ALASKA DIY MOOSE

[trophyhunt]

wow, how cool would that hunt be.  I wish Alaska wouldn't have doubled their tag fee's, a plan was in the works till they did.  That is an amazing bull, can't wait for the story. Congrats

[go4steelhd]

A few of the bulls we seen and one of the black bears

[go4steelhd]

Flight in

[Dhoey07]

Really cool!  Thanks for sharing

[go4steelhd]

The area

[go4steelhd]

Pond water and steak! That's the color the water was after being filtered. And yes it tastes like pond water

[go4steelhd]

Packing meat, caping, and breaking down the moose

[benhuntin]

Looks like an awesome trip.


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[trophyhunt]

Oh my God, I'm drooling on my key pad!! how damn sweet!!  Your pm is going to be full of people wanting all the info needed to do this!

[arees]

That trip is on my bucket list.  You are an inspiration.

[ctwiggs1]

Oh my God, I'm drooling on my key pad!! how damn sweet!!  Your pm is going to be full of people wanting all the info needed to do this!

Save ya a lot of time if you just list off the detes now 

Keep the pics coming - you've got us all drooling man

[Gringo31]

Fantastic!

Holy Fronts!

[go4steelhd]

Last few pics at the landing strip. And packing the coolers with meat. Then preparing the antlers to go back on the plane.

[RB]

Wow what a great experience, and a great Bull! 

[go4steelhd]

How this hunt started for me was a buddy and I were coyote hunting the warden derby and we talked about doing a float hunt. After digging in and doing some research I realized A DIY moose hunt is a head ache to research, schedule, and set up all the logistics. I looked at setting up float hunt, drop camp at a lake, river hunts with a boat and motor. Then coming up with a way to get the meat and antlers back. All this takes lots of time. And I came up with if you want less head ache it will cost lots of money. I heard of guys paying $2600 to get there meat back to Washington  And antlers costing $1200 to get back!  So I talked to as many people as I could on this forum and others to see what worked for them. We picked a ridge top hunt because it was a glassing spot and stalk type of hunt. Also we figured we would stay the driest this way and be able to look over a few bulls. As far as the horns and meat I found coolers on amazon that would ship to Alaska free and sent them to the guys hanger with duck tape and rubber tubbing and plastic wrap. The down side to a ridge hunt is you may have to pack a looooooong way and up. So I started a work out routine in April. With mostly 2 foot box step ups. First few weeks I did 200 then I went up a hundred every two weeks. Once I got to 700 I would wear a weight vest for the first 1/2 of the steps. Once I reached 1000 I then switched out of the gym and into the field. Putting on a pack with 55 pounds and walking 700 vertical feet up then down for two miles, then three miles on fairly flat ground with no pack. By the end of summer I was packing 105 pounds up the mountain and would do daily doubles a few times a week. The last two weeks before the hunt I would walk 4 miles In the hills with 55 pounds to let me knees heal up a bit before the hunt.
September 15 we flew to Alaska and met the bush pilot. He said we could get out that day if we hurry 40 mile an hour winds would be be coming in soon and we need to beat them. So we flew out and land on on a ridge top and I only seen one bull with in 5 miles of this spot. We got our gear off the plane and he flew away. It's sort of a weird feeling knowing you cannot walk back to the trailhead once you get dropped. But we set up camp in some willows to help stay out of the wind. That night I only seen one small bull scouting. You can not hunt the same day you fly. The next morning we walked out to a high point to glass. On the way out I seen a great bull a few miles off. The first day we seen maybe six bulls. I quickly seen how tough it is to walk in this terrain. It looks flat but there are two foot swells every where and it like doing lunges walking in it. While glassing we had a 60'inch type bull come out 400 yards below us. We passed. One bull caught my eye a long ways off like 5 miles maybe more he was a giant but fed over the back side of a far ridge and we never seen him again. The first bull I spotted a few miles away looked really good. After half the day we went after him only to have him slip away. We passed another 58 inch type bull on the way over. While looking for the big bull another bull fed out. Which we thought was the bull we were after.(I left my spotting scope and tripod at camp for the stalk figuring we would come back heavy) We made a slow stalk into 300 yards and my buddy made two great shots and put him down. Now the work begins  It took us three days to pack this bull out. Are packs weight was from 120 to 140 depending on the load, you had to leave the bone in on the quarters in the area we were hunting . This is with water, hand gun, and rain gear. It's a gut check to pack that a little under two miles one way each load. I puked once on the second day. We got the bull completely back to the landing strip. The moose activity had slowed way down when we packed this bull out because we had scent all over the canyon. After dropping our last packs I ate dinner and headed out to glass for a bull for me. As soon as I set down I seen a 50 inch bull in the brush maybe 1000 yards away. I looked back over towards the tent and could see a moose. I was maybe 3/4 mile away but I could see what looked like a shooter 30 yards from the tent. I only seen it for about three seconds then it turned around and went into the brush. I think it smelled us around the camp. I hurried back over and we went to were I last seen it and my buddy spotted him in the brush. I kneel down and pull up my rifle. I can't tell if he's a shooter yet only seeing one horn. The bull takes a few steps and I seen it was the bull From the first morning. Quickly the  drop tines and the 5 eye guards on the one side let me know this was him and he's a shooter. Two quick shots and he went down. When we walked up I was truly impressed with the body size. It was like walking up on a Clydesdale. And the best part was this bull was 150 yards to the landing strip we worked on this bull till just before dark. My hands were cramping badly and I was drained but pumped from taking a fantastic bull. The next morning we finished taking care of the bull and caping him. I literally broke down two bulls with help and caped the both with out cutting a finger. We took the head off and I was cutting the last two pieces of meat off the skull where the ears our and my knife slipped  and went into my palm. I hit a vessel. My hand quickly covered in blood. The bleeding would not stop. I keep 4 feet of duck tape a few paper towels and some mole skin for my first aide kit in my pack. Well it was raining badly so the tape would not stick. My hunting partner ran back to camp and got the real first aid kit. We gauzed it and ace bandage to hold it. I told him I was going to lay down in camp for two hours and let spot bleeding. He packed the majority of my moose to the strip In the rain by himself. I helped with the last couple light loads. Thanks man you are one of a kind we had enreach to contact he pilot. We got told that we would get picked up everyday for the next six days even packing camp to the strip one day only to have to re set it up that night. But hey We Got the full Alaskan experience.