Moose Hunting Northern BC in 2019

[Jason]

I'm pretty excited. A couple buddies and myself booked a guided Moose hunt with Lonesome Mountain Outfitters for 2019. This will be my first guided hunt ever, I've always liked doing stuff on my own so this will be new to me. We went with this outfitter because we didn't want a hunt to where would be driving around in a pickup on maintained roads looking for game all the time, that was not appealing to us, we wanted a more of a hunt that we had to work for it. Also I've never been to Canada so that will be an adventure in its self. We will be there for 14 days and hunting for 12 of those and we have the camp to ourselves. 

[Magnum_Willys]

What dates?  Last week Sep 1st week oct during rut odds are triple what other weeks are. But you dont want too easy so its all a tradeoff.  Northern BC moose is one of my favorite hunts.  The right guides can be a fun part of the experience.

[boneaddict]

Sweet!   Can I ask how many Ks

[Jason]

What dates?  Last week Sep 1st week oct during rut odds are triple what other weeks are. But you dont want too easy so its all a tradeoff.  Northern BC moose is one of my favorite hunts.  The right guides can be a fun part of the experience.

Hunt dates are Oct 4th through the 16th. And just to be clear I will take the "rut odds" over "to easy" anyday..lol as long as i'm not road hunting. These dates fit in all of our schedules for 2019. I can still make the WA high hunt for Deer and west side modern Elk.

[Jason]

Sweet!   Can I ask how many Ks

No, my wife might be lurking on here.

[boneaddict]

UNderstood.   I’ve been watching it for years as it’s on my list, but there continues to be K creep. Lol. 

[Jason]

UNderstood.   I’ve been watching it for years as it’s on my list, but there continues to be K creep. Lol.

I will PM you.

[Jason]

Rain gear is purchased. I just picked up Kuiu Yukon rain jacket and Chugach rain pants. I think my Kennetrek Mountain Extremes will be good enough for boots. Should I take a pair of muck type boots?

[Jason]

3 months to go and the road trip begins. Getting pretty excited.

[Pathfinder101]

tagging along...

[Skyvalhunter]

Whats the cost and your wife should be sleeping now

[Pathfinder101]

Whats the cost and your wife should be sleeping now

 

[Pathfinder101]

Sweet!   Can I ask how many Ks

No, my wife might be lurking on here.

Might as well tell us... cat's out of the bag now.  If your wife reads this post, you're in for a long painful conversation anyway...

[Twispriver]

The rates for the 2020 hunts are on the outfitter's web page - about what I expected

[Jason]

The rates for the 2020 hunts are on the outfitter's web page - about what I expected

[Jason]

We're still trying to figure out our meat storage situation for the drive back. Thinking we might just buy the largest chest freezer we can and throw it on a trailer with a generator.

For this hunt I decided that i was going to build a Savage rifle in 338-375 Ruger, but that ended up turning into a Long Range setup that is almost complete. So with that rifle not working out as a hunting gun, I'm just going to take my Ruger 300wm. 

[Magnum_Willys]

Hunted same drainages 4 years ago - great time !  Get a caribou and goat tag - you might decide you want to use it.  We made the mistake of not and wish we had - don't have to pay outfitter fee unless you shoot one. 

Check out meat situation.  We flew in from Smithers and there is no room for meat on that flight back - you would have to pay $9500 to charter a flight out.  Meat gets donated to natives.  That didn't work for us so we arranged to have outfitter boat meat down river and we took an extra day ( 8 hr drive)  to drive way up north to pick the meat up.   You may be able to arrange closer pickup from Tatogga. 

[Jason]

Hunted same drainages 4 years ago - great time !  Get a caribou and goat tag - you might decide you want to use it.  We made the mistake of not and wish we had - don't have to pay outfitter fee unless you shoot one. 

Check out meat situation.  We flew in from Smithers and there is no room for meat on that flight back - you would have to pay $9500 to charter a flight out.  Meat gets donated to natives.  That didn't work for us so we arranged to have outfitter boat meat down river and we took an extra day ( 8 hr drive)  to drive way up north to pick the meat up.   You may be able to arrange closer pickup from Tatogga.

I will add the Goat tag if available. Not sure when the season ends or if weather will be an issue since we are the last camp there for the season.

[Jason]

About 5 weeks out from this hunt. I'm getting pumped that's for sure.

180gr Accubonds good for moose from my 300wm? What did some of you other moose hunters use?

[jackson7]

           A friend hunted up there last year.   saw multiple grizzlies including one at 15 feet away.  Just an fyi. good luck

[brew]

for my OIL Washington bull moose hunt I used a 338 WM with 250 Gr Nosler Partitions.  High shoulder shot dropped him in his tracks.  Good luck with the hunt

[andrew_in_idaho]

I’ve never been lucky enough to hunt moose yet but I’ve heard they are easier to tip over than an elk and I wouldn’t hesitate to send a 180 gr accubond downrange on a elk


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[boneaddict]

125 grain broadhead killed 3 different moose.  Not sure about easier to knock down than an elk.  They are harder to miss as they are a lot bigger.

[BULLBLASTER]

I shot mine with a couple 300 grain Hornady from my 375.
They don’t seem to have the will to live like an elk to me, or maybe they’re just slower to react. 

[Jason]

Instead of buying a couple chest freezers or a bunch of coolers we decided to build a big ole cooler. 40"x40"x43" inside dimensions, 3.5" wall cavity. The company I work for owns a polyurethane foam machine. So we spent a little on some 2x4's, 1/2" ply wood and a lot of screws. You won't find a Yeti that has 3.5" of foam in the walls, lid and bottom. Roughly 1,200 quarts.
I still have to attach the seal to the lid, I'm going to use weather stripping used for canopies. And I will add some handles to it and ratchet straps for the lid. We will use mega box liners on the inside.

[Skyvalhunter]

I like it!!

[Jason]

Trial and error with the foam machine, we did wasted a little foam yesterday.

[Jason]

Down to 2 nights before we head to BC for moose. I’m getting pretty excited, hopefully the rut is in full swing.

[h20hunter]

Frosty night last night here in PG. Moose tag in hand. Good luck to yah!

[X-Force]

Cool cooler

Good luck!

[NRA4LIFE]

Jason,

Good on you with the resources available.  I built one similar almost 30 years ago.  It is about 450 qts and has 1.5" of insulation.  This thing keeps meat frozen for many, many days.  Here's a pic:

[Jason]

Thanks guys. I added some hinges, lid seal, a handle and some paint.

[257 Wby Mag]

How’d your hunt go Jason?

[EsotericPA]

 

[Jason]

How’d your hunt go Jason?

Hey old buddy, I replied to your PM.


Well, it still stings a little for me...lol. We went 2 of 3 on moose in the end I’m the odd man out. We did find a great bull around day 7, while we were going after it we seen some others going after it to, so we backed out. We think they were on it before we saw it, although we were in a better spot to go after it. This bull was the biggest we had seen by far (57-60”) the other hunters did end up shooting it. Turns out the guys (residents) who shot it, poached it (I will elaborate more later).

One of my buddies killed his bull moose on day one, it was 46”, the other killed his bull on day five, it was 35”. Unfortunately I think my guide sat us by a couple lakes for far to long trying to call them in, as I think the rut was pretty much about over. My two buddies and their guides hunted mostly spot’n stalk style with some calling involved and we’re far more successful. By the time my guide changed it up the snow had pushed the grizzlies down and pushed the moose into the Alpines. We made a couple unsuccessful stalks up after them, every time the moose were gone before we got up there. Seen more grizzlies than I can remember. closest was 83yds.

My buddy who shot the second moose had a grizzly bear come in and steal a hind quarter (the hind with proof of sex) when they were packing the first trip of meat to the road. We called this “The great Canadian robbery” I will post on here my buddies version of the story that he posted on Washington hunting Facebook site.

This was the coldest I have ever been hunting, no days were over freezing temps and some were single digits Fahrenheit. If there is a next time for moose in northern BC I will definitely take some warmer wool clothes. Other than not notching my tag I still had a great time, seen some beautiful country and have lots of great memories.