2021 Nonstop Moose hunt

[Dmartin88]

What a great story!!! Someday when I get big…….

 

[Clarktar]

What a great trip! Float planes, rafts, rutting moose, night time visitors!!

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[Kevin Dill]

Cool write-up.....thanks for entertaining us. Nice bulls for sure, and many congratulations to both hunters.

Those ever-pesky grizzlies are never not hungry it seems. My pard and I lost an entire load of butchered and de-boned meat to bears back in 2012. It took just one night to happen. We had 8 large bags of clean meat at a cache. The next morning every single bag was ripped open and all the remaining meat was contaminated with bear saliva, fecal matter and dirt. There literally wasn't a salvageable piece of meat fit for human consumption. We gathered up what we could and gave it to people for dog food. I was literally bitter with disappointment.

I'm glad you guys fought back and came out with most of your meat. I understand feeling possessive. I'm the same way after a kill. Can't shoot a bear for raiding a meat cache, but I'll damn sure make him uncomfortable. These days I'm all about a hot electric fence.

 

[JPD350]

Cool write-up.....thanks for entertaining us. Nice bulls for sure, and many congratulations to both hunters.

Those ever-pesky grizzlies are never not hungry it seems. My pard and I lost an entire load of butchered and de-boned meat to bears back in 2012. It took just one night to happen. We had 8 large bags of clean meat at a cache. The next morning every single bag was ripped open and all the remaining meat was contaminated with bear saliva, fecal matter and dirt. There literally wasn't a salvageable piece of meat fit for human consumption. We gathered up what we could and gave it to people for dog food. I was literally bitter with disappointment.

I'm glad you guys fought back and came out with most of your meat. I understand feeling possessive. I'm the same way after a kill. Can't shoot a bear for raiding a meat cache, but I'll damn sure make him uncomfortable. These days I'm all about a hot electric fence.

Thanks!
I would have been sick to lose an entire load of meat!
I would also say I was a bit bitter since one year earlier in the Gila I had bears take a 1/2 an elk from me. I might have to look into a lightweight fence to pack in on my elk hunts, the place is swarming with bears. They got my water I packed in as well
The bottom line is that it is preventable, one has to plan for the prevention or roll the dice to share your meat. A fence would have changed the hunt drastically, we could have had a good nights sleep, spent 2 or 3 more days relaxing, exploring the area and calling in moose for fun. We had great temps for hanging meat as long as we wanted.

 

[bmrfish]

Good story, thanks for posting. We heard about you guys when we were flying out.
Nice bulls, gives me hope. We saw lots of little bulls but just couldn’t get on anything decent. We are headed back up in 2022. It will be my 5th Alaska moose hunt and I am hoping to finally get to pull a trigger.


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[live2huntelk]

I'll chime in with a few words and a couple pictures.

First off JP is the real deal hunter. We had not meet in person prior to meeting up in the Anchorage airport on the way to Bethel. We had talked on the phone quite a bit over the last couple years. From those conversations, I had little reservations about myself or JP and us taking on the challenge of an Alaskan moose hunt. As both of us would admit, we are both strong willed and determined individuals based on our work professions. My only concern was if our personalities would clash. As it turns out, we worked very well together. Once we arrived at Renfro's we both transformed into our game day hunting mode.... an indescribable combination of a very excited kid at Disney World and an athlete in a championship game ...winner takes all.

I have read numerous accounts of others hunting with someone new and personalities are different, styles of hunting are different, and each have different expectations of the adventure. This was not the case for us. We both had a clear and unwavering goal of coming home with moose meat and hopefully a respectable bull. We were not going to let egos get in the way of us killing whatever bull presents itself to us. In the heat of the moment, in both cases, neither of us hesitated to take the split second opportunities that these bulls presented. I have no regrets in shooting my bull on the second day as much as I would have been thrilled to take him on the last day of the hunt. As JP said, the only regrets was that we wished we could stayed the 10 or 11 days and take in the alone time in the wilderness. I make a pilgrimage West each September to connect with nature and rejuvenate my soul and spirit. This year it was Alaska.

JP is a very talented person with his hands. He made his own moose megaphone call and had mastered cow calling with it. He also brought an elk scapula from his collection for us to rake trees.....which by the way was very authentic sounding. The bone lightly racking against the alders was undistinguishable from an Alaska bull moose. JP was eager to try out his moose calling prowess the first morning while he let me be the first shooter. He had moose coming in from 3 directions at the same time converging on us. Hence, the reason the moose I shot was waiting behind our camp the second day.

On another note, when we got onshore the 1st day to scout the area JP end up shooting his moose, JP put his heartbreaker cow call into action. The bull immediately answered and started heading our way. I told JP he was up and I was caller. We both sprung into action with the same response. We need to move and get the wind right. Without hesitation, we were both on the same page and sprung into action like a setup we both had used to call elk in..... Shooter out front and caller drop back. It was though we had hunted together and knew exactly what each had to do without ever saying a word. It happened so fast, there was not time to talk it over. We were both jacked when our unorchestrated plan came together. The pictures do not do justice for the mass on JP's bull. The circumference of the antler pedicles was something like 14". He had to use the tag extension with not much room to spare. The mass on the bull rivals the mass on the elk he got last year in NM. He was stoked on how well it will look on the wall beside his elk.

As JP mentioned the trip was non-stop from the time we took off from home till 3 days after I got home and processed the meat from my bull. It was a trip I will never forget and I hope to share camp with JP in a future New Mexico or other western state elk or other species hunt. JP is an awesome hunter.

 

[live2huntelk]

Looks like I am going to have to make the .jpg files smaller to upload them...will do that later.

 

[Kevin Dill]

There's nothing I can identify with more..... A picture of a guy packing a moose head....back bent and hands on knees....pain and exhaustion in double doses. It's like doing the hardest of all jobs at the end....body is mostly spent....and you're going mostly on will. Staggering into camp and dropping that load is like suddenly growing wings.

 

[live2huntelk]

There's nothing I can identify with more..... A picture of a guy packing a moose head....back bent and hands on knees....pain and exhaustion in double doses. It's like doing the hardest of all jobs at the end....body is mostly spent....and you're going mostly on will. Staggering into camp and dropping that load is like suddenly growing wings.

JP put the antlers on the scale at Renfros before shipping them back and they were something like 64#.

 

[live2huntelk]

 

[JBirthisel]

Awesome write up! Sounds like an awesome hunt!

 

[ReinsuranceShooter]

Awesome write-up guys. Glad to see the pics and hear the longer story. When Arthur flew us out a couple days after you he circled your camp and there was a very content, fat black bear sitting there … quite content over one of the carcasses.

 

[D S 319]

This is awesome!

 

[VernAK]

Another great story!

It's unfortunate that you didn't get a day or two to relax and enjoy the solitude but that's often Alaska hunting. While weather delays are often the case, hectic scrambling to butcher and load out before a storm arrives is also very common. Good job!

FWIW: I weighed a large bull moose cape at 82 pounds. Another back bending load in the tundra.

 

[live2huntelk]

Awesome write-up guys. Glad to see the pics and hear the longer story. When Arthur flew us out a couple days after you he circled your camp and there was a very content, fat black bear sitting there … quite content over one of the carcasses.

We had asked for Arthur to fly us in.....he did us right.

I suspect this wasn't the black bears first free meal from a meat pole based on how persistent and fearless he behaved. At 1:30am the on the 4th morning, I decided to go take a leak (we made a point to urinate near the meat caches hoping the human scent would ward off any bear) and check on the brushed-in hanging meat caches. Unbeknownst to me, the bear sticks his head out between the 2 middle hanging quarter through the brush less than 5 yards from me. I backed up and started hollering at the bear. The bear walks out from the meat pole and back up the trail about 10 yards stops, turns to look back at me and sits down. With more yelling, throwing the cut limbs, and fake bluff charges the bear left. It was that night at approx 1:45am we relocated all my meat within 5 ft from the tipi door and set the bait bag trap near JP's meat pole. We put Luci lights up near the meat caches and left the tipi door open all night watching the meat. I end up sleeping in my chest waders and boots several nights so we could get up and check on the meat approx every 45 -60 minutes. We end up having to rush out of the tipi several times. Neither of us bought bear tags. I already have a black bear mounted and wasn't interested in spending $500 (I think was the tag cost). Also when I talked with Sharon and asked how many of their clients shot a wolf, black bear, or badger; it was very few. She mentioned that the areas we hunt are very wet and marsh like areas, hence we decided not to purchase the bear tag.

 

[Chukardogs]

Nice write up guys!. This is John the taller (and better looking) of he two guys that flew out with you. Your pictures turned out great. Travis and I are still talking about what a grand adventure it was. JP that offer to chase Chukars is still open.

 

[AKDoc]

We had asked for Arthur to fly us in.....he did us right.

I suspect this wasn't the black bears first free meal from a meat pole based on how persistent and fearless he behaved. At 1:30am the on the 4th morning, I decided to go take a leak (we made a point to urinate near the meat caches hoping the human scent would ward off any bear) and check on the brushed in hanging meat caches. Unbeknownst to me, the bear sticks his head out between the 2 middle hanging quarter through the brush less than 5 yards from me. I backed up and started hollering at the bear. The bear walks out from the meat pole and back up the trail about 10 yards stops, turns to look back at me and sits down. With more yelling, throwing the cut limbs, and fake bluff charges the bear left. It was that night at approx 1:45am we relocated all my meat within 5 ft from the tipi door and set the bait bag trap near JP's meat pole. We put Luci lights up near the meat caches and left the tipi door open all night watching the meat. I end up sleeping in my chest waders and boots several nights so we could get up and check on the meat approx every 45 -60 minutes. We end up having to rush out of the tipi several times. Neither of us bought bear tags. I already have a black bear mounted and wasn't interested in spending $500 (I think was the tag cost). Also when I talked with Sharon and asked how many of there clients shot a wolf, black bear, or badger; it was very few. She mentioned that the areas we hunt are very wet and marsh like areas, hence we decided not to purchase the bear tag.

You guys sure did your best to protect the meat in that situation...without your vigilance, it likely would have gone much further south. Well done guys! That bear sounded real persistent and not at all hesitant to sneak into camp.

I understand your decision not to buy a bear tag before the hunt. BTW, Sharon's pre-hunt comment to you guys is consistent with my own observations. Out of the nine years that we have hunted that same lake-drop area, I have only seen a bear three of those years (all black bears)...and we had no bear trouble those years. That said, it only takes once, so I always have a black bear tag in my pocket, which is of course different for me as a resident (they are free).

Your well written story is a great reminder to us all of the reality of possible bear scenarios on a remote drop moose hunt!

 

[JPD350]

People worry about going to Alaska and wearing waders all day every day, El Hombre Del Norte (AKA Rick) will wear them 24/7 if he has to.......enough said

Thanks for the kind words Rick, it was a pleasure to hunt with you!! With the way everything went down we both proved to be seasoned hunters, I have no doubt that if we had to hunt them for 10 days we would have been all over them like the bulls on the cows doing set up after set up. We were a team and we both knew what to do and we did it, whether it was chores or hunting the outcome was clear.

I can't wait for you to draw a Gila elk tag, I just hope it is a year I don't draw or maybe I'll draw the same tag, either way it will be another great hunt. Don't forget to think about an Oryx tag, I know they are NM expensive but not when compared to going to Africa or moose in Alaska, just remember to think about it before every March draw deadline.

 

[JPD350]

You guys sure did your best to protect the meat in that situation...without your vigilance, it likely would have gone much further south. Well done guys! That bear sounded real persistent and not at all hesitant to sneak into camp.

I understand your decision not to buy a bear tag before the hunt. BTW, Sharon's pre-hunt comment to you guys is consistent with my own observations. Out of the nine years that we have hunted that same general area, I have only seen a bear three of those years (all black bears)...and we had no bear trouble those years. That said, it only takes once, so I always have a black bear tag in my pocket, which is of course different for me as a resident (they are free).

Your well written story is a great reminder to us all of the reality of possible bear scenarios on a remote drop moose hunt!

When the bear took the bait bag we both heard the soft jingle of the moose calls as he was thinking about taking it, I can't totally remember if he heard us say something as they jingled and thats why he took off fast but that scenario was a fun part of the experience. I find it interesting that he took the easy road instead of going thru the brush pile because he probably would have been successful in getting another bag or two.
It's amazing how quiet they are, when he came just a few yds from the tipi to get Ricks meat again I barely heard a couple gentle footsteps on the brush, another 30 seconds of me contemplating if I heard something and he might of grabbed a bag and ran.
You know it's this kind of stuff that throws a dimension to the experience that sets it apart from others, not that I would like to mess with sasquatch ever again, I still find it exciting.

 

[AKDoc]

When the bear took the bait bag we both heard the soft jingle of the moose calls as the he was thinking about taking it, I can't totally remember if he heard us say something as they jingled and thats why he took off fast but that scenario was a fun part of the experience. I find it interesting that he took the easy road instead of going thru the brush pile because he probably would have been successful in getting another bag or two.
It's amazing how quiet they are, when he came just a few yds from the tipi to get Ricks meat again I barely heard a couple gentle footsteps on the brush, another 30 seconds of me contemplating if I heard something and he might of grabbed a bag and ran.
You know it's this kind of stuff that throws a dimension to the experience that sets it apart from others, not that I would like to mess with sasquatch ever again, I still find it exciting.

Very well said and very true!

I especially know those moments when on a 10-day float on a remote river with grizzly trails up and down each side of the river…and hunting out of a tent on Kodiak! I always have a bear fence on those trips!