Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska DIY Moose

Looking for some information on DIY moose hunt will be a few years. We have looked into 40-mile air out of TOK, looking to do a fly in hunt vs a float hunt.

Any idea where else to start looking?

Thanks

I'm looking for the same sort of opportunity. Fly-in Wilderness area, roughing it.

Most of the air carriers have said they'd need to charge for two trips to take out the whole moose. Is this possible? I'd be doing it solo or with a friend. I guess it depends on the size of plane...

The better fly-in moose hunts are often booked by repeat customers for years in advance.

Yes, flying a moose out in a Cub can take 2+ loads.

It depends on the size of the plane for sure and where you want to go won't/should not be a place to land a bigger plane.

Also, do not do a moose solo for many reasons.

^ Listen to this man. He's the first, best advice so far. Moose are NOT subject to ground shrinkage.......ever.........at all!


(FWIW, I have done a few moose solo and they have always involved the use of boat and/or "honda" and/or snowmachine, and a permanent home base. I am definitely glad I never tried it alone prior to "learning a few times" with good company.)

I'll never forget the first moose kill I was in on up here. After the initial excitement wore off, the next words were......WTF did we just do? That hurt.

Same here. Damn glad me and my pard were 20 year old GI's, with far more muscle than brains. It was a humbling experience!

Jeff

Pard says "Don't shoot one you can't ride up to!"

Sometimes it's easier to build a cabin, and just eat it there where it falls!

Hunted moose this fall with your old co-worker Juan... had a great time and butchered 4 moose. But we drove the gin pole right to them. I will never do another laying down...

Damn, it's a small world. He said it was a good season. Sure miss him on the crew. One of the toughest, hardest working men I've ever met.

Jeff

Float hunt, shoot one on the bank

I wondered one winter, without any regret BTW, if the one I passed up - safely ensconced in chest-deep snow in a huge willow patch, and just above the 40-foot crest of an ancient river bank was going to be my only opportunity. I put 700 miles on my sno-go that winter looking for the next opportunity. I had plenty of time to think about that big dude standing all alone. But I never wished I had taken him.

The story I hear is that if there is water within 400 yards of where you shoot them they wind up in the water. any truth in that?

Sometimes they even get shot while IN the water!

Anyone hunted with 40 mile air?

I've not, but if I did, I would get in the best shape of your life. They have a good reputation for putting folks in the right neighborhood, but a ridgetop landing moose hunt is exactly that; you need to be prepared to pack the animal a mile or more uphill to the airstrip.

For that hunt, as much as any other hunt in AK, I think that fortune will favor the physically prepared.

No big deal hunting moose solo, for some. If you need help putting your carryon in the overhead bin, maybe it's not for you. I put "don't hunt moose solo" right up there with "don't hunt elk solo in the Madison or NW Wyoming because of the grizzlies".

To back your experience... Juan and I, along with another that is the major ringleader of the group went in early to set up camp. While two of us hauled rounds back to camp in a Polaris 6x Juan split it faster than we could get it back. Then he split kindling by the bushel... then he dug a new latrine hole that was perfectly round and deeper than the shovel handle and my arm! I accused him of climbing down in the ~16" D hole and chucking the dirt out!

We averaged 63 years old and had camp set and three bulls hanging before the "kids" showed up.

Was on AK Outdoors, Canoe section and found this neat Pic of
Ted (Yukoner) in the Yukon several years ago.

Yep, the guy is a friggin' dynamo. And has skills in about every trade, in addition to ironworker. You name it, he can do it, or get the hang of it, pronto! Sounds like you guys had a good camp/crew. What did you think of the Polaris 6x? I just bought one off a buddy late last year. Won't get to spend any time in it, until summer. It's '07 with a 700 engine.

Suppose we better get better get back to our regularly scheduled program......sorry for the highjack guys!

Jeff

Who are the top three air carriers in Alaska for a fly-in, drop-off moose hunt?

I know its re-stating the obvious, but it's a big state and you need to narrow down where you want to hunt before narrowing down carriers.

Jeff
One look at his knuckles is all someone needs to see to realize the guy has been through some stuff...

I have been looking at Polaris 6xs since I got back and figure I might need one by next hunting season... I drove a bunch of miles and only got stuck a handful of times under really tough circumstances and did not break anything!
art

Yeah, many would have trouble realizing what he is up against there, and he is still around. Not a place for the clueless...

I recognize [bleep] Creek every time.

But do you know what a paddle feels like?

Darned site censors think "!" is the same as "i".......what's up with that?

I certainly know what they look like and they look kinda scarce in that photo

If you only knew Ted... impressive fellow in so many ways...

RE moose alone. I"ve done two without help. One I was not sure I could get the polaris to, but was only .6 mile from a trail.

They are not bad, but I"m only 51, but plan plenty of time once they roll over.

Last one was shot around 645pm, got back to it with the polaris from camp, around 8pm. Got it loaded I don't know when, and 12 mile ride back to the house on trails, I was back by 4am. I slept a bit later that morning. LOL.

I actually don't mind doing em by myself.

John Gregori,

It's not so much which three air carriers are the best for moose but which ones have an opening for new customers.

I think a fly-in trip with 40-mile would be a blast. They are good people, and I think you'll have a better than average chance doing it that way.

All warnings above apply.

I've cut one moose up by myself. That part is certainly doable. I have packed a couple off of the hill and one out of the swamp. It isn't too bad if you have a crew, doable with two. I think I'd kick my own ass if I tried to do it solo.

Don't know anyone stupid enough to shoot one in the water... again.

[quote=cwh2)

Don't know anyone stupid enough to shoot one in the water... again. [/quote]

Guilty as charged, though the last one was simply a case of letting someone else shoot it there...

I cannot imagine anyone dumb enough to volunteer to help get one out of a lake...

Do they fly in the 6x Polaris too?

Did a swamp buggy/6x6 hunt this past fall. We went 4 for 5 bulls and 3 for 4 on caribou. I did all the cutting on the moose and a caribou... first time I got to cut them up hanging. I have zero desire to cut another on the ground.

I have no trouble. This guy is in a place he does not want to be ...
Glad he got out.

2 guys i know sold the 6xs for Argos. They are moose killin machines.

.

We see Argos, but they do no compete where we go...