back that much (antlers included).
May just consider shipping the antlers and some backstrap. Leave the rest with the locals.

Aint nothin wrong with your 416 Taylor and it would make a fine moose rifle if you shoot it well. I think what most people are trying to convey is moose dont require large calibers.
But hey, I love using the bigger bores myself so bring it and enjoy it!

I did find out my friends brother (Steve) hunts on unit 23C, not too far from Fairbanks where he lives and uses a RV for camping and ATV's for transportation on site. I did talk to an ex-inlaw of my friend who said she took both moose and caribu with an SKS 7.62x39, and soft point ammo, which goes to show you they are not bulletproof. As it stands now there are three of us wanting to go, and one wants to drive just for the experience, so we may come back with a trailer full of meat.

Eterry

Drive to Alaska from Texas wow! That is one heck of a haul... I made the trip from Arizona when the Army moved me with the family From Oregon to Anchorage it took me about 5 days... I left from Arizona to California I was thier in 1 days Californina to Oregon abut 2 days so all together 8 days of travel... Anyhow pretty much all the butcher shops in Anchorage will cut and wrap and ship your meat to you have no idea what the cost is. When I dropped my moose off this year Glenn had his truck full of boxes heading to Anchorage airport. I would just by a plane ticket fly thier with your buddies and be done with it.

How many days would you have in the field with your meat if the group managed to score a couple of bulls? Add in transportation back to Fairbanks, processing (which is the processors busiest time of the year) and then on the road to Texas and you are looking at a couple of spoiled moose.

If you had the moose processed and frozen in Fairbanks do you how many 100 quart coolers you would need for 2 moose and the dry ice required to keep it frozen? Am guessing you would need about 10-12 coolers per moose, maybe more.
Not trying to discourage you but you guys just need to give the logistics of your hunt some serious thought.

What Snowwolfe said! If the weather is hot & you can't get an early moose out, you're gonna lose it. If you decide to drive and hunt the interior, Delta Meat & Sausage in Delta Junction could take care of it for you, I suspect. They have a good reputation and they even pick up & deliver here in Fbks. If you left meat with them, I'm sure they'd ship it to you. I hate to think of the shipping cost for even 1 moose quarter cut & wrapped. As Scott mentioned, 1/2 moose per household is a lot and lasts my wife & I for a year (& we eat a lot of it).
As Snowwolfe said, it sounds as if you'd better seriously think about your logistics. There's no such thing as a small moose, as many who have collided with them in their Japanese "rice rocket" can attest.. Hope you have a good trip tho.
Bear in Fairbanks

Killed my first moose with a 338, second with an 06 and the last one, this year, with my 50-90 Sharps. Boy the Sharps really puts them down. No problem getting it home, Alaska Airlines will ship it. Jim

I think since you will be competing with the brownies for the rights to the moose, take the 416 if you shoot it close to as well as you shoot the 30-06.
As they say; when the sun goes down the food chain inverts.