quote:

Originally posted by Bear in Fairbanks:
Alaskaman11:
Wot the "ell? I'd shoot 'em all. Our area is any bull and I only want to fill the freezer.
Bear in Fairbanks

Ya ya...rub it in!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Snowwolfe:
hunting up here is not the same as hunting in WY and one of the main reasons is the type of ground found in Alaska, tundra, musskeg, what is commonly called by some hunters as "N" heads, etc.

Think a hunt for moose in WY is the same? Not a chance. 1 mile carrying a quarter up here is like 5 miles down there.


I agree with this 100%. Me and a buddy killed a caribou a GPS'd 1.9 miles away from our camp the evening before we were to get picked up in the Brooks Range. It was flat as a pancake and looked like a huge grassy field. It was JUST a bull caribou, but we took every scrap of edible meat, horns and cape in one trip. It was a chore. That flat grassy meadow becomes covered in car, truck, tractor tires laying in 6-12" of water once you load up and start back.

Back in the mid '60's Dad and uncle both about 35-40y/o. Killed a moose each. Dad's was much bigger and around half mile from the boat take out. Most of the hike was in nearly knee deep mud/water. They made several trips each and boned it out, cape & rack. Them standing behind it in the mud, the bulls back came up almost to their waist. Uncles bull was nearly on the beach and not far to pack that one out.

BTDT many a time with elk. They usually don't get killed til on the other side of the mtn, or canyon most of the time, other side of several mtns and canyons.

Last elk I "killed" NOT TOOK as most of you say it! Was 200yds up a steep hillside in 16" of snow. At the shot, it slid downhill toward the truck nearly 80yds. I went up and just lightly tugged on an ear and it started sliding again. had to do that three times in all and then get out of the way. Last time it slid around 50yds and hit the rear wheel of the trk. By that time half dozen other hunters had come along to watch the show. I asked them to help load it. We just picked it up whole and put it in the p/up bed. Since that was on the main road and nowhere to gut it out I hauled it around to behind camp. Happened to find where 8 others had just killed their elk too. .SO we all ganged up on it and helped each other. Couple hrs we had 'em all cut and loaded. Some just gutted, others quartered. Never been that lucky in my life when it came to getting game out. Still hard to believe how easy that one was.

Tysue has hunted a lot, much in RSA so he's got an idea on size of game. But, he's gettin old too.
George

Forgot I had posted this, till George reminded me. I have been in on a moose kill, in Montana. Did take several hours to get it out of the pond, where it decided to go and die..only about 15 feet out, but thigh deep, and cold. We got lucky and had a rope, and a horse(s), but they didn't like the moose and would lunge. Broke the rope several times, but finally got it out. Then gutted and skinned it, and put the quarters on the horse, and lead them back to camp.. This was a Shiras moose, so about 800 lbs. Am familiar with the wanton waste statute. IF I could find a hunting partner, would like to do a DIY, and well aware of how difficult it can be to haul the meat out. Thanks for the information. Been trying to explain to one guy here about the distances you can walk, hunt, up there. Was up there in 96, though not hunting, and did some walking in the muskeg, and agree, it's a PITA, and would be more so with a leg on your back, packing it back..

Tysue,

Despite all the hand wringing on this thread about non residents not being able to judge width, count brow times, pack out a moose, or understand "want in waist" I had a great time on my successful self guided hunt which Joe Schuster outfitted.

Here is a link with a couple of pictures.

http://forums.accuratereloadin...8521043/m/6891086291

What is all this talk about packing it out? I am old and retired, I would just build a wik up and eat the SOB, then walk out fat in the spring.

quote:

Originally posted by raamw:
Fly-in Moose Hunting

Lloyd and Bruce fly in to the Alaskan interior to go moose hunting. They have a good hunt, and both manage to get a large moose. When the plane returns to pick them up, the pilot looks at the animals and says, "This little plane won't lift all of us, the equipment, and both of these animals--you'll have to leave one. We'd never make it over the trees on the take-off."

"That's baloney", says Bruce.

"Yeah," Lloyd agrees, "you're just chicken. We came out here last year and got two moose and that pilot had some guts; he wasn't afraid to take off."

"Yeah," said Bruce, "and his plane wasn't any bigger than yours!"

The pilot got angry, and said, "Well, if he did it, then I can do it, I can fly as well as anybody!" They loaded up, taxied at full throttle, and the plane almost made it, but didn't have the lift to clear the trees at the end of the lake. It clipped the top, then flipped, then broke up, scattering the baggage, animal carcasses, and passengers all through the brush.

Still alive, but shaken and dazed, the pilot sat up, shook his head to clear it, and said "Where are we?"

Bruce rolled out from being thrown in a bush, looked around, and said, "I'd say, about a hundred yards further than last year

Funny stuff, but true

Good grief, listening to some of the AK residents here would have you believe they are supermen and us lowly 48ers are a bunch of newbe wimps!

Yeah, a moose hunt in AK is a tough chore once you get the animal on the ground, and even tougher if you aren't picky about where you shoot him (let him get out of the water first)! But then, so is a back pack in, successful elk hunt in the mountains at 10,000' elevation where that animal has to be butchered and carried out on your back as well, with no horse or 4 wheeler assist. It's all tough, and highly rewarding to DIY.

I did a DIY moose hunt in 98 with two friends. Shot my moose on day 9 of a 14 day hunt which included a change of venue from our DIY caribou hunt earlier in the trip. Yep, it helps tremendously to hunt with a buddy, or two. In fact, highly recommended if for nothing else but to have one guy watch for bears. But I wouldn't classify our hunt as anything close to being beyond our capabilities. I think anyone with decent butchering skills can handle the task as long as they are physically capable.

In our case, it took about 3 hours to get the animal fully butchered, placed into heavy duty game bags, and hung high enough into the trees to prevent bears getting to the meat. Yes, all of the useable meat was taken, including the meat between the ribs. We packed the meat about 2 miles back to the landing strip where we had our plane, then rehung it until we began flying it out the next day. We are all three pilots, although one has no tailwheel experience so wasn't able to help on the flying duties, and one of us owns a SuperCub and has a part time home in AK just outside of Homer. The pack out took two full days. On the first trip, all three of us carried meat. After that, one guy began shuttling meat and gear back to town in the plane. Had we been on a float trip, we could have all continued carrying meat and just struck out together on the raft once the animal was fully recovered.

Yep, a successful moose hunt is a hell of a lot of work and I wound't want to strike out to do it without a buddy along. But certainly not the end of the world scenario some here would have you believe. If you're in good shape and know how to butcher an animal, I'd say go for it. Don't let these guys scare you off of fulfilling your dream. After all, they are fulfilling theirs!

Alakaman11,

When I was up 5 years ago, my outfitter, IIRC, instructed me to figure the separation between the eyes at about 10". When I was watching this guy through my Zeiss spotter set on 45x, I kept coming up with about 70". My outfitter looked at him at said, "no, he'll go about mid 60". He actually went 62". Anyone can practice on a good hero shot as long as the final spread in inches is known.

Alan

Todd,

I think the point is that many DIY moose hunters do not realize the enormity of the task they will have taken on once the moose is down. A great many people have had no experience quartering an animal and packing a big animals and frankly overload their asses.

Every year when the transporters come to pick these guys up some of them will not have all the meat. These same guys will be so exhausted because they shot the moose in some hole 2 miles from camp that they are willing for the transporter to turn them into AK,F&G.

I agree a DIY moose is very doable and flying in and being dropped off in a remote lake is my favorite way of doing it. In fact Sadie and I used to do it by ourselves but we never left the area immediately around the lake, we could call moose, we knew what to do with a big bull once we had it on the ground and finally we always had a canoe to assist with the packing. Most DIY moose hunters on their first Alaska adventure do not have skills or experience necessary to have a successful and fun hunt thus I do not recommend it for any but the young, strong or demented.

Mark