Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska DIY Moose Hunt

My experience is that if you do your homework and don't do anything stupid (like shoot a bunch of meat in warm wet weather a week before takeout), then 2 guys / 2 moose is very doable, and really not that "big" a deal. If I alone can do one, two guys can do two.

Yeah, a moose is big. Shockingly big. That initial walkup dread never goes away.

They're a buggar to deal with alone. Two guys - not so much. Packing one any sort of distance to your takeout or your transportation can eat up a bunch of your trip time. Plan on 8 man-trips to pack your critter to your rig. I can do it in six on good footing, and did just that this past fall. This in a bone-in area.

The meat salvage rules are pretty cut/dry, and there are photos in the AK regs illustrating such. It's really simple - cut all the meat off the bones.

In addition to all the work of caring for and packing all the meat out from two moose, have you looked into what it will cost to ship all the meat home? Even shipping the meat of one moose split between two guys is going to be expensive. If you don't even the two of you being interested in paying to ship back one moose, why would you take two?

Two guys who are experienced hunters, woodsman, and river travelers can certainly have a succesful hunt and most importantly a wonderful adventure. That said it's important to realize that there aren't that many moose compared to how many people that hunt them, and there isn't a place in the state where you aren't competing against others for those moose.

If each of you guys taking a nice animal is key to your hunt, caribou will be a much better choice. Higher success rates due to much larger herds, more manageable to pack, a big bull moose can equate to 4-5 caribou, and you'll still have an incredible adventure in remote and wild alaska.

MD:
Yes. You're absolutely correct.
B.I.F.

I'm not going to get into whats possible and whats not. I am simply going to make one suggestion. If you have never been to Alaska before I would do a caribou hunt first. I understand you have experience where you come from but an Alaskan experience is different not impossible just different . You will become quite familiar with things like hauling gear , possibly some rain, wind, heat, and freezing cold as well as mosquitos like you have never seen before and did I mention hauling gear. Caribou can be a simpler hunt to accomplish. By doing this one first you can work out all the bugs of how to move about the state and get all your gear there as well and everything back out of the bush.You'll figure out what you used and what you didn't . When you shoot your caribou put the whole thing in your backpack and it should weigh as much as a moose hind quarter and go for a walk, you'll learn how far not to shoot a moose from the boat. When you walk out the front door of Ted Stevens if you love the outdoors like I do you'll be back again before your first trip even starts.

The one thing that never gets properly stressed in the hunt Alaska books is that hunting in Alaska is an expedition, where you happen to be hunting. If you take the same mindset you would for making an expedition to the Amazon, or any other remote area where you need to bring in everything you'll need for clothing, housing, cooking, medical and repairing your equipment, then you'll have a much better grasp of what a DIY Alaska hunt involves. This is likely vastly different from how you currently hunt. Not to mention shipping all that gear through multiple airports, with every one of them a potential for some of your gear to get way layed. Once you get dropped off at your final destination, you will be all on your own until that small plane comes to pick you up, and there are good odds the day you expect to be picked up and the day you are actually picked up won't co-incide due to weather.

The finding and shooting of the game is only a small part of the Alaskan hunt.

I ran an outfitting service out of Kotz for years. A 14 foot raft is rated aroud 1,100 pounds. That is 1 moose and all of your gear. You can tuck a bou in as well but don't expect to toss a 3rd hunter on as well. Look at 2 14 for 4 hunters.foot rafts and you will be good.

Good point Paul. Stuff we here take for granted.

So, your Scots friend doesn't need the kindred exemption! They are good-to-go!

Yep! He's going to be pretty excited... And he's lived here and worked here longer than I have, so it's not like he's just sneaking in.

Dennis

Paul , that right there is probably the best definition ! +1

IMO, it'd be money well spent to use Larrys Pristine Ventures hunt planner service. One of the biggest factors for success, obviously, is hunting an area with good moose numbers and for that info, you are paying a gent in the know, who studies it relentlessly. This past Sept I hauled 2 bulls back to the states that a father/son from Iowa both shot, who had never been to Alaska nor had ever hunted moose. They used Larrys hunt plan service, did a lake hunt (not a float), and both took mid 50 inch bulls. It was in an area that I've never seen get any exposure on the internet, unlike some areas. These guys were determined and busted their ass for both bulls, so it wasnt exactly duck soup, but still they were placed into an area that I highly doubt they would have picked for themselves. For what Larry charges, it comes out as a small percentage of the total cost of such a hunt, and puts the odds in your favor.

For anyone just begining to get started on their first Ak hunt, Larrys float hunting Alaska (2nd edition) book is a great read. Dennis Conifers book, Hunt Alaska now!, is also a great book. Conifer basicaly did the same type of hunt planner service back in the 80s, when the moose hunting was more in its glory. But some of the info was compiled before browtine restrictions, and some after. Some of it's (vaugely referenced) locations are a bit outdated per moose populations, but still a very good read (not sure if it is still in print).

BTW, there is one sentence in Uncas' post that really stands out for putting the odds in ones favor, but I'll let you figgure out just which one that is.

If you go, take a wolf tag. Good luck!

About that only thing I will add is to reiterate the idea of doing your homework well. I simply cannot imagine how anyone would manage a DIY moose hunt out where I live (which may be why no one ever does it who is not local.) Out of a bunch of moose I've killed or helped with over nearly 30 years of hunting, exactly two could have been delivered to a boat with the aid of ground vehicles. And all have involved snowmachines or ATVs and boats. And "good footing" mentioned by a previous poster.....I don't even know what that means as it applies to moose hunting; I've never seen that. Do your homework. (It would really suck to bust your balls putting forth a great effort and still get busted for wanton waste and lose everything.)

curiosity: what is the rationale for the "bone in" requirement and why does it only apply to certain areas ?


to the OP: I've shot and recovered 3 Shiras moose alone. They're about 600# smaller than AK moose - and on dry ground to boot. I'd have to think awfully hard about the prospect of shooting and recovering two moose in water, each half again as big as I'm used to, on the same trip....

Meat spoils faster after boning, and in some places, getting meat out has proven to result in heavy losses if it isn't left "whole". (Typical weather: damp, rainy, and several days between kill and process are all but impossible to avoid/overcome.)

On the bone meat doesnt spoil near as fast as say a game bag full of de-boned meat all lumped together.

from contamination, I'm assuming? (seems it would cool faster de-boned).

I tend to try to pack out bone-in for elk and moose if at all feasible do to the cleanliness aspect.

I've only done one moose, and it was a fly in do it yourself. Actually a moose/caribou with scheduled moves. Not successful on moose the second go around. Certainly possible to get two, but get in a day or two before season, and plan on spending the entire season. Being a non-resident, one will largely be limited to 50+ inch bulls, and they are LARGE. I can pack a ham or shoulder, but it's not possbile for me to do a bone in full quarter. The Alaska boning method is a good process (hams, shoulders, loins, and exterior rib and neck meat, with the antlers being the last to make it to camp).

If one is floating, pick a reasonable river distance that allows 1 to 2 days of hunting per day of floating. Breaking camp, floating, making camp, and hunting day after day can be quite tiresome leaving one little time to smell the roses. If one is flown in, a flyover check every 2 or 3 days and possible meat pickup would be a good plan. That would get any early bounty back to a cooler to avoid spoilage that would accompany and extended hunt.

Only the best of equipment including a truly sturdy tent, deet, and bug nets.

It's a function of surface area and moisture, mostly. Bone-in leg sections in a game bag, hanging in the shade (where possible) or at least off the ground has a chance to form a rind that keeps fly eggs out. and be cool and dry.

Hey Mike (with apologies for a minor side-track), do you mind the avatar? The pic you're using apparently messes with server gatekeeping software. This is a dry vil here so I imagine your avatar promotes something other than prohibition type stuff. (Am I the only one that gets thirsty at the thought?)

I've taken 20 bulls, now, some with partners, some solo, a couple using boats, and have to concur that 2 bulls for 2 guys on a float hunt is stretching the envelope badly unless you really know what you are doing and have all your ducks in a row. Even then, it is probably going to be more work than fun!

I'm now in Walt's old stomping ground and took a 2 or 3 year old bull last fall using a 14 foot Achilles, with aluminum folding floorboards and a 25 hp 2 stroke outboard. Camp, dog, and me looked like a full load going in, but I managed to squeeze in the moose, anyway. The dog was not impressed, since his bed out was on top of the rather lumpy load, and higher than he likes to ride...

This was a planned 6 to 8 day trip, leaving directly from Kotzebue (60 feet behind my apartment, in fact) of which I used 5 days, beating the first snow of the year and initial ice-over of the lagoon by about an hour..... The kill was made on Sept 28 or 29

Leaving home.



The kill.



Only the dog and me to add for the trip home.





I don't think my Rubber Ducky boat would have liked the next day's conditions: