Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Is anybody but me going moose hunting?

I’m trying to get excited about the moose hunt I’ve had planned for a year now. Deaths in the family and other catastrophes have put a damper on my enthusiasm. My hunting partner had a health emergency and had to drop out on me, he’s still sending camp down for me and got all the groceries together and I’ve talked my dad into going with me. We’re going to make the best of it and hopefully have a good trip. It’ll be good to have an adventure with the old man.

I’ve made some progress getting my clothes and gear together. Still on the fence about which rifle I’m taking, have the 35 Whelen, 270Wby, and a 30/06 all zeroed and waiting with their ammo,, probably end up being a last minute decision.

Hunting a 50”/4 brow tine unit, which I’m not wild about but it’s getting harder to find a 3 tine or any bull unit. Hopefully I’ll see one of the unmistakable over 50” bulls to make that an easy decision.

Dad has no interest in shooting a moose, he’ll buy a wolf tag just in case. I think my trip would be a success if he got one even if I don’t get a chance at a bull.

I bought a couple new pack rods and we’ll both pick up a fishing license. Hopefully we can catch plenty of grayling for suppers.

Good news is our transporter has a very high success rate, he only flys 3 pairs moose hunters a year. So maybe we can keep up the good work.

Less than two weeks until we’re wheels up. Anybody else going?

Good luck. Have done two trips here scoring on the first. Never saw a moose on the second. Hope the quarry falls just yards from camp.

Any trip with your father is a good trip. I hope you find a bull and your father a wolf!

You coming up here kid?

I am. Reunion tour of sorts. Plan was to hunt with a very good friend but he had an unfortunate accident. He’s still picking us up at the airport and squiring us around before we fly to our jumping off point he just can’t make the hunt.

The whole time I was a resident I never killed a bull bigger than a forkie horn so I’m on a mission to get a big one to go on the mantle.

Luck!

Don't forget to send us pics. As Skane mentioned, anytime with your Dad is time well spent.

Lost my Dad in 2015. I now spend as much time in the woods with my two sons. Wouldn't trade that for anything. I'm betting your Dad feels the same.

Good luck 👍

Best of luck to you! How can you NOT have fun in the back country of Alaska?

Amen Scott !!

Hope you have a great time Kid !!

Good luck kid, take the whelen....mb

Have a big time with dad and good luck!

This. My dad is gone now, was mentally gone two years before that. Enjoy your camp time.

Best of luck on this.
And don't forget to post up pics..

Flying out to Fairwell area on the thirty first, it's also a 50 and 4 area. I normally hunt an any bull area. Good luck on your hunt and enjoy the time with your dad.

I’m sure dad and I will have a good time once we get away from home and get to the field. After all he’s my favorite hunting partner, or maybe tied with my son but definitely right at the top.

His shoulders are shot and knees too. I’ve decreed that he isn’t to pack anything over about 30lb or maybe a little more. He can tote a backstrap or neck roast while I freight the quarters. I’ve been training to get in packing shape for a while so I should be good to go after we get it broke down. We have a jet sled too in the event we kill one in a semi open area and we can slide the quarters out.

It’s been a while since we’ve been to the area we’re going. We killed a pair of grizzlies out there 12 years or so ago. Dad’s a little bummed that we can’t bear hunt this time since he doesn’t have his resident “guide” anymore. I wish we could too but that’s life.

We’ve arranged to borrow a 22/20ga combo gun so maybe I’ll tag out and we can shoot a sack of ptarmigan for a couple meals too.

TheKid;
Good evening to you my cyber friend, I hope that besides the hunt planning all else is going more or less okay with you and your fine family.

We'll look for a spike/2 point moose again locally this fall, but I've not seen one in a few years and none in season for years before that.

As has been already said though, any hunts with family are wonderful cherished events.

The very best luck to you both on a memorable hunt.

Dwayne

I'm excited for you. Have fun!

Good luck kid!

I am sure that you will have fun once the stress and pain in the ass parts are over. Seems like I run on 2 hours sleep a night leading up to Moose season, but I love the hunting part of it. There's just always a lot to do.

Here's my only one over 50. Don't really care if I never shoot a big one, but the whole thing is an adventure and I dig that.


We'll be out doing it again, unless something goes horribly wrong.

Enjoy your hunt and time with your Pa! That would be a cool trip!

That one about 56-58” or so CWH2? Nice bull and I’d be happy with one like him.

The first real moose hunt I went on I was the camp cook on a guided hunt. Outfitter told me to do some calling and they’d check back at lunchtime to see what I’d seen. I had no idea how or what moose calling entailed and thought it was a snipe hunt when he gave me a lantern case and grunted into it and scraped it on a tree.

Imagine me surprise when I called in a 63” bull that looked a lot like yours with the long tines sticking way out. He was snot blowing pissed and thrashed a willow 100 yards away for half an hour while I watched. Of course I wasn’t allowed to shoot since we had a contracted hunter in camp and I watched as he lost interest and melted back into the spruce. He later came back when they went and raked the lantern case on the trees and caught a bullet for his troubles.

I plan on doing some thrashing and maybe some conservative cow calling, we’ll see what the weather is like and what kind of mood they’re in. Maybe I’ll find a dumb one that’s all horned up.

Been putting in for a moose tag for 5 years. Have another 25 years to go. Im thinking of a DIY moose hunt to Alaska in 5 years? Guess time will tell. Enjoy your hunt! It sounds like a good adventure and memories to be had, especially with family and friends around.

Oh Kid, by the way. You Suck....

Well if you’d have volunteered to come help pack I’d have taken you with me when my buddy had to cancel. Slacker!

Sounds like a fun trip. Post some pics up. 👊🏻

Kid, good luck out there. Time flys since you left those great northern guns goobers. I hope yah grab the 35 Whelen. Any standard medium bore is about the ideal moose gun in my opinion.

I have a hundred .358 250grain a-frame reloading bullets if you want them.

The 63" spread seems to be a common, magic number for a couple guys I built boats for.

An older fella I built an 18 footer for, had a 63 incher come to the brush thrashing.

Needless to say, he had to reload the 300 winchester magnum for another round. The darn monster stayed on the hoof! Wish guys would take my advice and at least load a 220 grainer in the 30 cals, or better yet, grab a dmn medium bore:

Not sure how many times Lonnie shot the big fellow, but it sure didn't go anywhere after it was hit. I'd say his rifle did fine! I follow him on YouTube. What a neat gentleman he seems to be.

Words hurt......

I'm gonna have to play the old man card on this one.I quit packing elk out 20 years ago...if you see where I'm going with this....

Way cool video Mainer, that one of your freighters?..mb

good luck Kid I hope you and your dad have a great time. take a lot of pics. for your little man won't be long before he will be big enuff to go

Trip of a lifetime to share with your Dad. Hope the weather cooperates

Yeah, as I recall he was 57. Good eye!

Well, I sure ain't. But wish I was. When I go, it'll be a once in a lifetime trip.

Have fun and give us some followup.

Kid, hope you have a great trip with your Dad and you both have something to take home. I've probably long ago, got my last moose. Getting up there in age now. All the luck.

A friend and I are headed to Bethel for a drop off moose hunt. Any bull area loaded with moose. I did this hunt in 2019 with another buddy and we killed two great bulls. I did two guided hunts in the NWT, one in 2010, another in 2012. Leave St. Louis on September 9th. I will be 61 on September 1st. Hope I still got what it takes to skin and pack one out.

Those two outfits out of Bethel have a great success rate, I’m sure the any bull regulation helps that immensely but still. Are you guys doing a lake or ridge top hunt Scott?
You wouldn’t happen to have any pics of your other bulls you could post can you? I enjoy looking at them and trying to figure width.

Hope you guys have a great hunt and kill a couple big ones close to camp.

My buddy sent me a video yesterday of a 55” or so bull from last year that walked about 30 yards from camp and onto the airstrip. I asked why he didn’t tie him up for me but maybe he’ll be around and closer to 60” this year.

Have a great trip and here’s another vote for the 35 Whelen.

I saw a really good Shiras bull in so. Idaho a couple days ago. I don't have a tag, though. We're limited to 1 of each sex in our lifetimes and I got my bull many years ago.

Enjoy the Hunt and time with your Dad. Time flys, mines been gone since 2012, deer hunting not been the same. Hope you get a big one!

More of a slough or lake drop off. It was very flat and swampy where we were.I could see some hills in the distance. Not an especially scenic area but loaded with moose.
I think all of Papa Bears planes are on floats. Renfros has a small wheel plane as well as floats. Another outfit in that area is God's Country Aviation. They are all wheel planes and do ridge top hunt. A couple guys from my town went with them 2 years ago and they killed a 75 incher that ended up being number 15 in the world all time. Two other guys are going with them this year.
My bull was near 60" and Toms was 53" or so. Both great bulls. Tom may have posted our bulls pics in late 2019 on Rokslide moose forums. He posts as 'TheGrayRider' if you search.

I'm headed to camp next month for a NB moose. It's an any moose, freezer filler hunt, but the first time I've drawn since 1996. Can't wait.

I have shot moose with a bunch of different CF bullet/cartridge combinations from 270 with 130gr Speer to 375AI with 270gr X bullets, including two Whelen AIs and a regular Whelen. Years ago I settled on a 30-06 and light TTSXs. My first moose died from a 22LR behind the ear.

The last thing to worry about is the cartridge. The first thing is the bullet, closely followed by placement.

Well I have 130 Etips loaded up in the 270Wby, and I have no doubt they’ll do the job having killed a bunch of elk and other stuff with them.

The Whelen is zeroed with 250 Partitions at 2600fps and I’m more than sure it’ll work too.

The 30/06 is a coated XTR Featherweight in a Brown Pounder. I have a box of 165 Hornadys loaded for it but I think I have a box of 168TSX on the shelf I could probably load up and get zeroed in the next couple days if I wanted to bad enough.

I bet any of them will work fine. Just more minutiae to make getting ready part of the adventure

Didn't draw anywhere in the western states this year, so decided to treat myself before I get too old....Headed to NFLD this year for moose... driving up, taking the ferry and will visit upstate New York on the return... Using my 308 with 165 Nosler Ballistic tips.

I've killed two Montana Shiras moose. Each died quickly from a 180 grain Partition from my .30 Gibbs.

I had a friend and my two horses to pack out my first Bull, but only my horses to pack out the second bull. Those hunts were also 30+ years ago.

Several years ago I went on a Newfoundland Moose and Caribou hunt. The rifle that I took was my 7 mm RM with 160 grain Accubond bullets. Unfortunaly the only Moose that we say that I might have shot was not in my Moose area. The bulls that we saw in my Moose area I thought were too small to shoot. We didn't see a single Caribou.

Last year I had a Moose and Brown Bear hunt booked in Alaska. I shot my Brown Bear the first morning, but we didn't see any moose.

This year I have a Moose hunt booked in Northern Alberta, but Canada still has that stupid Vax requirement for Americans entering Canada, so my outfitter agreed to pospone my hunt to next year.

Yes. Going to Alberta this year. Did drop camp in AK past two years. Had great times but no moose were harmed in the making of those adventures. Plan to do some waterfowling after the moose chase.

Good luck. My moose hunting days are probably over, but if I draw another Wy. tag, I will sure give it a go.

I’ll be moose hunting next week…After 11 year of applying I finally drew here in Idaho over by Spencer/Island Park.

May be hot next weekend but I don’t care - I’m going hunting!!!

Kid,

I hope you enjoy your hunt and time with your dad. I didn’t grow up hunting and started once I was on my own. Spent over a decade in AK. with the military and moose camp was to me what so many experience with deer or elk camps. Best friends and always an adventure! Endless adventures. Timeless memories.

Hiaring8, wish you luck too bud! Special tag there!


Bob

A few weeks and I will be in moose hunting mode. 100+ miles by boat and I am hunting.

Talked with the transporter yesterday evening. He’s got a spot picked out and waiting for us. Just depends on the weather and airlines now.

Good luck to everyone else headed out.

I've got a Dalton North archery tag, though I will try in the any bull harvest ticket units locally as well. I plan to take a week at the end of the month off for the Dalton tag. We'll see how it goes. Good luck...

Well, my moose hunting was short lived...I was able to harvest this nice bull on the second morning I was up. I was by myself and the days got hot quick so I was fortunate to find this bull just a couple hundred yards away from where I could get a truck too. 265 yard shot with the old 7 mag and a 150 scenar. Center punched the lungs - he took 5 steps and tumble over. For the next 4 hours, I have never worked so hard in my life. I shot him around 7 am...I had the 4 quarters off, backstraps and tenderloins out, and the head off by 9:45 ish. By that time, a couple friends I had called made it up to me from town. We got the meat packed in the truck and cruised into town to get the meat hanging in a meat locker by noon...It was a whirlwind of a day, but man what an awesome experience.

The only crappy thing being by myself - I didn't get the best pics as all I could do is try to position my phone on my pack, but none the less, I loved every minute of it. He taped out at 36.5" at widest point and mostly still in Velvet.

Nice. Congrats!

Well what more than I can say...well done!

Excellent.

Congrats. I see you have the whole head. I assume you noticed that a moose head gets dang heavy after 100 yards? After the 1st time I packed out an elk head, I started carrying a saw. Only the antlers come out since I never had plans for a whole head mount.

Congrats hiaring8. Good to see some meat being put away.

How'd the hunt go, Mate ???????

Between the weather and family crisis it was a low grade disaster. Caught some beautiful spawning char and huge grayling. Shot some of the very plentiful ptarmigan that were around. But otherwise ended up pulling the plug early to come home mooseless. Not the worst trip I’ve been on but certainly not what I’d call a good one.

Understand.

Like you, family is everything to me & trumps all else !

Sorry to hear this Kid, but I'm jealous as hell about the Char and Grayling. Ive caught both, but smaller down here in the lower 48.

Just returned home from Alaska. Was able to kill a very good 61" bull. Drop off, outfitted hunt. Road out the typhoon. Broken tent poles, hole in rain fly etc. 63 year old buddy was over matched by most parts of trip. At 61 myself, I am thankful and proud we got it done. Now to decide if I got what it takes to do it one more time in two years......lol

Kid, sorry to hear that.

Yeah was hoping to see you with a Big old Moose, but stuff happens! At least you got out for a bit to fish with your dad.

I didn’t even bother moose hunting or caribou hunting comes a point your like ph uck this…

Bummer, but there’ll be more opportunities!

Bummer Kid.

Moose are making a fool of me up out of Coldfoot. Seen some nice bulls on the archery tag but couldn’t close the deal. Only saw sub legal bulls when rifle hunting earlier.

Got 2 more days, I guess.

Bummer kid! Hope the family drama worked out ok.

We saw a total of 3 moose from moose camp. Saw more on the drive home.

Fantastic video and great moose! Well done Sir & Mrs.

Sorry it didn't work out like you planned. Anytime hunt with your Dad is a good one though.