Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska The best prizes aren't always the biggest trophies

I realize you weren't addressing me with those, though the address you used and my Viking heritage could cause me some confusion.

bearhuntr, I tried to tell the tale with words and gave up....too long, but this is kind of the gist of it, an excerpt from what was turning into a tome:

As usual, I assume, I was seen more than seeing, so it was I who was surprised when I looked up, high in the spruce trees across the river, and discovered a pair of (feminine) eyes gazing my way � actually two pairs � that I could see since she had a calf with her. And then there was another set of rump cheeks poking out of another cluster of spruce trees 75 yards behind her. Hmm, this looked somewhat promising. Perhaps I had discovered the �herd� which had previously made tracks all over upriver? Glassing gets more interesting when there�s hair involved, and I had three animals to look at. But I needed to see some antlers, so I kept looking. The cow/calf was a handy �landmark� since they were out in an opening and easy to find. The third moose was more interesting since I had not had a chance to see it�s head yet to know whether it might be legal.

But there was a bigger problem, a moral dilemma which I needed to face. No it wasn�t an issue of whether I might take an animal which had recently had antlers and lost them. (That wouldn�t have been wrong in spirit, but it wouldn�t have been legal by the rule of law � though the same animal under than same conditions would have been legal in the fall in this area.) The dilemma I faced was whether I would be able to properly recover an animal if I killed it on that hillside. So I began to study every square foot of the hillside to see what the possibilities for recovery might be.

Wait! What was that again? A big, brown hulk stood higher up and further beyond the three moose I had already seen. This one stood on posts the thickness of tree trunks with those large �donkey� ears folded back. A thick, droopy dewlap hung low beneath a heavy head with the roundest Roman nose I think I�ve ever seen on a moose. But where were the antlers? That thing was either an antlerless bull, or it was an ancient cow. And perhaps a lack of antlers was a good thing because that animal was clearly a lot more moose than I could manage to recover from the steep slopes where the snow was obviously still plenty deep. And knowing what the snow was like in the river, I assumed it was not only deep, but coarse, granular snow with a crust of window-pane ice on top. And, even assuming there was an approach to the slope that didn�t include 20-50 yards of willow patch which guarded the slope, there was no way my machine would have climbed the pitch pulling a sled or alone anyway.


Half a lifetime ago, I probably wouldn�t have considered the situation much of a dilemma. But I have two more licenses to pay for before they become forever free. And though I�m still not as smart as I once thought I was, I�m pretty sure I�m smarter than I�ve ever been.

�Hey, the third moose is moving.� I got a quick look at the whole animal before it all disappeared. �Drat, no apparent jewelry on board.� Well, I had critters to watch while I contemplated my dilemma. But really, with no antlers, it wasn�t a decision that I had to face anyway. So there it was, I watch them; they watch me. Pretty soon the cow got bored and laid down. Then her calf laid down. The third moose was still hidden, having moved in the direction of the cow. The big brute decided to disappear into a large stand of dark spruce trees. The temptation to look for antler scars was gone. And there�s the cow and her calf��.hmm, now there two calves. Perhaps the third moose was also a calf; it looked small, but not that small. Hmm?

I checked the time. A couple more hours and light would be waning�gotta do something here. No antlers evident; need to find something with antlers. Perhaps I should move on. Just a few more minutes and then I�m going to make a move. Everything seemed to be getting pretty settled in and comfortable; I was hitting the wall of distraction. I watch the cow watching me; I scan back toward the big old brute. Woa! The �third� moose is back again, standing right out in an open corridor up in the trees. The binos easily revealed skinny bones atop his head against a backdrop of white snow. Binocs down, rifle up, crosshair settled across the top (at a bit beyond 300 yards perhaps), BOOM! Legs flailing skyward. Wait! Seriously? Did I just do ��..WTF?

It might be easy to be be envious now. At that moment....not so much. Trust me.