Any interest in an actual hunting thread ?

[CRJR45]

Any idea why I’m getting this pattern?
First shot is good then next three are low ?
28 Nosler/195EOL Bergers/n570 78.4 grs .

I was trying different seating depth, but I’ve been getting this pattern with this load combo. I let the barrel cool between targets .
MV averaged 2838 .

Eleven days before I leave and I’m switching scopes , putting the Accupoint 3x18 on it .

 

[CRJR45]

So much happier with the scope switch .
Just a cleaner reticle and the green dot is much easier for my eye to pickup .
My three best of today .

Also took a cardboard cutout of 50” Moose antlers .
At one hundred yards and on third power magnification , 50” is eight hash marks on the reticle exactly.

 

[cgasner1]

I played the 50” reticle game once. Told myself I wouldn’t shoot under 55” if I had to do it. I got lucky I got to keep my bull it didn’t get much closer to 50” than he was. I’d highly recommend just counting tines unless your dead sure

 

[CRJR45]

I played the 50” reticle game once. Told myself I wouldn’t shoot under 55” if I had to do it. I got lucky I got to keep my bull it didn’t get much closer to 50” than he was. I’d highly recommend just counting tines unless your dead sure

I understand and agree , just a benchmark , sort of . What if it’s 130 out ?
I kind of felt silly after seeing it in use , but still good to know .

 

[cgasner1]

I understand and agree , just a benchmark , sort of . What if it’s 130 out ?
I kind of felt silly after seeing it in use , but still good to know .

I had a chart on my phone went out to like 500 and how many hash’s it was. Mine went like 50 1/8 was a couple crummy days after hoping it made the cut

 

[CRJR45]

Wow , but it worked! But yes that would suck .

 

[Vek]

The solo moose flip for boning is a bit of an olympic event...bring a good quantity of rope to tie off the back leg while you raise the front leg and vice-versa. They don't flip easy with the headgear still attached, either. I saw-cut the skullcap off but that's its own chore. Some sever the head but the head is huge. Good to have options.

I'd say a 130lb bone-in hind is on the heavy end of normal but I'm sure that's been exceeded somewhere by someone sometime and therefore the 170lb hindquarter is the fabled norm. I only weighed one..it was just over 120lb in my garage and came off a 56" bull. The regulation says that meat of the quarters must remain on the bones, but it makes no distinction about how many joints need to remain assembled. If a hind is too heavy, cut it apart at the knee. I never had to go there.

Take your time and don't get hurt. I wouldn't bother trying to cover every contingency...you can cover a lot of potential problems with some extra rope and gamebags, and a tarp. Don't think about every pulley and winch combo needed to extract a moose from the hip-deep mess you shot him in, rather think about how you plan to hang and secure the meat for the balance of the trip, because that's a real job.

Knife-wise I've skinned and boned an entire bull using various knives but it's nice to have a knife with a meaningfully stiff blade and full handle for various things...I'll call that a "hunting knife" for purpose of this discussion. Havalon + scalpel blades didn't do well for me when slitting skin along the neck and backline, but a 3" blade of decent steel on a decent handle made it easy...I found a little bit of knife push and leverage to be useful. I'm sure some have boned the whole thing with a havalon scalpel but that's not my experience. I'd feel well equipped with a victorinox and small sharpener for boning and a "hunting knife" for skinning. I hunted with a guy who brought a couple of fixed-blade buck knives with blades between 5" and 6" long...this was a river hunt so I had a lansky with and I spent two evenings with coarse stones putting a usable edge on one of those, and it was still too big to be really useful compared to a 3" or so. JMO.

I've shot 2 moose in a 50" or better area which I eyeballed width using the 10" to outside of eyeballs rule of thumb...one was 54 and the other 58, and I was 95% certain on both of them. If you're going to test that theory to a knife edge using optics and hashes, well, good luck. I doubt you'd get hammered on a 49" bull with tall wide palms and heavy bases, but that might not be the case with a spindly 48". I don't speak for enforcement but the one time I was checked was on the 54 and he didn't even bother with a tape measure.

I never hunted moose out of a "spot" like a destination airstrip so I always aimed to keep it light and lean. It's a lot easier to pack up and walk or float away with a small camp than a large one. The one big "float trip" I did, I brought my 4-man tipi with stove (which we fired once), my partner had a north face 4-season 4-man as backup. We put up the north face only once, more to see what it looked like than anything as it was new to him. Tiny door and tiny space compared to the tipi, and weighed about 8 times as much. But reassuring to have with. The other pair on the hunt had a heavy 4-season also. I was always packed and ready to float well ahead of the others. Logistics will dictate how carried away to get with shelter. Tipis are great for space and waiting out rain, less so for hurricanes.

 

[CRJR45]

@Vek Thank you , lots of good stuff there .

 

[CRJR45]

Well , I hate to say it but ....

I think I'm ready , LOL . I've been packing and repacking . It's like packing for two trips in one , stuff I'll need with the wife , then stuff for the hunt .

The poor dog knows what's going on , he mopes around the whole time I'm doing it , getting in the way .
Wish he was going on the hunt .

I'm going to look like I'm moving to Alaska , I'm taking a lot of stuff .

 

[Caseknife]

Have fun and stay safe. Enjoy the cruise with your wife without thinking of the hunt, then go hunting!
Take lots of scenery pictures.

 

[Elktrack]

Have fun and stay safe. Enjoy the cruise with your wife without thinking of the hunt, then go hunting!
Take lots of scenery pictures.

Without thinking of hunting?????
How does one do that?
That’s like trying not to breathe.

 

[CRJR45]

And of course I come down with a cold / sinus headache.
Fun stuff

 

[CRJR45]

Well the flight from Chicago is stuck on the tarmac because of tornado warnings, been sitting here an hour already and no idea when we leave .
It’s always something,

 

[Dave N]

Well the flight from Chicago is stuck on the tarmac because of tornado warnings, been sitting here an hour already and no idea when we leave .
It’s always something,

Radar shows it hasn't gotten there yet. Supposed to storm for quite a while. Nothing says Shitcago like sitting on the ground in an airplane waiting for a storm to come instead of taking off and getting away from it!

 

[CRJR45]

Flight cancelled

 

[Dave N]

Flight cancelled

Figured.

 

[CRJR45]

Fort Lauderdale to Chicago , spent the night in the concourse.
Now boarding for Houston then Anchorage .
Scenic tour of the nation . Fun

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

Fort Lauderdale to Chicago , spent the night in the concourse.
Now boarding for Houston then Anchorage .
Scenic tour of the nation . Fun

That’s pretty much the state of all air travel these days, bad weather or not. Safe travels and good luck!

 

[Dave N]

Fort Lauderdale to Chicago , spent the night in the concourse.
Now boarding for Houston then Anchorage .
Scenic tour of the nation . Fun

Dang, you're bouncing back and forth too much! Was there a reason you had so many connections?

 

[CRJR45]

It was supposed be just Chicago then Ak , but the cancellation screwed everything up .
This is the only flight there today .
Just landed in Houston, now another four hour layover , yee haw !
Are we having fun yet ?