14-days of remote solitude moose hunting in Alaska

[AKDoc]

Remote solitude is exactly what I seek each fall when moose hunting, and I am very happy to spend hard earned money to achieve that goal. A hunting friend and I are both long-time residents, and I have been fortunate to have hunted for thirty-years with my children and friends for the different animals our state offers. For the ninth year in a row, we went with Renfro in GMU-18 in western Alaska for moose…and we’re already booked for next year. We never see another hunter once in the field, which is priceless to me. Also, it is an area of very high moose densities, and we take two bulls every year. Can’t say enough good things about Renfro, and the wonderful life experiences and adventures of remote pack-rafting, fly-fishing and hunting that I and members of my family have had thanks to Wade Renfro. BTW, I personally do not profit whatsoever from saying that.

This year we put-in on wheels, landing on tundra, rather than various lake-drops on floats as in previous years when moose hunting. We hunted the same general area of GMU-18 as prior years, but just slightly higher elevation, which was different for us. It was predominantly a series of wide-open areas, ringed with willow and spruce thickets, some of which had significant depth and range…

 

[AKDoc]

We saw 8 bulls when circling to land. After 14-days in the field we saw 30+ bulls from the ground…may have double-counted one or two, but that’s it…and a couple we briefly saw at distance were big bruisers. I never do any calling nor hiking around the area for at least the first two-days, but instead we glass to get a feel for the area, and we always try to manage our noise in camp. We woke the first hunting morning to the sound of a cow moaning very near-by. She was with a 40’ish bull in a small willow-ringed clearing about three hundred-yards upwind that we were able to locate and glass. Saw five other bulls that first day and three cows…at last light we had a grouping of two younger bulls and two younger cows all walking single-file in our general direction along the ridge of a slight hill about forty-yards to the left of where we were glassing (that was a first for me to see!).

On day-four I called-in a nice 48” 2x2 bull, and pulled him close to camp, which is very highly preferred by us two old 69yo hunters!...

 

[AKDoc]

We are primarily meat hunters, who share our harvests within each of our own separate families as well as with others…a big bull would be a bonus. On this hunt we got a chance to watch a lot of different bulls and bull behavior, which was truly fun. Watched one dig and piss-up a stink pit for fifteen minutes, which was also a first for me.

During that first week after bull #1, I called several different bulls even closer to the meat pole that we had built, but we held out for #2 given that we had another week yet to hunt, the huge bulls that we had seen…and the high probability that we’d harvest a second bull regardless…

 

[AKDoc]

The second week started with a few days of mixed crappy/marginal wx and clear nights with a full moon, so we didn’t see much action. Midway through the second week I called one a mile away on a calm day, but he got side-tracked half-way to us when he winded a bull and cow in the timber to his right that we had already seen and passed on during the first week.

Then, about an hour later in the opposite direction, I glassed just the tops of a larger (and different) rack pretty far out, but moving away from our location. He responded to my calls and turned to come to us, but he also got side-tracked and disappeared in a willow and timber thicket just a couple hundred yards out. After about a half-hour wait, a cow with a first-year calf came running out of that same thicket right towards us. She veered-off at the sight of our tents, and then another cow with a first-year calf came running out of the same willows to follow the first cow and calf…and behind those four, guess who was chasing them…you guessed it. I got him to stop with a cow call about two-hundred yards out. I aimed for point of impact at the top of his neck just below his head to drop him right there, which is where I hit, and he dropped….

 

[EOD-LBZ]

Nice. That's awesome. I've been trying to figure out moose hunting while I'm stationed in JBER. Boy its a hard game to learn on a budget! Congrats on the hunting trip.

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[AKDoc]

I humbly and thankfully say that I’ve harvested many moose over the years, but this was the longest shot that I have taken on a moose (200yds). I much prefer the thrill of calling them real close to me…I think I’m a bow-hunter at heart! He measured 56”, a 4x4 warrior with a lot of character and untold stories just looking at his rack. Many of his tines were either scraped or broken from fighting other bulls. To take a warrior with a rack like this was truly a bonus and an honor for me.

We field butchered him and got all meat bagged and hanging on our well tented meat pole by last light. Two days later, he was picked-up by Renfro pilots…

 

[AKDoc]

I enjoy handloading my own ammunition, and I’ve taken a 375H&H with me each fall for over twenty years. 270gr TSX’s have been my choice. This bull was pretty much broadside, but his head/neck were turned directly towards me. The bullet entered the third or fourth cervical neck vertebrae just below the head, and travelled a few inches through the spine, exiting and stopping just below the hide on the other side. Love those Barnes TSX’s…I’ve recovered very few over the years…

 

[AKDoc]

What an adventure…remote solitude in the world of the animal I’m hunting, a sustained chance to reflect on values and priorities in life (especially these days), and I'm always thankful for the experiences…I just love hunting!





Sorry I went long when sharing with you guys!

I sincerely wish the very best to all of you for safe and memorable adventures!

 

[MtnW]

Great write up Doc. Congratulations on your successful hunt! Looks like lots of fun and action. No snow?
MtnW

 

[Antares]

Great post! Sounds like an awesome trip. Congratulations.

 

[eddielasvegas]

Great story and thanks for posting it and the pix.


Eddie

 

[Thunder]

Thanks for sharing! Enjoyed the write up!

 

[AKDoc]

Great write up Doc. Congratulations on your successful hunt! Looks like lots of fun and action. No snow?
MtnW

Thank you. We had some intermittent mixed snow and rain the day before take-out, but no accumulation where we were. I know that there were other hunting camps at higher elevation that us and further NE (ridge hunts) who had 10" of snow on the ground on that same exact day. On the day that we did take-out, the mountains to the NE looked like winter and were covered with snow.

 

[AKDoc]

Nice. That's awesome. I've been trying to figure out moose hunting while I'm stationed in JBER. Boy its a hard game to learn on a budget! Congrats on the hunting trip.

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

Thank you. I'm a former Marine...thank YOU for your service. As an active military person there are options...

 

[Kevin Dill]

I need 2 'Like' buttons for your post with that big bull. Great account of your hunt and I especially like it well-spiced with appreciation and gratitude. As I age (but at 64 I'm a teenager compared to you ) I find these kind of total-solitude hunts to be a real privilege. So few hunters will ever know what it's like to be really out there and unaffected by the everyday world we long to escape. Thanks AKD!

 

[mcseal2]

Well said Kevin, and thanks for sharing Doc. Looks like an awesome adventure.


I know what you guys mean about the beauty and solitude. Alaska got in my blood and I plan to go after a species there as often as I can. Its working out to be every other year as I save up enough money, and also burn the points I’ve built up in the lower 48. Someday I hope to make it to Alaska every year. At just 42 I have a few years left in me if I age as well as you guys.


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[Trial153]

Thank you for taking the time to share this. So much to take away from it on many levels

 

[cnelk]

Great hunt!
I left Alaska bush 2 weeks ago and already miss it.

 

[VernAK]

We can assume Doc is already planning for next year!

 

[JPD350]

Congrats on your successful hunt and thanks for the great write up!