Anyone done a drive up DIY Moose hunt in AK?

[Pathfinder101]

My ex and I drove to Anchorage for our honeymoon, three relatively leisurely days to get there, two hard driving days to come back.  We had over three hundred pounds of meat and fish frozen in coolers for the trip back.     The Alaska highway back in 93 was no big deal other than some potholes and gravelly areas, it's got to be better now, I would think.  We did a drop camp where we were just dropped out in the boonies with our wits and our gear hunting caribou.  We both got nice animals and could have taken second ones if we had wanted to.

Sounds like a fun trip.

Lokidog,
What was the cost of the drop camp?  Was it fly in?

[lokidog]

My ex and I drove to Anchorage for our honeymoon, three relatively leisurely days to get there, two hard driving days to come back.  We had over three hundred pounds of meat and fish frozen in coolers for the trip back.     The Alaska highway back in 93 was no big deal other than some potholes and gravelly areas, it's got to be better now, I would think.  We did a drop camp where we were just dropped out in the boonies with our wits and our gear hunting caribou.  We both got nice animals and could have taken second ones if we had wanted to.

Sounds like a fun trip.

Lokidog,
What was the cost of the drop camp?  Was it fly in?

This was a long time ago, it was $1100 for each of us (maybe for both of us?), I think.  We used Willow Air.  We didn't see huge numbers of caribou but enough to get two nice ones.  We also saw three big grizzlies, but they were a long way from camp, fortunately.  They provided the float plane and we provided everything else.

[actionshooter]

I'm doing a moose/caribou float trip this year, driving to Fairbanks from Olympia in Sept................ been in the planning stages for almost a year, the logistics of a hunt like this can keep you busy.

[actionshooter]

Our 3rd mode of transportation in the trip 



 

[KFhunter]

^  that there is gettin it done

[elk247]

Sundance, you got a good game plan. It would be nice if you could put an ice maker on your bay boat. Heck, you could rent one of the units. Most folks are long gone by august. They have no need for their ice makers in september.

[actionshooter]

Sundance, that sounds like a pretty good way to go! I wish I had those options. 

 Here is our plan;

 The wife and I are taking 8-9 days to drive up and plan on hitting the road hard for the 1st couple of days and then we will slow down and see the sights. I really want to take our time and drive the Alcan.

 Once in Fairbanks we are going on to go stay in a lodge at Denali for a night. Then I am dropping the wife of at the airport where she flies home and I hook up with my buddies who are flying in from MT and TN.

 We are flying from Fairbanks out to the Brooks (almost 3 hours 1 way!!!) in Helio's. Then we are going to spend 5 days as high as we can in a river drainage hunting caribou, arranged a mid-hunt meat pick up (which was not easy). After the pick-up we are going too spend 10 days floating for moose and hopefully a wolf or 5  . Lots of fishing too!
 Then a bushplane pick-up 120 miles down river from where we started.

For the trip home.
 My buddy who is from MT is flying up 1 way out of Spokane, then driving back with me to his truck in Spokane. MapQuest says its 2400 miles/41 hours....

Everyone is mailing their gear to me and then I will be hauling it up. I have a 14' enclosed trailer with an inverter installed and a chest freezer which runs while we are driving.

If anyone has any questions just let me know,
This has been my dream hunt for years and have been working on details for 2 years and been seriously planning for about a year and we are pretty much ready to go now. 

[elk247]

I understand. I think. Im just wondering how you will wrap the quarters? If it was broken down, processed and vaccume sealed, it makes sense. I completely understand with the slush ice. Espicially after a big day like 20k the last thing you want to do is sit in the ice line. I was talking about the newer smaller units that you can mount on the flying bridge. Your totes might be enough though. Good tips too. The bears, bugs, and eagles will all be after your spoils. A 32' boat can get small in a hurry. Thats a fact.

[actionshooter]

Bring something to rub on the quarters if the insects will be out where you are hunting, pepper and vinegar is what I have been advised.

I used the vinegar and black pepper years ago but have gone to citric acid..........here is a really good article

http://www.outdoorsdirectory.com/magazine/citric_acid.htm

[KFhunter]

^  man I dunno about that,  plastic and meat don't go together too well unless it's frozen. 

You'll have slimy rotted meat pretty quick if it don't breathe.  I wonder if a guy couldn't wrap cotton or towels around the meat then seal it 
Just something to keep the plastic from direct contact. 


I typically just load a cooler with dry ice,  a cooler full of dry ice will stay cold a LONG time. 
Then just chunk out some and put it on top the meat in other coolers and it'll do it's thing.  Use cotton towels to keep the dry ice off the meat from direct contact.   If you put dry ice on the bottom it doesn't freeze upwards very well,  but if you put it on the top it'll freeze downwards VERY well. 
Or you could just make your own dry ice on the boat if you want to pack a bottle of CO2 with a siphon hose and dry ice maker.



For euro or shoulder mount I guess that would depend how far down the river I was 

mile to the truck ya I'd cape it,  100 miles from the truck and a euro would look pretty good!

[elk247]

Geeze, i hadn't thought it out. I see what you were saying about the refer. Thats what i thought you meant. You have a heck of a plan. That ice maker and a false bottom in the fish holds with iced down meat on top and the melted runoff being pumped out would be the ticket.

[washelkhunter]

Don't over think this fellas. Im sure there is cold storage available and perhaps even processing. I mean who better to cut up your moose than someone who does it all the time right? If its been froze solid it should keep easy for 5-7 days for the drive home if your prepared with coolers and such. Seems crazy to me thinking about hauling freezers up there. I'd be happy to fill a 150 qt cooler full with choice cuts and then donate the excess to the local food bank.

[Austrian Hunter]

Geeze, i hadn't thought it out. I see what you were saying about the refer. Thats what i thought you meant. You have a heck of a plan. That ice maker and a false bottom in the fish holds with iced down meat on top and the melted runoff being pumped out would be the ticket.

That's genius!! 

[Austrian Hunter]

Like Bone said, he did it and brought back all the meat!  I don't think he had anything else than coolers, dry ice etc.. 

[KFhunter]

Don't over think this fellas. Im sure there is cold storage available and perhaps even processing. I mean who better to cut up your moose than someone who does it all the time right? If its been froze solid it should keep easy for 5-7 days for the drive home if your prepared with coolers and such. Seems crazy to me thinking about hauling freezers up there. I'd be happy to fill a 150 qt cooler full with choice cuts and then donate the excess to the local food bank.

\

newer chest freezers are lightweight and use very little power - a chest freezer will weight much less than coolers full of ice and meat and there is zero chance of meat spoilage. 

25 cubic footer is 250 lbs or so, how much ice in coolers would it take to bring home 25 cubic foot of moose, boo's, and fish?
That's 7.5 100qt coolers, but you don't loose room to ice.

cheaper fuel cost with less weight
make your own ice
no chance of spoilage
no hunting for ice at 3am
no water draining all over