Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[HobbyShooter]

I just got back from a last minute moose hunt with 40 mile air! Vanessa called 3 weeks before the hunt and said they had a cancelation and asked if I wanted to take it. After a week long search for a hunt partner, my nephew and I had two weeks to get airline tickets and start buying gear we were missing. There is NO WAY we could've pulled it off if I hadn't spent the past 5 years compiling notes on what I would need, how to hunt moose, and what to do once it was down. I owe many people a huge thanks for the time they spent sharing their knowledge and experience for no other reason than to be good people. Kevin Dill, Larry Bartlett, and Billy Molls all were especially helpful although they probably don't know it since I would search and read almost everything I could find by them on the subject.

 

[AK Troutbum]

Congratulations, looks like a dandy!


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[vermeire]

I hope we're getting more of a write-up than this post...

 

[dakotaduner]

You said it very well. Some great people here, that really share some information and knowledge to help others in the planning of dream hunts.
Congratulation to you and your nephew. Now lets hear some more details on your adventure.

 

[tntrker]

NICE, congrats!!

 

[VernAK]

Thanks for buying your gas in Delta.......even though our prices are higher.

A very nice bull......congrats

Vanessa is a very effective organizer in a very busy office.

 

[Robinhood21]

Great job! What a thrill getting a call asking if you want to hunt moose in 3 weeks!


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[SniperHunter]

congrats

 

[drewavila1995]

Congrats!

 

[LK2HNT]

Hey bud congratulations, you are proud and rightly so, thats a Dandy bull!. Sorry man but now you're hooked for life!!!

 

[Akwoodchuck]

Very nice!

 

[elkguide]

SWEET!

 

[Corey Paulsen (teamkabob)]

Top job


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[HobbyShooter]

Thanks for the compliments! I'm not a great story teller, but here's my best attempt at a trip report.

As you know, Vanessa called 3 weeks before the hunt was to start and let me know about the opening. As I was trying to find a hunt partner, the hunt that originally became available was snagged up by another group, but lucky for me they had a second cancellation that my nephew and I were able to take.

We had an early flight out of Salt Lake City Saturday the 7th and we're in Fairbanks by 4:30pm that same day after a layover in Seattle. We picked up our rental car, threw all the luggage in, and headed straight to Walmart to buy my license and tag as well as some isobutane fuel for our camp stoves. After a beautiful 3 hour drive, we arrived in Tok and got checked in with Janoa. We spent the night at the motel next to Fast Eddie's, but I didn't sleep much. Too dang excited!

Sunday morning we gathered our stuff up and drove back to 40 mile air to be weighed in and wait our turn to fly out. I think we waited a couple hours before the Cessna 206 loaded us and our gear up and took us to a remote airstrip on top of a ridge. After only about a 15-minute wait Leif and one of his pilots, I think his name was Josh, picked us up with the super cubs and flew us to our hunt area. Leif and the other pilot had some good advice on where to spot and call from and what had worked for the group previous to us. We got our camp set up, took a lot of pictures, and did our best to wrap our minds around the fact that we were actually there, in Alaska, on our own, in what felt like the middle of nowhere. I spent that evening cow calling from camp and watching my nephew pull grayling out of the river.

Monday morning we hiked the hill behind camp to do some glassing and more cow calling. We had a pretty good view from up there and could see most of the valley to the north and south of camp. After two or three hours we came back down to camp to fish some more and relax. I typically would try and do a bit of cow calling about every half hour or so but didn't really stick to a set schedule. In the early evening we decided it was time to go back up the hill and do some more glassing and calling. We are about a half hour into our calling session when about a half-mile away to the north I saw the unmistakable glow of moose antlers peeking through the tree line. He was staring right in our direction! I called at him again and even from that distance we could hear his grunts. He raked the trees a bit, came forward a little and then stopped again and stared at us. I gave him a few minutes and then cow called again. He raked the trees again, grunted back, and then stopped. We followed this pattern for about 45 minutes until he was at a 450 yard shot. At this point the light was starting to fade enough that I was getting worried and from that distance I was 100% sure he was at least 55 inches, probably a little bit bigger, so I took the shot. He lurched, dove into the trees and disappeared. We raced down the hill, across the river, and over to the area where I shot him and found him only about 10 yards from where I had shot him!

The next day and a half were spent cutting him up and packing him across the river and back into camp. It was only about a 500-yard pack so I can't complain too much about that! I messaged Janoa and let her know that we had meat to be picked up but the next two mornings we were fogged in. On Thursday Leif and another pilot were able to come in and pick up the meat. I slept a lot better after that knowing that the meat was in a cooler and not dangling as bear bait outside our camp area. The next four or five days were pretty uneventful. We could have gone in with the meat but we'd come all that way and we're enjoying the great Alaska outdoors so much that we just camped and relaxed the entire time. I say the entire time, but actually we did start hearing wolves shortly after shooting the moose and dedicated a bit of time each day to glassing and try and get a shot at him. Never did harvest one though.

We flew out Tuesday back to Tok. Loaded up our meat and antlers, said goodbye, and drove back to Fairbanks. Our flight home wasn't until Thursday morning so we had all day Wednesday to get the meat into fish boxes which we purchased at Walmart, and get the antlers wrapped up to fly with us on the airplane. I was a little worried about the meat, but fortunately Fairbanks Fur Tannery helped us out by giving us some space in their reefer truck until it was time for us to go to the airport. As you would expect, being the meat and antlers checked in was a bit of a circus, but once done it was nice knowing it would be there waiting for us in Salt Lake. The next time I do this I'm going to make sure all my fish boxes are the sturdy waxed kind from Walmart and I'm going to tape the hell out of them so the baggage monkeys can't break them open. I'll also make sure all the points on the antlers are covered, and not just the sharp ones. What worked best for us was stuff we found at Walmart that is a layer foam sandwiched between two layers of plastic. I folded that over the antler points and then use duct tape to make sure it stayed put.

The flight home had a funny moment when the lady sitting next to me at the window seat saw my antlers coming off the plane at Seattle and commented about the weird things you see being loaded and unloaded into airplanes. I just chuckled and agreed but when I was getting off the plane, the stewardess noticed my hunting pack and asked if the antlers just being unloaded were mine. I of course said yes and we talked a little bit about how the moose hunt went and how much I enjoyed it. The window seat lady got a laugh out of that after realizing it was my antlers that she commented on.

 

[VernAK]

HS,
You did really well on your hunt and preparations for such short lead time. Very few first-timers have things that well organized.

Josh in the 206 and Jake in the Cub.

 

[Robinhood21]

Good stuff! How much meat were you able to fly back with you? How much did it cost to check it all in?

Thanks! Headed up to AK next year so this was great to read!

 

[HobbyShooter]

Good stuff! How much meat were you able to fly back with you? How much did it cost to check it all in?

Thanks! Headed up to AK next year so this was great to read!

Almost 500 pounds of meat and meat and antlers were about $600 to take as checked luggage.

You're going to love it!

 

[PNWGATOR]

Exactly what Rokslide is all about!

Congratulations