Post by: JoeE on September 15, 2016, 11:05:25 AM
Post by: JoeE on September 15, 2016, 11:06:46 AM
Post by: jgeorgio on September 15, 2016, 11:09:20 AM
Who did you go through for drop off and pick up?
Post by: PAW66 on September 15, 2016, 11:16:38 AM
Post by: X-Force on September 15, 2016, 11:23:20 AM
Dream adventure right there. Very cool.
Post by: High Climber on September 15, 2016, 11:28:07 AM
Post by: fishngamereaper on September 15, 2016, 11:43:16 AM
Post by: kellama2001 on September 15, 2016, 11:44:15 AM
Post by: losdaddy7 on September 15, 2016, 11:50:06 AM
Post by: Rainier10 on September 15, 2016, 12:43:44 PM
Were you in an area that they had to be a certain spread or was it a brow tine restriction?
Post by: carpsniperg2 on September 15, 2016, 01:11:17 PM
Post by: pd on September 15, 2016, 01:16:07 PM
Post by: Whitpirate on September 15, 2016, 01:18:49 PM
Post by: JoeE on September 15, 2016, 01:52:08 PM
To answer one of the questions above we were in an any bull unit so no antler restrictions.
Post by: Rainier10 on September 15, 2016, 02:27:14 PM
I'm taking care of a bunch of the logistics to get me and all my meat and gear home now. I'll type out the longer version of the story later tonight.Wow, those are both great bulls, especially for an any bull unit. Looking forward to the story.
To answer one of the questions above we were in an any bull unit so no antler restrictions.
Post by: Bean Counter on September 15, 2016, 02:36:43 PM
Post by: JoeE on September 15, 2016, 02:44:22 PM
I'm taking care of a bunch of the logistics to get me and all my meat and gear home now. I'll type out the longer version of the story later tonight.Wow, those are both great bulls, especially for an any bull unit. Looking forward to the story.
To answer one of the questions above we were in an any bull unit so no antler restrictions.
An any bull unit doesn't mean it's lesser quality like how Washington is. The units with antler restrictions are generally in areas with more hunting pressure and more people so they restrict the antlers. We were pretty remote.
Post by: Rainier10 on September 15, 2016, 02:53:28 PM
What?! Other states manage game different than Washington? Actually that makes sense, thanks for the clarification. Now that you mention it I think some of the restricted areas are just for out of state hunters. Probably to keep them from crowding the easy to reach areas.I'm taking care of a bunch of the logistics to get me and all my meat and gear home now. I'll type out the longer version of the story later tonight.Wow, those are both great bulls, especially for an any bull unit. Looking forward to the story.
To answer one of the questions above we were in an any bull unit so no antler restrictions.
An any bull unit doesn't mean it's lesser quality like how Washington is. The units with antler restrictions are generally in areas with more hunting pressure and more people so they restrict the antlers. We were pretty remote.
Post by: PlateauNDN on September 15, 2016, 02:59:04 PM
Post by: JoeE on September 15, 2016, 03:21:36 PM
Man, talk about steeeeeep country! Upside and sideways! :chuckle: nice bulls, congrats. :tup:
Haha!!! That's what it felt like packing those bulls back to camp!
Hopefully a mod can flip the pics the right way.
Post by: JoeE on September 16, 2016, 11:54:35 AM
Like I said, last time I did a float hunt. Over 110 miles over the course of 11 days. It was an adventure for sure and I shot a really nice moose. This time I wanted to try something different.
I have a connection up in Alaska that was able to set us up with a pilot and Super Cub. The cub can only haul about 70 pounds worth of gear and we wanted to take just one flight each. I packed like I was backpacking with some comforts. I put all my food in a five gallon bucket and then loaded up a KUIU 6000 pack with clothes, binos, rangefinder, jet boil and my kill kit. Stuffed it all in a couple dry bags and called it good. My gear was pretty lean but effective to get the job done.
My sleep system was an REI 2 man backpacking tent, a EE quilt and Thermarest xtherm. My hunting partner brought a golite SL-5 that he slept in and we stored gear in. In my opinion quilts are garbage and I'll never use one again.
We picked a spot near a ridge that overlooked a river and a creek. We saw cows daily. We landed in camp Sep 4 the day before the season and had a couple days of rain but nothing bad. The weather broke and we got good weather for a few days. My hunting partner called my bull within 200 yards of camp. He was trying to bow hunt but just couldn't get it any closer. I was standing behind him with my rifle and after about an hour of trying to get the bull to come within bow range he told me that if I wanted it to take him with the rifle. Three shots in the lungs from 208 yards and he was down.
That was about 8:45 pm. We butchered and packed meat until about 2 am and went to bed. It was awesome because we were hauling meat under one of the most amazing northern lights shows I've ever seen. We got up the next morning and had my moose packed back to camp and a meat rack started and set up by noon. We were back to hunting.
That evening we divided up and went to opposite sides of the ridge and did some calling. Within about 30 minutes I had two bulls coming into my calls. I ran over to get my partner to tell him to get set up and I would try to call these bulls into bow range. I climbed up on a knob about 30 yards behind him where was set up in the brush. I could see two bulls making there way through the timber but they just wouldn't close the final 200 yards. Once I finally got a clear view of the second bull I could tell he was huge! I told my partner he should climb up to my vantage point and look this bull over and maybe consider taking him with my rifle. He climbed up to me and after about a 1/2 second of consideration he decided to use the rifle. Basically same story as my moose as far as butchering and packing and it was back in camp by noon the next day. We called the pilot of the sat phone and said we were ready for pick up. He came in the next day and picked up a load of meat but the wind was picking up so he had to leave the area and couldn't get back in to us.
Then the storm started. For the next three days we had what seemed like hurricane like weather, high winds, rain, a little bit of snow. In 72 hours I left my tent for maybe a total of 90 minutes to adjust tarps on meat and tie down my tent. I just sat there staring at the ceiling of that REI tent praying that it wouldn't tear apart!
Finally on weds afternoon the weather broke and the pilot got us out if there.
We scored his moose yesterday. 234 5/8 so even with drying and our margin of error the bull should still make B&C.
Post by: DaveMonti on September 16, 2016, 12:03:52 PM
If you want to do a moose trip to Alaska and need a partner, let me know. I'd love to do that trip some day. A co-worker is there now on a drop float trip and I'll see how he did.
Dave
Post by: fishngamereaper on September 16, 2016, 12:22:04 PM
Post by: lokidog on September 16, 2016, 12:55:20 PM
Post by: MtnMuley on September 16, 2016, 01:13:19 PM
Post by: HvyHorn338 on September 16, 2016, 01:51:15 PM
Post by: Timberstalker on September 16, 2016, 01:56:47 PM
Post by: JoeE on September 16, 2016, 04:36:32 PM
Post by: JoeE on September 16, 2016, 04:37:33 PM
Post by: meatwhack on September 17, 2016, 06:01:32 AM
Post by: DaleVR on September 17, 2016, 06:32:06 AM
Post by: JoeE on September 17, 2016, 11:42:49 AM
Congratulations looks like an awesome adventure. If you don't mind posting what is the approximate cost of a hunt like this and was the float hunt compatible in price. Also now that you've done both did you like the float hunt best or having the stationary camp best.
As far as adventure goes the float hunt was the best. If the goal is taking a couple moose I think stationary camp is better.
I did these hunts for around $4k total.
This trip was a little different. The week prior I brought my family up to Alaska and we went to Denali Park, drove the Denali Hwy and went down to the Kenai peninsula. The family trip was a little pricey but worth it.
Post by: Carl on September 17, 2016, 12:32:43 PM
And since I'm getting tired of holding monitor upside down, I fixed this pic.
Carl
Post by: JoeE on September 17, 2016, 08:54:04 PM
But spread out over time there is no reason why this can't be a blue collar hunt.
Post by: arees on September 17, 2016, 10:00:34 PM
Post by: JDhunting_Aus on September 19, 2016, 04:13:33 AM
Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk
Post by: rosscrazyelk on September 29, 2016, 07:52:14 PM
Post by: Falcon on September 29, 2016, 07:59:32 PM
Congrats on a couple of good bulls on a great adventure.👊
Post by: shanevg on September 29, 2016, 08:24:51 PM
Post by: Mark251 on September 29, 2016, 08:26:41 PM
Post by: Ieatelk on September 29, 2016, 08:48:10 PM
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Post by: trophyhunt on September 29, 2016, 09:11:19 PM
Post by: JoeE on September 29, 2016, 09:22:03 PM
Damn Joe, the secrets out now! 😖 You guys had a trip of a lifetime, incredible adventure, everyone wants that hunt! Congrats man!
Alaska is a pretty huge place and still takes a lot of research so I think this particular spot is still safe. But you and I still need to sit down for a beer soon so I can share some Alaska info and also pick your brain about my white river tag!
Post by: trophyhunt on September 30, 2016, 07:56:58 AM
sounds good, after I get back from Idaho mid October.Damn Joe, the secrets out now! 😖 You guys had a trip of a lifetime, incredible adventure, everyone wants that hunt! Congrats man!
Alaska is a pretty huge place and still takes a lot of research so I think this particular spot is still safe. But you and I still need to sit down for a beer soon so I can share some Alaska info and also pick your brain about my white river tag!
Post by: Bearhunter on September 30, 2016, 08:21:07 AM
Post by: bracer40 on September 30, 2016, 09:22:00 AM
Post by: RatRodMike on October 02, 2016, 08:32:43 PM
Post by: hunting4sanity on October 02, 2016, 08:48:03 PM
Post by: Mfowl on October 02, 2016, 09:15:38 PM
Post by: Turner89 on October 02, 2016, 09:29:38 PM
Post by: bowhunterforever on October 03, 2016, 11:41:58 AM
Awesome bulls and congrats on a great hunt!:yeah: :tup:
Post by: mato06 on October 07, 2016, 10:45:21 AM
We did a 10 day float hunt in AK this September and had a great hunt
Post by: jae on October 12, 2016, 09:57:30 PM
Post by: Machias on October 14, 2016, 04:28:23 AM
Post by: Wanttohuntmore on October 14, 2016, 04:49:36 AM
Post by: JoeE on October 14, 2016, 08:53:34 AM
Post by: JoeE on November 03, 2016, 10:59:26 PM
Post by: High Climber on November 18, 2016, 04:57:59 PM