Alaska Moose Hunt

[elkdiesel]

Hey guys my dad, brother, and I are planning an OYOA to Alaska next fall to hunt moose. Does anyone have some good advise to pass along? This will be the first hunting trip to alaska for any of us, so any suggestions would be appriciated.

 

[Bambistew]

What do you have planned so far? Float, fly in, or off the road?

A quality pack will make life a lot easier, you'll be looking at 450-500+ pounds of boned out meat and more if you're in a 'bone in' area.

There are 2 'rules' that always get mentioned, usually by hunters who have little experience or are lazy..
Don't shoot one more than a mile from the road/strip/river.
Don't shoot more than one at a time.

If you're prepared to go on an expensive camping trip and come home without one listen to that advice. I would not recomend shooting one in the water, other wise blast away. As with any hunt, know your limitations on packing and weather (heat).

Get a moose calling DVD and learn how to call and where/how to set up. They're not particularly hard to call in. A plastic quart oil jug with the bottom cut off works just as well as the $30 bull magnet. I would recomend taking 2, tape one on the end of a stick to simulate a bull raking, and use the other to call with. Improvise as required for the quart jug.

Bring citric acid and twice as many game bags as you think you'll need. Game Saver and TAG bags is what I've been using. TAG bags are spendy, but very tough. Game Saver is a powder you mix with water.

An 16-18" capenters handsaw is the ticket for antler extraction...

If you can get by on a sheep hunt with 60lbs of gear for 10 days you can do the same on a moose hunt. It may mean the diffrence of where you can fly into and for what price. The way I look at it, the more crap you bring the more time you waste in camp, setting it up and 'relaxing'... you can relax at home.

Bring at least 3 tarps and enough rope/stakes to string them up. One for meat, one for camp, and one for a spare.

Good luck on your hunt.

 

[Calvin]

- Know the true costs. Do all of your homework BEFORE you put in for a drawing area. Not after. Don't put in for an area unless you know a good transporter goes in there. Ask about flight time, cost per hour, payload, and range/speed of aircraft. Ask about freezers, freight to haul meat back to Anchorage/Fairbanks. All that really ads up! Start a Microsoft excel spreadsheet to keep track of what everything will cost ya. Some operations provide a flat fee for the transporting. Other operations provide a flat fee, plus a meat pick up fee. Other operations give you a "per hour" rate.

- Learn to use the ADFG website. It has all the info you ever could need for success rates, antler size, dates of kills, drainages used, etc.. Everything hunters put on their harvest reports is online. You just gotta know where to look.

- Talk to the local bio for the area you are thinking of.. Some areas in AK are getting over hunted, or have bear/wolf problems. Never take the word of the transporter or some guy who hunted an area 10 years ago. Things change. Talk to the bio. i repeat.. talk to the bio..(grin)

 

[elkdiesel]

Thanks guys, I have been working through a lot of these things, but you have brought up some great points. Thanks!!!!

 

[mdhunter61]

...There are 2 'rules' that always get mentioned, usually by hunters who have little experience or are lazy..
Don't shoot one more than a mile from the road/strip/river.
Don't shoot more than one at a time.

If you're prepared to go on an expensive camping trip and come home without one listen to that advice.

Ummmm...I'm not disagreeing with Bambistew - but let me add that not everyone is in the shape he is, so BEFORE you shoot one more than a mile from camp, or shoot more than one at once, make sure you're ready for the work that comes with it. Think of field dressing 2-3 elk at once, and you're in the ballpark of the effort needed for one large moose.

And if you shoot one in a swamp, imagine packing 100 pound quarters over a field of basketballs sitting on top of a sponge, and that's what walking the tundra can feel like.

Not trying to dissuade you at all, but just want to make sure you are prepared for the effort. It's a BLAST to shoot a big bull....and then reality sets in, when you walk up to that sucker and 2 guys (3 in your case) gotta take care of it.

Just so I don't sound like a downer, here's a little incentive...

 

[elkdiesel]

mdhunter,
Thanks for the advise. We are committed to being in the best shape of our lives before we leave, but know it will still be a ton of work. We will be missing our horses the moment we pull the trigger (if we get so lucky). Those pictures are awsome! Both the wolf and the moose are really nice looking animals. thanks for sharing.

 

[BOWUNTR]

Great info... I leave for my very first moose hunt in 235 days!!! OYOA bowhunt in the Alaskan bush for 10 days. Can't wait. Ed F

 

[Dinkshooter]

mdhunter that is a great moose not to mention a fine picture. How wide?

 

[the nikster]

Didn't Michael harvest both of those within minutes?
Ed, same general area as this years caribou hunt?
HIJACK OVER,
Having packed a couple of caribou less than a mile I will probably reduce my radius significantly! I think a float allows me the easiest options as far as getting them close to the river-not always though.
On my float I saw 4 bulls within 1/4 mile of the river and none at a distance and I glassed alot! Even on my caribou hunts I have seen several bull moose near the rivers but not away from them....hmmm.
Lots of guys stay with what works for them and harvest moose every year away from the river.
I would say this. With more than 1 tagholder I would probably try to find an any-bull area to increase odds of success. Then maybe go after a 70"er on a hunt with fewer hunters, but that's just me.

 

[mdhunter61]

mdhunter that is a great moose not to mention a fine picture. How wide?

56 inches...and the Nikster is right, I shot the wolf...was waiting for the shot echoes to die, and the lands to get back to normal, before walking over to check it out...happened to look down in the trees, and saw a canoe paddle sticking out - about 20 minutes later, big bull down!

Back on topic - 4 hours later, me and another guy had the bull field dressed, quarters on the bone stashed away from the carcass, and packed the first load each (backstrap and burger) about 1/2 mile back to camp. After another 4 loads apiece the next day, we had all the meat back at camp, and my legs felt like jelly.

 

[Bambistew]

Md... Sweet bull and wolf! I missed a big blacky this fall, I hit right under his chest... Still sad over that one.

Did you split the hind quarters? Thats a lot of trips. Boned out, I would say 6 trips is about average.

You're right about hiking meat out of a swamp, it sucks...but moose live in swamps. I know guys that won't shoot one unless they can get their plane to it. Then again they don't shoot many either. Being mentally prepared is a bigger part of it than being in top shape. know your limitations and stick to them, all I'm sugesting is not to set the bar too low. A mile isn't that far...

I've only gutted one moose, and didn't think it was that bad compared to an elk. Gutless is the way to go if you can. The one we gutted was due to the fact we had two down about 200 yards appart over a mile from camp.

This one died in ankle deep water and about 2.5 miles from the landing strip... It wasn't all swamp getting back luckily, and didn't kill me packing it out either.

 

[Wyodeerhunter]

Being mentally prepared is a bigger part of it than being in top shape. know your limitations and stick to them

Best advice right there.

Md,
I love your moose but I just eye f--- your wolf. Rug or mount? That baby would be full body mount and ride shotgun with me where ever I go. Dannnng!

 

[mixedbag]

mdhunter,your killing me.Hope your search is going well;you know what I mean.Hope to be standing out there in 2012

 

[mdhunter61]

Md... Sweet bull and wolf! I missed a big blacky this fall, I hit right under his chest... Still sad over that one.

Did you split the hind quarters? Thats a lot of trips. Boned out, I would say 6 trips is about average.

You're right about hiking meat out of a swamp, it sucks...but moose live in swamps. I know guys that won't shoot one unless they can get their plane to it. Then again they don't shoot many either. Being mentally prepared is a bigger part of it than being in top shape. know your limitations and stick to them, all I'm sugesting is not to set the bar too low. A mile isn't that far...

I've only gutted one moose, and didn't think it was that bad compared to an elk. Gutless is the way to go if you can. The one we gutted was due to the fact we had two down about 200 yards appart over a mile from camp.

This one died in ankle deep water and about 2.5 miles from the landing strip... It wasn't all swamp getting back luckily, and didn't kill me packing it out either.

Hey Stew,

We did the gutless method also...and we didn't man up with heavy loads like you and Ernesto both did this fall, we took 5 loads apiece of about 50-60 pounds boned out; it was about 1/2 mile to the top of the ridge. BUT, we did follow that up with about a 6-8 mile hike over the surroiunding ridgetops the next day...my legs definitely felt like jelly after that.

Nothing like the packing you and you girlfriend did this fall, but my legs knew I'd been doing something the next day.

 

[mdhunter61]

Best advice right there.

Md,
I love your moose but I just eye f--- your wolf. Rug or mount? That baby would be full body mount and ride shotgun with me where ever I go. Dannnng!

Happy Birthday Dude! Shot that moose and wolf in country you know, with Leif and Randy back in 2006. And, that was me with Nick (the Nikster) this fall in Tok; I was the guy who kept all his meat but gave away the antlers (gave away those moose antlers too). We saw you and your buddy just before you hit the field and you found that monster bull for him!

You mentioned maybe a moose hunt in Unit 13 after you got back from your buddy's hunt - did that happen? Any luck if so?