Couple little Moose.

Wildwillalaska

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Sep 26, 2017
Messages
251
Location
Kenai, Alaska
Well we had a wonderful moose hunting season this year. My wife had drawn a sheep tag, which sadly she wanted to bail on even hunting after her father was unable to go with us due to ill-timed pneumonia. Not that there is ever a good time. I was able to twist her enough to make her go anyway, and promised we would do it quickly whether successful or not, so she relented. With the relatively new addition to the family, it had been a few years since we were able to share a hunting camp together. To top it off, my brother went along as well, which was our first hunting trip together ever. While I grew up hunting with our father, he missed out and by the time he was old enough to really start, it wasn't an option. He is dozen years younger than me, and between college, grad school, new career, wife, baby--he kept coming up with all sorts of lame excuses for missing out on hunting season. Luckily he still made time for fishing trips and did a concert/hiking combo trip with me in Lake Tahoe this year too. This ultimately proved more of a camping trip in the wilds of Alaska than hunting for him. He was more interested in checking out what it was all about anyway, hoping to help cut and carry in exchange for taking meat home. I learned to secret to stealing your brother away from his new-ish bride and baby--get the bride hooked on moose meat. I typically bring a cooler to them each Christmas with halibut and moose--but this year we are staying in Alaska. So his only means was to come to the source--and so glad he did.

Think this moose season got him hooked though with intents of taking one of his own next year. He is even putting in for a few sheep permits with me as a party hunt. So anyway, we start off in one part of the state where the wife has her sheep permit.
We get there mid-season, right after labor day and the drainages we went to had seen a lot of pressure all the way up until we arrived. So we found all sorts of ewes, lambs, and little young rams, but nothing legal. Think if we had stayed and really worked the area and given a little more time for things to quite down, we could have found one. I promised to make it a quick trip, so we did what we could with the time we had. My wife got a tender forked-horn, meat bull the 3rd day and so we packed camp and headed for home promptly. We still hadn't seen any legal sheep, and leaving early left baby brother and I just enough time for a mad dash to Kotzebue where a buddy was waiting for us. He promised even if we made with 3 days to hunt--he'd get us into the field. As it worked out, we made it home, had 16 hours to wash cloths and repack before heading to the Anchorage Airport and off we went. Made it to Kotz in time to enjoy a little time with friends before dropped in the field. Hunted hard, but made it pay the end of our first hunting day. That evening I called an old bull we had found late morning all the way across the valley, which we poured off the ridgeline to meet him part way. He would meander our way after I would call, but then start dallying around--I'd call, and he would look our direction, then start milling our way again--only to start dallying again. Worried we were going to run out of daylight, I did a 3rd series of calls within about an hour, and on that third one, he again looked our direction, but decided he was done dallying. He turned and came strait away. He was coming hard, so had to move fast down from the ridge to a knoll about 1/3 of mile in front of us. By the time we made that, he was only 400 yards out. He kept coming right in, clucking away, grunting with almost every step, rocking antlers back and forth the whole way. Once he was at 150-ish yards, the wind changed towards his direction, so I had to end the show. Quick shot and the fun was over with the work ready to start. Was so cool for my brother to see. And ultimately, a good experience for him to witness how much work these big bulls are when not right in camp, and taken at last light. By the time we made it back to camp in the pitch black (must have been a new moon), he was more than beat. (He quit talking to me about a 1/2 hour before that--but after warming up food our campmates had kindly left for us, a beer, and some sleep, our relationship was all good again in the morning) Will say though, he did really well helping me part out both moose and was one of my best hunting memories having him with me.

Here we are playing with three sub-legal bulls I had called in. This was about 20 minutes before another bull and the forked-horn popped out of the timber down below. I was so wrapped up playing with the young gents I was surprised when my brother asked if I should have my gun. We had no intent of shooting any of them--but prolly not the smartest to leave it behind. Luckily my wife is a dead-eye shot, so she might have saved our bacon if needed.
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Beautiful Country, but pain getting back in there on machines.
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Wife and baby brother with her forked-horn
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And my little bull
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Baby brother enjoying a beer and the sights after all the work done.
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Even had northern lights a few nights so bright my iphone even picked them up.
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So this years bull was taken roughly 1.5 miles from where I took this one last season.
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AlaskaEd

WKR
Joined
Mar 13, 2017
Messages
304
Location
North Pole
Way to get it done with the family. I'm jealous of your moose area. Mine are all in wet swampy areas with thick vegetation. I need to find a good open area like that one day.
 

AdamW

WKR
Joined
Oct 27, 2015
Messages
820
If I have a "make it happen before you're too old or dead" hunt, it's gotta be a moose hunt. The country, the meat, the suffering... :D
 
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